Dear Clients,
AccountMate and Acumatica have great built-in functionality for warehouse optimization to save time and increase picking/reordering accuracy—which many of our clients aren’t making use of, so here’s an overview of “what’s possible” to germinate ideas!
At the top level you define the warehouse. Of course, we always think of these as being widely dispersed. But they can be across the street from each other, or even under the same roof as long as there’s a logical “break point” everyone understands.
Then, within a warehouse define locations at the level of detail appropriate for the inventory being located. This can be as simple as “yellow tape boxes on the floor with painted stencils of letters/numbers in them” for large items. Or, if you need great detail for small items like nuts-and-bolts, a popular naming scheme is to use the pattern Zone-Aisle-Rack-Shelf-Bin.
- Zone: Warehouse section, often defined by item size or picking equipment (i.e. manual vs. forklift).
- Aisle: Classic parallel rows within a zone.
- Rack: Shelving units within an aisle.
- Shelf: Horizontal levels on a rack. Hint: Start shelf numbers with “1” at the bottom of the Rack so you can add additional upper levels later without impacting existing numbers.
- Bin: Spot on a large shelf where small goods reside.
Hint: You can define locations specifically for shipping and receiving for QA operations.
Once the locations are defined, it’s helpful to then define where each item CAN be stored—meaning you don’t allow every item to be POSSIBLY stored in every location. This can be tedious to set up, but invaluable in the long run as it imposes a level of discipline on selecting the correct bin when recording the placement of inventory in a location.
Hint: While defining the locations you can define the “pick sequence” such as “head north in Aisle-1 with A-Racks on your left and B-Racks on your right, then come back south on Aisle-2 with C-Racks on your right and D-Racks on your left”. With this information, we can then print Sales Order pick lists in the optimum order the items are in the warehouse so pickers only make one pass.
Yes, inventory movement (PO receipts, Sales Order picking, etc.) will then need to record the exact location of the effected inventory—and this is where a bar code scanning Warehouse Management System can be a huge productivity boost—but I always say, “A bar code scanning system doesn’t make your inventory processes better, it just makes them faster. If you have bad processes then it will make FAST bad processes, so we have to get the basics down first!”
Hint: Of course, we want to place frequently accessed items towards the front, but if you have a subset of fast-moving items that move in large quantities, consider implementing a “pick line” where you store a smaller quantity of those items towards the front and then “restock” those locations from deeper in the warehouse.
I’ll reiterate that it IS effort to maintain items at locations, but the benefits far outweigh the effort with improved efficiency in picking and cycle counts.
Hit us for more information (and hints!) on how to use your existing functionality to streamline your operation—that’s what we’re here for!
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We’re expecting the release of AccountMate/SQL V14.1 very soon. Cross your fingers with us and stay tuned for next month’s newsline!
Regards,
Kevin E. Stroud
kestrou@nexlan.com
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
AccountMate: AP Reports to Know
Good AP management is more than paying bills—it’s a cornerstone of financial integrity. Assessing AP reports serves as a verification loop to ensure that your internal records mirror your actual financial obligations.
When you analyze aging reports and distribution details, you’re confirming that your Accounts Payable Liability, Prepayments Asset, and Accrued Received Goods accounts are reconciled and ready for audit.
The top benefit of these reports is the validation of the Balance Sheet. (Because AP accounts represent your company’s legal debt to creditors, any discrepancy between your sub-ledger and the GL can lead to skewed debt-to-equity ratios and inaccurate cash flow projections.)
Key accounts payable reports to know
1. <AP Past Due Aging Report> It lets you see current liabilities to vendors and validate your AP liability account. Best options are “Current Aging” and “Include Invoices and Open Debit Invoices.” DON’T include “Prepayments”—we’ll hit those assets in the next step.
- Did you know the “buckets” (e.g. 30, 60, 90 days) for the Aging are defined under <Housekeeping><AP Module Setup> on the “Printing” tab?
- Also check out the <Cash Requirement Report>, which shows what invoices are due by the selected date.
2. <AP Past Due Aging Report> Yes, again—but now with ONLY “Prepayments” included to validate your asset account of outstanding vendor prepayments.
3. <AP Invoice Detail Report> with the “Show GL Distribution” option checked to see what GL accounts were impacted for the payable for each check. You’ll get the breakdown of which accounts were debited and credited.
- Also check out <Check Distribution Report> with the “Show GL Distribution” option checked to see what GL accounts were impacted for the payable for each check, to ensure the payment side of the transaction is flowing to the correct accounts.
4. <Suggested Discount Report> It’s not as common for vendors to offer early pay discounts these days, but for those that do… This is the report to help keep your money in YOUR pocket by highlighting invoices where a discount is available for early settlement.
5. < E-mail AP Check Stub> Technically not a report, but *super* handy for emailing check stubs to the vendors you pay via electronic payment (ACH) so they know details of what invoices you just paid.
6. <Applied> and <Unapplied> <Payment Report> In AccountMate-ese, “applying payment” means “approve to pay”—so the first report lists what invoices are approved, and the second lists those yet-to-be-approved.
7. <PO Line Items for AP Matching> NOT the one in the AP module, but the one in the PO module—lists “what goods have been received but not yet had the AP invoice entered for”—and is used to validate your Accrued Received Goods liability account in GL. Vital for year-end or month-end closing.
AccountMate: June and July Hands-On Training on Core Modules
June 3 – July 16, 2026 will be the next live, online Core Product Training from AccountMate
Choose one or more modules, or all of them. You can learn a new-to-you module, or enhance your skills and understanding for a module you already use. Either way, you’re sure to get ideas to help your company benefit more from the comprehensive capabilities that AccountMate delivers.
Modules covered: System Manager, General Ledger, Inventory Control, Accounts Payable, Purchase Order, Accounts Receivable, Sales Order, and Bank Reconciliation
Course Overview | Course Outline | Course Schedule
$3200/all | $420/single session | $0 w/Active Lifecycle; ask us how many free seats you qualify for
Registration closes seven calendar days prior to the session date. To register, contact NexLAN.
PS. ‘Want to do a deep dive into one module now, and a couple more later? Pace yourself by registering for one session in June or July, and a couple more when this whole Core Product Training repeats (live, not recorded) October 7 – November 19.
Acumatica Webinar: Small Businesses Embrace Technology and AI to Tackle Challenges in 2026
As you know, we sometimes like to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to get you up out of the day-to-day business weeds—and encourage you to check in on your big-picture strategy when it comes to incrementally growing your business.
This on-demand webinar recording from April 15 is an easy listen and you can play it at 1.5x speed.
SMB Group, a technology research and analysis firm, presents today’s macroeconomic trends (including the theme running through all of them, no surprise here: volatility). In that context, they discuss how technology and AI provide opportunities to better navigate external market pressures.
You’ll hear a range of top-down ideas to identify (or remind yourself of) a new area where you can improve your customer experience, reduce costs, or boost productivity—and support your existing 2026 company goals.
So take a short break from your day-to-day details to hear some actionable ideas, to inspire your next step to expand your use of Acumatica to enhance efficiency.
Watch now: Go to Acumatica’s On-Demand Webinars page and scroll down to:
Small Businesses Embrace Technology and AI to Tackle Challenges in 2026
Acumatica: New in 2025 R2: “Directed Putaway” Cuts Time for Putaway and Order Picking
There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to pack an order for shipment and you can’t find where items were put away during receipt. Directed Putaway decreases putaway errors as the system guides receivers to the correct warehouse location for items based on the assigned default putaway location.
This saves time as your warehouse team no longer has to check storage assignments each time they put away a new shipment, or when it is time to pack orders, because everything is in its assigned seat.
How it works:
On the Item Warehouse Details form you specify the default putaway location for each of your items for each warehouse that the items are stocked in. Then on the Purchase Orders Preferences form check the box for Request Location for Each Item on Putting Away to enable Directed Putaway workflow for your team.
Now when your warehouse worker scans or enters the item in the Acumatica mobile app, they are shown the expected putaway location and directed to scan that location ensuring items are where they should be when it is time to pick orders for your customers.
For more information on Directed Putaway and how it can keep inventory in the right locations in your warehouses, email us to request a demo specific to your setup.
For an overview of barcode scanning options in Acumatica, check out our January Automated Data Capture article.
To see a highlight of other features added in the 2025 R2 Acumatica release, visit Introducing Acumatica Cloud ERP: 2025 R2. Most clients’ systems will update in Q2, though if you’re itching to start using the new 2025 R2 features, we can get your update started early! Got questions? Shoot us an email.
AccountMate Tech Note: Understanding the Recalculate Customer Data Feature
When customer balances are incorrect due to data corruption, you may fix data inconsistencies by performing data recalculation using the Recalculate Customer Data feature in the Data Manager function.
Article #1142: Understanding the Recalculate Customer Data Feature discusses the customer data inconsistencies that necessitate recalculation, requirements that must be met before performing recalculation, recalculation procedures, AccountMate tables that the recalculation routine validates, and issues that cause the recalculation process to fail.
AccountMate Tech Note: Benefits of the Return to Vendor Authorization (RV) Module
There may be times when you must return to the vendor the purchased items because these are defective, you received the wrong item, or the items must be repaired. Though you can use the Purchase Order (PO) module, the Return to Vendor Authorization (RV) module is designed to effectively record and monitor these returns.
Article #1197: Benefits of the Return to Vendor Authorization (RV) Module presents the advantages of using the RV module rather than the PO module to process vendor returns.
Acumatica Technical Tips
How Do I Use Anomaly Detection To Review Journal Entries?
Q: I would like to use the Anomaly Detection to review my Journal Entries and see if there are any outliers. How do I do this?
A: Starting in 2026 R1 you can now analyze journal entry anomalies through a modern, inquiry-driven framework. The new GL-ML-Journal Entries Analysis generic inquiry and the Journal Entries Analysis form replace the legacy GL Anomaly Detection feature.
Note: The new inquiry is available only if the AI Studio and Anomaly Detection features are enabled on the Enable/Disable Features form.
To detect anomalies:
- Go to Customization > Profiles > Generic Inquiry form.
- In the Inquiry Title box, select GL-ML-Journal Entries Analysis.
- On the Interface Options tab, check the Detect Anomalies checkbox and click Save.
- On the Anomaly Detection tab, specify the needed settings.
- On the form toolbar, click Detect Anomalies. The Detect Anomalies in Generic Inquiries form opens.
- In the Generic Inquiry Dataset List table, select the Included check box for the inquiry and then click Process.
- On the toolbar of the Generic Inquiry Dataset List table, click Execute Next Step.
- On the form toolbar, click Process. The system sends the inquiry dataset to the external AI service, which:
- Calculates the expected transaction values
- Compares them with the actual values
- Assigns anomaly severity levels
When analysis finishes, the processing status changes from Calculation in Progress to Completed.
- Go to Finance > Inquiries > Journal Entries Analysis form to review anomalies.
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Can I Use Approval On Inventory Adjustments?
Q: We already use the approval process in AP Bills to review large bills that are entered, but we recently have seen a lot of high volume Inventory Adjustments in our system. Is there a way we can set up approvals for Inventory Adjustments too?
A: Starting in Acumatica ERP 2026 R1, inventory adjustments have been added to the approval workflow so you can review and approve adjustments before they are released. This means you can reduce the risk of errors or uncontrolled write-offs. Approvals apply to both system-generated adjustments and adjustments created by users.
Inventory adjustments can be approved one by one, or you can process multiple approvals for adjustments by going to Time and Expenses > Tasks > Approvals. On this form, you can select multiple records with the IN Adjustment type and process them simultaneously.
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Do Customization Packages Roll Over When I Update My Test System?
Q: We would like to refresh our test company so we can train a new employee with our own up-to-date data in Acumatica. When we take a snapshot of our system and restore it into our TEST tenant, do we have to republish our customization packages?
A: In Acumatica versions prior to 2025 R2, yes, you will have to republish your customization packages after restoring your snapshot. In versions 2025 R2 and later these files are preserved and will not need to be republished.
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How Can I Ship An Order Before The Ship Date On The Sales Order?
Q: I am trying to ship an order but am getting the error message ‘Order ##### does not contain any items planned for shipment on MM/DD/YYYY’ (today’s date). How can I ship the order earlier than the ship date listed on the sales order without changing that ship date on the sales order?
A:You can use the Process Orders screen to ship orders before the ship date in the Sales Order. Here are the steps.
- Go to Sales Orders > Processes > Process Orders.
- In the Action dropdown, select Create Shipment.
- Select your Start Date, Shipment Date (Shipment date being the SO ship date), and End Date.
- Select the order you would like to ship and select Process.
AccountMate Technical Tips
Will My Inventory Images Be Carried Over During Upgrade?
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: IC, plus the Conversion tool
Q: Our inventory records have attached images. We will be upgrading to the latest version soon. Will the images be carried over to the new version after the upgrade?
A: Yes. The inventory images in your existing AccountMate version will be carried over to the new version when you upgrade. The inventory images are stored in the AccountMate table (i.e., ICIIMG) in the company database. This table is upgraded during the upgrade process.
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How Do I Process Payments from a Customer if They Aren’t in Their Assigned Home Currency?
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: AR
Q: I have a customer whose currency is a foreign currency (e.g., CAD); however, they paid me in my home currency (e.g., USD). How can I record the customer’s payment when their invoice is in foreign currency (e.g., CAD)?
A: Enter the foreign customer’s payment in the company’s home currency (e.g., USD) in the Apply Payment function as follows:
- Deposit Bank #: Since the payment is in the company’s home currency (e.g., USD); then, this must be a bank account with the same currency as your home currency.
- Paid Amount: Enter the amount paid in the customer’s currency (e.g., CAD).
- Bank Currency: Enter the home currency equivalent of the Paid Amount.
- Pay Currency: Enter the currency exchange rate at the time payment was made. If there is no foreign currency exchange gain/(loss), then the exchange rate must be the same as the exchange rate in the invoice.
- Apply Amount: Enter the amount paid in the customer’s currency for the applicable invoice.
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Why Was My Accrued Received Goods Account Not Reversed?
Versions: AM11 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Modules: AP, PO
Q: When creating an AP invoice, I entered the PO number in the PO # field of the AP Invoice Transactions function; however, the Accrued Received Goods GL account was not reversed when I reviewed the journal entries in the GL Distribution tab. Why?
A: Entering the PO # will not reverse the accrual. You must match the PO receipt against the AP invoice by clicking the Overwrite Match Amount button in the Matched Amt field of the AP Invoice Transactions function. This will display the AP/PO Matching window, where you can enter the Match Qty and review/edit the Inv Unit Cost. Doing this will reverse the accrual by debiting the Accrued Received Goods GL account for the Total Matched Amt.
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Can I Close the Periods if I Haven’t Reconciled My Bank Account?
Versions: AM 11 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: BR
Q: Can I close fiscal periods even if I have not reconciled my bank accounts in BR?
A: Yes, you can. Closing fiscal periods in any of the modules, including BR, does not affect bank reconciliation.
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