Dear AccountMate Clients,
We regularly provide information on ways to extend and leverage your AccountMate system, but I’d like to take this opportunity to chat about, “How confident are you that your systems already in place are working as you expect?”
Everyone who reads this NewsLine knows that I’m a dedicated long distance runner – running my sixth consecutive Boston Marathon in two weeks – and am sure you’re not surprised that I prepare every year with a detailed training plan, most of which is run on a treadmill to avoid the icy winter roads.
One of the key components of treadmill training is setting the incline so that the run is at a comparable effort to running on roads. So, imagine my surprise when I recently discovered that an internal bracket in my treadmill had broken at some point in the past few months – and thus my workouts haven’t been as strenuous as I thought.
I’ll be honest, this borders on catastrophe to me! I won’t be able to run near the pace I was expecting to – but it’s really not the fault of the planning and preparation, it’s because I wasn’t monitoring the plan closely and confirming it was being executed properly.
So, stop and think, how many systems and processes do you have in place – and how do you monitor them?
Fortunately, monitoring your AccountMate processes at a high level is very straightforward: If you confirm all the accounts on your Balance Sheet at month-end, then you know that the bottom line of your Income Statement is correct. Sure, there could be some items mis-categorized, but the bottom line profit/loss will definitely be correct.
We even provide a handy single-page Month-End Checklist which details the specific reports to use to proof the transactional accounts on the Balance Sheet such as Cash, Open AR, Inventory, etc. If you’re not using a copy, then you should be!, just email us to request a copy in MS-Word format so you can tailor it to your specific needs.
If you don’t regularly validate your Balance Sheet, then you’ll likely have to make some correcting entries to get in sync – then check again at the end of the following month and if any accounts are off then you’ll only have a single month of transactions to go through to find the discrepancies. Or, as described in last month’s NewsLine, you could even proof the Balance Sheet well before closing the month by doing a “soft post” <Transfer to GL> from the subsidiary modules.
As I’ve recently been reminded, monitoring process performance is at least as important as initially setting up good processes – and it’s not nearly as tough – so please contact us if you’d like any assistance in doing that for your AccountMate system.
I don’t have to do a running update this month now, but I’ll just pass along one personal note: Welcomed my beautiful red-headed daughter, Aleya Nichole Stroud, into the world on March 16th. She and my wife are both healthy and doing fine.
Kevin E. Stroud
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
INFOtrac: Customer Relationship Management
INFOtrac is a Customer Relationship Management solution which reports on every interaction entered for a prospect, client, and supplier; it will even schedule the next appropriate interaction for you – enabling exceptional account management and customer service.
It makes it so your contact information is easily searchable and manageable so you can access required records quickly in order to generate reports, mail merges or other customer service/management related activities. INFOtrac also provides for superior customization, allowing you to alter fields and screens to the way your business works.
For more information, please visit https://nexlan.com/accountmate/vertical-solutions/customer-relationship-management/ or contact NexLAN at 877.2NexLAN or nexlan@nexlan.com.
AccountMate Core Product Training
Are you new to AccountMate or just having problems working your way around the software? AccountMate is offering a three-day training course at their Petaluma, CA Corporate Office on July 18-20, 2012, which will cover the installation and implementation of AccountMate, as well as, discuss the key features in each of the core financial modules: General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Sales Order, Upsell Management, Accounts Payable, PUrchase Order, Bank Reconciliation, plus the basic Inventory Control features.
If you are interested in registering or receiving more information, please contact us at 877.2NexLAN or nexlan@nexlan.com
Application Improvements Released
Application improvements are regularly released, but we’ve honestly wrestled with the best means of notifying you about them. Since many installations are customized, installation sometimes requires integration of the updates with customizations already in place; and many issues being addressed occur only in very narrow circumstances (such as when multi-currency is configured, or other such esoteric conditions) so we’re hesitant to make everyone think every patch even has to be installed.
So, with those caveats, we’d like to make you aware that AccountMate has recently released program amendments to address the following possible issues in AM SQL/Express 8. These application improvements are available to clients with an active AccountMate Software Maintenance Plan and we’re happy to provide them to you directly, or to install/integrate them (which would be a billable event).
AM SQL/Express V8
Module: AP
Problem: Getting error: Failed to retrieve data from database in AP Past Due Aging Report preview.
Module: AP
Problem: Generate recurring AP invoice causes OOB if vendor currency is not the same as company home currency.
Module: SO
Problem: Changing the SO request date does not ask whether the new date will apply to all line items.
Module: AP, PO
Problem: Encounter VFP 1581 “Field LAPPLYTAX does not accept null values” in AP Invoice Transactions.
Module: PO
Problem: Cancel Received Goods cannot proceed if PO has line item with a negative on-hand quantity.
Module: AP
Problem: AP Past-Due Aging Report does not show ACH payments.
Module: AR
Problem: AccountMate overwrites the tax amount specified in the import text file.
*NOTE: this fix is available for MS801, MS706, and MS703.
Module: AP
Problem: Inconsistent recording of reprinted AP checks using the same check numbers in check reports.
Tech Notes: Transactions that Affect AR Multi-Currency Revaluation
Companies that have foreign currency receivables may need to revalue these receivables in order to present them correctly in the financial statements. Under the current economic conditions, revaluation of receivables may have an even bigger impact on the company’s financial statements and must therefore be performed with great care. The Multi-Currency Revaluation function in AccountMate provides the facility to revalue the foreign currency invoices to home currency using the latest currency exchange rates.
This month we revisit a Technical Note that explains how various transactions affect the revaluation of multi-currency invoices. Click on the article’s title below to access the downloadable PDF version.
Article 1076: Transactions that Affect AR Multi-Currency Revaluations
Technical Tips
Versions: AM8 for SQL and Express
AM7 for SQL, Express and LAN
AM6.5 for LAN
Module: GL, AR, SO, AP, PO, IC, PR, BR, MI, RA
Q: If we close the 2011 fiscal year, can we re-open the 2011 fiscal year and post adjusting entries for 2011?.
A: No. AccountMate does not allow you to re-open the 2011 fiscal year; however, you can still post adjusting entries for the immediate prior year. AccountMate keeps 3 years open for posting transactions: the prior year, current year, and future year. If your current fiscal year is 2012; then, you can still post transactions (e.g., post adjusting entries) to the 2011 fiscal year provided that the period to which the transaction belongs to (e.g., period 13) is not restricted for posting in the Posting Period Restrictions function.
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Versions: AM8 for SQL and Express
AM7 for SQL, Express and LAN
AM6.5 for LAN
Module: PO
Q: How do I show the item number and vendor part number in purchase orders?
A: To print vendor part numbers on line items in a purchase order, you must mark the Use Vendor Part # for PO Entry and the Print Item # on Purchase Order checkboxes in the vendor record. Be sure to set up the vendor part numbers using the Inventory Vendor Maintenance function.
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Versions: AM8 for SQL and Express
AM7 for SQL and Express (version 7.6 or higher) and LAN (version 7.4 or higher)
Module: PO, SO, AR, RA, MI, IC
TIP: In AccountMate versions 7 and 8 for SQL and Express, the Inventory Adjustment function is enhanced to use as the default bin location the first active bin that is set up in the item’s record using the Inventory Maintenance ► Warehouse ► Bin Setup function. You may amend the value in this field. This feature is now available in AccountMate 7 for LAN, starting in version 7.4.
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