Dear Clients,
One of the most common pieces of advice for any pursuit is “practice what you’re NOT good at.” Of course, there’s some basics you have to get down for minimum competency—but once you have a foundation… it makes logical sense to strengthen your weaknesses, right?
Well, a piece of advice regularly offered by superstar guitarist Steve Vai is, focus your practice on what you’re already good at and become GREAT at that. (Not familiar with Vai? Check out his song, Teeth of the Hydra.)
A more recent example is the Olympic phenom “Pommel Horse Guy,” Stephen Nedoroscik, who decided to focus solely on ONE of the six apparatuses in men’s gymnastics—to great success and multiple Olympic medals.
In the business world…
If you’re Chick-fil-A, then you’re good at making chicken sandwiches that taste so good they need to invent a new word for your sandwiches—and with the fastest drive-thru service on the planet. So, how about adding hamburgers to the menu? That would be crazy, right?! (Looking at you, Arby’s Hamburger.) OK, Chick-fil-A, how about making your drive-thru even faster? Yes, that’s what they’re doing…
If you’re UPS or FedEx, then you’re good at getting packages moved quickly. So, how about adding SUPERFAST options like “first thing tomorrow morning”? Both of those carriers have done so, with one having to play catch-up to the other…
Sure, you can always compete in a race to the bottom on price, but that’s often with reduced quality of the product or service—and reduced margin for you. Thus, many buyers focus more on a minimum acceptable level of quality and that’s where you can establish a true advantage by being THE BEST IN YOUR NICHE!
The first step to greatness is to determine, “What are you good at?” And don’t cop out with, “Our customer service is the best,” unless you have TONS of supporting evidence. Even if you’re in a commodity business there’s always different grades and quality levels of the product. Or you could focus on your stocking levels or delivery times.
With that identified, how can you make it even better? You’re probably already pretty good at what you do, so this takes thinking outside the box. This is hyper-specific to each business, so look for ideas to adapt from other applications.
Get your team members involved to contribute ideas; talk to your peers in other industries for ideas; pick the brains of well-networked and naturally curious professionals (investors, journalists, consultants…) who see the operations of many companies; read business books about innovation, delighting customers, or efficiency. And visit your customers to watch them in conversation with their customers—to gain an even deeper understanding of their priorities so you can spot more ways to add value. Focus on improving what you’re good at to make it great!
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In-Housing Payroll
Have you considered the benefits to bringing your payroll back in-house? With the highly configurable payroll systems we support, it’s genuinely less effort than out-housed, to which you have to communicate every little detail anyways.
With in-house integrated payroll, you also don’t need to make manual journal entries or postings to Bank Rec, and we even have flexible built-in import functionality for external time tracking systems.
January 1st is the clear best go-live date for payroll as, regardless of your fiscal calendar, payroll tax reporting for employees operates on the calendar year—and thus it’s time to start planning.
Uncoincidentally, be sure to check out details below on the annual AccountMate payroll module training coming up this month!
Regards,
Kevin E. Stroud
kestrou@nexlan.com
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
AccountMate Training: Final Reminders for These Two Classes
It’s not too late to register for the last pair of 2024 AccountMate SQL/Express classes!
1. Payroll Module Product Training—September 16-20 (register by Sept. 9)
View the Payroll Module class details:
Course Overview | Course Outline | Course Schedule
➤ To register or ask questions, contact NexLAN.
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2. Core Product Training—October 2 – November 7 (register by Sept. 25)
View the Core Modules class details:
Course Overview | Course Outline | Course Schedule
➤ To register or ask questions, contact NexLAN.
AccountMate Carrier Integrations for Shipping
Do you ship more than a dozen packages per day?
And are you logging in to your FedEx, UPS, USPS, and DHL accounts to compare rates, and then you ship each parcel from there? And then you copy the tracking number, freight cost, and other details into AccountMate and to your customer?
If so, ShipIt for AccountMate, from AKA Consulting, can help you spend a lot less time getting your orders out the door to your customers.
➤ How ShipIt works
Setup
ShipIt plugs AccountMate into ShipStation, one of the top carrier integrators. There’s no software to install and no AccountMate customizations to create. Mostly it’s configuring your local desktop thermal and laser label printers, and electronic scales—and choosing your preferred settings like default minimum insurance value.
Shipping
Step 1 – In AccountMate, create your Sales Order with items and quantities, ship-to address, etc. Then ship the Sales Order and Save. ShipStation is updated with this order’s information in seconds.
Step 2 – In your web browser, in your ShipStation account, choose the sales order from your list of orders. Add boxes if you want. Shop for rates to see a comparison chart (the rates are always live and current), and choose a carrier. Click to create a label. Click to process the shipment.
Step 3 – Back in AccountMate, you’ll see that ShipStation has updated your invoice to include the tracking number(s), weights, freight costs, etc. Cool!
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➤ Are you a high-volume shipper?
- ShipIt and ShipStation give you access to over 100 carriers, marketplaces (Amazon, Shopify, eBay…), and sales channels, with rate shopping and delivery option comparisons.
- That includes LTL (less than truckload) carriers for you to schedule freight forwarding with trucking companies, while generating the documents for you, like bills of lading.
- For batch shipping, the included ShipStation mobile app lets you use your phone to scan barcodes on packages—it will match those to your sales orders and pull up the right order for you to process. Just click to print batch labels from your phone or tablet.
Learn more about ShipIt
➤ See a list of built-in features on our website. Watch a 30-minute ShipIt demo and webinar recording from AccountMate and ShipIt. And reach out to NexLAN with questions about how ShipIt would work with your types of shipping.
Acumatica Parcel Shipping Options Aplenty
Shipping items efficiently to customers is mission-critical for most NexLAN clients’ businesses. Acumatica has enough carrier integration improvements that it’s worth a fresh look at what’s new if you haven’t checked in awhile.
➤ Here’s what’s new with shipping integrations in Acumatica 2024 R1
- The Fedex integration now allows you to connect to either your Fedex sandbox or your live company from within the same tenant, so you can test your Fedex shipping configurations before processing a live shipment.
- The UPS integration has been updated to the latest security authentication standards.
- Acumatica supports the new USPS shipping service called USPS Ground Advantage, via Stamps.com, EasyPost, and ShipEngine.
- ShipEngine now supports the purchase of Amazon Buy Labels, a big money saver if you’re selling on Amazon and using the Acumatica Amazon Connector.
- The 3G Pacejet shipping integration has been moved into Acumatica’s core functionality, meaning once the license has been purchased, your system is ready for 3G Pacejet configuration with no Acumatica customizations needed.
Watch 2024 R1 Core – Carrier Integrations, a 4-minute video from Acumatica with more details.
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➤ Explore Acumatica shipping integrations to find new ways to save time and money
Acumatica makes it easy to improve your customers’ experience in receiving their orders from you.
Domestic single-carrier parcel
The built-in, direct-to-Fedex and UPS integrations are configurable to your Fedex and UPS business accounts. Both automatically pull in your negotiated shipping rates and tracking numbers into your system for each order and shipment, as well as print your shipping labels from your Acumatica system.
International single-carrier parcel
The Stamps.com integration supports USPS shipping and gives you all the benefits listed above in addition to international shipping and customs documents.
Multi-carrier parcel
You can use dozens of carriers from within Acumatica with multi-carrier integration like EasyPost and ShipEngine. Both provide rate shopping and shipping speed comparisons. They’ll write tracking numbers into your system and print your shipping labels. EasyPost charges no fees on up to 120,000 packages per year and can create daily manifests and scan forms. ShipEngine validates even global addresses for deliverability, and supports Amazon Buy Shipping.
Multi-carrier parcel and freight
Powerful integrations like 3G Pacejet give you access to multiple carriers for parcel and freight shipping, including LTL, FTL, and 3PL services, as well as all of the benefits above. You’ll be able to manage all shipping paperwork digitally, like export certificates of origin, tariff documents, hazardous materials documents, and advanced shipping notices.
Contact NexLAN to talk through your shipping types and typical volumes, to see if any of these integrations would easily pay for themselves while making your team’s work easier.
Acumatica Inventory-Focused Webinars in September
1. Mastering Demand Planning for Optimal Inventory Management
September 19, 2024, 12:00-1:00 CT
Akin to the classic kids’ story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you don’t want your inventory levels to be “too high,” or “too low.”
You want your inventory levels to be “just right!”
This webinar will showcase how Acumatica Cloud ERP optimizes inventory levels with strong and flexible DRP (Distribution Requirements Planning) and MRP (Manufacturing Requirements Planning). So you can avoid stockouts that make you unable to fulfill customer orders, while at the same time avoiding overstocked warehouses that unnecessarily tie up your company’s cash.
Register here. You’ll also receive a link to the webinar recording after the event.
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2. Overcome Distribution Challenges: Inventory, Purchasing, and Warehousing
September 26, 2024, 12:00-12:45 CT
Get a solid overview of the Acumatica Distribution Edition. Acumatica helps you continuously achieve and improve operational excellence, with powerful modern features, for example:
- “Omnichannel sales” that connects and syncs all your sales channels together in your system, and makes it easy to add new channels as you expand to new markets. From ecommerce and EDI to retail stores and other point of sale locations, to tailored online sales portals for your customers—and of course to your sales and service teams too.
- Robust capabilities for the things that distributors need to be good at, so that nothing falls through the cracks. Like drop-shipping orders, managing sales order allocations, demand planning, easy customer returns, item pricing management, and more.
- Anytime, anywhere access to the full system on phones, tablets, and computers, in the office, in the warehouse, on the customer’s site, and remote anywhere. Plus you can give your vendors and customers direct access to the info they need as well. (Remember, Acumatica has consumption-based pricing, so you don’t pay more when you want to add a new user.)
Register here. You’ll also receive a link to the webinar recording after the event.
AccountMate Tech Note: How to Track Inventory through the AccountMate Manufacturing Process
Converting inventory items from raw materials to finished products can be an extensive process. If you are entrusted with inventory management, you must monitor the inventory items’ status through all phases: Creating the work order; exploding the work order; posting the work-in-process; and posting the finished job.
It’s also important to accurately track inventory quantities through the manufacturing process: Manufacturing quantity, allocated quantity, in-process quantity, used quantity, finished quantity, released quantity, on-hand quantity.
Article #1101: How to Track Inventory through the AccountMate Manufacturing Process explains tracking inventory through the stages of AccountMate’s manufacturing cycle.
AccountMate Tech Note: FX Transactions that Affect the AP Revaluation Process
AccountMate is designed to allow the revaluation of foreign currency-denominated invoices based on the applicable exchange rates as of the revaluation date. Aptly called the MultiCurrency Revaluation function, this feature addresses the need to recognize the effects of currency exchange rate fluctuations on the financial statement balances.
Article #1059: Transactions that Affect the AP Revaluation Process provides a list of transactions that impact the AP multi-currency revaluation process, along with details that explain how they work.
Acumatica Technical Tips
Where Do I Find My Unreleased Documents to Close My Financial Period?
Q: I am trying to close a financial period in my system from the Close Financial Periods screen, but I’m getting the message, “Error: Unreleased documents exist for the financial period.” How can I find what unreleased documents exist?
A: On the Close Financial Periods screen, when you have checked the box for the financial period you want to close, along the top of the screen click Unreleased Documents. You will get a new tab with a report of all unreleased documents in your system for that period, for you to address.
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How is Dead Stock Calculated?
Q: In my Inventory > Inquiries > Dead Stock report, how is the dead stock determined?
A: (Note: Dead stock is the inventory that is not moving out of your warehouse or is slow-moving. It’s not selling well because it’s expired, obsolete, low quality, out of season, etc.)
To calculate dead stock quantities, the Dead Stock Detection inquiry deducts the quantity of items in sales orders (including field service orders and production orders), shipments, and other documents that affect the quantity on hand, from the quantity of items that have remained in stock for the specified time period.
The following rules apply to the stock items that can be listed on this inquiry form:
- If on the Warehouses (IN204000) form for a warehouse, on the Locations tab, the Cost Separately checkbox is selected, the system calculates the cost of an item for the warehouse, not for the location.
- If a stock item has sub-items, the system shows information without sub-item details.
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How to Add and Remove Items from Your Workspace Quick Menus
Tip: When you open a workspace in Acumatica, such as Purchases, you see a list (called a quick menu) of some of the available actions and reports for that workspace. You can add and subtract items in your workspace quick menus to personalize your Acumatica system to fit you and your tasks. All items will still be available to you when you click Show All at the bottom of your workspace.
Give personalization a quick try—it’s easy:
In the top right corner of the workspace quick menu you want to edit, click the gear symbol. On the configuration screen that opens, check or uncheck boxes to choose the items you want shown on your workspace quick menu and then click Exit. Going forward, only the items you have checked will show on your workspace quick menu.
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How to Get Sales Order Transfers into Inventory
Q: How do I get a Sales Order Transfer (TR, transfer receipt) out of the ‘In Transit’ state, and get that inventory into the destination warehouse?
A: You still need to create a Purchase Receipt in the Purchases module to receive the items in the destination warehouse. Go to Purchases Workspace > Transactions > Purchase Receipts > New.
Enter a Type of Transfer Receipt and enter the destination Warehouse. Above the line-item grid, click Add Transfer and in the pop-up check the box for the completed transfer shipments you need to receive. Then at the bottom of the pop-up click Add & Close. Finally, at the top of the screen click Release to finish your transfer.
AccountMate Technical Tips
Where Does AccountMate Get the Bill To/Ship To Information for an Invoice?
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: AR
Q: Where does the invoice’s Bill To/Ship To information come from?
A: The Bill To/Ship To information comes from the invoice record.
When you create an invoice, the default Bill To/Ship To comes from the Customer Address Maintenance entered in the Customer Maintenance ► Information ► Bill To/Ship To field. If the Bill To/Ship To field is empty, then the default comes from the main address in the Information tab of the customer record.
If the invoice was created from a shipment, then the invoice’s default Bill To/Ship To comes from the sales order.
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I Accidentally Printed Checks to a Printer Loaded with Plain Paper
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: AP
Q: After printing a batch of checks, I realized that I selected the wrong printer. The checks were printed on plain paper and not on actual check forms. Is there a way to print the checks for the same invoices on actual check forms?
A: Yes; use the Re-print Computer Check function. Perform the following to reprint checks:
- Access the Re-print Computer Check function.
- Enter the range of checks that were erroneously printed.
- Place the check forms in the correct printer.
- Click the Print Checks button, being sure to select the correct printer.
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Including Past-Due Invoices in a Cash Flow Projection
Versions: AM11.2 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Modules: AR, BR
Q: How can I include past-due AR invoices in my cash flow projection?
A: Mark the Include Past Due AR Invoices in Cash Flow option in the Projected Cash Flow function. Be sure to enter the Collection % for each aging range for applicable customers so AccountMate can calculate the projected collection.
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A Recorded Transaction Is Missing from the Inventory Transaction Log
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: IC
Q: A transaction was recorded for an item; however, the transaction doesn’t appear in Inventory Transaction Log. Why?
A: An inventory item’s transaction will only appear in the Inventory Transaction Log report if the item is set to update on-hand quantity (i.e., the item’s Inventory Maintenance ► Settings (1) ► General ► Update On-hand checkbox is marked) at the time the transaction was recorded.
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