I originally thought of “time” as the theme for this month’s newsline due to the onset of daylight savings time, and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to also show respect to The King of Cool once I found this quote:
“Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.” –Miles Davis
While Miles was referring to polyrhythms in music, time is often “the only thing” in the accounting world as well—in several important areas that your system can help you optimize for your business:
- Sales Order Fulfillment: Are you satisfying your customers’ required dates? I’m sure you keep a close eye on your Open Orders reported (hopefully by Request Date), but how about reviewing if you’re meeting your customer expectations on timely shipping?
- AR Aging: While this is the most obvious report to watch closely, very few companies view this when sorted by “Due Date”—which gives a SUPER clear picture of invoices long past their due date and can help you focus on a REAL PROBLEM.
- Note: We’ve seen systems where the actual “aging days” were inadvertently edited, making the “Net Days” incorrect—and thus the Aging Reports don’t display as expected. In AccountMate, this is called Pay Codes and in Acumatica, Credit Terms. Please ensure those are configured the way you expect and limit access to the maintenance screen for them!
- Inventory Aging: Even if you don’t stock perishable goods like fruits and vegetables, it’s good to know how long inventory has been on hand.
- Purchase Order Fulfillment: Akin to above, are your vendors satisfying YOU? Perhaps there are some extremely old Purchase Orders outstanding, which would throw off your MRP calculations. But, more importantly, also check to see how well your vendors are meeting YOUR required delivery dates.
- Accrued Received Goods: If you’re purchasing inventory via Purchase Order then you’re doing it right and you’re exercising the ARG functionality of the system to debit inventory and credit a liability at time of PO Receipt. Thus, until the AP invoice is entered, you have an accrued/expected liability and these are commonly overlooked during AP invoice entry process. So be sure to check the <PO Line Items for AP Matching> in AccountMate or <Purchase Accrual Details> in Acumatica, sorted by the received date, as items more than a week or so old are highly suspect as having been overlooked—and thus throwing off your financial statements.
- AP Aging: This is another valuable report that sometimes isn’t looked at in regard to, “What’s on this report that’s very old and shouldn’t be there?”
These are some good ways to look at your accounting from the angle of TIME, which we’re happy to assist you with. And if you’re not familiar with Miles’ work, then here’s a relatively palatable sample I dare you to not tap your foot to: What Is It.
■ ■ ■
One of the hottest topics in business lately is how to handle tariffs and import duties. First, decide if you’ll be expensing these costs or incorporating them into the value of the inventory. Then, either way, we’ve got you handled! Acumatica has an entire section in their Help Wiki, while for AccountMate you’ll want to check out this Tech Note.
Regards,
Kevin E. Stroud
kestrou@nexlan.com
NexLAN, LLC
https://nexlan.com
AccountMate: Personalized Training Options from NexLAN
You already know that we heartily recommend the core training classes offered by AccountMate Corp. Did you also know that NexLAN offers a variety of additional training, from short, single sessions to deeper dives—all tailored to you, your company, and your system? Here are the possibilities:
1. Training on individual modules
Is there an AccountMate module that you want to understand better? Or maybe you’re taking on a new role in your company and it requires using a module that’s new to you? And you don’t want to wait until the next scheduled Core Modules training class?
NexLAN classes are done in a copy of your system that has your customers, vendors, items, chart of accounts, and customizations. These classes are held online most of the time, for maximum scheduling flexibility, with no travel expenses.
See our AccountMate/SQL Training Outline with 11 modules and what each session covers.
2. AccountMate orientation for new hires
- An overview of AccountMate for new employees
Great for new employees coming from companies that use other accounting software. We often give overviews to new hires to get them comfortable in AccountMate quickly, and show them where to find key things that they’ll need in their new roles.
- An overview of your unique system for management
This is helpful information for new management, like a CFO or controller. We go over your AccountMate system’s modules, add-ons, and customizations; your system’s status and tech support trends; your company’s history of projects with NexLAN, the roles of your IT and NexLAN, and more.
- An overview of AccountMate for IT folks
Great when you have a newly outsourced IT company or a new inhouse IT Director. We review areas like AccountMate security and user accounts, system requirements and performance, backups, and deployment. Plus, we go over what NexLAN handles for user support and system enhancements.
- An overview of AccountMate for a company that may be acquiring your company
It’s common for the acquiring company’s IT team to have geek-level questions about existing essential software applications like AccountMate, as they seek to understand the need for things like upgrades, integrations, and support. NexLAN is adept at doing this type of briefing.
3. Training on anything that YOU want to be trained on
Just as AccountMate is flexible software, NexLAN’s training is flexible, too.
Is there a reconciliation process that keeps tripping you up—and you want us to explain it in detail and talk you through the steps on Zoom? Has your team decided that you will begin tracking your inventory of kits and their component items in AccountMate—and your managers want to be trained so they can roll out training to everyone else? Training topics are wide open to fit your needs.
■ ■ ■
Training is a billable event. And we’re happy to record the training session for you and your team to reference.
Hopefully, this list of options leaves you feeling that you can reach out to NexLAN anytime for a targeted, expert training session that will make your job easier!
Contact us with your training questions.
AccountMate Core Product Training—Online June 4 – July 17
Is someone at your company new to AccountMate, or new to a particular module? This live, hands-on course covers the core modules of AccountMate SQL/Express.
Class is held twice a week for a grand total of 39 hours, with half day sessions beginning at 11:00 AM Central. You’ll focus on one module each session, with time for hands-on practice and questions. You can choose the modules you want to learn ($400 each session, per person), or attend all of them ($3,200).
And don’t forget, this is the training that you can attend free annually if you have a current Lifecycle Maintenance Plan. The number of free users depends on your number of AccountMate users; see the Course Overview link below for a chart on that.
Tip: The person from your company attending each class (module) doesn’t have to be the same person.
Note: This class is held a few times per year, and will repeat October 1 – November 30 in 2025.
Modules covered:
- System Manager
- General Ledger
- Inventory Control
- Accounts Payable
- Accounts Receivable
- Purchase Order
- Sales Order
- Bank Reconciliation
Class details: Course Overview | Course Outline | Course Schedule
Contact NexLAN to register.
New in Acumatica 2025 R1: View Materials Availability of All Production Orders—and Take Next Production Steps—All In One Screen
The new Production Orders by Build Capability inquiry form cuts your planning time with color-coding to show which orders have enough materials for production
The Acumatica Manufacturing Edition’s 2025 R1 release includes a new, highly visual, Production Orders by Build Capability inquiry form so you can quickly assess which open orders are ready for production based on materials availability when you create the production schedule. This streamlines your workflow and minimizes production delays.
You can see the status of orders in the Readiness to Produce column highlighted in the color coding we all love of red, yellow, green:
- Not Ready (red): Materials are insufficient to complete the first operation.
- Ready to Start (yellow): Materials are available to complete the first operation.
- Partially Ready to Produce (light green): Materials are sufficient to produce a portion of the remaining quantity.
- Ready to Produce (dark green): All materials are available to produce the remaining quantity.
Find the Production Orders by Build Capability inquiry form in the Production Orders workspace.
Bonus: Manage your production planning from the same new form
The new side panel on the Production Orders by Build Capability form gives you quick access to steps to manage your production orders, so that you don’t have to leave the screen to take your next steps after reviewing the materials readiness:
- Production Order Maintenance—Drill down to view the full details for any production order.
- Critical Materials—Create a purchase order, a warehouse transfer, or a manufacture order for subcomponents needed to complete an order. Check on materials for this order.
- Production Tickets—Print the production tickets of the orders being released into production.
To learn more about the Production Orders by Build Capability form and see a highlight of other features added in the 2025 R1 Acumatica release, visit the webpage Introducing Acumatica Cloud ERP: 2025 R1. If you’re a materials or production planner, make sure to check this feature out when your Acumatica system upgrades to 2025 R1. (Most clients’ systems will update within a few months of the March 20 release date.) Got questions? Shoot us an email.
Acumatica Professional Services Edition
If you’re a NexLAN client, then your main business, such as wholesale distribution or manufacturing, likely extends into other areas too—either by a little bit or a lot. One such area is professional services.
That’s where you’re selling project-based services that relate to the items you’re selling from your warehouse or plant floor. Like consulting, engineering, or field services. For example, perhaps you’re a made-to-order manufacturer with a team of experts that goes into the field to install and service the custom products that you make for your customers.
Project-based accounting for that expertise and labor has unique requirements. For example, on the finance side you need to generate invoices at project milestones or completion percentages, and tie revenue recognition to those milestones or percentages. And you need to bill customers by time and materials, cost plus, fixed prices, or contract-specific billing.
■ ■ ■
Acumatica’s Professional Services Edition works with your existing Acumatica system to add those project-based accounting capabilities and more. It helps you manage your projects, from quotes and planning, to execution, tracking, and analysis—per project, as well as big picture across your projects.
With this edition, you can:
- Optimize your use of project materials and resources
- Mitigate any scheduling, item availability, or profitability risks as they emerge mid-project
- Track always-current time and expenses
- Manage project schedules, teams, milestones, contracts, billing, and more
For an introduction to the capabilities that the Acumatica Professional Services Edition brings, click to enlarge the Features Diagram below. You can also watch a 7-minute video on Acumatica’s Product Tour page—scroll down to mid-page there for the Acumatica Professional Services Edition Overview video.
Reach out to NexLAN with your questions.
AccountMate Tech Note: Understanding the Inactive and Temporary Customer and Vendor Status
Proper maintenance of company records requires that you assign the correct status to the customer and vendor records. The customer and vendor status determines the transactions that can be recorded for the customer or vendor.
Article #1188: Understanding the Inactive and Temporary Customer and Vendor Status provides a list of transactions that cannot be recorded for inactive customers, inactive vendors, and temporary vendors in the Accounts Receivable, Sales Order, Return Merchandise Authorization, Accounts Payable, Purchase Order, and Return to Vendor Authorization modules. This document also discusses the difference between inactive and temporary vendors.
AccountMate Tech Note: Understanding the Impact on Inventory Value When More Items Are Shipped Than On-hand Quantities
Depending on the inventory cost method being used, shipping inventory items over their on-hand quantities results in different journal entries, but it ultimately has the same effect on the inventory balances.
Article #1067: Understanding the Impact on Inventory Value When More Items are Shipped Than On-hand Quantities presents the relevant journal entries and explains why the effect on inventory balances does not vary regardless of the inventory cost method being used.
Acumatica Technical Tips
Incoming Documents PDFs aren’t Dragging in
Q: When I try to drag a PDF into the Incoming Documents screen, it does not load or respond. I have already tried toggling the Enable/Disable AP Document Recognition Services function and that did not fix the issue. How can I get this working again?
A: You may need to clear your browser’s cookies and cached data. To do this in Google Chrome follow these steps:
- Click the three dots in the top right of your browser.
- Click Delete Browsing Data.
- Check the boxes next to Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files.
- Click Delete data.
- Close and restart your browser.
■ ■ ■
How Can I Mark a Sales Quote as Expired?
Q: We have several sales quotes open in our system, that we would like to mark as expired if they are older than 30 days. How can we do that?
A: There are two ways to mark sales quotes as expired in your system depending on how many you would like to cancel.
Option A
If you have a small number of sales quotes to cancel, you can do this directly from each sales quote. On the Sales Order screen for each sales quote, in the top right click the ellipsis and then click Cancel Order.
Option B
If you have a large number of sales quotes to cancel, you can cancel Sales Quotes en masse from the Process Orders screen. To do this go to Sales Orders > Processes > Process Orders. Change the Action drop down to Cancel Order. Check the boxes of all the sales quotes you would like to cancel, and then click Process.
■ ■ ■
How to Import Yearly Raises in Payroll
Q: I have yearly raises to update for all my employees. Is there a way to do this on a mass scale?
A: Absolutely there is. Making use of the many import scenarios is a huge benefit to the system. Here we can use the Import PR Employee Compensation Settings scenario. Follow these steps.
- Go to More Items > Configuration > Integration > Profiles > Import Scenarios.
- Use the search bar and search for and select the Import PR Employee Compensation Settings scenario.
- In the top right click FILES (1) and download the Excel sheet of the import format required.
- In the downloaded Excel file, clear out the sample data, leaving the required headers in place.
- Enter your updates into the Excel file and save the file.
- Use the universal search bar in Acumatica to lookup and click the Import by Scenario screen.
- On the Import by Scenario screen, change the Name field to the Import PR Employee Compensation Settings scenario.
- At the top left, click the plus sign and then click Choose File.
- Select the Excel file with your updates and then click Upload.
- Along the top of the screen click Prepare to validate the data you have in your spreadsheet before the final upload.
- Along the top of the screen click Import to finalize the import.
■ ■ ■
Can I Drop Ship Items with Serial Numbers?
Q: I am trying to drop ship an item that is serial tracked but the system isn’t letting me. How do I enable this?
A: To turn this on, go to Inventory > Preferences > Lot/Serial Classes and select your Class ID for drop ship. For the Assignment Method, change the drop down to When Used and save your changes.
AccountMate Technical Tips
How Can I Print Another Copy of My Bank Deposit Report?
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: AR
Q: I recorded a bank deposit using the Record Bank Deposit function. I usually print the bank deposit report after I save the transaction but I failed to do so. Is there a way to reprint the bank deposit report for the deposit that I recorded?
A: Yes, you can print the Bank Deposit Report for all deposits or a particular deposit in Reports ► Bank Reports ► Bank Deposit Report.
■ ■ ■
Can I Overuse a Component if it’s Set to Not Allow Negative Qty On-Hand ?
Versions: AM11 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: MI
Q: If the component item is not set to Allow Negative Qty On-Hand Updates, can I still explode the work order even if the component’s on-hand quantity is less than the work order’s required quantity?
A: Yes, you can if the Allow Overuse of Inventory for Component Items checkbox is marked in the MI Module Setup ► General (1) tab.
■ ■ ■
How Do I Add a Missing Bank to My Executive Summary?
Versions: AM11 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: SM
Q: One of my banks is missing in the Executive Summary ► Details ► Total Bank Balance window. Why?
A: To ensure that all your banks are listed in the Executive Summary ► Details ► Total Bank Balance window, verify the following:
- The Use in Accounts Payable, Use in Payroll, and Use in Sales Order/Accounts Receivable checkboxes are marked in the Executive Summary ► Setup (PO/AP/Bank) tab.
- At least one of the Use in Accounts Payable, Use in Payroll, and Use in Sales Order/Accounts Receivable checkboxes are marked in the Bank Account Maintenance ► Information tab for the missing bank.
■ ■ ■
How Can I See All AP Invoices?
Versions: AM10 for SQL and Express (and higher versions)
Module: AP
Q: The AP Invoice Transactions ► Invoice # Search window does not display all invoices. Why?
A: The AP Invoice Transactions ► Invoice # Search window only displays current AP invoices. Historical AP invoices are shown in the Historical Invoice # Search window. To display the Historical Invoice # Search window, click the Archived Invoices Lookup button beside the AP Invoice # Lookup button.
Also, deferred expense invoices are not displayed in the AP Invoice Transactions ► Invoice # Search window, as deferred expense invoices can only be viewed and amended through the Deferred Expense Invoice function.
Subscription Information
If you or someone else in your office would like to automatically receive our NewsLine in your inbox each month, please email newsletter@nexlan.com.
