Sage Mas 90 and Mas 200 version 4.4 added some features to the Inventory Physical Count functions that you may find useful during Quarter-End or Year-End Inventory Counting. You may want to review these new options before your next Physical Count to see which options are best for your situation.

For those using MAS 90 or MAS 200 version 4.40:

Option to print the system’s on-hand count on the Count Sheets for reference.  This can quickly alert people to review discrepancies while they are counting.

Option to set the system’s on-hand quantity as the default-count value so you only have to enter the exceptions, not every single count.

Inventory quantities can be stored with up to 4 decimal places if you need that.

Count Card Entry Introduced in version 4.40.05 in summer, 2011:  To assist with doing a physical count of diverse inventory in a large warehouse, you can now enter counts for the same item in different locations on individual count cards. This new option will help prevent you from counting the same inventory twice, and is useful when you have the same items located in multiple locations across your warehouse. When you enter your individually numbered count card information, it can be more accurately tracked, and missing cards can be easily spotted. To speed data entry, multiple users can enter information on cards. Once you’ve entered all your count card information, your quantities can be totaled by item for each warehouse, and you can make any necessary adjustments before posting thel Count Card Variance Register.  Use Count Card Entry, Count Card Report, Missing Card Listing and Count Card Variance instead of Physical Count Entry and Physical Count Variance Register.

Let us know if you have questions about these features.

How to track documents e-mailed or faxed in Paperless Office? 

How to distribute reports by e-mail using Paperless Office?

Tracking documents e-mailed or faxed in Paperless Office.  After a document is e-mailed or faxed (for example, sales order invoice) the Sent field for the document changes to Y in the Viewer section for that document.   To display this information, go to the appropriate viewer for your document, in this case,  the Paperless Office Customer Viewer.  Expand the window horizontally, or scroll to the right to view the Sent column. This column displays a Y after a .pdf document is electronically delivered by e-mail or fax.

Distributing reports by e-mail using Paperless Office.

You can e-mail reports to people directly from report printing using Paperless Office.  Here’s how:  Go to Paperless Office Options.  Select the Reports check box under Enable Electronic Delivery and PDF Storage, and click Accept.  You’ll need to tell the system where to store pdf files for reports.  On the Setup menu, double-click Report Maintenance.  In the Company Code field, enter either a company code or All. In the Module Code field, enter either a module code or All.  Select either the desired report or All Reports from the Document list. (“All Reports” populates the Document field if the “All Modules” option is selected.)  Click the Browse Directory button, and select the folder to use for storing the PDF files. (For Mas 200, a UNC address format is required here).  For AutoCreate PDF, select either Yes or Prompt (system will prompt at time of creation).  Select an option from the Password Protect list, and define a password if desired. Click Accept. If the “All Companies” and “All Modules” options are not selected, repeat the above steps for all desired company, module, and document  combinations.

Printing reports  to PDF:    We’ll use the A/R Accounts Receivable Aging as an example.  Expand Modules, Account Receivable, and Reports. Double-click A/R Aged Invoice Report.  Select Paperless Office from the printer list in the lower-left corner of the window. Click Print. The Paperless Office Selection window opens.   You are given e-mail and fax options.  Here is where you specify the e-mail addresses for this report for this print only, and the subject-line for the e-mails.  Note: A form code other than Standard must be used to save the Paperless Office printer as the default printer. Choose your desired options, and then click Proceed.  To use the e-mail or  fax options, they must be configured in Company Maintenance.

Since you used Paperless Office as the printer for the report, you can View the report in the Report Viewer, and you can e-mail or fax the report from the viewer also.  Select Report Viewer on the Paperless Office Main menu.  Click Refresh if the Report Viewer check box under Load Data on Initial Viewer Access is not selected in Paperless Office Options.  Double-click a report to view it. Reports can be printed, emailed, or faxed from this screen by clicking the electronic-delivery (envelope icon) on the right.  Call the Friendly Systems support line at: 678-273-4010 ext 2 – if you need assistance.

Do you ever have business situations that catch you by surprise (of course, we all do). If key people are out of the office, can they or anyone keep track of important developments that require immediate decisions? Business Alerts can trigger automatic e-mail alerts to one or more people based on the data in your accounting system. The actual alert triggers can be set based on the formulas that are important to your business.
Examples:
The Purchasing Manager can be alerted when:
An item is below its minimum stock level at a warehouse. Never run out of a best selling item.
The cost of an item received exceeds the standard cost for that item or the cost varies by a high percentage from the usual cost of that item.

A Purchase Order was not received by the required-date, the system will notify the Purchasing department and the appropriate vendor with an e-mail.

Salespeople can be alerted when an inventory item’s price changes – or when a customer has not been active for a certain number of days.

Account managers can be notified when one of their customers has an invoice that is past due by 30 (60,90,etc.) days or more.

The Sales Manager can be notified when an order does not ship by the shipping date.

Contact us at Friendly Systems if you want to learn more about using Business Alerts to work for your company.

Credit card transactions from your customers are not automatically updated to your GL cash account and your Bank Reconciliation module. To manually post credit card transactions to GL and Bank Reconciliation, either enter the day-end settlement amount in General Ledger Transaction Journal Entry, or enter the day-end settlement amount in Accounts Receivable Cash Receipts Entry.  The method you choose will determine your options for reporting these transactions.

Entering the day-end settlement amount in General Ledger Transaction Journal Entry

Using this method, your record of credit-card deposits will be under the Source Journal you use for these transactions.  Using a unique source-journal will allow you see a concise report of these entries.  Your record of deposits can be viewed via GL Source Journal Maintenance on the GL Setup menu, Source Journal History report on the GL reports menu, Reprint Journals on the GL reports menu, or as a report selection option on the various GL Detail reports.
Using the Accounts Receivable Credit Card Settlement Report, determine the day-end settlement amount.
Select General Ledger Main menu > Transaction Journal Entry.
In the Transaction Journal Entry window, at the Source Journal field, enter a source journal that will be tied to Bank Reconciliation (if you have not done so, you can create a new one on the fly).  At the Entry Number field, enter a number to identify the journal entry.  Click Format.
In the Transaction Journal Format window:  At the Offset Account No. field, select your cash account.
At the Offset field, select Credit.
At the Transaction Type field, select Deposit.
At the Bank Code field, select the appropriate bank code and click OK.
On the Transaction Journal Entry Header tab, enter the posting date and journal comment.
At the Bank Code field, select the appropriate bank code.
On the Lines tab, enter the Doc Refer, Date, and Comment fields.
At the Account No. field, select the Asset account that was entered at the Asset Account field in A/R Payment Type Maintenance (See AR Setup Menu).
Note If the Asset Account field was left blank in the Payment Type Maintenance window, the Customer Deposit account entered in Sales Order Options displays at the Account No. field.
At the Amount field, enter the day-end settlement amount and click Accept.
When the Transaction Journal update is performed, the Asset account is credited with the deposit amount and the money moves from the Asset account to the associated Cash account.  A Deposit entry will appear in the Bank Reconciliation for that bank account.

Entering the day-end settlement amount in Accounts Receivable Cash Receipts Entry

When using Cash Receipts for posting credit-card transactions, your record of credit-card deposits will be included in the Cash Receipts Report on the AR Reports menu (with all other Cash Receipts) or they can be tracked by viewing the GL detail transactions for the Asset Account used.
Using the Accounts Receivable Credit Card Settlement Report, determine the day-end settlement amount.
Select Accounts Receivable Main menu > Cash Receipts Entry.
In the Cash Receipts Deposit window:
Enter the deposit number, bank code, and deposit date.
At the Cash Deposit Amount field, enter the day-end settlement amount and click OK.
In the Cash Receipts Entry window, enter the customer number.
At the Deposit Type field, select Cash.
At the Check No. field, type DEPOSIT.
On the Header tab, at the Amount Received field, enter the day-end settlement amount.
On the Lines tab, at the G/L Account field, select the Asset account that was entered at the Asset Account field in Accounts Receivable Payment Type Maintenance.  Note If the Asset Account field was left blank in the Accounts Receivable Payment Type Maintenance window, the Customer Deposit account entered in Sales Order Options displays at the Asset Account field.
At the Amt Posted field, enter the day-end settlement amount.
When the Cash Receipts Journal update is performed, the Asset account is credited with the deposit amount and the money moves from the Asset account to the associated Cash account.   A Deposit entry will appear in the Bank Reconciliation for that bank account.

Sage Mas 90 and Mas 200 Error 40 messages can occur when attempting to update Purchase Order receipts, returns, and invoices, or Sales Order invoices and shipping entries if the Unit of Measure Conversion Factor for an item is zero. Here’s how to find and correct those items and Purchase Orders and Sales orders with those items – to prevent resulting Error 40 messages.

Follow these steps when there are NO Purchase Order receipts, invoices, returns or material requisition issue entries, and NO Sales Order invoices or shipping entries in data entry nor stuck in update because of an Error 40.

If an Error 40 is encountered during P/O Daily Receipt Registers/Update or S/O Daily Sales Reports/Updates, call Friendly Systems support to fix the particular data entry line – and possibly also the order line, and item.

To find inventory items with zero-value (0) Unit of Measure Conversion Factors:
Go to Item Maintenance. Click “Lookup” (magnifying glass icon) button to the right of the Item No. field. In the Item List window that appears, click “Custom” button. In the Lookup Customization Wizard window that appears, select “Create new view” from the View drop-down. Enter a Description, such as “U/M Conversion Factor” and press Enter. Click “Next” button, which should now be available. In the “Available Fields” box, scroll down until the “PurchaseUMFactor” and “SalesUMFactor” fields are visible. Highlight one of these two fields. Then click the “Add” (right arrow) button to move the field into the “Selected Columns” box. Add the other field as well. You may also want to highlight each of these two fields in the “Selected Columns” and click the “Move Up” button to move the field higher in the order list. Click “Finish” button to exit the Customization Wizard window.
Back on the Item List window, select the “U/M Conversion Factor” view from the View drop-down. After the view results have populated, click on the “PurchaseUMFactor” or “SalesUMFactor” column headers0 as desired to sort these factors in ascending order to find items with Unit of Measure Conversion Factors of 0. (Note: Clicking the column labels repeatedly will toggle between ascending and descending views.)
Note the items that need to be corrected. Use Item Maintenance to correct those items.
Fixing Purchase Orders for the affected items. While the Open PO By Item Report seems like the logical report to run, if a purchase order contains a line item with zero-value Unit of Measure Conversion Factor, then attempting to run the report will result in an Error 40. Instead select the Open Purchase Order Report. Check All Purchase Order Types.
Click “Preview” button to preview the report. Use the Search (binoculars icon) button to search for and Find multiple instances of the item known to have had a zero-value Unit of Measure Conversion Factor. Note the P.O. numbers with line items that need to be corrected. For purchase orders with these specific items that have not been received or invoiced, delete the line and re-enter. Then go to the Totals tab to verify amounts and Accept. Call Friendly Systems’ support if you need assistance with correcting a line on a Purchase Order that has already been partially received or invoiced.

To find and correct Sales Orders with items that need to be fixed run the Open Orders by Item Report. Check All Sales Order Types. Select the item you are correcting. Click “Preview” to preview the report. Note the sales order numbers with line items that need to be corrected. For sales orders with these specific items that have not been invoiced or shipped, delete the line and re-enter. Then go to the Totals tab to verify amounts and Accept. If a sales order has already been partially invoiced or shipped, it may be necessary to delete the sales order and create a new sales order for the remaining quantities of items to be shipped, using a new sales order number. Call Friendly Systems’ support if you need assistance with correcting a line on an order that has already been invoiced.

Sage Mas 90 and Mas 200 General Ledger module Utility Menu has a General Ledger Exchange option that allows you to import and export
GL Account numbers, Budget figures, and GL Transactions to/from a variety of formats, including excel spreadsheets. One tricky thing about this is that the excel-spreadsheet format is hidden in the G/L Exchange FAQ entries in the help text which takes 2-3 clicks from the help button on the exchange screen (and some searching) to locate. For all those who may have missed this info, here are the formats for your source spreadsheets:

GL Transaction data fields that can be imported using either the Alternate Exchange format or the Standard Exchange format, depending on the length of your GL account numbers.

Alternate Exchange Format – for 9-digit or less GL Acct #’s
Account Number 9 characters maximum (not including separators)
Account Description 30 characters
Transaction Date 8 characters Must be formatted MM/DD/YY.
Source Journal 2 characters
Journal/Register No 4 characters
Line Sequence # 3 characters
Source Module 2 characters
Reference Descr 40 characters
Posting Amount Numeric
Posting Comment N/A

Standard Exchange Format – for greater than 9-digit GL Acct #’s
Account Number 41 characters maximum (including separators)
Account Description 50 characters
Transaction Date 10 characters Must be formatted as YYYY-MM-DD.
Source Journal 2 characters
Journal/Register No 6 characters
Line Sequence # 14 characters
Source Module 2 characters
Reference Descr N/A
Posting Amount Numeric
Posting Comment 2048 characters

For more assistance on this subject, call Friendly Systems support at: 678-273-4010 ext 2

Have you ever scrambled around for a spreadsheet, note, invoice-copy or customer request when researching transactions? Has anyone asked you the situation with an order/invoice/receipt/journal entry, etc? (especially as you head out for a vacation?) Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 have a feature that allows you to attach documents and memos to your transactions. These can be any kind of documents such as pdf’s, spreadsheets and pictures, or simple text memos and are available for everyone to see.
The attachments do NOT print on the order, PO, Invoice, J/E, etc, nor do they print on the data entry Register for that transaction. Once you add an attachment to a transaction however, it travels with the transaction and is available for display when retrieving the document (AP Invoice, Sales Order/Invoice, J/E, PO, etc) from history Inquiry for that transaction. You can add multiple memos and attachments to the same transaction. You can also add memos and attachments to a transaction from the history Inquiry. Note the memo field to the right of the transaction # (JE, Order, Invoice, Receipt, etc). This is a great way to keep notes on complicated or disputed transactions in the system, rather than scraps of paper on your desk or files on your computer that nobody else can see.
This feature is available for all of the modules using the new Business Framework structure. In version 4.30 that includes AR, AP, GL, SO. Business Framework was added to the Inventory and Purchase Order modules for version 4.40. During data entry, to the right of the browse buttons, there is an icon for memo entry. Click on this icon to add memos and attach documents. Examples: scan a copy of a vendor invoice and attach it to your AP Invoice entry for that invoice. The attached document will then be available when you research the transaction in the future, as an attached copy of the vendor’s invoice. Receiving documents can be scanned and attached to your PO receipts entry, so they are available when researching a particular receipt. A customer’s order-request can be added to a Sales Order/Invoice for documentation of the goods and services ordered. Collection Notes can be added to AR and SO Invoices. It is preferable that you put these attachment documents on your MAS 90/200 server rather your workstation so that they are available to all users, and are backed up with your accounting data. This is a great way to have that documentation attached to the transaction for instant retrieval for everyone to see when researching the transaction, while you are enjoying the holidays or on vacation.

Sometimes you post an A/P Invoice, but then have a reason to put that invoice ‘on-hold’ so it won’t be paid with A/P Checks. Later on, you may resolve the problem and want to take the A/P Invoice off hold. Here is how to do that in Sage Mas 90 and Mas 200.

To place a posted invoice on hold, use A/P Invoice Data Entry.
Select the vendor and the “posted” invoice number. The ‘Adjust invoice on file’ message displays.
Check the ‘Invoice on Hold’ check box, and click ‘OK’. Note that the invoice is now ‘on hold’ without requiring you to run an Invoice Register or update. If you use batches in AP Invoice Entry and started a new batch for this entry, you may want to delete the newly created batch, unless you have other invoices to enter, adjust or change.

Releasing an invoice from being ‘on hold’:
To release an invoice from being ‘on hold, use A/P Invoice Data Entry.
Select the vendor and the “posted” invoice number. The ‘Adjust invoice on file’ message displays.
Clear the ‘Invoice on Hold’ check box, and click ‘OK’. Note that the invoice is now ‘off hold’ without requiring you to run an Invoice Register or update.
If you use batches in AP Invoice Entry and started a new batch for this entry, you may want to delete the newly created batch, unless you have other invoices to enter, adjust or change.

Sage Mas 90 and Mas 200 Paperless Office offers both time and paper-saving features. We have found one “gotcha” that may result in you missing some registers or journals in modules where you are using Paperless Office. When you “Print” a Journal or Register from one of these modules, the system will create a PDF document for that document – however when you “Preview” the document, and then update the document from preview, the system will NOT create a pdf-copy of that document. Solution: Go to Role Maintenance in the Library Master module. For all users who can update Journals or Registers, go to their roles and make the following change. Under Security Events, go to each of the modules you are running as “paperless”, and un-check the option to Allow Updating of Journals from Preview. This will insure that you “Print” (paper or pdf or both) all Journals and Registers from that module before updating. If you are using Paperless Office, please make this change. Call our support-line at 678-273-4010 ext 2 if you have questions.

Mas 90 & Mas 200 up to version 3.71 called this System Activity Log and is on the Library Master Utilities menu. Mas90 4.x versions call this the Activity Log and is on the Library Master Reports menu. If you have the E-Business Manager modules, use Web Error Log on the E-Business Manager Main menu to view a continuous record of significant Web Engine error events.

Use the Activity Log to view a continuous record of significant operating events (installing applications, or performing system startup, file maintenance, module period-end processing, Visual Integrator Import and Export Jobs run including #-records imported/exported.). This log also lists any error conditions that have occurred.

The log prints up to the last 999 events, deleting the oldest activity from the list as each new activity is added. Friendly Systems technical support often refers to this log when researching any system problems you may encounter.

Some of these errors are cryptic and often non-consequential errors, but major events such as module period-closings, company copies, GL Account and other renumberings and changes made with Utilities that may help you when researching those issues. It also lists the user-code to tell you what user initiated the event. Each of these logs includes a search-feature that allows you to locate events by date, user, company or event type.