What is ACH?

ACH is an acronym that stands for Automated Clearing House. The ACH network is a secure payment transfer system that connects banks all over the U.S., making it easy for them to transfer funds amongst one another while relying on a common set of standards. It represents an important link in the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) process that acts as a sort of escrow for payments as they await clearance for their financial banking destination. 

The new ACH feature in Accounts Payable allows you to use EFT as an alternative to issuing paper checks for payment.  That means paying vendors and taking advantage of early payment discounts is easier and faster than ever.  Plus, you eliminate the complications and cost of:

• Processing paper checks including printing, stuffing, and mailing
• Purchasing and securing paper check stock
• Approvals and signatures that can delay paper processing

Since ACH is governed by strict rules that regulate electronic payments, you can rest assured that your electronic banking transactions are totally secure.  The new ACH feature supports both the United States (NACHA) and Canadian (AFT) formats.

What is Positive Pay?

If you’re unfamiliar with Positive Pay, it’s essentially a tool for fraud prevention and security.  Offered by most banks, Positive Pay is a service that matches the check number, account number, and dollar amount of each check presented for payment against a list of checks that have been previously authorized by your company.  All three components of the check must match the exact details of the authorized list or the bank will not pay.

With Positive Pay in Sage MAS 500 Version 7.3, a file is generated and sent to the bank each day that checks are written.  That file contains information necessary for the bank to match your authorized payments. In the event that a check is presented that does not match the list, the bank will send an image of the item to you for manual authorization to pay or return the check.

See ACH and Positive Pay in Action – View a Quick Demo

If you want to reshape that box of software to create a custom fit, then you should consider the Sage MAS 500 Customizer module.  It allows you to modify screens, forms, toolbar buttons, terminology, and add or remove data entry fields so your Sage MAS 500 installation fits you like a glove.

Do I have to be a Technical Wizard to Use It?

The short answer is … it depends.  What does it depend on?  The level of complexity of the modifications you’d like to make. Most cosmetic changes can be made without extensive programming knowledge.  It’s relatively easy to re-order the tab sequence, change screen text and colors, and deactivate fields you rarely use. 

But if you want to kick it up a notch and really give your Sage MAS 500 system an extreme makeover, Customizer is flexible enough to significantly alter the application interface, add new screens and fields, and really get your hands dirty with Microsoft VBScript and source code.

Improve Workflow and Efficiency

Customizations can be created for each user or group of users based on the way THEY use the system.  Does your order entry staff have to tab through a bunch of fields they never use?  Get rid of those fields with Customizer and clean up their screen.  Want to create an interface to another system used in your company?  Customizer has you covered.  Any way you slice it, you’ll improve productivity, streamline workflow, and reduce data entry time because Customizer makes Sage MAS 500 work the way you do … not the other way around. 

And from a security and maintenance standpoint, customizations are stored on your MAS 500 server, not on individual workstations.  That makes it easy to manage all customizations from a single location as well as roll those customizations forward when you upgrade to a new version.

Break out of the box with the Sage MAS 500 Customizer module. 

Download the spec sheet for more information on Customizer features and reports.

The article focused mainly on database structure and typical user amounts to define the difference between the three MAS software solutions.  There are, however, greater distinctions between the products, many of which directly affect manufacturers. 

Although they are built on different databases, Sage MAS 90 and 200 have the same six manufacturing modules: 

• Bill of Materials
• Inventory Management
• Materials Requirements Planning
• Purchase Order
• Sales Order
• Work Order 

These modules provide detailed and accurate tracking and reporting throughout the entire manufacturing process-from forecasting to the shop floor, and on to completion.

If you are a manufacturer looking for an end-to-end solution that includes relationship management tools, Sage MAS 90 or 200 Extended Enterprise Suite (EES) includes most of the manufacturing modules as part of the flat, per-user pricing.  The remaining manufacturing modules are available to be added to the EES solution. 

On the flip side, Sage MAS 500 ERP was built from the ground-up with Microsoft SQL Server, Visual Basic and Microsoft Office technology.  The twelve Sage MAS 500 manufacturing software modules optimize manufacturers’ operations for maximum productivity and provide a real-time business picture to enable you to manage profitability with insight.  These modules include:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Advanced Planning and Scheduling
• Engineering Change Management
• Estimating
• Light Manufacturing Advanced Kitting
• Material Requirements Planning
• Product Configurator
• Project Management for Manufacturers
• Shop Floor Control
• Planning, Scheduling, and Optimization
• Process Manufacturing
• Service Management

Sage MAS 500 manufacturing software meets the diverse business requirements of varied industries, including industrial, chemical, high tech, automotive, consumer packaged goods, food and beverage and other industries.

To learn which Sage MAS ERP solution is the best fit for your manufacturing organization, request a complimentary Business Strategy Assessment from Socius!

• Provide more “Value for the Maintenance” Dollars
• Focus on Quality and Upgrades

In an effort to provide more value to existing users so that they are getting the very most for their maintenance dollars that they can, Sage is planning to:

• Implement enhancements that were rated as high priorities by customers
• Commit to releasing regular product updates
• Release a financial reporting solution that will serve as an alternative to FRx

Sage’s focus on upgrades and quality extends beyond the MAS 500 product.  They are committing to develop better educated and more highly certified consultants and resellers so that their customers feel more confident that they are getting the highest possible level of service and support.  Additionally, Sage is improving the quality of the user experience through reducing the impact of upgrades on customizations so that any new features and functionality are more readily accessible.   The focal point for product enhancements will be in the areas of manufacturing and distribution functionality. 

To see a breakdown of how and when Sage plans to take action on this plan, download the full Sage MAS 500 Product Roadmap.

• When to replenish a product
• How much you should order
• From whom you should order the item

The replenishment module uses many different formulas to predict the variables listed above. The replenishment tool gives suggestions for purchasing, but the user has the ultimate decision in what to buy.

Without going into detail of all the formulas that make up the replenishment values, I wanted to focus on 3 primary formulas that can be controlled by the user and form the basis of the replenishment calculations.

Daily Demand

This is the estimated daily demand of the item in the warehouse. This is calculated using the projected demand and the number of working days in a period. We can build different formulas for each item/warehouse combination. The demand formula is projecting future sales demand of the product using past sales history. We can also assign different weight factors for the analysis.

Projected Lead Time

This is the number of days to replenish the item. This can be calculated using the prior receipts from a primary vendor. This formula can also be weighted to help calculate an accurate lead time.

Safety Stock

This is the number of days you want to keep a quantity on hand. It is used for unexpected sales and potential delays in the receipt of items. For example, your safety stock formula may have a 5 day supply. The system calculates daily demand * 5.

There are other field values that are used in the final replenishment calculation than just the 3 above. Some of these are:

• Target order requirements from vendor
• Typical order cycle with a vendor. E.g. We do not want to run out of product if our typical order cycle with a vendor is 3 times a year.
• Trend percentages
• Replenishments costs
• Carrying costs

Putting these values together can create a very intelligent replenishment system if desired. Keep in mind, MAS 500 can also handle simple replenishment suggestions. If item A falls below 20, order to fill a maximum quantity. MAS 500 is flexible enough to handle a variety of replenishment needs.

By Jeff Steel, a Sage ERP software consultant for Socius.

The credit card processing module is new in MAS 500 version 7.3. Here’s how you use it:

First, enroll with Sage Payment Solutions (SPS), the “processor” that will process the transactions behind the scenes. SPS will serve as the clearing house that moves the money from your customer’s bank to your bank. By activating the credit card module and enrolling in SPS, you can now have the ability to:

• Enter sales orders, process invoices and process cash receipts that use credit cards.
• Add, save and maintain customer credit card information. Keep in mind the card numbers are encrypted in MAS 500 to comply with security standards
• View credit card transactions
• Print credit card receipts
• Settle credit card transactions by matching the MAS 500 credit card transactions with the data from your processor

MAS 500 v7.3 has completed all the certifications and requirements to be considered PDI/DSS compliant.

The sales order module in version 7.3 has added a couple nice features. Two features that stand out are the “Ready to Commit” feature and the “Generate Invoice” feature.

It often happens that after picking multiple pending shipments are created at one time. In the past, it was difficult to determine which of those shipments were completed and which were ready to commit. A check box has been added to the edit shipments window, telling the system that a shipment has been processed. As a result, when you are choosing “commit SO transactions” there is a new selection criterion that only allows you to choose those shipments that are “ready to commit”. This feature is helpful in filtering on those shipments that are ready to go.

Do your customers need a printed invoice prior to committing the shipment due to the need to collect payments, provide an invoice as a receipt or include an invoice in the shipment? In MAS 500 v7.3 we can now generate an invoice prior to committing the shipment. This feature has been added to the edit shipments task. We can enter payments after generating the invoice and if a mistake was made we can delete the invoice which will return the shipment status to a pending state. The ability to generate invoices from the shipments screen gives flexibility in your workflow to meet some of the demands of our customers and exceed their expectations.

Contact Lori Ramsey at lramsey@socius1.com or 440.717.3214 to request a pre-upgrade review!

By Ohio Sage MAS ERP consultant, Jeff Steel

The real power of the Explorer is found in its features that enable you to:

• Easily filter the data to find the information you want
• Easily export the resulting data to excel
• Customize the columns to include only the data you want and save these customizations for future use
• Jump to associated MAS 500 tasks right from the explorer record

I refer to the explorer as the “drill down and drill around tool”. The best way to describe the power of the explorer is to give an example:

Let’s say Sam knows the customer name and can find the record in the explorer. With 1 or 2 clicks he can view things like open quotes, open orders and actually launch a sales order.

Let’s say Sam finds the sales order his is looking for. By drilling into the sales order he can now see the items on the sales order, the shipment information as well as pulling up the sales order.

Once you’ve used the Explorer to find the data you are looking for, you can launch MAS 500 or back up to where you started.

The Explorer gives us the power to drill down and around to find data associated with a record. If you know excel this tool gives you a familiar look making it easy to learn and help you in your daily work. 

By Jeff Steel, an Ohio Sage MAS software consultant

How do I make the switch form Period End processing to Year End Processing in MAS 500?

The Process Period End task performs the year-end close when the Current Period field in Set Up GL Options is set to the last period of the current fiscal year defined in Set Up Fiscal Calendar.

What steps should I take BEFORE I close my 2009 books? 

Before closing, backup, post all transactions and adjustments, reconcile, and print final financial statements. For detailed instructions, see How to process period-end closing or year-end closing in Sage MAS 500.

Does it matter what order I close modules?

The recommended order of closing modules at year-end is as follows:

1. Inventory Management
2. Accounts Payable
3. Accounts Receivable
4. Cash Management
5. Multicurrency
6. General ledger

How do I make changes to the GL Fiscal or Calendar Year Structure?

Current and future accounting period dates can be changed for fiscal years that contain accounting data. Use the Set Up Fiscal Calendar task to modify the end dates for the periods, and select to recalculate when saving the new fiscal year dates. To configure more than one fiscal year within a 12-month period, select the Allow Multiple Fiscal Years per Calendar check box in Set Up GL Options. For details and examples, see How to change G/L fiscal or calendar year structure in Sage MAS 500.

What do I need in order to file electronically?

To file electronically,a Transmitter Control Code (TCC) is required. Complete and submit Form 4419 (Application for Filing Information Returns Electronically). For more information,see IRS Publication 1220.

Who can I contact for help?

If you have questions about Year-End and Period-End Closing processes, please contact Socius’ Lori Ramsey at 800.589.6614 x3214.

By comparing Sage MAS 500 7.2 and 7.3 side-by-side, it is clear to see that the performance and scalability improvements alone make upgrading to 7.3 worthwhile. 

If your concurrent MAS 500 user count has ever been an issue, rest assured it won’t be anymore.  Scalability in 7.3 has been improved to support 70% more concurrent users than version 7.2 while maintaining a comparable response time! 

In addition to improving scalability, version 7.3 also brings a significant improvement in system performance across a number of areas compared to the initial release of 7.2.*

As you can see, there is between 50% and 200% improvement in processing time for all major document creation transactions in MAS 500 7.3.  The performance improvements don’t stop there though:

• Cash Receipts Entry load & process is up to 99% faster on large loads
• Saved Edited Shipment is approximately 50% faster
• Enter Sales Order and Print Invoice is approximately 75% faster
• Sales Order Shipment Commit is approximately 70% faster
• Sales Order Shipment Validation is approximately 50% faster
• Manufacturing Work Order Posting is up to 95% faster on large postings

These improvements in system performance not only save you time and therefore money when you are processing transactions, but they also provide you with more system stability: reducing the number times the system locks up and keeping you productive and your server running smoothly for longer. 

Before Upgrading to MAS 500 v.7.3

After Upgrading to MAS 500 v.7.3

System performance and scalability are great motivators to upgrade your MAS 500 software to version 7.3, but they aren’t the only benefits that 7.3 can offer.  MAS 500 7.3 also has improved platform capabilities and added features that can help you enhance the way you do business.  To get a sneak peek at these features, view our presentation on this topic from our Aspire conference. 

If you would like to realize cost and time savings by improving the stability, scalability, and performance of your Ohio Sage MAS 500 software, contact Socius to learn more.

*Performance results in the section are based on internal testing performed by Sage.  Individual performance may vary.  Since many factors impact system performances, Sage does not guarantee each customer will experience the same result.