Mistakes Can Be Costly

We’re human – we make mistakes. But human error in the warehouse comes with a price. No matter how large or small the order, inaccurate order fulfillment usually results in additional unnecessary costs with no corresponding increase in revenue – a real hit to the bottom line. 

Consider the example of a customer that receives an over shipment, under shipment, or just the wrong order due to a data entry error.  You’re now in a position where you incur additional shipping costs for the returned items as well as labor costs to process the return and re-process the correct order.  Not to mention the “soft” cost of a potentially unhappy customer.  By all accounts, companies that have implemented automated WMS technology have significantly reduced or completely eliminated these situations.

Work Smarter
Have you ever found yourself or your staff wandering around the warehouse looking for inventory that you know is out there somewhere but can’t seem to find it?  Maybe someone filled an order earlier in the day but forgot to enter it in the system.  Or maybe it was moved to another area but never recorded. 

With Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, a handheld scanner will guide your warehouse personnel with precise instructions as to which aisles and bins hold which products.  As the item is picked, it’s simply scanned and your Sage MAS 90 or 200 inventory module is instantly updated.  What’s more, WMS can transmit specific picking and routing instructions to the handheld device to prevent multiple trips to the same area of the warehouse for better efficiency.

Warehouse Automation for Sage MAS 90 and 200
Any business, large or small, can appreciate the benefits of eliminating manual keystrokes, reducing labor costs, and eliminating errors.  And that’s exactly what happens when you automate your warehouse using Sage MAS 90 and 200.  You can replace the old paper tickets and manual data entry with handheld wireless scanners and bar codes that seamlessly feed real-time inventory data into Sage MAS 90 and 200. Plus with better and more accurate information, you’ll make more confident stocking decisions and reduce excess inventory.

There are several flavors of warehouse automation available for your Sage MAS 90 or 200 system from simple bar coding to a full-featured wireless Warehouse Management System.  Read how Ultratech teamed with Socius to help manage their warehouse using Sage MAS 90.

The Disconnected Enterprise
Small businesses today are faced with the same operational complexities as their larger counterparts.  Unfortunately without an equally large technology budget, small businesses are often forced to rely on a patchwork of systems. One system for accounting, another system for sales, and maybe a third for operations.  Sprinkle in a few spreadsheets and rogue databases across various departments and you’ve got the recipe for duplicate data entry, inaccurate reporting, inefficiency, and excessive IT support costs.  That’s where Sage MAS 90/200 Extended Enterprise Suite comes in.

The Extended Enterprise
At the heart of Extended Enterprise suite is the same Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 software you’re using today. Your core system is then extended by adding SageCRM, FAS Fixed    Assets, and a variety of other tools that combine to create a completely integrated front- and back-office suite. Whether data is entered by sales, accounting, customer service, or someone on the shop floor, everything is captured in one integrated system. That means everyone in your company is working from the same data, following the same workflow, and breaking down departmental barriers to improve efficiency.  It transforms your business from a restricted enterprise with departmental bottlenecks to an integrated and free-flowing extended enterprise.

A Quick Look at SageCRM
SageCRM is one of the most important reasons you’d upgrade to Extended Enterprise Suite.  If you’re unfamiliar with CRM software, it’s useful to think of it as technology that helps you manage sales and customer relationships. SageCRM provides tools for contact and lead management, sales pipeline reporting, task management, call center automation, and marketing campaign management.

Perhaps most important is that ALL customer and prospect interaction is entered into a single database that’s part of your core Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 system. Critical information about your customers is stored in one place and automatically synchronized regardless of whether you’re updating SageCRM or Sage MAS 90.  If your accounting department puts a customer on hold in MAS 90 because of past-due invoices, your salespeople will stay informed through SageCRM.  Likewise, salespeople benefit from access to pricing, inventory, and customer history without having to fumble around in MAS 90 or interrupt your accounting staff with numerous inquiries.

The View From Here is Great
With Extended Enterprise Suite, all company transactions are unified into a single database – both front and back office.  Integrated data translates into more accurate reports, better decisions, and a complete 360-degree view of your operations.  Plus, you’ll eliminate duplicate data entry, improve the accuracy of your data, and eliminate the costs associated with maintaining multiple systems and databases.

See the full capabilities of Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Enterprise Suite in this video demonstration.

It’s a simple premise … the sooner a company knows about an issue, the sooner they can react and take steps to resolve the problem.  Whether inventory is running low, a vendor delivery is late, accounts receivable invoices are past due, or a customer problem has cropped up, your reaction time will determine how significant, or insignificant, the impact on your business will be.  Let’s take a look at how automated business alerts can improve your reaction time.

Eliminate the Slack with Business Alerts
With the right technology, you can dramatically shorten the delay between the occurrence of an event and delivery of notification to the right person.  Business Alerts for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 can help you do just that.  The Business Alerts Module utilizes your email system to notify you whenever a significant event occurs in your system.  You define the events and parameters that trigger the alerts and the targeted individuals that will receive email notification when the event occurs.  You’ll also benefit from configurable, pre-built alerts that are simple to use and included with the module or build custom alerts to meet your specific needs.

Tug O’ War – Push vs. Pull
Traditional reports provide valuable information and allow you to analyze large volumes of historical data in an easy-to-read format.  However since the data is typically “pulled” from the system well after the fact, reports may not be the best medium for real-time information delivery.  Relying solely on reports is a bit like looking at your business through the rear view mirror.  On the other hand, the Business Alerts Module embraces the concept of “pushing” information out to email recipients as events occur.  When used together, traditional reporting combined with Business Alerts will transform your company into a fast-reacting and nimble enterprise.

Better Communication
In addition to keeping your staff better informed and alert (pun intended), Business Alerts can also send email notifications to customers, vendors, and anyone else that interacts with your organization.  This feature is especially useful for automatically sending past due reminders, shipping notification, and low inventory alerts.  Business alerts will also reach your staff, customers, and vendors anywhere they do business … in the office or on the road through a laptop, mobile phone, BlackBerry, or any other device with email access.

Companies with quick reaction times have a competitive advantage and can deliver better customer service.  

View this 8 minute demo of how an employee can use Business Alerts to stay on top of their tasks and keep his/her finger on the pulse of your business.

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.

Better Cash Flow and AR Collections
SageCRM provides an “AR Collections Manager” that allows your accounting personnel to prioritize and manage customer collections and rapidly convert outstanding invoices into cash in the bank.  The AR Collections Manager consolidates outstanding account information into a single view that combines graphs and data in tables that allow you to quickly identify potential problems and schedule follow up action.

Plus, the integrated Calendar and Task Manager takes you beyond a static printed aging report and arms you with tools to prioritize collection calls, escalate accounts, and schedule automatic email reminders.  And since everyone in your organization is working from the same Extended Enterprise database, your sales people will have access to customer history and can help keep the collections process moving during their interaction with customers.

No More Hand Holding
No doubt your accounting department receives multiple requests each week from sales and customer service regarding status of orders, shipments, refunds, credit lines, payments received, and endless other accounting and operational inquiries.  With Extended Enterprise Suite, SageCRM can provide a window to Sage MAS 90 and 200 because all data is centralized in a single database.  That means sales and customer service personnel get fast answers using SageCRM to perform their own operational inquiries while Accounting benefits from fewer daily interruptions.  In fact with appropriate security settings, sales can enter orders directly into Sage MAS 90 and 200 from the SageCRM desktop.

Improve Vendor Management
SageCRM makes it easy to stay on top of vendor discounts, track special contract arrangements, and process purchasing requests and quotes in a timely fashion.  With the Calendar and Task Management functions, you can set up task reminders to take advantage of timely payment discounts.  Using the Communication Management function of SageCRM, you can keep track of key members of your Vendor’s team and collect all agreements and documents in one place which will ensure fantastic vendor relationships.

Those are just a few examples of how SageCRM and the Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Enterprise Suites will transform your business from a restricted enterprise with departmental bottlenecks to an integrated and free-flowing extended enterprise.

Learn more…

Sage is on pace to release MAS 500 version 7.4 in the second quarter of this year.  This next release promises enhancements to the product along five different themes.

Productivity Enhancements – These improvements will enhance the way that users track the overpayment of invoices, process customer refunds, support negative line items on both sales orders and purchase orders, and process Automated Clearing House (ACH) extensions.

Manufacturing and Distribution – These enhancements will allow users to change preferred vendors for replenishment, use the transaction date as post date for manufacturing transactions, and complete work orders without issuing material.  They will also improve landed cost, enable progress reversals, as well as provide a backflushing setup hours option of always, once, or never.

Unit of Measure – Improve the accuracy of your units of measure conversions and begin reporting in alternate units of measure with these updates.

Financial Reporting – Sage has committed to support FRx through December 2012 and will maintain backward compatibility with FRx in version 7.4. The biggest addition to the MAS 500 financial reporting tools will be the release of Business Insights Intelligence, which will serve as an alternative to FRx (in addition to MAS Intelligence).  Business Insights Intelligence will make complex reporting easy in the familiar Microsoft Excel interface, providing advanced financial reporting functionality with quick access to business critical data.

Platform and Performance – These enhancements will enable MAS 500 to leverage and work in conjunction with Crystal 2008 (v12), Microsoft Office 2010, Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.x.  They will also include improvements to the Business Insights Explorer performance, updates to third-party controls, and Operating System and SQL Server Service Packs.

Beyond these new features and feature enhancements in version 7.4, Sage also plans to release a Product Update within four months of the version release to address any bugs that need fixed and provide additional enhancements.

This year, Sage is building off of all of the momentum from 2010 and taking steps to complete the vision they’ve laid out.   

The biggest item on the horizon for Sage MAS 90 and 200 is the release of version 4.5 in the third quarter of 2011.  Through this release, Sage is striving to help you:

Accelerate Growth by merging their Extended Enterprise Suite with the MAS 90 and 200 product to provide an end-to-end solution that integrates ERP and CRM functionality right out-of-the-box.

Increase Productivity by integrating 14 Extended Solutions that will improve the Payroll, Sales Order, Accounts Receivable and Purchase Order functionalities available to all MAS 90 or 200 users.

Obtain a Scalable Database Platform by providing a direct upgrade path for current users to the new Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL version which also includes Sage MAS Intelligence, Starship Parcel, SageCRM Integration, and Fixed Assets. 

Beyond the release of version 4.5, you can expect regular product updates that include some of the most requested enhancements from those who currently use the software.  

To get a better understanding of what Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Enterprise Suite can provide for your business, watch this 15 minute overview demo:  Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Extended Enterprise Suite: Unify Every Element of Your Business

What’s new in Bank Reconciliation?

Automatically Reconcile Checks
Use the new Auto Check Reconciliation Wizard to create the proper check setting format for your financial institution per their specifications so that you can efficiently and automatically reconcile the check information that you download from your financial institution.

Enhance Controls over Bank Reconciliation Adjusting Entries
The new Common Information option in Role Maintenance allows you to refine and control who is allowed to enter modifications to the Current Balance in Bank Reconciliation.  For banks defined in Bank Code Maintenance, you can specify the users who are allowed to access and make adjusting balance entries.

Enter Checks, Deposits, and Adjustments On-the-Fly
In the Reconcile Bank screen, you have instant access to enter checks, deposits, and adjustments through a quick link button to bring you directly into Check or Deposit and Adjustment Entry for that bank.  This eliminates the necessity of navigating all the way back to the main menu to open a data entry screen, or exiting your Reconcile Bank screen.

Recalculate Outstanding Entries Totals Utility
The new Recalculate Outstanding Entries Totals Utility is available from the Bank Reconciliation module, via the Utilities Menu. This utility allows you to recalculate the totals of all outstanding check, deposit, and adjustment entries that have not been marked as cleared, which improves your workflow.

Positive Pay Export
The new Positive Pay features in the Bank Reconciliation module are designed to deter check fraud. Positive Pay assists your financial institution in monitoring against suspicious check activity using a file you create and submit for comparison and verification. The Positive Pay file contains key information, such as check numbers and dollar amounts, to identify only the checks you have issued and authorized for payment. Components of the check must match exactly, or the check will not be paid by the financial institution. Checks sent to the bank using Positive Pay are identified with an Exported check box In Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry.

Expanded Comment Field
In Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry, the Comment field has been expanded to 2048 characters to allow you to add information to track why the adjustment was made.

Post to General Ledger
Enhancements to Bank Reconciliation streamline the workflow for entering checks, deposits, and adjustments such as bank fees and interest earned. You can now enter these adjustments and post to the General Ledger directly from the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry screen, and from the Reconcile Bank screen. Efficiently convert the Bank Reconciliation Report and Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register to a PDF, file the reports, or share them with others using the Bank Reconciliation Paperless Office features.

Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry and Reconcile Bank (New)
Use the following new columns to easily select Bank Reconciliation transactions to flow to your General Ledger from the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry screen: Select for General Ledger Posting, Distribution Account Number, and Comment for Checks. These will also be available fields when entering checks, deposits and adjustments on the fly. Information you add into the comment field will also flow through to the General Ledger when the transactions are posted. And, when you’re reconciling your bank statement, quickly access the Bank Recap Report and Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register from the Reconcile Bank window.

Transaction Register
The Transaction Register task has been added to the Bank Reconciliation Main menu, as well as Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry and Reconcile Bank to provide the ability to post selected transactions that are entered in Bank Reconciliation to the General Ledger module. To safeguard against unintended entries, posting is only allowed for those transactions entered directly into the Bank Reconciliation module.

Security Events for Bank Reconciliation (New)
In Role Maintenance, “Allow Updating of Registers from Preview” has been added for the Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register as a standard security event. Additionally, “Allow Access to the Select for G/L Posting Setting for Check Entries” and “Allow Access to the Select for G/L Posting Setting for Deposit and Adjustment Entries” have also been added as options for the Bank Reconciliation module.

Paperless Office Options for Bank Reconciliation (New)
Choose to print the Bank Reconciliation Report and Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register by specific bank codes or by all bank codes.  You can then use the go-green flexible Paperless Office features to e-mail and fax the PDFs.

New menu selections -

Download the Payroll Tax Table Update, Electronic Reporting, & Accounts Payable FAQ to get important information about mandatory updates.

The first place to look for questions regarding the closing process is the Help Center provided within the product.  Simply click on the “Help” button at the top of the MAS 90 main panel and find the desired topic.  A checklist may be found to assist with the process as in the example below.

The Sage Online Support system provides almost everything one needs to know about any Sage MAS 90 and 200 topic.  For example: It is important to be cognizant of the order in which modules are being closed at the end of the period or year.  This document link displays the correct order in which to close.

Other helpful hints may be found in these documents:

1. Period End /Year End  FAQ
2. How to close periods or perform period end in GL for Sage MAS 90 and 200
3. How to reopen prior GL period or year
4. How to change fiscal year periods
5. What is Retained Earnings and How is the Balance calculated
6. Budget FAQs

If you select Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL, your management will appreciate the robust accounting functionality coupled with the way the solution is tailored to your processes, while your IT department will appreciate the stability of the SQL database and the ease of implementation, customization, and maintenance. 

Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL enables you to combine a broad range of modules to build an ERP system optimized for your business.  The available modules cover the following features:

• Accounting and Financials
• Business Intelligence and Reporting
• Light Assembly and Distribution
• Customization, Integration, and Data Imports

If you so choose, you can purchase the SQL Server and licenses through Sage at the time that you purchase your Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL system.  If you are current Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200 customer, or a Sage ERP MAS 200 for SQL 3.xx customer, you will be able to choose to move to the SQL option with the 4.5 release, which is scheduled to be released in the second half of 2011.