One situation with Sage MAS 90/200 where this could be extremely useful is for Visual Integrator (VI) importing.  For example, lets say you receive an Excel file from your Vendor, and it contains 25 Sheets/Workbooks which represent 25 different invoices.  To properly import you’d need to manually create 25 individual Excel files.  Kind of a pain.  But this $50 program helps to really automate the process.  And don’t worry if the master Excel file contains a reference or VLOOKUP worksheet that all the other worksheets feed off of.  The data in all the newly created Excel files stays in tact.

Posted by Brett A. Zimmerman - www.brettzimmerman.com.

Sage’s new Business Intelligence product, MAS Intelligence, will begin shipping to partners later this month (July) and to end users next month.  “Shipping” actually consists of a download.

The product is made up of several modules, including the Report Manager, Report Designer, Security Manager, Report Viewer, and Connector modules.  Each end user will receive the Report Manager free of charge.

The Report Manager allows users to run the standard reports that ship with it, copy these reports and modify the copies, and create new reports, as long as these reports use the “Containers” that are already setup.  Containers are similar to the Views that come with Business Insights Reports – pre-defined links to certain MAS90/MAS200 files.  Shipping with the standard version are containers for financial statements, multi-company financial statements, GL transactions,  sales history, PO information, and inventory information.  To access any container but the multi-company consolidation container, you login to the ODBC connection, much like logging into FRx or Crystal Reports (if run outside of MAS90/MAS200) and the company you have logged into will be the company used for any reporting during that session.

Resellers will also receive the Report Designer and the Connector modules.  The Report Designer allows users to create financial reports using a “drag and drop” feature.  The Connector module allows users to create connections to new files in MAS90/MAS200, or to other software packages, such as Sage CRM, etc.

As a reseller, you may create a report using a new container and export it for a client, who can then import it.  HOWEVER, the client must either own the Connector module OR a second license of the Report Manager module.  You may also create reports using the standard containers and export those, as well, but again, the end user must own a second license of the Report Manager module.

The Security Manager allows for an extra level of security by report.  A more likely route for security, though, will be the use of ODBC Security in Role Maintenance (which the end user will not have to purchase additionally).

The Report Viewer is much like the FRx Viewer, allowing users to run reports but not modify them.

All reports in Sage MAS Intelligence are actually created in Excel (not EXPORTED to Excel, actually CREATED in Excel).  Several Add-Ins allow users to more easily make changes to reports, including a Quick Pivot Table option, etc.  Reports can be emailed and scheduled, as well.

Sage hopes to have training classes for Sage Certified Trainers available in September, with classes for end users starting after that.

via: Beth Bowers – Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Consultant – Michigan

So far, here are some of the newsworthy items to arise from the demonstration last week:

• User licenses will be named – not concurrent.
• BII is Excel 2007 based (BII is compatible with all versions of Excel, but the new Financial wizard/designer requires Excel 2007)

• Each organization active on Basic Maintenance will receive one user license.
• There was no mention of utilities to convert FRX statements and our guess is that there won’t be one.
• Multi-company consolidations will require a separate purchase of a connector – pricing TBD.
• Data can be read from all modules and all fields – not just the GL as FRX was only able to do.
• BII will initially be available at MAS 90 level 4.4 only. Sage is looking at v4.3 support. We do not think the supported versions will go any earlier than 4.3.

For more information visit  Sage Alchemex Business Insights Intelligence Recorded Demo

Sage MAS 90 and 200 Development Partners are an important member of the Sage partner community, providing valued specialized solutions for Sage MAS 90 and 200 ERP customers.

The library of over 1000 Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Solutions titles have been made available to Sage Development Partners so that they can apply their expertise and provide Sage MAS 90 and 200 customers the specialized solutions that they need. The Sage MAS 90 and 200 Development Partners shown below have expressed interest in the Extended Solutions business, and have made a commitment to provide Extended Solutions customers with a high standard of service.

If you are not already working with a Sage Development Partner, please consider one of these Development Partners.

This announcement is related to Sage’s decision to incorporate some Extended Solutions into the future releases of MAS 90 and MAS 200 (version 4.4+).

The remainder that users wish to continue using will need to be independently upgraded by the developer community (of which the Preferred Development Partners are the chosen).

Click the image below for contact information.

90Minds founding member DSD Business Systems is one of the Preferred Development Partners and can be contacted via their web site – DSD Business Systems Preferred Development Partner for Extended Solutions

Sage has been discussing the future of their Extended Solutions since the Insights 2009 Partner Conference. At the conference it was widely discussed that certain Extended Solutions might become open source meaning that the source code would be given to select Master Developers who Sage has authorized to customize their program code. These developers would then be able to upgrade the enhancements individually (and for a separate fee) for end users.

Some Extended Solutions Incorporated To MAS 90 & MAS 200 4.4+

Starting with Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.4 expect to see approximately 56 of the popular Sage Extended Solutions incorporated to the core MAS 90 and MAS 200 product.

These select solutions will likely be added over a period of 12 to 24 months with a few titles being added with each release.

Remaining Extended Solutions Released As Open Source

The remaining catalog of Extended Solutions will be released as open source. Customers are free to select a Sage Master Developer and retain them (for a fee) to upgrade any Extended Solution that they own which was not selected by Sage for inclusion in a future MAS 90 and MAS 200 release.

Below is the list of Extended Solutions that Sage has indicated WILL be incorporated into future releases of MAS 90 & MAS 200.

Sage MAS 90 and 200 Extended Solutions Incorporation List

Here is a sneak peek overview of Purchase Agent by JobOps which has just been released as a standalone component of the popular Job Ops manufacturing suite for MAS 90 and MAS 200:

Purchase Agent automates the purchasing process by analyzing your supply and demand for inventory. Based on this information it creates a filterable grid to allow the purchase agent order review the demand, modify the information and automatically create purchase orders from it.

In the past, this program was called “Component Exception Manager” and was a major part of the ordering process for Job Ops program.

But now Job Ops has pulled  this functionality out of JobOps and reengineered it to work without JobOps in base MAS90.

Here are some screen shots.

Main Purchase Agent Generation Screen.

With this information it creates a work file of on all the inventory demand based on Sales Order and MRP forecasts, EOQ or by max stock.

And allow you to filter by any of the following items

This is by Vendor

It also will allow you to scroll to additional info

It also allow you to drill down on the item inquiry screen or see the demand generated for the item.

It will also allow you to review purchase history by item

Once you decide you can actually change the Vendor, price or quantity right on the screen

Once you decide to order it will create the Purchase orders

You can either a New PO, add to a PO that has not been printed or create an on hold PO

Once the PO is generated the demand is removed from the grid.

Normally the Job Ops Program costs between 5K to 20K based on modules and users.

This Program is available standalone without JobOps and retails for about $1500. The demo does a pretty good job of reviewing the product. Let me know if you are interested in seeing it.

Upgrade now to version 4.3 and see the benefits.  Click here for the nearest reseller.

• LM1018 – Paperless Office: Journals & Registers
  

  LM1019 – Paperless Office: Electronic Forms Delivery

  LM1020 – Paperless Office: Period End Processing

  LM1022 – Associated Source Documents for Paperless Office

  AR1223 – Paperless Office: A/R Statements

  SO1437 – Paperless Office: Sales Order Invoices

  SO1463 – Paperless Office Sales Orders

  PO1165 – Paperless Office: Purchase Order Forms

  AR1225 – Paperless Office: A/R Invoices

  JC1147 – Paperless Office: Job Cost

  PR1120 – Paperless Office: Payroll Direct Deposit Stubs

Year end also brings one time consuming task – namely Electronic Reporting for payroll tax filing.

Many states allow you to manually key in your payroll tax data – and this works well so long as you don’t cross the threshold (50 employees in CT) or have hundreds of companies to report.

The Magnetic Media Module for Sage MAS 90 and 200 will transmit federal data magnetically as well as most states. However many states have additional reporting requirements that the standard MAS 90 magnetic media doesn’t handle.

Electronic Reporting for MAS 90 and MAS 200

One of the 90Minds members, DSD Business Systems, have developed a huge collection of magnetic media reporting tools for the following states:

* APIC – A/P DE-542 Reporting for Calif.
* MRAL – Alabama
* MRAR – Arkansas
* MRAZ – Arizona
* MRCA – California
* MRCL – North Carolina
* MRCO – Colorado
* MRCT – Connecticut
* MRFL – Florida
* MRGA – Georgia
* MRHI – Hawaii
* MRIL – Illinois
* MRIN – Indiana
* MRKS – Kansas
* MRKY – Kentucky
* MRLA – Louisiana
* MRMA – Massachusetts
* MRMD – Maryland
* MRME – Maine
* MRMI – Michigan
* MRMN – Minnesota
* MRMO – Missouri
* MRMS – Mississippi
* MRNJ – New Jersey
* MRNM – New Mexico
* MRNY – New York
* MROH – Ohio
* MROK – Oklahoma
* MROR – Oregon
* MRPA – Pennsylvania
* MRRI – Rhode Island
* MRSC – South Carolina
* MRTN – Tennessee
* MRTX – Texas
* MRUT – Utah
* MRVA – Virginia
* MRWI – Wisconsin
* MRWV – West Virginia

Standard MAS 90 and MAS 200 Electronic Filing only submits files in a generic (yet widely accepted format. In order to submit to the states listed above – you either need to manually enter the information to review one of DSD Business System’s add-ons for Electronic Filing.

If you’re required to submit magnetically (consult your tax advisor as we are not in the business of providing tax advise and nothing on our site should be taken as such) – then you should head to the DSD site and review their extensive list of Electronic Reporting for MAS90 and MAS200.

via: Wayne Schulz - Schulz Consulting a Sage MAS90 Business Partner providing support, training and consulting on all versions of Sage MAS90 and MAS 200

Subject: How to Migrate – Single User to Single User

In FAS Asset Accounting:

1. In the original FAS Asset Accounting program, backup the database (Do this once for each database).
   1. Go to: File | Company Utilities | Backup Company.
   2. Choose a database from the pull down menu.
   3. Choose Select All.
   4. Select location to save the backup file.
   5. Specify a name for the backup file in the file name field (Suggest to use the name of the database).
   6. Click Backup.  Copy the backup file(s) to the new machine.
2. Install the FAS Asset Accounting program on the new computer.
3. Create a new database (Do this once for each backup file). In FAS Asset Accounting:
   1. Go to: File | Database List Manager.
   2. Select New Database.
   3. Choose location where keep the databases (This location must be on a local hard drive.
   4. Enter the Physical Database Name (Suggest to use the same name as the original database).
   5. Enter a Logical Database Name (when this field is selected, the physical database name is automatically copied into this field.)
   6. Select OK.
4. Restore the backup(s). (Do this once for each backup file):
   1. Go to: File | Company Utilities | Restore Company.
   2. Choose a backup file (*.BBK file) to restore | Press Next.
   3. Select one of the newly created databases to restore the company or companies into | Click Next.
   4. Select desired purge option.
      NOTE: Purging the history has the advantage of speeding up data access performance.  While this is the suggested method, be aware that purging the history will remove depreciation event entries under the History tab of assets.
   5. Press Restore.

Whether you’re into statistics or not, the bottom line is that your customers prefer the convenience (and rewards/travel points!) of using their credit card to pay for goods and services … and if your business isn’t already set up to accept credit card payments, you’re at a competitive disadvantage.

But Transaction Processing Is a Pain!

One reason that companies cite as a challenge in accepting credit card payments is the hassle of a labor intensive transaction workflow. Without the right system in place, you may find it difficult to capture credit card details without extensive data entry, duplicating that data entry into your accounting system, and spending countless hours each month manually reconciling transactions. But luckily as a Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 customer, you don’t have to worry about any of that with the Sage Credit Card Processing Module powered by Sage Payment Solutions.

Easy to Set Up and Totally Integrated

Seamless integration with Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 means that you can process credit card transactions directly from within Sales Order and Accounts Receivable as well as the e-Business Manager modules. All transaction information is stored in your system and there’s no need to re-key data which makes processing a snap, reduces errors, and enables quick and easy reconciliation. You can also run detailed reports on the web at www.myvirtualreports.com which is totally secure and available 24/7. You can access your current statement or analyze historical data including settled batches, deposit amounts, charge backs, and returns & credits.

What is Sage Payment Solutions?

Your Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 credit card transactions are processed through Sage Payment Solutions, offering you a complete one-stop credit card transaction provider. Because transactions are processed in-house by Sage Payment Solutions Division rather than a 3^rd party, transaction fees are significantly reduced and the savings are passed onto Sage customers. Even if you’re already accepting credit card payments, you can switch to Sage Payment Solutions and save money.

Sage Payment Solutions can accept and process a variety of payments including credit cards, ACH processing, debit cards, gift and customer loyalty cards, and electronic check services.

Contact us for more information

Contact your reseller or consultant for more information.  If you currently aren’t aligned with a reseller, use our map to find one near you here!