Beware The New IRS PDF Malware That’s Going Around
September 30, 2011
I awoke this morning from a notice claiming to be from IRS.GOV notifying me that my latest federal tax deposit had been rejected.
Nice try.
My Google Mail clipped the email and threw it into the SPAM bucket – even flagging it for me as a fraud. Since not everyone has a reliable email filter – I figured it would be worth a minute to point out that the new malware trick that’s going around uses what appear to be PDF files but in reality are programs which when clicked insert rogue software to your computer.
If you receive odd emails asking you to click a pdf file – think twice before doing so. It might just be a virus or trojan looking to hop onto your computer.
BizNet Excel Reporting for Sage ERP MAS90 and 200 – October 26, 2011 1pm EDT
September 29, 2011
DSD Business Systems presents a free demonstration of BizNet Excel Business Information Suite for Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200. Struggling with finding a suitable replacement for FRx? Why not use what every company already utilizes today – EXCEL!
- 100% Excel
- Fills Top 10 FRx Feature Gaps
- Real Time Reporting & Business Intelligence
- Drill to transaction detail
- Drag and Drop Report Creation
- Pre-built Connections, Content & Analysis
- Utilize Single Excel Template for Multiple Report Distribution
- Fully Deployed in Less Than a Day
- No additional Hardware
Date: October 26, 2011 10:00 am PDT / 1pm EDT
Register: Free Business Reporting with BizNet for Sage ERP MAS 90/200/500 or View Recorded BizNet Overview
MAS90 Automatic Bank Reconciliation – Two Thumbs Up
September 29, 2011
Just back from a client today. Went through the automatic bank reconciliation with them. I’d never set one up before (this functionality is new in 4.4 and imports a list of checks from the bank into your BR and clears them and provides a list of exceptions – wrong $ or checks that cleared bank not on BR).
I highly recommend you go through all your customers who use BR and help set this up.
I had not done this previously — took maybe 10 minutes and all you need to provide is a CSV with:
Bank Acct# (it will clear against multiple cash files)
Check No
Amount
I found the Amount has to be positive or it balked (though I didn’t search to see fi there was a config I missed).
Recommended
How To Find and Fix Bad Dates in MAS90 and MAS200 Data Tables
September 28, 2011
A user has just asked our 90 Minds group whether there’s an easy way to detect a bad date that is within a set of their MAS90 version 4.4 data.
This can be a very tricky issue to resolve mostly because finding the exact bad record is hampered by the fact that MAS90 or MAS200 will error out each time you run a report – or try to design a report to print the bad record(s).
That is — unless you know the secret setting that will allow the bad date(s) to print via a Crystal report.
If you’re wrestling with a bad date somewhere in your MAS90 or MAS200 files – here’s the solution that I’ve used before to quickly print out the data and find the bad date record:
Go into your SOTAMAS90 ODBC source. Check off “NULL Date”. Create a report in Crystal that draws from the file with the bad date. The bad date will no longer stop the report from processing. Sort by the date field. The bad dates will sort to the top (or end).
Now go into Sage ERP MAS 90 or MAS 200 (usually through Data File Display and Maintenance) and fix the bad record(s).
Note: Always backup prior to making any changes to your data through Data File Display and Maintenance. We are not responsible for damage done to your data.
Sage One North America – Announced. Sorta.
September 28, 2011
Sage has just tipped their announced — but previously un-named — multi-tennant “true SaaS” offering for North America will include a product branded Sage One. This announcement comes in the form of a LinkedIn job announcement (click the image at left for a copy of the details) for a Sage VP of Research and Development.
This SaaS offering from Sage is likely the same as that currently offered online to their Ireland and UK customers. During the July 2011 keynote at Sage Summit, CEO Pascal Houillon quickly alluded to a “true SaaS” offering that would appear in North America during the second half of 2011.
There was no further information publicly announced and cursory discussion with coy Sage personnel only uncovered that the expected product would be on par with Peachtree in terms of capabilities.
At least one analyst had been briefed under non-disclosure. Other analysts report that Sage vaguely discussed the SaaS product but apparently had not started to publicly demonstrate the capabilities.
It remains to be seen whether Sage One North America is to be a completely new SaaS offering – or as is more likely – simply a re-work of the existing international Sage One online service.
The first public clue that Sage One’s arrival in North America is imminent comes in this job posting from September 26, 2011 on LinkedIn where Sage advertises for a VP of R&D for the Peachtree, Simply and Sage One North America offerings.
More information as the product becomes available in North America.
Sage ERP MAS 500 Roadmap
September 27, 2011
The Sage ERP MAS 500 roadmap is out reflecting planned upgrades for 2011 through 2014. Watch for lots of manufacturing improvements in 2011. The Sage Exchange credit card interface is slated for integration in late 2012 before the road map goes silent until 2014 when Sales Order usability improvements and Sage Advisor are added.
Download the PDF roadmap here.
How We Solve MAS90 Problems By Collaborating With Other Sage Partners
September 27, 2011
Yesterday we ran across a unique problem while designing a Crystal Report for a customer.
The issues was that the traditional linking of two tables:
IM_13 and SO_ShipToAddress
Ordinarily this is a pretty easy link to make. We could have done it in three (left outer joins) and been done. Except there’s apparently an issue with one field — the most important one to our customer — not linking easily between the two files.
After spending two hours looking at the issue we decided to post this to our 90 Minds consulting group.
Many of you have heard me talk about the 90 Minds Group.
We are a simple group of vars (most with companies under 5 people in size) who met at Sage’s partner conference over the years. We’ve kept in touch and have formalized our group around providing each other with support. As of last month we were sharing over 1,000 messages.
On daily basis members login and share information online. This is pretty evenly broken down into:
Second opinions (such as our problem with Crystal0
- Urgent calls for technical assistance from group members who are on site with a customer
- Chit-chat about the industry
- Marketing initiatives (we’re presently focused on delivering reporting and scripting classes to our members).
We have 27 members (and growing) across North America. Our members include experts in Crystal Reports, Pivot Tables, Scripting (we have four experts), SageCRM, and Sage support (we were lucky to convince the smartest former Sage support tech to join our group).
I am a big believer that increasingly no single business partner of any size can know every aspect of their product.
What is of most value in today’s marketplace is:
- Being as much of an expert in your product as possible
- Knowing when to ask an expert if an issue is not in your field of expertise
- Having a well defined field of experts who you regularly share this type of information (this is where 90% of the consultants fail – because they wait until the last minute to cultivate these relationships and then wonder why nobody helps them to solve difficult problems).
Here’s an example below of the power of 90 Minds and how it helps us to deliver better support.
Notice the time that the question was posed. This happened at 3:08pm. The issue was largely resolved by 3:18 and specific code provided at 3:40.
The power of collaboration.
How To Change Inventory Standard Cost in MAS90 or MAS200 4.4+
September 26, 2011
If you’ve been using Sage ERP MAS 90 or MAS 200 Inventory since prior to release 4.4 then you may know (or should know) about a release enhancement that impacts anyone making changes to the standard cost of an Inventory item.
In prior releases (v4.3 and earlier) this standard cost field on the Inventory Maintenance field was modifiable. You could change it at will (whether that is the right way to make the change for accounting purposes is between you and your accountant).
With the release of 4.4 Sage changed (corrected?) this feature.
Now instead of seeing a field for standard cost which you can edit at will – you must follow a specific posting procedure to change the cost.
This procedure has always been there – Sage is just now forcing you to use a more formal method for making the change.
Here’s the description of how Sage would allow you to make a standard cost change prior to 4.4:
For Standard Cost items, although the standard cost can be manually changed within Inventory Maintenance, this change will not update the inventory value in General Ledger. Using an adjustment to bring the total quantity (for all warehouses) to 0 at the current (incorrect) standard cost will bring the total quantity and total value in inventory to 0. At that time, you can manually change the standard cost within the Inventory Masterfile and adjust the total quantity back in at the new standard cost. This transaction will update General Ledger with the new inventory value.
The Automatic Cost/Price Change utility can also be used to update the standard cost for ranges of items. This utility does not update the general ledger. A Journal Entry will need to be made for the difference in inventory value. The Inventory Valuation Report should be printed before and after the change and then used to make adjustments in General Ledger.
If the item has a bill of material, the ‘Cost Roll up Register’ can also be used to change the Standard cost.
Here’s Sage’s knowledgebase entry on the issue that exists with 4.4+:
Unable to change the standard cost field. The standard cost is grayed out in Inventory Maintenance
Along with their recommended workaround of using Standard Cost Adjustment Entry:
How to enter Standard Cost Adjustments for an inventory item
What you should know is that making this standard cost adjustment will require exclusive access to your MAS 90 or MAS 200 inventory. This means people working within integrated modules (think Sales Order, Purchase Order, Inventory, etc) will need to exit the software for the period of time when the update is running. This can be a potential issue for any company where cost adjustments were entered manually several times per day. Be sure you consider this impact on your workflow during your MAS90 or MAS200 upgrade to version 4.4 planning.
How To Use eFax, Faxaway, MaxEmail and Protus with MAS90 or MAS200 Paperless Office v4.4+
September 26, 2011
If your company uses faxing with MAS90 Paperless Office you may know that starting with version 4.3 the features of Paperless Faxing were significantly changed. Prior to v4.30 you could use any number of Internet based faxing services such as:
- eFax
- Faxaway
- MaxEmail
- Protus
Beginning with MAS90 and MAS200 4.3 your choices were narrowed to any service you like – so long as it was Microsoft Faxing service.
This required (starting with 4.3) users to setup a fax device/modem for use with Microsoft fax. Some users found this cumbersome where their prior method of using Internet faxing was seamless.
While you still can use an Internet based service (simply substituted an email address as directed by the various fax providers) you may find that it’s less convenient for those customers who receive documents both by fax and email.
The quickest solution may be Sage’s old Extended Solution – LM-1033 which they sold until recently and which enabled a more seamless integration with the above Internet fax services.
Sage no longer sells the enhancement directly however you can order the enhancement (presently showing as available at version 4.4 product update 2) directly from DSD Business Systems.
The cost is $ 1, 060 (this includes first year maintenance) and the annual recurring maintenance is $265
eFax, Faxaway, MaxEmail, Protus integration with MAS90 and MAS200 Paperless Office 4.4+
Sage ERP MAS 500 Will Work with Windows 8
September 19, 2011
Good news from Sage. They’ve verified that Sage ERP MAS 500 will run on the next release of Microsoft Windows 8. Early reports from the Microsoft BUILD conference had indicated as much. Sage ERP MAS 500 Product Manager Linda Cade notes:
Further, our own Wei Li was in attendance and received a Windows 8 tablet. He installed both the Windows 8 desktop and the Windows 8 server and confirmed that Sage ERP MAS 500 Version 7.4 and the development version 7.5 run perfectly in the new operating system. This is wonderful news!
Read the full post at Sage ERP MAS 500 Partner Link
How to install or upgrade Sage ERP MAS90 or MAS200 4.5
September 19, 2011
Have you just received your download link or DVD of Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200 v4.50? If so you probably have questions about exactly how to install this latest release.
First, let me recommend that if you’ve never installed the upgrades for Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200 that you contact your Sage business partner. There are multiple things that they will review with you – including reviewing your system to see if you have any custom enhancements that require upgrading BEFORE installing the upgrade.
TIP: Remember that if you have third party integrated solutions such as Starship, PC Charge, F9, FRX, AccuPos, Avalara, INSynch, etc — you must consider whether those integrations also require an upgrade at the same time you are upgrading your core Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200.
If you’re still determined to upgrade your system without the help of a consultant – here are some quick tips:
- Do the upgrade first as a test. This avoids the possibility that you’ve overlooked something and need to restore your data from a backup (while your company’s users sit tapping their fingers wonder when the system will be up).
- Make a backup. Even if you think you have a great backup – take a copy of all your relevant MAS90 folders and copy them to a separate location somewhere. You can never have enough backups.
- Engage users in testing the system before allowing everyone back in. Usually you have three or four power users who are experts at checking to be sure their accounting system is functioning exactly as it was before – harness their willingness to help!
Here’s some technical information from Sage which will assist you in the technical install process:
NOTE: These are all PDF guides. Clicking the links will download them (or open for viewing) depending on your use of the Adobe PDF viewer.
Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Installation Guide (PDF)
Sage ERP MAS90 Hardware and OS Configuration Requirements – v4.50
Sage ERP MAS200 Hardware and OS Configuration Requirements – v4.50
Sage ERP MAS200 SQL Hardware and OS Configuration Requirements – v4.50
What’s New In Sage ERP MAS 90, MAS200 Version 4.50?
September 19, 2011
Sage is now shipping their latest upgrade to Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200. This latest version 4.5 includes enhancements to payroll, sales commission processing, job costing, SageCRM and more.
The new release started shipping September 8, 2011 to new customers. Sage have begun sending out announcements and encouraging existing users to update their records in anticipation of an October 2011 release to their existing users.
Here’s a look at a summary of new features included in Sage ERP MAS 90 , MAS 200 and MAS 200 SQL.
Sage ERP 200 WhatsNew 45 Brochure
Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Roadmap – September 2011
September 15, 2011
Sage have just issued their September 2011 roadmap for Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200.
News of note in the roadmap:
- Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 serves over 45,000 customers
- Deployment options for on-premises or on-demand (MAS90 cloud)
- Roadmap Summary of Key Dates
Q4 2011
- SageCRM 7.1 Free Single License
- Existing MAS users can migrate automatically to SQL
- Additional 14 Extended Solution titles added
Q4 2011
- MAS90 Online
- Reporting trees for SMI
- Report distribution for SMI
- Performance gains
- FRX conversion assistance tool
- SageCRM 7.1 – with eMarketing
- SageCRM MS Exchange integration
- SageCRM iPhone App
- SageCRM Twitter integration
Versioni 5.0 of Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 is due on or about Q4 2012. Look for more web integration, automatic updates of new versions. Version 5.1 will follow around Q4 2013 with mobile apps, Sage Payroll, Sage Portal and Sage Advisor.
View the full roadmap below:
Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Roadmap September
On a Windows 7 workstation, MAS 200 clients do not show the icon pictures on the toolbar. Why would this be and how to fix?
September 14, 2011
Two people in my 90 Minds Consulting Group have run across similar tricky issues wehre the icons on the Sage ERP MAS 200 taskbar disappear. Turns out there’s an easy solution related to font sizes that my friend Jim Woodhead at DSD documented on his site. Here’s the fix.
MAS90 Online: Pre-Release Information, Pricing
September 11, 2011
Last week Sage sent around a pre-release guide to their upcoming MAS90 Online offering. Expect this to become available in October 2011 and MAS90 Online to be a competitively hosted version of MAS 90 aimed at companies in the 1 to 5 user range.
MAS90 Online modules will include:
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Bank Reconciliation
Bill of Materials
Business Insights Dashboard
Business Insights Explorer
Electronic Reporting
General Ledger
Inventory Management
Library Master
Paperless Office*
Purchase Order
Return Merchandise Authorization
Sage ERP MAS Intelligence*
Sales Order
Important Notes:
1. Upgrades have to be done by the partner and by downloading the data and then uploading the newly updated/converted data. This means Sage doesn’t upgrade the customer automatically — and the customer still had the expense of having a partner (or themselves) doing the upgrade. This sort of baffles me but I guess at least the hosting saves some complexity.
2. Crystal Reports have to all be designed offline (I think this may have more to do with licensing)
3. No credit card processing
4. No SageCRM integration
5. Phone support is additional/optional (maintenance is mandatory ).
6. Business Insights Dashboard and Business Insights Explorer will be available within the Sage ERP MAS 90 Online service.
Sage ERP MAS Intelligence (SMI) is under evaluation for compatibility at this time.
7. The following Modules and Functionality are NOT Available:
• Bar Code
• Batch Faxing
• Credit Card Processing
• Custom Office
• eBusiness Manager
• eBusiness Web Services
• FAS Integration
• Federal and State eFiling and Reporting
• Job Cost
• Payroll
• Sales Tax powered by AvaTax
• SageCRM
• Timecard
• Visual Integrator
• Work Order
8. No outbound email server for Paperless Office
9. No third party integrations
10.
MAS90 Online Pricing
Sage ERP MAS 90 Online pricing will offer customers a suite of business management software applications hosted by Sage, accessed over the Internet, for a monthly subscription fee. A minimum requirement of one full concurrent Sage ERP MAS 90
Online user license for one year is required to access the software, with optional add-on user licenses and services available for additional fees. Included in the monthly subscription fees are: the secure backup service, up to five Sage ERP MAS 90 Online companies, one gigabyte of personal storage, and one free named user license of both Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Discounts will be offered for multi-year contracts and pre-payments.
Sage ERP MAS 90 Online user licenses ($169*) are concurrent licenses and can be used by a pool of users.
In addition to Sage ERP MAS 90 Online user licenses, Sage also offers optional Remote Concurrent Access License (RCAL) for an additional monthly fee ($75*). RCAL licenses allow user access to Sage ERP MAS 90 Online system ─ but differ from Sage ERP MAS 90 user licenses, because they are named Citrix users.
Facebook Complaining Can’t Get You (Rightfully) Fired
September 11, 2011
About a year ago an employee at the non-profit agency Hispanics United of Buffalo let loose with a Facebook rant about the work conditions. This prompted followup comments from coworkers
What the f… Try doing my job. I have 5 programs,” and “Tell her to come do [my] f***ing job n c if I don’t do enough, this is just dum
Naturally the co-worker spied the message. Passed the information along to their supervisor and the workers making the disparaging comments were all fired for cyber harassment of co-workers.
Fast forward to now. The five fired co-workers were all awarded their jobs back based on a National Labor Relations Board ruling that said employees have the right to talk to each other about improving work conditions.
via: Forbes
Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 v4.50 Detailed Pre-Release Guide
September 6, 2011
Sage has just re-released their detailed guide to new features to be included in their version 4.50 release when it begins shipping on June 8, 2011.
Significant enhancements have been made to payroll , sales order, and Sage ERP MAS Intelligence financial reporting.
Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4 5 Pre-Release Guide 6-24-11
What’s New In Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 V4.5
September 6, 2011
Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.5 is packed with compelling value, new features and
functionality, and even more flexibility. The enhancements in this exciting release
are inspired by you—our customers—mainly in Accounts Receivable, Payroll,
Purchase Order, and Sales Order. Customers upgrading to 4.5 will receive a FREE
fully functional SageCRM 7.1 user and server license, and one Sage ERP MAS
Intelligence Report Manager License. Intelligence now includes new Reporting Tree
capabilities and enhanced report distribution. 4.5 is so flexible, you can choose to
remain on your current system, or move to Sage ERP MAS 200 SQL*, running on a
Microsoft SQL Server database. Also incorporated in 4.5 are the 37 enhancements
provided through downloadable Product Updates since Sage ERP MAS 90 and
200 4.4 shipped last year, in Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank
Reconciliation, Inventory Management, Job Cost, Paperless Office, Payroll, Sales
Order, as well as additional system-wide features and functionality.
Whats New in Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4 5 Overview Brochure
Supported Platforms – Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 – September 2011
September 5, 2011
Users of Sage ERP MAS 90 and MAS 200 should consult the following supported platforms listing as issued by Sage prior to installing upgrades or purchasing new hardware or operating systems.
These are the only official platforms supported by Sage. If you attempt o run Sage ERP MAS90 or MAS200 on an unsupported platform – while it may work – you will not be able to obtain any official support to resolve any issues you encounter.
Supported Platform Matrices – MAS90 + MAS200 Version 4.50
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 90
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 200
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 200 for SQL Server
Supported Platform Matrices – Version 4.45
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 200
Supported Platform Matrices – Version 4.40
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 90
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 200
Supported Platform Matrices – Version 4.30 and earlier
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 90
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 200
Supported Platform Matrix for Sage MAS 200 for SQL Server
Important: From time to time Sage updates their supported platforms matrix. While every effort is made to provide current information we cannot guarantee that these are the most current documents from Sage or that there are not other considerations for your specific situation. You are advised to consult with your Sage Business Partner prior to making any purchasing decisions. In no case is Schulz Consulting responsible for any incorrect purchases of hardware or operating systems based on use of these Sage Supported Platform Matrices.
Paperless Office Setup with MAS90 v4.30 and Windows 7 – Tip
September 4, 2011
In most cases Sage ERP MAS90 and MAS200 workstation setup will properly setup your computer for use with the popular Paperless Office feature which allows printing reports and forms to PDF.
However some users have reported issues where installation to Windows 7 computers may be troublesome. They report either issues with the paperless drivers not installing or various registration related errors.
Often we find that logging in and running workstation setup as administrator solves the issue.
In some cases you may find that extra measures such as registry tweaks (as advised by Sage) are required. I just noticed on the Sage Community Forums that someone has come up with an easier way to attempt to resolve pesky Windows 7 Paperless Office issues.
This involves using the MAS version 4.4 install files for paperless – and installing them to your version 4.30 system.
First a warning. We’ve not yet tested this – so you’re on your own if something breaks or is damaged. Make a backup before attempting this solution.
Remember that in most cases you can install Paperless Office straight from the workstation setup — with no need for this workaround. You should only use the below tip if you’ve tried to install paperless, have researched the Sage KB for solutions – and still failed.
Paperless Office Setup – MAS90 4.3 Windows 7 – Workaround
UPDATE: Sage have issued an additional knowledgebase article which seems very comprehensive in the number of tips that it provides. If you are having trouble with Paperless Office hanging on Windows 7 or Windows 2008 please review this Sage KB Article.
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