Users under tech support contracts will soon be notified
that Version 19.2 will be available for download and installation. No, you didn't miss version 19.1 – that
version number was taken by the Canadian version of the program. Version 19.2 will contain significant
benefits for a number of clients, and I strongly encourage users to consider
installing this update before the end of their fiscal year. Major changes include a multi-year general
ledger process, several state-specific certified payroll reports, and automatic
notification of the availability of program updates through the Sage Advisor
Update program.
Multi-year General
Ledger
In the past, fiscal year end closing was often a stressful
time, because accounting departments had to hustle to get transactions caught
up to date before the fiscal year end had to close. Transactions of any type for the new fiscal
year could not be recorded until the old fiscal year was actually closed in the
program. Accounting staff had to
understand how to post prior year transactions to period 0 when they had to
enter transactions in the new year that belonged in the prior year. A few types of transactions could not be
posted cleanly through the period 0 functionality. Correcting transactions recorded in the prior
fiscal year sometimes presented unique challenges as well.
Version 19.2 will revolutionize the fiscal year end closing
process! (How’s that for a dramatic exclamation from an accountant?) Users can
now defer the closing of their old fiscal year until later in the new fiscal year. They can wait until all prior year
transactions and their outside accountant’s adjusting journal entries are
recorded in the old fiscal year before closing the books and archiving the data
for that fiscal year. Extra care should
be taken to “lock” posting periods as they pass, especially when the data is
given to your outside accountants so they can perform their audit, accounting
and tax preparation services and be assured that your balances won’t change
after they have relied upon them.
This change requires a change in the database structure for
tracking accounting periods. Accordingly, custom reports that are selected by
period, rely on periods for calculations or which report out periods may not
work! If you have “mission critical”
reports that rely on periods in any way, you may want to identify those reports
and seek assistance in adjusting the reports as soon as you update to Version
19.2. System Reports (those numbered 21
and higher) should work correctly – this warning is only for custom reports.
The multi-year general ledger change also eliminates the
need to Reset Vendor 1099 Balances at the end of the calendar year.
The multi-year general ledger change DOES NOT ELIMINATE THE
NEED TO PROMPTLY CLOSE PAYROLL AT THE END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR! (More dramatic exclamations….) Users must
record all payrolls for the closing calendar year, resolve all payroll audit
issues, correct all employee information and be prepared to close their payroll
year promptly after the last payroll of the old calendar year and before any
payroll records are recorded for the new calendar year.
The governments (Federal and State) have not changed their
filing deadlines, so January will be a busy month for accounting departments,
filing W2s, 1099s, and various payroll tax returns. Start preparing now so these tasks will be
less stressful. Sage did their part in
giving you breathing room for the general ledger closing!
State-specific
Certified Payroll Reports
A number of states have begun requiring that Certified
Payroll Reports required for publicly funded construction be filed on that
state’s specific form rather than the US Department of Labor’s Form
WH-347. Other states are not accepting
paper reports and instead are requiring electronic filing. Sage, working with their tax reporting
partner Aatrix, has started the process of providing state-specific certified
payroll reports, and also electronic filing of the same. Initially the ten most frequently required
state forms are being added, but they are working diligently to add all other
state required certified payroll reports and expect to have all state
requirements met by next spring. The
availability of the US Department of Labor WH-347 as well as all legacy
certified payroll reports will not change.
Update Notifications
with Sage Advisor Update
Sage Advisor Update will be installed with
Version 19.2. This service will function
much like Microsoft’s Windows Update, comparing your current version with the
latest update available according to Sage.
Users can configure Sage Advisor Update to merely periodically notify
specified users of available updates by email, and optionally automatically
download updates to make the updating process quicker.