Current Version Information!

The latest version of Sage 100 Contractor is version 19.5.34, the release of which was announced on January 23, 2015. 

In addition, on February 27, 2015, Sage released a Tax Table only update to accommodate lately released tax table changes for the District of Columbia.  This is not considered a version change, so your Sage Advisor Update does not appear to consider this a change worth notifying users about.  If you have employees in the District of Columbia and have a current support plan, you should look for this Software Notice 15-B or give us a call.

Solution to an Inventory Dilemma

Recent tips have been geared toward general topics about Sage 100 Contractor.  This one is just for the accountants and bookkeepers out there.

Users of the Inventory module know that the system will not let the quantity on hand for any inventory item go below zero.  Recently, a client called with the following scenario:

• They found that a payable invoice for two inventory items had been entered erroneously on Monday through the use of menu 12-4 Purchase Order Receipts. 
• Tuesday, an inventory allocation had been entered and shipped to move one of these inventory items to a job. 
• Wednesday, it was discovered that the second inventory item entered on Monday had not been received and was instead backordered.  When the error in the entry of the invoice on Monday was discovered, the client tried to void and re-enter the invoice correctly.  However, the system would not permit the client to void Monday’s erroneous entry because there was not sufficient inventory quantity on hand of the one item to absorb the quantity that would be subtracted from inventory with the voiding of that invoice – it would have caused the quantity on hand for that item to go below zero.
• When they called for help on Thursday, I suggested the following steps to correct the erroneously entered invoice:
• Copy the erroneous AP Invoice record that was entered on Monday in menu 4-2.
• Paste the copied invoice to a new record in 4-2 and modify the entry to the way it should have been entered with the item that was received and not the item that was backordered.
• Save this new 4-2 AP Invoice record.
• This will increase the quantity on hand for the first inventory items involved in the correction and the Tuesday inventory allocation.
• Then go find the erroneously entered AP Invoice and void it.  This takes the backordered item out of inventory and adjusts the quantity on hand of the item actually received on Monday and partially shipped out on Tuesday to the correct amount.
• The order in which these entries are recorded is a little counter intuitive, but when you follow it through, checking the recorded inventory quantities on hand at each step, you can see how it works.

For more help with inventory issues, don’t hesitate to call your friendly Certified Consultant!

Current Version Information!

The latest version of Sage 100 Contractor is version 19.5.34, the release of which was announced on January 23, 2015. 

In addition, on February 27, 2015, Sage released a Tax Table only update to accommodate lately released tax table changes for the District of Columbia.  This is not considered a version change, so your Sage Advisor Update does not appear to consider this a change worth notifying users about.  If you have employees in the District of Columbia and have a current support plan, you should look for this Software Notice 15-B or give us a call.

Backups? I don’t need no stinking backups!

Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s talk about backups – effective backups. 

To most people, the title above sounds totally ridiculous.  Everyone knows you do need to back up your accounting data.  So many things can happen to your accounting data that may require a restoration of data from a recent backup – inadvertent deletion of data, interrupted posting processes that result in corrupted data, an ill-advised change in an accounting process or principle that is easier to “roll back” to an earlier state than to make correcting entries, or the dreaded virus or malware infection.

I’ve recently had several clients suffer from the CryptoLocker malware infection or a variation of it.  Someone in the office opens an email attachment that they shouldn’t, and before they know it, a malware program seeks out and encrypts database files on their network, rendering them totally useless.  The encryption is a strong encryption that is difficult for anyone to crack without a decryption key.  The extortionists that sent out the malware in the first place make a limited time offer to sell the decryption key, accepting bitcoin or some untraceable payment form for the ransom.

Paying the ransom is just wrong! It encourages other “evil-doers” and sets a bad example for your staff.  The correct solution to the problem is to clean the infected machines of the virus, and restore your data from backup data.  This is a moment of truth for your backup processes.  I have had at least two clients discover that there were no effective backups being done, even though they were told by their IT professionals that backups were being performed!  And several clients were down for more time than they should, waiting for their complicated backup restoration process to be performed.

Whether you get hit with the CryptoLocker malware infection or just need to restore from backup for some other less nefarious reason, don’t take the chance that your backup processes are faulty.  Insist that your IT professional demonstrate to you that backups are being performed consistently, completely and securely, and that the data can be restored from backup in a reasonable timeframe.  Make sure that the backups are insulated from your network so that a malware virus can’t infect the backup at the same time it’s infecting your live data.  Also, insist on a process to periodically copy off a permanent, archival copy of your data each month and keep then in safe storage for a year or more.

If you want further help with your backup processes, give us a call!