Acumatica Singapore Blog Intro.

June 15, 2012, 10:44 pm

≫ Next: Reporting Tax. When Invoiced or when Processed?

$

0

0

Dear Reader

This blog is just created. I will try to share info about events, features, techniques, basically any interesting things happening within and out - related to Acumatica software.

Which is as you already know - web based Enterprise Resource Planning solution for medium sized businesses.

Here is a link to our main web site: www.acumatica.com

From Singapore I will try to address South East Asia region.

Sincerely Yours,

Sergey Vereshchagin. 

---

Reporting Tax. When Invoiced or when Processed?

June 16, 2012, 1:37 am

≫ Next: Dashboards for Management Reporting.

≪ Previous: Acumatica Singapore Blog Intro.

$

0

0

Hi Guys,

When I receive an invoice from my vendor, when should I report my VAT(GST)?

If you ever had this question, then, probably in your country it is allowed to do in either way - based on invoice date or based on processing date.

Let me explain.

For example when we purchased some equipment from vendor A. We may receive invoice immediately on equipment delivery or much later, it depends on how we operate with vendor or how fast mail is delivered or how contract is drafted etc. etc.

The matter is - invoice can be received much later than it was issued. So how do we deal with revenue authority in this case?

Specifically say invoice was issued 15 MAR 2012, but receieved only on 15 APR 2012. A month later.

Well, technically, date of the invoice should be the date when we recognised our liability to our vendor. It is not a problem for us we can deal with it internally, it will only affect when we should pay for the bill. Right?

But for the Revenue Authority it is not that simple. We can report our tax either based on date of the bill, which is 15 March or date when we processed it - 15 April.

How it will affect us - if we decided to report based on date of the invoice, assuming (for simplicity) that our company fiscal periods are based on calendar months, we will post liability to Revenue Authority in 03-2012 period, but if we decided to account tax based on processing date - we should post it in 04-2012.

Seems logical. But not many ERP systems allow us to do it.

Issue becomes even more complicated when our Tax reporting periods are based on different intervals then our fiscal periods, let say we report Tax qurterly.

In my example then we should report Tax in Q1 if we process it based on Invoice Date, or in Q2 if we report based on processing date.

Well, here is the challenge.

In Singapore, IRAS (Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore) regulates it in the following way:

You should decide from the beginning how you process your tax either based on Bill date or Processing date. And company should use it forever.

Here is the link to that document: Claiming input tax in the right accounting period

And here is how this issue is addressed in Acumatica ERP:

Cheers,

Sergey.

Dashboards for Management Reporting.

June 17, 2012, 3:19 am

≫ Next: Adding View to Report.

≪ Previous: Reporting Tax. When Invoiced or when Processed?

$

0

0

Hi Everyone,

ERP user, especially manager, would be happy to see relevant information immediately upon login.
To achieve it in Acumatica I have to create one or more dashboards and place them on a home page.

Here is what I was trying to achieve and below is the video with 10 minutes efforts required to complete that.

Here is a demonstration video:

Every dashboard in Acumatica is based on Inquiry Screen. So first we have to find appropriate screen that shows us information we would like to present in a graph.

For the Top 10 Customers dashboard, I used screen Customer Summary from Accounts Receivable module. Just open the inquiry, choose the period we like to see and sort by PTD (Period to Date) Sales amount

Next I pressed Dashboard Button and selected options to represent it as a funnel, select only top 10 records and place it on my homepage.

Category and Value fields are the ones represented on the resulting dashboard, sorting and aggregation is optional in my case, inquiry screen did it for me already.

One hint may be useful, if you wish to navigate from the dashboard to the inquiry screen, just press on the Dashboard Name field, in my case it is Top 10 Customers field.

Hope it helps,
Sergey.

Adding View to Report.

June 18, 2012, 7:13 am

≫ Next: Splitting an Asset.

≪ Previous: Dashboards for Management Reporting.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone,

Adding tailor made views to Crystal report seemed to be an easy task. Same for Acumatica. Native Report Designer will only "see" your view if it was properly published.

For example let's modify a Batch Register report from General Ledger. It has summary information, but I want to see the number of transaction lines per each batch. Well I am sure it is possible to do it just inside a report without adding any view, but just for training purpose lets do it our way.

Here are the steps to add tailor made view to a standard report:

1. Create a view in an SQL, here is nothing special. Let's do it using TSQL or Management Studio. What I added is:
create view GLCount as
select CompanyID, BatchNbr, COUNT(*) as NbrTrans
from GLTran
group by CompanyID, BatchNbr

2. Next step is to create a Data Access Class in Acumatica App that will represent that View for our report. System Management->Customization Management->Code Editor, select any project you with to add that DAC. If you have not started customizing your Acumatica yet, just create a new customization project and save it to database before this step. I selected MAIN project, then click New File:

Next choose IBqlTable type and in Class field type the name for our view - GLCount, check "Generate Members from Database" checkbox:

Then click OK.
It creates a DAC for us but we have to do 2 amendments to it before it can be placed inside a report.

A. We have to assign a namespace to the DAC. Since I work with GL, let me add the General ledger name space to my DAC.
B. We should indicate that BatchNbr is a Key field. This is simply because report should know the primary keys for the View. Since Company ID is obviousely a key, the BatchNbr remains the only one we should indicate manually.

After amendments the file should look like this:

Once all saved, have to publish the customization. It can be done via Project List screen.

3. Now we can amend our report. Before changes Batch Register report looks like below:

I get back to parameters and pressed Edit Version to open the report in designer:


 Once you open Report Designer, go to File->Build Schema, login to the database you are working with and here is our newly added View:

Here we go. The rest is just the same we do for standard Tables/DACs.
Set Relations, then add a field to report from our view. Here is what I got at the end:

And just to make sure that it does what it is, lets navigate to that batch with 12 lines:

Cheers,

Sergey.

Splitting an Asset.

June 19, 2012, 3:09 am

≫ Next: Alternate Payee.

≪ Previous: Adding View to Report.

$

0

0

Hi All,

Recently I got a request from one of our customers, what if we purchased 100 chairs, added then as a single asset, then later decided to split between 2 different places?

Immediate answer was - ok, may be you can dispose it and create a new one - tough way.

Then we decided to add a functionality to Acumatica Fixed Assets module, that does exactly what is stated in the header - Asset Splitting.

In fact the operation of Asset split is not simple. We should divide Accumulated Depreciation and Cost of Asset between spinoffs, however existing Depreciation Expenses should not get split. It simply because the new asset owner - would it be a place or department, may not wish to get incurred expenses from the previous one.

Also, we can use asset split if need to dispose asset partially.

So what this operation do - it takes the original asset, reduces its cost and accumulated depreciation, it also reduces quantity if it was more than 1 before split.
Then it creates a new spin off assets, as many as you decided during splitting, it can be just one spin off or multiple. All will get a fraction of a cost, then accumulated depreciaion.

Usefull Life of the spin offs should not change, it must follow the original asset. At least at the moment of split.

Thanks to our development team, we had implemented this functionality fast and accurate in version 3.0

All the best,

Sergey.

Alternate Payee.

June 21, 2012, 6:16 am

≫ Next: Cloud Mechanics. Field News.

≪ Previous: Splitting an Asset.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone.

Alternate Payee is a concept in Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. It is when your vendor is either managed by another company, who receives payments on their behalf or simply vendor wants you to send money to a different company from their own. It could be just settlement between them and third party.

The problem is how to achieve it, when printing checks or processing GIRO (Singapore term for ABR) transfers.

In Acumatica we implemented multiple Vendor Locations, which can be used to indicate Alternate Payee. Each location has Payment Settings attached. And you can make that location to be taken as default when preparing a check.

Here is how it looks at Vendor Master screen:

And here is the place where we can set Payment Specific by location:

That is all for now.

All the best,
Sergey.

Cloud Mechanics. Field News.

June 22, 2012, 1:42 pm

≫ Next: Hardware Upgrade? Compatibility Issues?

≪ Previous: Alternate Payee.

$

0

0

Hi Guys.

When we started our first meeting with one of the customers, two IT persons were on it. When it was decided - we go for a cloud, true satisfaction was expressed on their faces - At last, we give up all this maintenance burden to someone else.
It was just a beginning...

Clearly, main benefit of moving out the server from the office supposed to be a maintenance. IT staff no longer need to do anything they usually do to service the instance. Which is what:

• Hardware Maintenance and Repair
• Power Supply - stable of course
• Internet bandwidth to the server
• Security of the hardware
• Protection from external attacks
• Application Maintenance (upgrades, fixes etc.)

When we actually deployed the server on the cloud, Azure cloud, more challenges appeared.

Issue Number One. Performance.
When you have a server box, you know how many CPUs are there and literally how much time it takes to add 2 plus 2. And anytime you try to add 2+2 it will always take the same time to get a result, we are expecting some consistency, right.
But when we are on the cloud, especially on Azure, mechanics of this one is such that it uses Virtual Machines, without assurance on performance consistency.
Here is what Azure team states:

"At the present time the SQL Azure Service Level Agreement guarantees Uptime Service Levels but does not guarantee Performance Service Levels, for example the Service Level Agreement does not contain any provision that guarantees a certain level of throughput or ability to accommodate any particular level of workload. ....“At this time, although there are availability guarantees with SQL Azure, there are no performance guarantees. Part of the reason for this is the multitenant problem: many subscribers with their own SQL Azure databases share the same instance of SQL Server and the same computer, and it is impossible to predict the workload that each subscriber’s connections will be requesting.”"

Azure Elasticity Guide

You see, the server, hardware server, sitting on that cloud, don't forget cloud is actually a data center on the ground, well, that server, is hosting many virtual machines, and not always we have a luxury to know how many as it is defined by the cloud provider. Then, what happens when all these users or "Guests" are starting to do something with the CPU or hard drive on that hardware server, well obviously it gets slow. So we can not expect the same time for execution of our statement at any point of time. This is terrible thing, especially for ERP, where end users expect low latency on response and constant performance characteristics.

Issue Number Two. Backups.
Cloud does not allow to make a backup neither for the server itself - bare metal backup, simply because the servers on cloud are clustered and backed up in a special way, and if failed will be restored by provider. But most importantly - we can not make a backup of a Database. By design. The reason mentioned by cloud architects was - if we allowed it, most of the Internet traffic will be eaten by those backups transferred from the cloud to client premise, therefore we restrict the backup, by design. The only way to "backup" database was running a script that will copy all the tables to remote database. It was not a backup but rather copying the information in different format. Well the idea of backup is to keep a file, just in case if user enters something wrong we can restore the backup and problem will be settled. Cloud do not have it.

Issue Number Three. Men in Black (i.e. Internal Audit)
That was the most weird issue I ever had in my ERP implementation life.
When Internal Audit came and heard about the cloud - they started asking questions.
Can we see the server, where is it? - No you can not it is on secured premises and Microsoft does not allow anyone to come to their data centers.
Does it comply with special requirements for hosting - We can't know that as Microsoft does not provide any documentation on that.
How secure is the data center, can we check - No you can not, we do not even know the exact address of MS hosting centre.
What happen if server crash? - Well its not on premise server, its on the cloud, meaning its clustered it can't crash, even if the whole cluster crashes they have a backup and will restore it.
Who provides SLA and what is the up time - Here we have SLA from Microsoft, seemed to be OK.
Do you have a mirror server to run in case main one dies - We can have one but it will cost double as it must sit on the cloud - see post about the backup - we can not keep server on premise because its a cloud one so we have to pay twice for the cloud mirror.
How protected is the access to the server - Well it uses HTTPS so its protected
Can it be hacked - well everything can be hacked, but it is extremely difficult to do.
Plus lot of standard questions they ask even about on-premise installation.

It all makes me thinking that the main stopper for the cloud systems now is not a user any more. User wants to get rid of the hardware, move it to the cloud. But rather, old fashioned audit rules that were created to be satisfied by on-premise requirements, and yet to be adjusted to cloud reality of today.

All the best,

Sergey.

Hardware Upgrade? Compatibility Issues?

June 25, 2012, 3:43 am

≫ Next: Quick Way to Troubleshoot a Report.

≪ Previous: Cloud Mechanics. Field News.

$

0

0

Hi Guys,

Recently I got a call from one of the legacy ERP system (Solomon IV) customer. They are still using software released in late nineties. It is no longer supported by Solomon or Microsoft.

On the client side they are using Windows XP. Solomon IV works fine with XP. But once we upgrade the PC, operating system will also get replaced. Most of the current laptops are supplied with Windows 7, and option to run XP in virtual mode seemed not to be the best.

Really, what are they upgrading their PCs for, to run a slow VM with XP???

So the only path for them seemed to be an upgrade to the latest version of that Solomon software line... Migrate all the customizations to that new version. Reinstall the client software on their PCs. Retrain the people to use new version... Looks like a full scale upgrade with a small implementation attached.

But what will happen in 5 years’ time, when the current version will age and require replacement due to hardware upgrade? Should we invest in customizations upgrade and migration, reinstallation etc.? Again? Just because of the Hardware Upgrade?

We proposed them to think about upgrade to Acumatica instead.

WEB based system do not require any specific compatibility with the hardware. And when you decided to buy new gadget, Acumatica will start working on it right away.

It does not require local client installation; as long as you have a WEB browser you can use it.

Cloud deployed ERP would be even better solution, not only clients became independent from Hardware Upgrade issues but the server as well.

They are thinking about it and if it turns to be a win, I will let you know.

All the best,

Sergey.

---

Quick Way to Troubleshoot a Report.

June 30, 2012, 8:30 am

≫ Next: Sales Order Import, including Multiple Orders.

≪ Previous: Hardware Upgrade? Compatibility Issues?

$

0

0

Hi Everyone,

Report is usually connected to one or many data sources, in Acumatica they are represented by Data Access Classes (DAC). Sometimes DAC is not really what we have in SQL database. DAC may have calculated synthetic fields, added during its [long] life. DAC may also have additional fields from other tables.

For example: FABookHistory data access class has field CreatedByID which corresponds to field in its main table from SQL DB, but also it has field CreatedByID_Description, which is coming from joined table with user names.

And all of us, are professionals with SQL of course. :)
If something goes wrong with our report what we can do?

1. Run SQL Profiler and try to catch query our report is running.

Well its ok, except if we trace it on production environment with multiple users printing similar reports or simply loading the server with their requests. I am not saying Profiler is a bad choice, it is OK, but sometimes it may be difficult to trace.

2. We just added a much simpler way to get SQL query report runs. And this query will include all the parameters we added to report. Here is how to see it.

First, run the report with all the parameters

Second, once you saw the report outcome, press Help->Trace

Third, find on the trace block that responsible for our query

Copy that query to clipboard. Then you can either paste it into your Query Analyser or use one useful tool to format it before. Magic Tool

Be Happy,

Sergey.

Sales Order Import, including Multiple Orders.

July 13, 2012, 7:08 am

≫ Next: Sending Notifications.

≪ Previous: Quick Way to Troubleshoot a Report.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone.

What to do when we need quickly and effectively import numerous data into ERP. We can use Integration Services, embedded into our product. Lets go through 5 minute process of importing.
Where we are going to import. Sales order screen in Acumatica ERP.

From where we are going to import our orders? From Excel file.

What need to be done on Acumatica to achieve it?
First we should create Data Provider and attach our file to it. In theory we can use different means of data provision. From Salesforce web site, from comma separated file, from SQL directly etc. So we should tell the system where are data coming from.

Then we should attach our file to it and indicate in the File Name value column internal or external link to it

I used internal link to the file sitting inside Acumatica DB:

Last step for provider is to fill up the schema which is done by pressing these two buttons subsequently on the Schema tab:

Next step will be to map columns inside the file and our screen. This is done inside Import Scenario screen.
I am going to show resulting screen. Basically on the left are fields from the screen and on the right are values from our import file:

Now we can run the import:

And here is the resulting Sales Order:

Well, this is good to import one single order, but what if we have multiple orders in a file?
And what if it includes the same customer in couple of orders?

Solution is very siple, lets amend column [Number] in our source file or simply amend data, prepared for the import to split 5 lines into 3 different Sales Orders.

Here is what I changed in a data representation inside Acumatica:

Please note that I am using column Number as sequential number for my orders, not as actual Sales Order number, that will be issued by the system automatically.

Based on what was amended, it should end up with 3 sales orders. SO #1 and SO #3 for customer ABARTENDE and SO #2 for customer ABCSTUDIO.

Lets run the import for it and here is the result:

Works like a charm.

Have a great day,
Sergey.

Sending Notifications.

July 16, 2012, 7:12 am

≫ Next: Sending Report over E-mail. Scheduling.

≪ Previous: Sales Order Import, including Multiple Orders.

$

0

0

Hi All,

One of the common questions, when implementing automation for operations is - how can we send an email notification to a person that such and such is happened?
It could be for example Purchase Order is created and we want short e-mail to get send to procurement chief.

Using Notifications in Acumatica is a natural answer to all that.

Task: I want to send a notification to Steve Church once the purchase order status is changed to Open (meaning PO is approved/printed).

Step 1. We should set appropriate e-mail to the user Steve Church

Step 2. Now need to create a notification in system manager.

Please note, Screen ID should be Purchase Order, since we want changing of the status in THIS screen to trigger a notification event. In the Message body I want to be mentioned that system should include actual PO number that was created, so I use standard Template Notification syntax of ((fieldname)). I also want actual PO Form to get attached to my e-mail, so user can review it, I just added Data Source: Report with format PDF.

On the next tabs I mentioned Event Conditions, Addresses, Parameters, which are self explanatory:

3. Now we have to decide if we send these notifications using a schedule or manually calling a process. I wanted to use a manual process, but schedule can be added that will trigger it every say 1 minute.

4. Now we can finally go to the Purchase Order and "open" one, to see what will happen:

After it was saved lest take a look at Send Notification screen. My note is pending (since I was lazy to create a schedule) so I run the process manually:

5. Enjoy reading e-mail

Have Fun,
Sergey.

Sending Report over E-mail. Scheduling.

July 19, 2012, 6:53 am

≫ Next: Who is On-Line? Active Users.

≪ Previous: Sending Notifications.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone,

Today's topic is automation and integration.
How to send a report over the e-mail?
First let's choose a report we want to send, lets take Aged AR:

Then we can use a Send button on top to manually send it over e-mail. It works fine for one-time send.

Then enter e-mail address into mailer screen:

Resulting e-mail will get delivered into recipient mail box.

What if we want to schedule printing of this report every morning for a list or recipients, like our AR department. Then we have to go back to report and:

1. Create a template with specifying address to send:

 2. Choose this template from the list and click "Schedule template":

3. Set up a schedule for sending at particular time/date/event:

Then we setup hours and conditions if any, in my case I setup daily at specific time.
Then at that time we will get an e-mail with report:

All the best,
Sergey.

Who is On-Line? Active Users.

August 1, 2012, 8:07 am

≫ Next: Account specific Cost Center access.

≪ Previous: Sending Report over E-mail. Scheduling.

$

0

0

Dear Operation Managers and IT Administrators!

Knowing your hard work, I dedicated this post for you.

So how can we know, how many users are still on-line, sitting late in the office or working from home, preventing us from doing maintenance? Currently there is no way to see it at one glance. Which pushed me to create an inquiry.

First challenge we have here, a table where all this info stored is secured, meaning we cannot easily retrieve these data into a Generic Inquiry. So we have to create a database view first. Please refer to my earlier post on Adding View to Report on how exactly a view can be published into Acumatica data access class. I will just put below the text of the select statement:
CREATE view ActiveUsers as
select FirstName,LastName,CompanyID,
CAST(DAY(LastLoginDate) as varchar(2))+'/'+CAST(MONTH(LastLoginDate) as varchar(2))+'/'+CAST(YEAR(LastLoginDate) as varchar(4)) as LoginDate ,
CAST(CAST(LastLoginDate AS time(0)) as varchar(8)) as LoginTime 
from users where IsOnLine = 1 

Graph object should have the following code:

<Graph ClassName="ActiveUsers" Source="#CDATA" IsNew="True" FileType="NewDac"><CDATA name="Source"><![CDATA[using System;
using PX.Data;
namespace PX.Objects.SM
{
[Serializable]
public class ActiveUsers: Cst_ActiveUsers, IBqlTable
{    #region FirstName
    [PXDBString(255, IsUnicode = true, InputMask = "")]
    [PXUIField(DisplayName = "First Name")]
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public class firstName : IBqlField{}
    #endregion
    #region LastName
    [PXDBString(255, IsUnicode = true, InputMask = "")]
    [PXUIField(DisplayName = "Last Name")]
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public class lastName : IBqlField{}
    #endregion
    #region LoginDate
    [PXDBString(10, InputMask = "")]
    [PXUIField(DisplayName = "Login Date")]
    public string LoginDate { get; set; }
    public class loginDate : IBqlField{}
    #endregion
    #region LoginTime
    [PXDBString(8, InputMask = "")]
    [PXUIField(DisplayName = "Login Time")]
    public string LoginTime { get; set; }
    public class loginTime : IBqlField{}
    #endregion
      }}]]></CDATA></Graph>


With this view we can retrieve User's First and Last names, Date and Time of when they logged into the system. Once view is published, it is time to create a Generic Inquiry, using this DAC.

Let's call Inquiry - Active Users.
Under parameters I just specified - Filter, and data area - Users.
Its all non-mandatory. You can give any name based on your Inquiry specific.

Table name we can choose from a lookup screen, which should show us now under SM namespace object ActiveUsers. Alias is optional.

This GI will be dead simple. No relations, no sorting or parameters. Lets move straight to the last tab, Results Grid and select columns we need.

Nice feature we have here, Width. Please specify the width of the column, based on estimated Name length.
Save. And press button Add to Site Map. It will navigate us to the Site Map tree, where I added my GI to System Manager, Audit section.

Now lets try it out.

Looks good, seems I am the only one at this time...

Please note, Acumatica keeps track of time and date in GMT time zone, so if you need to calculate your local time, add/subtract accordingly.

Cheers,
Sergey.

Account specific Cost Center access.

August 10, 2012, 10:52 pm

≫ Next: Inventory Replenishment Setup

≪ Previous: Who is On-Line? Active Users.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone,

During financial system implementation I have faced this challenge.
How to choose specific valid account / subaccount (cost center) combination?

For example, all balance sheet accounts need to get tied to a single sub account, while Profit and Loss ones have to go to multiple, depending on the account nature and sub location.

Second issue - how to guarantee global validation rules for all these combinations. To say in Order Management or Purchasing when we choose a product, system should validate accounts and subaccounts based on predefined rules...

In most of the systems we should specifically indicate valid combinations, then make a template, to be used with each new account or sub added to the system. Looks tedious.
This approach seems to be not very effective, especially is you have hundreds of cost centers.

In Acumatica we have restriction groups, that can help to define validation rules.
I will be using Acumatica demo system to show how to configure it.
Let say we want all B/S account to get only tied to subaccount 00-00-00-00-000, while PnL account to all other subaccounts, excluding 00-00-00-00-000.

1. Open GL->Setup Section->Account Access screen. Lets Create a group Balance Sheet. In our case it should be group of type A. And because we do not need "by user" restrictions lets leave first tab intact and move straight to the second tab "Accounts":

My BS accounts are starting from 1,2 or 3. Lets make a filter to display only BS accounts on the grid for easier and faster selection :)

2. Lets select all BS accounts in the Accounts Tab. And then Save the group.

3. Lets get to Subaccount Segments Tab. And select 00-00-00-00-000 only.

Then Second segment, all the same 00 until Fifth:

4. Balance Sheet group is ready, now to make the restriction balanced we should create a group PnL to indicate possible subaccount combinations for PnL accounts. Lets make all except 00 available for them. Procedure is similar. Create a group, leave Users intact, mark all PnL Accounts, mark All Sub segments except 00, Save. Here are screen shoots:

Filter:

Accounts:

Subaccounts:

All till Fifth:

We are done, lets check on GL Journal Entry screen whether our look-ups and validation works. I will choose BS account and F3 on subaccount to see a look-up for values allowed:

Seems OK, only 00 is shown. Lets try to cheat the system and enter other than 00 subaccount then go to the next line and see if it validates the invalid entry:

System prompts for invalid Location Cost Centre (first segment) for my Subaccount.

Now lets try on PnL Account, should allow all except 00:

Seems OK, no 00 in the look-up list. Lets then enter 00 and try on the next line:

For the second line it was OK, because it does not contain 00 segments, but attempt to manually enter 00 sub in the third line resulted in Error message for all involved Cost Centres.

Have a nice day,
Sergey.

Inventory Replenishment Setup

September 14, 2012, 10:08 am

≫ Next: Asia Pacific Partner Meeting. 4th October 2012. Cloud ERP. Singapore.

≪ Previous: Account specific Cost Center access.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone,

In this article I would like to cover basics on quick Inventory Replenishment (IR) configuration. It could be useful for a demo to your prospect.

Main IR goal is to analyze supply, demand and availability for certain items and in case it goes below what is allowed  - order it from supplier.

Step One. Setup IR numbering sequence, that will be used by replenishment calculation process.This is done in Inventory Setup screen.

Step Two. Set up inventory class, with replenishment values.

To achieve that you will need to create Replenishment Class ID and Seasonality. First one defines replenishment source: Purchase Order, Manufacturing or Transfer. Why transfer - because replenishment values are calculated per Warehouse (Site), and we can transfer the item from one to another to fulfill the need. OK, and second one, seasonality, is to address specific date-range-demand by multiplying it by a factor. Below are both screens:

 Step Three. Now we can create an item, with the above class, and Replenishment Tab for that ID will get populated automatically from the class:

What is missing here, if we use Min/Max replenishment method, we need to indicate, for that particular item, how much should be qty on stock when we replenish and what should be Safety Stock - our inventory buffer. Also good thing to indicate a reorder point, the moment when we should generate a PO.

Step Four. Lets generate some history for this item. Since I am using year 2012, lets put receipt in January on 500 pcs. Generate a sales order in February on 350 pieces with delivery in March and then generate replenishment in March.

I will skip these documents, moving quickly to Prepare Replenishment screen

System suggests us 850 items to purchase, but there is no preferred vendor for our item. Lets correct it and try again.

Please note, vendor price is pending, so we should run Vendor Price Update process from Purchasing Module before we can actually create a PO.

And now we can run the replenishment again.

Last Step. Important to know that IR does not create PO automatically, we should create them by Process from Purchasing Module, called Create purchase Orders.

Resulting would be a PO.

Wishing you all the best,

Sergey.

---

Asia Pacific Partner Meeting. 4th October 2012. Cloud ERP. Singapore.

September 16, 2012, 4:48 am

≫ Next: Creating Links to External Files.

≪ Previous: Inventory Replenishment Setup

$

0

0

Dear Reader,

If you are interested in Coud ERP, would like to know more about the road path for the next year.

Please come to our partner event, planned 4th October 2012 in Singapore.

Event will be broken down to 2 parts. Morning - Marketing. Afternoon - Technical.
You may wish to attend either one or both.

Morning Sessions. Marketing Trail.

9:00-9:45 Key Note. Corporate Overview. Road Ahead.

Presenter: Stijn Hendrikse, Chief Marketing Officer. Acumatica USA.

9:45-10:15 Market Positioning.

Presenter: Sean Chatterjee. International Channel Manager. Acumatica USA.

10:15-10:30 Coffee Break

10:30-11:00 Solution Pricing. Enterprise Licensing.

Presenter: Sergey Vereshchagin. Managing Director. Acumatica (SEA).

11:00-12:00 Competition, Initial Sales.

Presenter: Sean Chatterjee. International Channel Manager. Acumatica USA.

12:00-13:30 Lunch Break. Socializing.

Afternoon Sessions. Pre-Sales and Technical Trail.

13:30-14:15 Initial System Configuration. Cloud/Local Approaches.

Presenter: Sergey Vereshchagin. Managing Director. Acumatica (SEA).

14:15-15:00 Customizations. Dash Boards. Enquiries.

Presenter: Sergey Vereshchagin. Managing Director. Acumatica (SEA).

15:00-15:15 Coffee Break.

15:15-16:00 Newly added features. Multi Company/Branches. Access Restrictions. Fixed Assets. Presenter: Sergey Vereshchagin. Managing Director. Acumatica (SEA).

16:00-17:00 Questions and Answers.

Venue is - Singapore 5 star hotel in central area.

Please write on info@acumatica.com.sg with request, and I will be glad to help with RSVP.

I would also love if you can suggest topics for upcoming event.

See you in Singapore on 4th  October 2012.

All the best,

Sergey.

Creating Links to External Files.

September 23, 2012, 12:01 am

≫ Next: Adding a Drop Down List (ComboBox).

≪ Previous: Asia Pacific Partner Meeting. 4th October 2012. Cloud ERP. Singapore.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone,

This article is about linking external files to Acumatica entities without uploading to the database.

Document Management in Acumatica is great, but sometimes, customer may want to link files from existing third-party storage to Acumatica.

What we currently have in our product:

1. We can upload file into Acumatica entities, by just clicking on Attachment button. It is true for almost all the screens. We can attach files to each line of the grid as well. But this is not what our customer wants.

2. We can pass the link to existing file or document from Acumatica to the user. For example, we send link by e-mail then another user can paste it into the browser and access that file. And again this is not what we need.

3. We do have an option to insert a link to a third party file of web site inside acumatica as well.
This is what I wanted to describe in better details.

For example I would like to attach external file, located at local area network resource, to my Project. Lets open an existing Project. Links are made via Activities, therefore we should navigate straight to Activities Tab.

Next I open the Activity called Test and if I just add local folder on my PC like a text it will not work. But intention is to have something like this, working:

This way we can add simple text, but not the link.
In order to add a link I will use Microsoft Word to create a hyperlink first. I need to create a link to a FILE, not FOLDER in order for the function to work.

After I click OK, just Right Click on C:\Well\AcumaticaERPInstall.msi inside the WORD document and copy the HyperLink to clipboard

 

And then Paste the hyperlink into the Activity message body, please use Ctrl-V

Now lets save the Activity and get back to the project Activity History screen.
In order for the list to refresh just click on some other activity and get back to original one. It will refresh the NOTES area.

Now what you see is one non-working and another working link to a file:

All the best,

See you on the Partner Meeting 4th October.

Sergey.

Adding a Drop Down List (ComboBox).

September 25, 2012, 3:18 am

≫ Next: Notice of Vacancy. Sales Manager. Cloud ERP Singapore.

≪ Previous: Creating Links to External Files.

$

0

0

Hi All,

Reason for publishing this article - lack of documentation on this type of control in standard user guides for customization module. Control is handy, therefore should compensate.

There is a field type called Drop Down List or Combo Box in old notation, very useful when we have limited number of choices and they are predefined. Examples of Drop Down Lists:

Module Field in Journal transactions screen from GL module:

Billing Option from AR Invoice screen, here we have this control on the grid:

In order to add this type of control on the screen we should open Customization, Design Mode for the screen. I will demonstrate based on Subaccount Maintenance screen, where I like to add Area code as a combo box.

 

Then I switch to design mode and went to Control Tree:

 

Here I click Add->Add Column to Grid then Add for new field:

 

 Right after that, we need to add a field to database as well. I will call it Area, let it be 2 characters long:

 

At the final screen I state the control type, which is ComboBox:

 

 Now control is added, but we still need to add a list of values for the drop down.

I wish it to be 01 to 10 with descriptions Zone One to Zone Ten. I first click apply then go to Attributes:

 

 

 The string to add should be:

[PXStringList(new string[] { "01", "02", "03", "04", "05", "06", "07", "08", "09", "10" }, new string[] { "Zone One", "Zone Two","Zone Three", "Zone Four","Zone Five", "Zone Six","Zone Seven", "Zone Eight","Zone Nine", "Zone Ten" })]

 

Where first comes list of DB values :) you guys know what it is, right :) Secondly the list of displayed labels.

 

Then click Ok->Apply->Save

 

Now save the customization and publish it.

 

Please note, that due to specific of adding new fields to database you have to restart the whole ISS in order to make those fields appear and attributes to work correctly.

 

So lets restart the server then it will be seen.

 

All the Best,

 

Sergey.

Notice of Vacancy. Sales Manager. Cloud ERP Singapore.

October 2, 2012, 8:30 pm

≫ Next: Acumatica Cloud ERP v4. What is New.

≪ Previous: Adding a Drop Down List (ComboBox).

$

0

0

Acumatica Cloud ERP Distributor

Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia

Position: Sales and Account Manager.

 

About Company

We are a leader in the Cloud ERP Solutions market place. US based company, established since 2006, we have grown to provide software solutions to many companies Globally and in the Asia Pacific Region. Singapore office in operation since 2009. Business life cycle phase: Active Growth.

Job Description: Sales Manager, Key Account Manager

Location: Singapore, Regional coverage

Job Responsibilities

• Identify key account (Large SMB and Enterprises) in Singapore and the region

• Generate sales leads, conduct software demonstrations, propose appropriate solutions for companies in different industries

• Achieve monthly/quarterly sales targets for our ERP business software solution

• Manage client accounts and maintaining basic customer service & relationship

• To handle the complete sales cycle from lead generation, presentation, demonstration, quotation, negotiation to closing of sales

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years relevant working experience. Prior ERP sales experience a must

• Must be performance and target driven. Excellent track record in meeting/ exceeding sales targets.

• Bachelor degree required

• Familiar with basic accounting, business operations and Internet technologies

• Must be Singapore Citizen or PR to apply
• Mandarin speaking and writing skills is a plus

Please submit your CV at info@acumatica.com.sg

 

All the best,

Sergey.

Acumatica Cloud ERP v4. What is New.

October 28, 2012, 3:26 am

≫ Next: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

≪ Previous: Notice of Vacancy. Sales Manager. Cloud ERP Singapore.

$

0

0

Hi Everyone.

Here I would like to discuss some new features that are to come in version 4.
Product is under beta testing, it goes very well and based on community opinion, will be a success.

Most significant change is enhanced Mobile Device support.
Now screens and menus re-size based on your device automatically. Below is example when Control Debit/Credit amount fields being repositioned automatically on screen width change.

Second great feature is Enhanced Navigation for screen touch devices. All the buttons being made a bit bigger to get easily pressed by finger. Menu had been reworked to allow to navigate by fingertip.

 I have also noticed, reduced number of text labels, sometimes very annoying and complicating the action recognition. Please take a look at Grid buttons, They are now bigger and self explanatory. Of course tool tip is coming out when hover over the button.

Last thing - controls being repositioned and reworked, they all have the same width and come with description:

In overall, new approach reduced amount of code for developer 10 times. Numerous system enhancements improved the speed of operations locally by 30% as well on the server by 30%.

That is all about UI enhancements at the moment.

All the Best,
Sergey.