Sage 100 ERP Version 2015 Preview

Sage 100 (MAS 90) ERP 2015 is expected out mid-year. As we reviewed the list of enhancements included, we found that Sage has done an especially good job of listening to customer requests and incorporating them into the software. The release includes over fifty control, workflow, and usability improvements. Here’s an early look at some of the highlights of this useful release.

System-Wide Enhancements
Global enhancements to Sage 100 ERP include security and control features, scripting, and better printing workflow.

Security and Control
The System Activity Log will display which options are changed when any of the Setup Options records are updated, and module options have been added to provide control over ALE lookups for both printing and exporting to Excel. Sage Intelligence Viewer will be included in Role Maintenance for security.

The country table will now be pre-populated with country codes, including both those found in Sage CRM and additional codes from the ISO standards. You will now also optionally be able to install Canadian Postal Codes. A new User Preference will allow you to default to the current module when switching companies.

Printing Improvements
An updated Amyuni driver for Paperless Office will make the conversion of reports to PDF faster, and separate performance improvements are being made for printing checks and extended stubs to PDF through Paperless Office. All reports will provide direct access to the associated Paperless Office Viewer via the Save drop-down menu, and printing tasks have been added for approximately 17 reports and RMA forms not previously available in Paperless Office.

Scripting
The Customizer in being enhanced so that you can create additional maintenance space on panels/forms for UDFs, and you will also be able to add UI events to which you can attach user-defined scripts. UDF data sources in AP manual check entry are being added to be consistent with check printing. Sage also plans to regularly add Customizer examples and documentation for scripting to Sage City to make it easier to make minor workflow improvements yourself.

General Ledger and Bank Reconciliation
Positive Pay exporting will now be easier with a new sample bank format and the addition of a “remit to” name in check printing. Reconciling the bank statement will be easier with the ability to sort columns in Bank Rec. just as you would in Excel.

Reversing journal entries will be simplified with a button in Account Maintenance, Transactions tab, to automatically create the entries in General Journal Entry. When entering an unformatted GL Account Number in report selections, the value will automatically be formatted, and you will be able to Sort and Select by Account on the GL Account Audit Report.

Accounts Payable
The Vendor Name field in A/P is being expanded to 50 characters. You will now have access to the “Select Invoices” dialog for all purchase transfer vendors in Manual Check and Payment Entry, and the ability to sort and select by Vendor will be available on the AP Vendor Audit Report. When creating a *PRNT* check, the print button will still be accessible even after the check is initially printed, allowing the check to be re-printed. The ability to sort by columns has been added to many areas in Accounts Payable, including:

• Select Invoices for Payment in Invoice Payment Selection
• Select Check and Electronic Payment Maintenance
• Select Manual Check and Payment Invoices
• Select Vendor Transfer Invoices
  Select Customer Invoices in AP from AR Clearing Entry (Period End Processing)

Credit Card Processing
Level III detail is being added to credit card processing so your organization can take advantage of reduced fees. You will also be able to perform a second credit card pre-authorization after the first one has expired.

Accounts Receivable
New sorting and selecting options have been added in Select Cash Receipts Invoices and the Customer Audit Report. You will also be able to set a flag to suppress invoice printing for customers you are invoicing using Sage Billing and Payment. Sage has also added Pay Date as one of the selections on the Salesperson Commission Report. Printing multiple forms will be made easier with the option to keep print dialogs open after printing.

Purchase Order and Sales Order
Purchase Order History is being added, similar to a previous enhancement for Sales order/Quote History. The Purchase Order History selection screen you will see is shown below. You will be able to easily “copy from” a previous purchase order when creating a new one, and a new option on the Generate tab will allow you to sort by either Item Code or Sales Order Line No. when creating a new PO through generation.

Printing multiple forms will be made easier with the option to print dialogs open after printing Sales Order and Purchase Order Forms, and you will have the option to redisplay the source document after doing a Quick Print in Purchase Order. A calculator will be available to you in the Landed cost field, and you will now be able to see allocated freight, landed cost, and sales tax in PO Receipt History Inquiry.

Warehouse Code, Sales Tax Schedule, Exemption Info, FOB, and Ship Via will now be displayed on the PO Ship-To Address dialog, and the Vendor Memo button will be available to you on the main panel of Receipt of Goods Entry, Receipt of Invoice Entry, and Return of Goods Entry. Similarly, the Customer Memo button will be available to you on the main panel of Sales Order Entry and Invoice Entry.

To mitigate entry errors in Shipping Data Entry, a warning will display when leaving Item Packaging Maintenance if the quantity shipped does not match the quantity packed.

A new option in Sales Order Printing will allow you to prevent or allow printing of orders on hold.

Inventory and Bill of Materials
For Inventory Transactions, you will now be able to set options for access by each Inventory Transaction Entry type, and separate Role Maintenance security will be available for Item Vendor Maintenance accessed through Item Maintenance.

New fields and options include a new field in Item Maintenance, Transactions tab to drill into the GL Source Journal, and the ability to exclude Item Vendors and Alias Items in Copy Item. Product Line maintenance will now include a “copy from” option, and Sort and Selection by item is being added to the IM Item Audit Report. The Last Physical Count Date will now update by Item and Warehouse. Both fields will be viewable in Item Maintenance/inquiry.

You will now be able to launch Bill of Materials Maintenance from Item Maintenance, and a new option in Bill of Materials will allow you to synchronize the first line of the item description when both the item description and bill descriptions are the same.

We’d love to hear which of these improvements will be most useful to your organization. Please email or call us to discuss them in more detail, or to schedule your Sage 100 ERP upgrade.