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Sage MAS 500
NEWSLETTER
Volume 5 Issue 3,
August 2007 |
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Service industries now account for
55% of economic activity in the
U.S., according to the U.S. Census
Bureau. Overall sector revenue
was up 7% in the first quarter
of 2007 compared with the same
quarter of 2006. Professional, scientific,
and technical services are
the largest services segment, with
$299.3 billion in revenues for the
first quarter of 2007. |
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| Access Business Intelligence With eExecutive |
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| Keep your finger on the pulse of your
business anytime, anywhere with
Sage MAS 500 eExecutive. |
Business Intelligence is a term that is frequently
mentioned these days. What does
it really mean? The definition on the
University of California, Santa Cruz's Web site
defines it succinctly: The knowledge derived from
analyzing an organization's information. For
users of Sage MAS 500 ERP, much of your organization's
information resides in the software.
And there's an excellent tool
for extracting business intelligence
out of that information:
eExecutive.
eExecutive brings you
all the information you
need - from up-to-the minute
sales statistics to cash
flow analysis - on one convenient
Web page. With eExecutive,
busy managers can
keep abreast of the business
information important
to them anytime, anywhere,
and without needing to navigate
within the software to
find it.
eExecutive is included with your
Sage MAS 500 System Manager. If you haven't
yet leveraged its power, perhaps now would be a
good time to take a closer look at what eExecutive
has to offer.
360 Degree View Of Your Business
eExecutive includes 12 pre-defined graphical
views or Web Parts that you can arrange on your
eExecutive home page. These Web Parts cover
every aspect of your business, including financial
position, operational statistics, and reports
and ratios for your analytical needs. Let's learn
more about each of the 12 Web Parts views.
Balance Sheet
The Balance Sheet Web Part shows assets and
liabilities in table or pie chart format for either
the current or prior fiscal
period. You also can view
the entire balance sheet with
a prior year comparison.
Income Statement
The Income Statement provides
a summary of activity
and percent change for
the current or prior fiscal
period. You can also view the
complete income statement
for the selected period.
Budget Analysis
With this view you can
quickly check budget variances
for the current or
prior period, using the budget
of your choice.
Cash Flow Analysis
The Cash Flow Analysis allows you to review
your company's cash position and expected
cash flow for the near future. The initial Cash
Flow Projections page displays current cash balances
and expected cash receipts and expenditures
in seven-day increments. Additional pages for Cash Expectations and Cash Requirements
provide more detail, grouping transactions by
size. This enables you to easily identify large
transactions or a large quantity of transactions
that will impact your cash flow.
Daily Order Summary
The Daily Order Summary is a
snapshot of incoming sales orders
for the last 10 days, including
number of orders, average and
total number of line items, average
and total order amounts, and
the largest order for each day.
Customer Transaction
View invoices, cash receipts, sales
orders and returns for the day,
month, quarter, or year, with the
Customer Transaction Web Part.
Top Customers
The Top Customers view displays
your best customers and includes
revenue, gross profit, and gross
profit percent for the month, quarter, or year.
Top Items
The Top Items Web Part shows you your top
performing inventory items. Items can be
ranked by revenue, gross profit, or quantity sold
for the month, quarter, or year.
Receivables Aging
With Receivables Aging you see an aged summary
of your outstanding invoices, including
the number of customers, invoices, and dollar
amount for the aging category.
Inventory Analysis
The Inventory Analysis view allows you to gain
a quick understanding of the efficiency of your
inventory management with several key measurements
of profitability and performance
including gross margin percent, return on
investment, customer service level, and demand.
The analysis includes finished goods, assembled
and built-to-order (BTO) kits, and raw materials.
Information is displayed for the 12 most
recent inventory calendar periods beginning
with the last closed period. You can choose to
display all warehouses or an individual warehouse,
and all purchase product lines or a single
purchase product line.
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| You can arrange your eExecutive Web Parts to display first the
information most important to you. |
Trend Analysis The insightful Trend Analysis view provides a
visual comparison of revenue and net income,
by fiscal period, for the last 12 fiscal periods. You
can select either the current or prior fiscal period
as the starting point for the comparison.
Ratio Analysis
The Ratio Analysis Web Part displays a series
of profitability, operational, and solvency ratios
that allow you to see how your organization's
performance stacks up against other companies
in your industry. You can select either the current
or prior fiscal period, and view the ratios
for current and prior periods, current year, and
the industry standard. Here's how the various
ratios are calculated:
Net Income Ratio: the ratio of net income
to net sales for the period displayed as a
percentage.
Gross Profit Ratio: the ratio of (net sales -
cost of sales) to net sales for the period
displayed as a percentage.
Operating Expense Ratio: the ratio of
operating expenses to net sales for the period,
displayed as a percentage.
Total Assets Ratio: the ratio of net income
to total assets for the period displayed as
a percentage.
Quick Ratio: the ratio of (cash + trade
receivables + other receivables) to current
liabilities.
Current Ratio: the ratio of current assets
to current liabilities.
Equity Ratio: the ratio of total equity to
total assets displayed as a percentage.
Debt Ratio: the ratio of total debt to total
assets displayed as a percentage.
Debt to Equity Ratio: the ratio of the
debt ratio to the equity ratio displayed as
a percentage.
Days Sales in Inventory Ratio: the ratio of
inventory balance to (cost of goods sold /
number of days in the period).
Average Days Sales Outstanding Ratio:
the ratio of trade receivable balance to (net
sales / number of days in the period).
Average Days to Pay: average number of
days before vendor is paid.
Cash to Cash Cycle: Calculation of Days
Sales in Inventory + Days Sales Outstanding
- Average Days to Pay.
Customization
eExecutive comes with a default layout and
a selection of predefined Web Parts. You can
choose which Web Parts to display, determine
their layout on the page, and even create
new Web Parts. You can further customize the
appearance of your Web pages by changing the
style sheet. Each Web Part displays a snapshot
as of the last time eExecutive was updated. An
option in Settings allows you to determine how
often eExecutive should be refreshed.
Each Web Part includes a Customize icon
that allows you to choose from the available
options for that page. Your selections are saved
as a default for the future, so that your selection
is retained for the next time you visit the page.
For Web Parts that display monthly, quarterly,
and yearly information, the quarterly and
yearly information are calculated based on the
month. For example, quarterly information will
be for the fiscal quarter that contains the month
you selected.
Sage MAS 500 eExecutive can become a
powerful tool for decision support for your management
team. Give us a call with your questions,
or for assistance implementing and customizing
eExecutive for your organization. |
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| End-To-End Project Accounting |
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The key to successful project management
is delivering on time and on budget.
Many project managers find themselves juggling
a variety of disconnected software tools
to achieve this goal. However, users of Sage
MAS 500 ERP can enjoy the benefit of a system
that connects all project management tracking
needs into one cohesive workflow.
At the heart of the system is the Project
Accounting module, with flexible choices
in profit recognition and the ability to track
actual costs compared to budgeted amounts.
To create a seamless solution, Project Accounting
integrates with Microsoft Project, Sage
Timesheet, and the Sage MAS 500 General
Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable,
Purchase Order, Inventory, and Materials
Requirements Planning (MRP) modules. Read
on for more details of the power of integrated
Project Accounting.
Enhance Project Management
With a fully integrated system, project information
is always accurate and up to date. You have
a clear picture of actual versus estimated costs
so you can proactively prevent cost overruns
and enhance profitability. You can enter separate
estimates for each cost type, giving you the
ability to report and analyze data at multiple
levels. Data-driven contract rates easily handle
complex project rates, facilitating control of
rate changes and profitability. As project scope
evolves, Project Accounting supports changes
to the estimated budget to increase forecast
accuracy throughout the project lifecycle.
GAAP-Compliant Profit Recognition
Project Accounting allows you to choose time
and materials or fixed price contracts for each
individual project. Six GAAP-compliant profit
recognition methods provide flexibility in
managing your revenue stream. You can even
use multiple profit recognition methods within
the same project.
Integrated Time And Expense Entry
Sage Timesheet is a Web-based time entry
system that provides the ability to enter time
against projects online. Timesheet periods are
user defined, and contract rates can be assigned
based on project, resource, title, phase, task, or
date. Choose worksheet or calendar-style entry.
Approved time flows seamlessly into projects,
facilitating timely billing.
Sage Timesheet also provides the ability to
enter expenses through the same Web-based
interface. Both reimbursable and non-reimbursable
expenses can be entered, with optional
management approval workflows. You can generate
Accounts Payable vouchers automatically
for reimbursable expenses.
Microsoft Project Link
Microsoft Project has become the industrystandard
project planning tool. With the flexibility
to collaboratively schedule, organize,
track, and analyze projects, the Sage MAS 500
Project Accounting module it is the optimum
solution for delivering projects on time. Bidirectional
integration with Sage MAS 500
Project Accounting creates a cohesive solution
to achieve the results your business demands.
Microsoft Project Tasks are generated from
built-in Project Accounting Tasks. Microsoft
Project time and resource plans can be
uploaded back into the Project Accounting
module. By passing data between the systems,
project managers are kept informed of changes
or potential overruns, while the finance department
simultaneously knows when to generate
invoices.
Core Accounting Integration
As you would expect, the transactions generated
by Project Accounting post smoothly
through to the Sage MAS 500 General Ledger.
Tight integration with Accounts Payable and
Purchase Order allows you to allocate vouchers
to specific projects, generate vouchers from
expense claims, automatically create purchase
orders for non-inventory materials, and track
purchase order commitments.
Distribution And Manufacturing
If you use the Inventory module to track materials,
you can transfer materials in and out of
projects and track the shipment of products
from location to location. Material requirements
for projects can be incorporated into the
overall planning and purchasing process using
the MRP module.
Invoicing Capabilities
Flexible billing options make it easy to provide
invoices in a format the customer prefers.
You can create a unique invoice layout for each
project, choosing to print in either summary or
detail. You have the option to print timesheet
comments on the invoice as well.
Customer billings can be generated based on
date, percentage complete, contract, or project. You
can even bill only specific portions of a project.
The Sage MAS 500 Project Accounting
module provides an excellent solution for a
variety of project-based organizations, from
professional services companies and engineering
firms to make-to-order manufacturers.
Project Accounting can even be leveraged for
internal projects such as office remodeling or
trade show exhibition. Give us a call to discuss
how Project Accounting can be put to work in
your organization. |
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| Tips & Tricks |
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When the scope of the project changes and
you need to issue a credit memo against
a Project Accounting estimate line, follow these
steps:
1. Open Accounts Receivable/Activities/Process
Invoices, create a new batch number
and click the Enter Invoices button to open
the Enter Invoices window.
2. Select Credit Memo from the drop-down
field, click the Next Number button, and
select the project number at the Project field.
3. Click the ellipse button (...) next to the Project
field to open the Add Lines window.
4. Click the Select button to display all of the
previously invoiced estimate lines.
Note: Only previously invoiced lines will display.
5. Click the Select check box for the desired
line.
6. Enter the credit amount in the Amt to Bill
field and click the Proceed button.
7. Post the credit memo.
Note: If a credit memo is entered equal to the
amount previously invoiced, a new invoice can
be processed as usual. |
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Spotlight On Sage MAS 500
New Sage SalesLogix Integration |
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As competition heats up in the marketplace, streamlining your sales process and
connecting all your business management applications are two ways you can
reduce costs and simultaneously improve customer service. As an owner of one or
more applications from the broad portfolio of Sage Software products, you are already
a step ahead. When you require new capabilities that integrate with your existing system,
such as customer relationship management, you need look no further than Sage
Software.
By selecting a Sage Software solution, you have the convenience of using a single
vendor for all your business management solutions and, even more importantly, the
efficiency of integrating your data. No more duplicate entry of information in two
separate systems. When your systems share data you can reduce data entry, improve
customer service, and increase efficiency and profitability.
An integration between Sage SalesLogix and Sage MAS 500 ERP is scheduled for
release this fall. The integration is built right into Sage SalesLogix, and has been completely
updated to include more flexibility and new customer-requested features. The
integration, created with all new architecture, is now managed from within Sage Sales-
Logix.
Wizard Set Up
A Setup wizard simplifies the process of mapping data between Sage SalesLogix and
Sage MAS 500. You will be presented with a list of fields from both
applications. You can use the default mapping that links logical data
elements from each application, or you can easily tailor the mapping
to meet your needs.
The wizard provides a set of templates for transferring records that
contain logical rules for the transfer. For example, when converting a
Sage SalesLogix Account to a Sage MAS 500 Customer, there are certain
fields, such as Credit Limit and Sales Tax schedule, that are not sent over
from Sage SalesLogix. The templates allow you to supply default information
for these fields. A set of default templates are provided for:
Account/Customer
Sales Order
Contacts
Invoice
Addresses
In addition to the default templates, you have the option of creating
new custom templates from the default templates provided.
Advanced Feature Set
The new integration contains a number of new customer-requested
enhancements. For example, now one Sage SalesLogix Account can
be linked to several Sage MAS 500 customers, even when those customers are in multiple Sage MAS 500 companies. For flexible access to
accounting information, both pre-defined and ad-hoc queries are provided.
Access to source code is included for custom integration needs.
High Performance
The new integration is built right in to Sage SalesLogix, resulting in
enhanced reliability and ease of upgrading to new versions. The refreshing
of accounts and products is much faster with the new architecture,
and you have the ability to choose all records or just specific records.
Compatibility And Availability
The updated integration is compatible with Sage SalesLogix versions
7.0.1 and 7.2. However, this first release does not support the Web Client.
The integration is for Sage MAS 500 version 7.05.
The integration software is scheduled to be available in early Fall
2007 and is offered at no charge for customers with compatible versions
of Sage MAS 500 and Sage SalesLogix. Give us a call with your
questions. |
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© Copyright 2004-2010 Tango Marketing, LLC. www.tango-marketing.com All Rights Reserved. This newsletter and its content have been registered with
the United States Copyright Office. This content is licensed by Tango Marketing LLC and can be distributed by licensee until 07/31/2010 at which time the licensee must cease
distribution and use of this content unless permission in writing is obtained from Tango Marketing LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
The capabilities, system requirements and/or compatibility with third-party products described herein are subject to change without notice. Sage, the Sage logos, and the Sage product
and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc., or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.
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