This documentation will guide users through the information required in order to successfully go through the Year End procedure within Sage Line 50.

SCOPE:

The year-end procedure itself is fully automated, and prepares your company for processing in the new financial year. During this procedure the relevant account balances for the current financial year for your profit and loss accounts are transferred to the Retained Earnings account so they are ready to accept transactions for the new financial year.

The balances of your balance sheet accounts are carried forward into the new financial year to give you an accurate picture of your ongoing financial position.

Any future dated transactions are transferred to the relevant monthly field on each nominal account record.
Your nominal and product budget figures can be set automatically for the new financial year, with a percentage increase if required and actual values are transferred to prior year so you can produce comparison reports in the new financial year.

Before performing the year end procedure, please take the time to read all the instructions below so that the year end process can go through as smoothly as possible.

CRITICAL NOTES:

Before the Year End Procedure, you need to be aware of the following:

• Backup – Before performing the Year End procedure please ensure you have made at least 2 working backups of your company data.
• Check Data - Perform a Check Data (data integrity check) prior to running year end by going into File...Maintenance
• System Date - Make sure your system date is the same as your year-end date.

IMPORTANT NOTE - It is very difficult to predict how long the year process may take to completed as a number of variables such as, size of the data, PC hardware specifications as well as available system resources will impact on the duration of the process. It is absolutely vital that you are patient during this process as shutting Sage Line 50 down forcefully (i.e. by using ctrl-alt-del) will almost certainly corrupt your company data files.

PREPARING FOR YEAR END CHECKLIST:

It is absolutely imperative that you prepare thoroughly before you process the year-end. The following checklist will help to ensure that your Year End is processed correctly, and that you have done all the necessary preparatory work.

Task	Details
Backup your company data	We cannot overstate the importance of this step. You should keep this backup and never overwrite it. As a precautionary measure, make at least two sets of backups and store them in different physical locations. If the year-end procedure does not complete for any reason you will have to restore from backup and reinitiate the year-end procedure. It is also recommended that you run a data integrity check (File…Maintenance…Check) before making this backup.
Verify Financial Year start date	Check the Financial Year start date in the Settings menu, to ensure it is correct.

WHAT RUNNING THE YEAR END DOES:

The year-end procedure automatically sets up the company for processing in the next year. During this procedure the following processing is done:

Process	Explanation
Updates profit and loss balance	Balances for the year just ended on your Profit and Loss nominal accounts are transferred to the Retained Earnings nominal account. The balance in this account represents the net surplus (or deficit) for the year of Income over Expenditure. This leaves the P & L accounts ready to accept transactions for the new financial year.
Updates nominal account balances	The Balance Sheet nominal account balances are carried forward into the new financial year. These balances are transferred to the brought forward field on the nominal account record and will be included in the Year To Date values in the Balance Sheet in the new financial year.
Transfers future dated transaction	Any future dated transactions are transferred to the relevant monthly field in each nominal account. An updated Audit Trail report is produced showing transactions made automatically to Retained Earnings account by the Year End option.
Actual balances made prior year balances	The Actual monthly balances are transferred to Prior Year for each nominal account record; this enables you to print comparison reports in the new financial year.
Actual balances to budget values	The Actual monthly balances are transferred to Budget values for the new financial year for your Profit and Loss nominal account records and for your stock records, (with a percentage increase if required). This is an optional feature of year-end.
Actual Sales / quantity sold values transferred	The Actual Sales and Quantity Sold values on each product record are transferred to Prior Year.
Updates product record	Any future dated transactions are transferred to the relevant monthly field in each product record.
Updates Year to Date Field	The value in the YTD field (Year To Date turnover) on all Customer and Suppliers records is transferred to the Prior YTD field.
Updates start date	The financial year start date is incremented.

PROCEDURE:

To run the Year End Procedure simply follow the instructions below:

• In Sage Line 50 open the Tools menu from the Sage Line 50 menu bar, then choose the 'Period End' option, then 'Year End'.
  
• The Year End Window will display providing you with a number of options. The window again advises you to make 2 backups if you have not already done so. (Please see screen shot below and what you can choose from thereafter).
  
  Nominal Budgets Area:
  If you want to update your budget figures for each nominal ledger profit and loss account and each product record with the actual values from the year just ending, select the 'Transfer Actuals to Budgets' check box.If you selected this check box and want to increase the budget values for the current year, enter the percentage increase you require in the Percentage Increase box. Any percentage you enter here will increase the budgets for your nominal accounts or product records, as selected. Leave this as zero if you do not want any increase in your budget figures.
  Postings: Area:
  In the Year End Journals Date box, enter the date you want on your year end journals. Your financial year-end date appears here automatically but you can change this if you want to. Use the Calendar to select the date you require.
  Output To Area:
  A Year A Year End updated Audit Trail report is produced for the year end postings. Select from the Output area the type of output you require;  Printer, or File. If you want to archive the closing year's data, select the 'Archive Company Data before Year End' check box.

• If you have already made your backups and are ready to proceed click on the 'OK' option. To exit without running the year end procedure, click on the 'Cancel' button. Please Note: when running this procedure, Sage Line 50 automatically resets to zero the balances of all your profit and loss nominal accounts for your new financial year.
• Before the system begins to process your Year End a confirmation message will appears. To continue with your year-end click 'Yes', or to cancel click 'No'.
  
• As a security measure you will again be prompted with a confirmation message, warning you that the year end will be performed using the existing chart of accounts. To continue please click 'Yes' again.
• Next you will be prompted with a Print screen providing you with the option to print out your year end postings. At this point specify the required printer and options and then click on 'OK' to proceed
  
• Lastly the system will prompt you to check whether your Program Date is correct before you begin processing transaction for your new financial year. If the date is correct simply click on 'OK' and if it is incorrect make the required changes and then click on the 'OK' button.
  

If you require further assistance or information, please contact our support department. If you do not have a support contract, please contact sales@sagepastelsoftware.com.au
 

This article will go through the Sage ePayDay year end procedure that clients can use to run this process accordingly.

SCOPE:

It is essential that the year end process is run before updating to the new tax scales and processing your  first payrun in the new financial year. Please ensure you print out and read through the attached document accordingly. You should tick off each step in sequence before commencing to the next phase and the EOY processing worksheet will assist you in ensuring this is done and no steps are missed.

PLEASE ENSURE: That you are using Series 22.00 of e-PayDay for Sage Pastel. If you are using a previous version, you MUST update BEFORE processing your year end. You should also ensure that you have two working backups before you proceed to the year end procedure and before you upgrade to Version 22.

Only after you have completed the year end procedure, can you proceed to then upgrade to Version 23 in order to upgrade to the new tax scales and process your first payrun for the new financial year.

PROCEDURE:

In order to view the year end procedure, click on the attached document to open.

Please contact our support department for further assistance with this on support@sagepastelsoftware.com.au or sales@sagepastelsoftware.com.au if you do not have a support contract.

The purpose of this technical bulletin is to assist users of Sage Pastel Evolution to run through the financial year end as smoothly as possible.

SCOPE:

Sage Pastel Evolution software keeps up to five financial years of data. You only need to purge the first year data when all years have been used up, so that you can use this additional year in the system. Through out this documentation we will go through the four crucial steps in performing the year end for Sage Pastel Evolution data bases. These four steps are as followed:

STEP 1:  Print the Relevant Reports (Ensure that all the reports for Year 1 have been printed according to your auditor or company's requirements).
STEP 2:  BACKUP the company folder
STEP 3:  Purging of other accounts/items (General Ledger accounts / Receivable and Payable accounts)
STEP 4:  Purge first year procedure

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Why is purging the year end required?

Pastel Evolution has the capacity to accommodate up to five financial years of General Ledger information. Upon completion of the 5th financial year, you will be required to purge the 1st year information contained in the system. By completing the First Year Purge Procedure, you are able to add an additional year to the system. In order to establish which financial year you are currently working in, go to the menu option: Maintenance.. Common.. Company Details  then click on the Accounting Periods option.

Purging can also be done to reduce the size of your company database and increase working speed.

When should i perform my financial year end procedures?

This can be performed at any point when working in Year 4 or Year 5, but note that Year 1, 2, 3 must have been audited and cleared by your accountants. It is therefore not necessary to wait until the last day of your Year 5 financial period - it can be done right now!

Note: The only report that should be completed on the last day of your financial year is the Inventory Valuation Report (i.e. Reports, Inventory, Valuation). This report is required by your accountant/auditor in order to calculate the value of stock at that point in time. This report cannot be backdated or run in advance as it works on the current stock value.

STEP 1: PRINTING REPORTS REQUIRED PRIOR TO STARTING THE YEAR END PURGE:

Ensure that all the following reports for Year 1 have been printed according to your auditor or company's requirements:

• Trial Balance
• Income Statement
• Balance Sheet
• Ledger Accounts (if required)
• Account Balances (if required)
• Project Profit & Loss (if required)
• Inventory Management (if required)
• Any additional reports you may require

Note: Ensure that reports balance for Year 1. In the event that this is not the case, do the following:

• A Backup
• Run a General Ledger Relink (Maintenance, General Ledger, General Ledger Relink). This will recalculate the balances in your General Ledger Balance table and make sure the data integrity is kept.
• Re-run the above reports. Should they still be out of balance, run an Audit Trail Report (i.e. Reports, General Ledger, Audit Trail) with the options "Margin of error" (set to 0.01) and "Periods" selected only. If you find that a transaction is out of balance, contact the Pastel Evolution Support Team for assistance (see contact details below).

STEP 2: BACKUP THE COMPANY FOLDER:

Refer to the technical documentation on How to Backup / Restore Sage Pastel Evolution data - Click Here!

STEP 3: PURGING OF OTHER ACCOUNTS:

The following points should be taken under consideration when attempting to purge or delete any of the relevant account types:

General Ledger Accounts

• Once a transaction has been allocated against a ledger account, it cannot be deleted.
• Should the account be an expense or income account, it can only be deleted after the first year has been completed, as the system deletes all transactions for these accounts and brings forward a balance in the new year as an accumulated profit or loss.
• Should the above have taken place, go to the Maintenance, General Ledger, Accounts.
• Highlight the specific account and click on the Delete button.
• Balance sheet accounts have a balance brought forward only if an amount exists to be brought forward. Should a zero balance exist, this account can be deleted after purging.

Receivable and Payable Accounts

• No debtor or creditor account can be deleted if there are invoices outstanding or a balance exists.
• Ensure that the account has a zero balance and that all transactions have been fully allocated (i.e. Maintenance, Receivables/Payables, Allocation Utilities).

PROCEDURE for Purging Receivables/Payables Accounts:

1. Click on Accounts Receivables/Accounts Payables... Maintenance... Purge Transactions. Specify the account(s) and date range options.
2. Go to Accounts Receivables/Accounts Payables... Maintenance... Customers/Suppliers
3. Highlight the specific account and Delete. (See screen shot below):

STEP 4: PURGE FIRST YEAR PROCEDURE:

Upon completion of all the above steps, you are ready to perform the First Year Purge.

NOTE - Once this procedure has been started, it cannot be interrupted. Should an interruption occur, please restore your backup made previously.

1.) The Purge First Year Procedure is processed from General Ledger... Maintenance... Purge First Year.
2.) Select an Accumulated Profit type account. Should none be available, make use of the "Insert" key to create an account on the fly.

Alternatively cancel this screen:

1.) Go to Maintenance... General Ledger... Accounts and click on Add to create an account with the account type as Accumulated Profit.
2.) Select a transaction code (i.e. JNL) and click on start
3.) Once this has been completed, you will be provided with a confirmation screen and your company period table will have moved to create the New Year.

AFTER THE YEAR END:

After the Year End, it is essential to re-run all the necessary reports (e.g. - Trial Balance, Age Analysis etc). Refer to The Year End Procedure in Detail (Step 1). This step is vital, as this confirms that the data has been successfully carried over to the next year.

Once you have double checked the reports and are satisfied that the year end procedure ran smoothly, you can then begin processing current year's transactions.

If you require further assistance or information, please contact our support department. If you do not have a support contract, please contact: sales@sagepastelsoftware.com.au

PURPOSE:

This quick guide describes how to change the date format in Easyprojects.

SCOPE:

Change the Easyproject's date format. We cover the procedures on how to do this in Firefox and Internet explorer. 

This could be useful as not all countries use the same format (dd/mm/yy) and you might need to customize this according the time format of the region.. 

Select a date format and a week starting day in your browser's language settings.

Firefox:

Tools -> Options

Content -> Languages

Specify a preferable language (English Australia) that has dd/mm/yy format to the very top of the languaje list using "Move up" button.

Then Click "OK" twice to save the changes.

Click refresh for the changes to take effect and see the results.

Internet Explorer:

Tools -> Internet Options

On the general tab -> Appearance -> Languages

Click "Add"

Select preferable language (English Australia) that has dd/mm/yy format to the very top of the language list using "Move up" button.

Then Click "OK" twice to save the changes.

Refresh the page for the changes to take effect and see the results.

It is essential to complete certain tasks prior to running the Year End procedure, to ensure that everything runs smoothly thereafter.

SCOPE

In this Article we will cover the necessary tasks to run before the Year End procedure on your Sage Pastel Partner/Xpress.

PROCEDURE

Retained Income Account

If you are running a Year End on a particular company for the first time, you need to ensure that the retained income exists. To create this account, go to Edit | General Ledger Accounts and click on the  icon. Create this account with the details as below :

Completing a Stock Take

It is critical to do the stock take or inventory count before the Year End process occurs, to ensure that the correct amount is reflected on your balance sheet for Year End reporting.

By completing the stock take, you are ensuring that the theoretical count (stock count on the system) is the same as the physical count (the manual process of counting stock items on hand). Should there be differences, the system will make the necessary adjustments to reflect the quantities as you capture them. The Inventory Count Assistant will guide you through the process of counting inventory quantities, and then reconciling physical and theoretical quantity differences.

Foreign Currency Revaluation

Foreign currency transactions cannot be revalued for prior financial periods. It is therefore essential that the correct foreign exchange rates are entered as well as ensuring that the foreign currency revaluation is processed.

Deleted Users

There may have been cases where a particular user needed to be deleted off the system. When running the Year End process, you may receive an error that there are open batches for this user. To fix this, you need to re-create the deleted user by going into Setup |  Users/Passwords. You will be then able to see the open batches that were created under that deleted user. Update them and you will be able to process the Year End.

Bank Reconciliation

Since Pastel Partner and Xpress retains data for 2 years, it is very important to make sure that you have updated all your bank recons for the current financial year. The reason for this is that cheques or any transactions processed in the cashbook in the prior financial period will not reflect on the bank reconciliation once the Year End has been run. This is because when you run the Year End, the system takes the current year's transactions and puts them into last year and the last year's data will then be lost on that company.

Pastel Backup

You must save backups on removable media such as CDs or memory sticks. A backup on the same physical computer as the data is inadequate. You should also keep some of these copies in a separate geographical location to ensure their safety.

We recommend the following backup regime:

•  Daily backups made onto separate backup devices, one for each day of the week. In other words, do not overwrite the previous day's backup with a current one. Using this daily strategy, you can go back 5 working days if you need to.
•  Additional backups made at the end of every week, again on separate devices. This lets you go back a few weeks if you need to.
•  An additional backup made at the end of each month, which you keep for at least a financial year.
•  An additional backup made at the end of the financial year, which you keep forever.

In this article we bring you key pointers on how to solve common errors when running the Year End process. These tips will assist you and your clients during the busy Year End period and avoid time-wasting troubleshooting. We have also included a list of items to check for before beginning the process, to help you get off to a smooth start.

SCOPE

This Checklist is intended to cover the following topics in regards to the Sage Pastel Partner/Xpress year end procedure:

• What to check for prior to the Year End?
• Point of Sale System Date error
• How to turn off User Account Control Settings in Windows Version 7
• Open Batches when processing the Year End
• Running the Year End Procedure for Sage Pastel Partner/Xpress
  

PROCEDURE

What to check for prior to the Year End? 

It is essential to complete certain tasks prior to running the Year End procedure, to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Read more here.

Open Batches when processing the Year End

A common error received when processing the year end states “Open Batches Found. You cannot continue with the Year End.” Click here for instructions on how to resolve this.

Point of Sale System Date error

Sage Pastel Point of Sale uses the date on your computer system for all the processing that is done. Users may encounter an error when trying to access the processing screen. Click here to read more on this.

How to turn off User Account Control Settings in Windows Version 7

There may be instances when the User Account Control settings as set in Windows Version 7, need to be turned off.  Click here to find out how to do this.

CONTACT US

Support E-mail :  support@sagepastel.com.au

If you have any comments or suggestions on ways we can improve this article so that it is effective and useful to you, please e-mail us on support@sagepastel.com.au

Rounding issues in Interprise.

Problem arises when dealing with GST exclusive prices with 2 decimal places.

In Australia we use GST Inclusive pricing. Interprise only stores GST Ex prices and adds on GST. The rounding issue comes about when we divide the Inclusive price by 1.1 to get back to an exclusive price. This often results in a value with multiple decimal places. The system default for decimal places is set to use 2 decimal places, therefore this multiple decimal placed value is rounded to 2 decimal places, the system will use this rounded value as the Excl GST value in all calculations.

For example, assume GST Ex price of 99.99

GST = 99.99 * 0.1= 9.999

Inclusive = 99.99 * 1.1 = 109.989

Rounding these figures up to 2 decimals gives

GST = 10

Inclusive = 109.99

So far this looks ok.

But if we are talking about quantities larger than 1, the rounding ends up differently.

Assuming a quantity of 9

GST = 9.999 * 9 = 89.991

Inclusive = 109.989 * 9 = 989.901

Rounding to 2 decimals

GST = 89.99

Inclusive = 989.90

But on the order, the price is listed as 109.99 (GST Inclusive)

109.99 * 9 = 989.91

This is a 1c discrepancy. But this will grow larger on bigger orders with more item lines.

And customers could query those discrepancies on the order/invoice they are sent.

Solution

One way we could resolve this would be that all Exclusive Pricing would be entered into the system with only 1 decimal point.

All tax calculations would result in 2 decimal inclusive figures at most. So there would be no cent rounding required at all.

This document details how a user can simply retrieve a registration code for the Sage Pastel Partner package online, on their very own.

SCOPE

The online registration facility is available for the following products: (Sage Pastel Partner 2005, 2007, 2009 and Sage Pastel Xpress). 

You would need your login information/PIN number and Serial Number. You can then generate your own registration codes online (Click the blue text) = Online Registration Site or through the manual process by submitting the form to us using the Web Form option = Web Form. The "Online" option is recommended and the "Web Form" option should only be used to submit a form to our registration desk - should you have problems retrieving a registration code online.

Registrations are required on an "Annual basis" for the products above.

Please Note: That getting the registration from our site (online) is instant, otherwise submitting a web form to our registrations team can take up to 48 hours!

PROCEDURE:

Please follow the instructions below to use the Online facility:

• Access our online registration facility: Click the blue text > Online Registration Site
• You will then need to enter your Serial Number within the field highlighted in yellow below, then click the Next button

• Confirm your Company and Contact details within the next screen, then scroll to the very bottom of the form and click on the Next step button 
• The following screen will require you to add any modules (if applicable) or to also confirm your PIN number "Access Code" before proceeding. (The screenshot below hides serial numbers, due to privacy of information). Otherwise click on the Complete Re-Registration button at the bottom.
  

NOTE  = If your Access Code/PIN number being displayed is different. You will need to submit the Web Form instead so our registrations team can supply the registration for  you. Usually a PIN number should remain the same if you are using the same Server and Registered name as previous years. Click here to access the web form if required = Web Form

• The following screen will then display your Registration code (also known as Authorisation Code). This is the code you use to re-register or activate your software again for the next 12 month period. Your can also Print these details by scrolling to the bottom and clicking the Print button.
  

• This completes the procedure on how to retrieve a registration code on your own.

Please NOTE: That you still have to now enter the key above within your Server PC and Register all your Workstations thereafter. For details on the Registration Process, please click on the blue link to access the procedure on Registering Your Sage Pastel Partner/Xpress Package.

At times after running an Excel upgrade, the add-in Report Tools option on the Excel toolbar might be
missing in Excel.

To Retrieve:
1. Make sure the Excel is closed
2. From the Start menu, Navigate to Alchemex 60, then select Maintenance Utility

Maintenance utility

3. The following screen will appear:

4. Select Tools, select Register Alchemex Add-ins

Register Alchemex add-ins

5. Now re-launch Excel and the add-in Report Tools option will be available again.

This document have the main objective to take the client throughout the Sage Pastel Evolution registration process.

SCOPE

PROCEDURES

The following steps will occur after a successful installation process.

Please follow the instructions below to register your package.

 Start Sage Pastel Partner on your server machine. Click Help > Register your package.

Click Next on the Introduction page of the Registration wizard.

To register your server or stand-alone Workstation, select Local/Server Registration.

Click Next

You will need to enter your Base Serial and Registered Company name.

Your Base Serial Number can be found in your Invoice.

Write Your Registered Company Name.

Click Next.

On this screen, you can check your Access Code/Pin Code.

Now, go to http://www.sagepastelsoftware.com.au/

under the menu registrations, follow the instructions to get your Registration Code.

With your Registration code in hand, please enter the code and hit Next.

Please review the Registration summary screen. Please let us know if you note any discrepancies.

Click Next and then Finish. You Partner  server is now registered.