Greymatrix – Apparel Solution for Sage Accpac ERP

Greymatrix is a grid inventory system that offers Apparel Retailers with a user friendly interface to maintain transact and analyze their large inventory distributed by style, colour and size. Seamlessly integrated with Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP, GreyMatrix helps the garment and shoe merchants to obtain a 360 view of their inventory, operations and finance and provide detailed retail analytics and business intelligence.

Trial 6.0 | YouTube Videos | Feature List

Overview: Below screen shot shows the GreyMatrix module in the Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP

Features:

Comprehensive solution with integrated Finance, Operations and Inventory modules.

·         Capture unlimited Style, Color, Size and Images.

·         Simplified Data entry during Procurement, Sales and Distribution.

·         Integrated with Special Localized Taxations.

·         Reduce pilferages in stock at SKU level.

·         Exclusive Style master for item generation.

·         Option to generate Generic Reports along with Style images.

In our next blog we will show how the Setup and Transactions works.

How to generate Styles in Greymatrix for Sage 300

In our last blog, we discussed about how to setup GreyMatrix for your Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP system.

Today, we will discuss about how to generate the items for a particular style. As now we are aware that Style is based on 3 important parameters i.e. Color, Size and Style. Thus our Style maintenance generates different items based on the combination of all the Colors and Sizes selected against the style.

Let us brief out the functionality of the style master screen; this function is similar to item master screen, the only difference is that, we create the style for maintaining the items, color and size wise.

As the need of the Apparel is to allow the user to enter different colors and sizes at a single point of time, Greytrix Apparel creates a 2 X 2 matrix where the Color = Row Attribute and Size = Column Attribute.

Now as we have already selected the Color and Size, we need to set the vendor detail and location detail for the Style.

Similar to the item master we can also assign the optional fields (If required) and taxes in respective tab. You can add the picture in the picture tab so that you could keep track on the style easily.

After entering all the details in respective tab we are ready to create a style, click on save to save the details and to click on Generate/Update button to create the Items with the combination of all colours and sizes.

After generating the items from the style master, you could find the list of items which are generated based on the combination of Style code, Color and Size. I.e. if we have 3 colors and 5 sizes of particular style, we will have 15 total items in the IC item table. All these items generated are having same configuration as selected in the Style.

If user wants to modify the style, he /she can modify the style and then need to click on save and Generate/Update button to update it in the item master.

We also have a short video which summarizes this process.

Database Profiles table error on Sage 300 Workstation

You come across Database profiles table error while opening the database Setup utility on a Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP workstation. It may persist even after you assign all Read\Write rights to the system and windows user on Sage Accpac folder in installation directory.

This type of error occurs due to invalid path of Programs and Shared data while installing Accpac Workstation on another machine. Suppose we have installed Sage Accpac Server on one system having IP as 192.168.0.56 with installation directory path for Sage Accpac as

Programs       C:\Program Files\Sage\Sage Accpac6.0
Shared data   C:\Program Files\Sage\Sage Accpac6.0\Data

Subsequently, we assign necessary rights to user of the workstation machine from the server where Sage Accpac in installed, as shown in the screenshot below.

Usually, we consider this type of issue is due to inadequate rights and that’s correct. However there may be some other cause ahead of this which can result in the above error. You may follow the below procedure to overcome this.

1. As mentioned above, firstly cross check if rights have been assigned on Sage Accpac Server machine to the windows user where Sage Accpac workstation has been installed (refer the above screen shot).

2. Then, on the workstation machine go to Start>>Run>>Type ‘regedit’ and press enter. A registry editor screen will be opened.

3. In registry Editor Page Go to My Computer >> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >> Software>> Accpac International, Inc >> Accpac >> Configuration.

 As in above screenshot, the path for Shared data is given as ‘\\192.168.0.56\Sage Accpac 6.0’ wherein 192.168.0.56 is the IP of Accpac Server machine and rest is shared directory of Sage Accpac on Sage Accpac Server machine. But on Sage Accpac Server machine, we had put the directory path as ‘Sage Accpac6.0\Data’ which is different from the path mentioned in the above screenshot.

4. Now click on Highlighted Shared data. It will show you certain options. You may select ‘Modify’ option to make the changes.

5. Once we click on ‘Modify’ the Edit String screen will appear. It will allow you to change the path of the Shared Data in Value Data Field. Now put the path as given in below screenshot.

6. After following the above steps, Go to Start menu and open Sage Accpac>>database Setup. Now the Sage Accpac database setup screen should open without any issue.

In this way, we can operate Database Setup on Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP workstation.

Customer Number Merge in Sage 300 ERP

In our earlier blog we discussed about the Customer Number change feature, now lets see how customer number merge works in Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP in a similar situation like migration.

Customer Number Change in Sage 300 ERP

We will now see the ‘Combine’ option under the Customer Number Change utility found in the AR module. The ‘Combine’ option allows two or more Customers to be combined or we can say ‘merged’ into a single target Customer. The target must be a customer existing in Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP . Customers are not created during the Combine process. The entire source Customer’s data records, including account balances, history and transactions will be merged into the existing or target Customer’s account. The source Customer Number is then permanently removed from the Sage ERP Accpac system.

Let’s look at an example as shown in screenshot in which the client wanted to keep single Customer say ‘ESSAY INFOTECH’ from two customers from his source ERP which are ‘ESSAY SOFTAWARES and ‘ESSAY INFOTECH’. So we would follow the below procedure to merge the customer code ‘5001’ into ‘5002’

1. Choose combine option from the action box on the new window.

2. In the Combine box, choose the customer number which you wish to combine into the final or target Customer Number. This can be done by typing in the Customer Number, moving through the list of Customer Numbers using the Up and Down Arrow keys, or choosing on the List Button and selecting the Customer Number. Here we have selected customer code ‘5001’. Once the Customer Number has been chosen, the corresponding Short Name and Customer Name are displayed in the appropriate fields.

3. In the ‘In To’ box, type/ select the target Customer Number, that should consist of the combined information. Here we have selected Customer code ‘5002’. Also, within the ‘In To’ box the displayed Short Name and Customer Name can be edited if so required.

4. Once you are satisfied with the information, choose the OK button to add this entry to the Change List. Choose Cancel to discard the current change entry.

Thus, we can merge or combine two or more customers into one Customer for Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP . These and other helpful features make Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP a preferred ERP by small and medium sized businesses to migrate.

Customer Number Change in Sage 300 ERP

Greytrix has under its brand “GUMU” developed migration utilities which assist in migration of data to Sage ERP and Sage CRM solutions. Today, we will discuss about our Sage Certified migration solution for Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP.

Currently we migrate at FIXED COST :-
* Complete History To Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP from QuickBooks, Peachtree, Simply Accounting, Great Plains and Sage Pro ERP

* Open and Masters To Sage (Accpac) 300  from Sage (MAS 90/200) 100 ERP, MYOB and Sage BusinessWorks

As a part of our migration process we ask users to fill in a mapping sheet excel with details of how they would like their current accounting system accounts to be mapped to Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP. Sometimes, it happens that the client later realizes that one of the data of customer code was wrongly provided by him for e.g. As per mapping sheet we had assigned  code  ‘1200’ to customer ‘Mr Ronald Black’ which was supposed to be as ‘1201’. Now we cannot delete the Customer and create it again in accpac since there are transactions migrated against it.

To overcome such issues, Sage 300 has introduced a utility named ‘Customer Number Change’ under AR module. It Changes the Customer Numbers quickly and all information, including Customer balances, history and transactions will be associated with the new Number in all modules of accpac i.e. Accounts Receivable, Inventory Control, Order Entry, Purchase Orders, Project and Job Costing, Tax Services, and Bank Services wherever it has been used.

For Activating the ‘Customer Number Change’ utility login to Accpac and go to Administrative services -> Data Activation. You will notice a utility with this name in the list of applications available. After activation you will find this application under AR module.

Through this utility we can Change, Combine or Copy the customer number.

As a solution for above case we would discuss ‘Change’ option. You need to follow the below steps:

1. Go to Accounts Receivable >> Customer Number Change>> Customer Number Change

2. Click on new button; a new Action window will appear with options change, combine and copy. Choose the radio button ‘Change’ under Action box, if that is not selected by default.

3. Then select the customer number under change box. You need to first input the customer number which is existing in Sage 300. You can either:

a. Type the existing Customer Number in the Customer Number field;
b. or Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to activate and browse through the Customer Numbers list or choose the List Button then select the Customer Number.

4. Once the Customer Number has been chosen, the corresponding Short name and Customer Name are displayed in the appropriate fields. Next

a) In ‘To’ box, enter the new Customer Number. But make sure that, new customer code should exist in Sage 300.

b) Also in ‘To’ box, change the displayed Short Name and Customer Name fields if required.

5. Choose OK button to add this entry to the Change List. Choose Cancel to discard the current change entry or click on Post Button.

6. Once you click on Post, it will start changing code of Customer into AR module as well as all other modules of accpac wherever this customer has been used.

This way we can correct the customer codes using Customer Number Change Utility without doing any harm to customers Transactions and master information.

In our next blog we will discuss about how customer numbers can be merged in Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP.

GL Control Account Feature in Sage 300 ERP

We come across requests that are sometimes so straight forward and some really need you to be a cracker and maybe that’s why we love Sage (Accpac) 300 ERP which makes our life simpler.

Suppose there are 2 different users wherein one user does the AP Invoice entries while the other user performs operations on AR entries. There is a possibility of accidentally selecting an account which is to be used for AP entries. Hence to avoid such mistakes, we were looking for a feature in Accpac which will restrict the user from using the Accounts which are meant for the AP Transactions.

As far as Accpac is concerned we can definitely restrict the users from avoiding this mistake using control Account feature which is inbuilt in GL module of Accpac. Let us see how it works and how it can ensure your accounts are in order.

Consider, we have a GL account which is being used for our bank account and this account should be affected only by AP transactions [by vendor] and not by any of other modules. In such case we will follow below procedure:

• Open the GL Account screen and select the GL Account which has been set as bank Account. On the detail tab we will check the option Control Account, the new tab as Subledger gets added on the screen as shown in below screenshot.

•   Go to Subledger tab and choose the subledgers which will have a control on this account. Here we are adding AP source codes as sub ledgers as shown in below screenshot.

Now let’s check the same by doing a normal GL Entry from GL Module on this account. For this go to GL Transactions>>GL Entry and select source code as GL-JE and add select the Account 1020 for Transaction entry. As we select this account for entry, a pop-up screen appears as shown in below screenshot. It will restrict us to make GL entry by another source code which has not been set as subledger on in GL Account screen.

It will accept GL transactions only created by AR Receipt and AP payment Transactions as set against the account sub ledger. If we want to allow account to get affected by other transactions also then we need to add  Source codes of those respective transactions into subledger of GL Account. The transactions created by only those subledgers may be posted to the account. General Ledger checks the ledger by looking at the first two characters prefixed on the source code for each sub ledger Transaction. These first two characters must match the subledger codes.  For example, all transactions created by Accounts Payable use source codes that begin with AP.

This way we can avoid user’s repetitive mistakes which would have been difficult for the admin to keep a hold.

Do you have problem in opening crystal reports on a terminal server?

In several cases crystal reports work’s well on the server but still it cannot be open on terminal server.

The problems faced by the people within the organization due to absence of crystal reports are: -

1. Senior Managers await these crystal reports and they are not available on time.
2. Data entry operators need to start their daily chores after confirming previous work based on these crystal reports which remain pending as they are not able to open the reports.

After checking all the possibilities right from setup to ODBC to registration of DLL( Dynamic Link Library), but often we tend to forget that DLL required to run these reports has been copied on the terminal server or not? Sometimes it happens that these files are present on server but find missing on terminal server and hence we are not able to access these reports made in crystal.

In case you come across similar problem, now follow few basic steps to get it resolved: -

First Step: - Do check the DLL on server at path: C:\Windows\Crystal ……

Second Step: -Copy the multiple DLL files existing.

Third step: - After copying now go to same path on your terminal server and paste it.

Final Step: - Now check again to view your figures on the screen.

The frequent cause of this issue is that the software is not able to find the files while running the crystal report and hence it halts there and then.

Hope this helped resolve your issue.