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Highlights for Abra HR:

• Support for Active Directory logons.  By linking your Abra login id to your Windows login id, you can eliminate the need for a separate login and password to get into Abra.
• Ability to access Sage Abra Support through a chat link located within Abra.
• Employee Find is faster and includes searches for both first and last names.
• Increased security with SSN/SIN masking for all reports (standard and those created through Secure Query).

Highlights for Payroll:

• Greater flexibility for creating custom payment forms.
• Ability to choose whether or not a check should display in Employee Self Service.

Highlights for Employee Self Service (ESS):

• Sage Employee Analytics has the ability to create custom graphical dashboards (when used in conjunction with Sage Crystal Dashboard Design).  Combine workforce cost and performance data into a high level overview and quickly drill down for more detailed analysis.  These dashboards can be viewed from most web browsers (Safari, IE, Chrome and Firefox).
• The ESS user interface has been overhauled to provide easier navigation and the ability to customize the look and feel of your ESS system.
• The new Time Off Calendar provides managers with a monthly view of employee’s’ pending, approved and rejected time off.
• Employees and managers can access ESS on their mobile devices including iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows CE, Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile.
• SSN masking for dependents and beneficiaries in Open Enrollment.
• The new Provider Enrollment Details report allows you to send open enrollment information to the benefit provider prior to sending the enrollment updates to Abra.

For more details about all of the enhancements in version 9.1, please click on the What’s New in Sage Abra v9.1 document.

This past January at the international VeraSage conference, I was talking with Ron Baker about how we can more effectively get the message out that the only way for a business to know that a software consultant knows what they are doing is by having that consultant provide them with a fixed price for every project.

Ron provided a wonderful insight.  The most effective way to demonstrate the absurdity of a particular idea (in this case, the billable hour) is to ridicule it.

Greg Kyte, who is a VeraSage Fellow, CPA and professional stand-up comedian, and I started working on a video lampooning the practice of billing time.

The result is Bob’s Barbecue.  It is the first in a series of videos which will depict all of the many ways that the billable hour is harmful and risky for your company.

Additions include:

• Multiple Company Aged Invoice Report:  Print your A/P Aged Invoice Report in a multi-company format and combine vendor information.  You’ll get a complete picture of your vendors across all MAS companies, helping you identify opportunities for improving the bottom line, negotiating better volume discounts or consolidating orders to save on shipping.
• Accounts Payable Check Sorting Options.  Print checks alphabetically by vendor name, not just by vendor number.
• Expense Distribution Tables.  Streamline the entry of invoices in A/P when you need to regularly allocate across multiple departments.
• Security in Item Inquiry.  Four new permission settings are available to further restrict users.  These permissions apply to Item Inquiry and are Allow Access to All Item Inquiry Tabs Including Main and Quantity, Allow Access to Costing, Receipts and Vendor Information, Display Standard Cost Information and Display Vendor Information.
• Inactive Items.  An inventory item can be designated as ‘inactive’in Inventory Management so it can no longer be purchased or sold.  If an item is marked inactive, you can process returns using RMA or a Sales Order Credit Memo, or maintain history for warranty purposes.
• Company-Specific Background Colors.  Assign an easily identifiable background color for each company in MAS.  This helps ensure entries are made into the correct company.
• 2011 941 Form Update.

Contact Aries Technology Group at (865) 291-0005 x721 for further information about this Product Update or to arrange a time to install the update.  Thank you!

MAS 2o0 SQL Version 3.74 will be supported at least until MAS 200 SQL Version 4.5 is released (scheduled for late 2011).  Sage has not determined an exact retirement date for 3.74 but they may as the release date for version 4.5 gets closer.  My opinion is that Sage will support 3.74 for a “reasonable” amount of time to give 3.74 users enough time to move to 4.5.

For more information, see the Supported Versions document published by Sage as well as the Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 Roadmap – July 2010.  Please contact us to assist with your MAS upgrade.  Helpful documents to review before upgrading are the MAS 90 Supported Platform Matrix and the MAS 200 Supported Platform Matrix.  These guides will assist in preparing your hardware and network for an upgrade.

In an effort to provide additional features and benefits on a more timely basis than the traditional once-a-year upgrade, Sage is releasing Product Updates on a quarterly schedule.  Each of these Product Updates will include both customer-requested features and select additions from the Extended Solutions catalog.

The main enhancements in these two updates are to the Bank Reconciliation module.  Below are highlights of these new features:

• Adjustments, such as bank fees and interest earned, can be entered directly into the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry screen and posted to General Ledger.
• Easily select Bank Reconciliation transactions to flow to General Ledger from the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry Screen using a column titled ‘Select for General Ledger Posting.’
• Information added to the Comment Field in Bank Reconciliation will also flow through to General Ledger when transactions are posted.
• A new task added to the Bank Reconciliation Main menu — Transaction Register — provides the ability to post selected transactions from Bank Reconciliation to General Ledger.
• New security has been added to the Role Maintenance in Library Master to provide more detailed security for users in the Bank Reconciliation module.
• New Paperless Office features have been added to Bank Reconciliation, such as the ability to email and fax registers.

In addition, Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.4 is now compatible with Microsoft Office 2010.

For a complete list of enhancements in Sage MAS 90 and 200 Product Updates 3 and 4, please see What’s New in Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 4.4 Product Updates 3 and 4.   Please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions!

AccuForce and Aries team members worked collaboratively to scope the projects, breaking them into smaller projects to fit their budget and timeline.  Our first project was to redesign the General Ledger chart of accounts.  Due to many of the accounts being set up incorrectly from the start,  financial statements were not accurate.  We provided AccuForce with a fixed, budgetable price for the project and agreed on a timeline for completion of the project to coincide with their producing year-end financial statements.

Future projects include providing ongoing technical support, a MAS 200 upgrade which will allow them to take advantage of new features such as PositivePay for Bank Reconciliation, and eliminating manual entry of payroll transactions by using MAS 200′s Visual Integrator module to automatically import those transactions.  These projects will allow AccuForce to run their business more effectively and efficiently.

“AccuForce Staffing Services, LLC is a world-class, technology-forward staffing company committed to helping individuals find the careers they desire and assisting companies find the kind of employees to make their business a success by concentrating on talent and fit.”

Growing up in the Carolinas, I thought I pretty much knew everything about pork and barbecue.  Mr. Villas sure proved me wrong!

The book defines terms like fatback and streak o’lean, teaches you how to make South Carolina-style barbecue hash and explains in detail all of the various cuts of pig.

The recipes are divided into sections ranging from appetizers to casseroles, pies, barbecue, salads and breads.  Who knew there were so many different ways to cook pig.

Since Mr. Villas was born and raised in Charlotte, NC, the stories and opinions definitely take on a Southern viewpoint.  Any sensitive Yankees may want to have a shot of bacon-infused vodka before perusing the book.

I also enjoyed the historical porcine facts and pig-related quotes from celebrities that are scattered among the recipes.

The first pigs to enter the United States were 13 animals landed in 1539 near Tampa, Florida, by Hernando de Soto.

And a quote from Tom Wicker writing for the New York Times:

We North Carolinians, of course, know — we are not taught, we are born knowing — that barbecue consists of pork cooked over hickory coals and seasoned with vinegar and red pepper pods.

We decided to start with a straight-forward casserole on a Friday night.  Friday nights are traditionally casserole nights for our family since no one usually has the energy to cook up an elaborate meal.  Saturday nights are for the really involved meals.  We chose the Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom Supreme that Mr. Villas says was given to him by “an elegant lady in Macon, Georgia, known for the casseroles she serves routinely at fancy bridge parties, wedding receptions, weekend brunches and, of course, bereavement buffets”.

The recipe turned out great.  This cookbook will definitely occupy a prominent spot in our kitchen.

Chicken, Sausage and Mushroom Supreme:

Makes 4 to 6 Servings

One 3-pound chicken, cooked and meat diced

1 pound bulk pork sausage

One 6-ounce package Uncle Ben’s long grain and wild rice, cooked

One 10 3/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup

One 6-ounce jar sliced mushrooms with juice

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Mix together the chicken meat, cooked sausage, cooked rice, cream of mushroom soup and mushrooms and their juice in a 2-quart backing dish or casserole and bake for 45 minutes.

3.  Serve hot directly from the casserole.

Version 4.45 is optimized for SQL Server to offer scalability, easy integration with other applications and enhanced reporting services.  It takes advantage of SQL Server capabilities such as job scheduling, database maintenance plans and faster searches.  Integrations with other applications take place at the application level using Business Objects to ensure successful upgrades to new versions.

The Business Framework provides the ability, using standard scripting, to automatically change the available choices that are presented in MAS 200 or to automatically enter data.  For example, a script could automatically change the expiration date of a sales quote depending on the type of quote that is chosen for a particular customer.

For additional details, please click here for Sage’s Pre-Release Announcement for version 4.45.

The social security tax rate is being reduced from 6.2% to 4.2% for employees (the employer portion is still 6.2%) for 2011.  The social security tax wage base limit also remains unchanged at $106,800.  Both the employee and employer Medicare tax rates remain unchanged at 1.45%.  For more details, click here.  According to the IRS, employers technically have until January 31, 2011 to implement the new rate.  However, I doubt many employees will want to wait that long.  By using the procedures detailed below, you can start using the new tax tables on your first 2011 payroll.

In the past, MAS payroll users have simply copied their live payroll company to a backup company and closed the year in the live company to start processing payroll for the new year.  The new tax tables were not installed until after the W-2′s were printed.  The reason behind not installing the new tables until after W-2 printing is that MAS 90 and MAS 200 use global tax tables.  In other words, all companies within MAS share the same tax tables.  Installing the new tax tables before printing W-2′s would change the social security tax wage base limit for employees who exceeded the limit resulting in incorrect Social Security wages on the W-2′s.

Since the social security tax rate has changed, you can no longer wait to install the new tax tables.  Regina Gutcher, a Sage Customer Support Specialist, has outlined the steps for running a 2011 payroll before printing the 2010 W-2′s:

1. Backup all payroll data.
2. Create a new company code in Company Maintenance.
3. In the new company, copy the Payroll, Common Information, General Ledger and Job Cost (if integrated) from your live company.
4. Process payroll year-end for the live company.
5. Install the 2011 tax tables.
6. Process payroll for the live company for 2011.
7. Before printing W-2′s, install the 2010 tax tables.
8. Print the W-2′s from the new company created in step 3.
9. Reinstall the 2011 tax tables.

If you need assistance with these steps, please contact either Amy (ashaver@ariestech.com) or John (jshaver@ariestech.com).