One of the most significant enhancements is the complete support that 5.3 provides for unlimited optional fields throughout all Advantage Series applications. Optional fields allow you to customize Advantage Series and provide comprehensive reporting and analysis capabilities across your entire accounting system. As a result, you can manage information more effectively and easily obtain necessary data for analyzing business operations and practices.

The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application, available with 5.3, allows you to define all the information you require for each General Ledger account, customer, vendor, item, transaction and transaction detail, making it easy to record and track data from the originating transaction through to your General Ledger. Imagine being able to trace the optional field information you define for customers and items to your Order Entry orders, Order Entry shipments, Order Entry invoices, Accounts Receivable invoices through to your General Ledger journal entries and accounts! What’s more, you can analyze individual transactions as well as General Ledger account activities and balances.

Listed below are additional features in Sage Accpac 5.3.

• System Manager 5.3
• General Ledger 5.3
• Accounts Receivable 5.3
• Accounts Payable 5.3
• Inventory Control 5.3
• Order Entry 5.3
• Purchase Orders 5.3
• US and Canadian Payroll 5.3
• Project and Job Costing 5.3

System Manager 5.3 enables you to:

• Define all the optional fields you require for the Sage Accpac applications you use in your business. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required to use the optional field feature.
• Sign on to Sage Accpac using your Windows domain account. You can now sign on to Sage Accpac using your:
  • Sage Accpac user ID and password.
  • Microsoft Windows user name and password. If you sign on to Sage Accpac using the same user name that you used to log on to Microsoft Windows, the password will not be requested.
• Specify the server name for all databases (not only for SQL Server) that you are setting up using Database Setup. When you specify the server name, Database Setup automatically creates and configures DSNs.
• Run macros in a Web browser.
• Set up user security rights for Administrative Services windows.
• Select a default paper size for Advantage Series reports that support printing on both letter/A4 and legal paper. When you specify the default paper size in the Print Destination window, reports such as the General Ledger Posting Journals, Accounts Payable Aged Cash Requirements and Aged Payables, and Order Entry and Purchase Orders Posting Journals will automatically use your paper size selection.
• Use the included Crystal Enterprise 10 Express.
• NEW - Sage Desktop lets you automatically receive helpful information about working with your Accpac solutions.

NOTE – If deployed on the Pervasive Database, System Manager 5.3 requires Pervasive.SQL 8.6. Of course, IBM DB2, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server remain deployment options as well.

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General Ledger 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your General Ledger. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Print a new Transaction Details Optional Fields report. The report lets you analyze all the transactions that contain specific optional fields and values.
• Consolidate transactions by account, fiscal period and source ledger.
• NEW - Use Optional Fields in financial statements that you create in Financial Reporter.
• NEW - Filter financial statements by optional fields
• NEW - Drill down from financial statements to source transactions.

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Accounts Receivable 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your receivables system. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Print additional subtotals on the Aged Trial Balance and Aged Retainage reports. If your company is multicurrency, the report will now print a subtotal if the primary sort order is Customer Group, Account Set, Billing Cycle or National Account.
• Print letters and labels for all customers regardless of account aging.
• Print the Customer Transactions report using a fiscal year and period range.
• Send statements, letters and invoices to your customer or contact fax numbers. The Delivery Method for Customers and National Accounts now includes additional selections for fax and contact fax numbers. Sage Accpac requires ACCPAC Messenger to send documents by fax.
• View the original document number for Retainage Invoices in Receipt Entry.
• View your customer receipts by bank range, customer range, receipt status (outstanding, cleared, returned, or all statuses), transaction type (unapplied cash, prepayment, receipt, or all types), date range, year and period range, and receipt number range using the new Receipt Inquiry window. You can now easily view receipt information without first determining the bank or the customer numbers. Simply enter a receipt number and the receipt information is automatically displayed. If additional information is needed, you can drill down to the original receipt. If you require a printed listing of your customer receipts based on the criteria specified, simply click on the Print button.

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Accounts Payable 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your payables system. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Print additional subtotals on the Aged Payables and Aged Cash Requirements reports. If your company is multicurrency, the reports will now print a subtotal if the primary sort order is Vendor Group or Account Set.
• Print the Vendor Transactions report using a fiscal year and period range.
• View the original document number for Retainage Invoices in Payment Entry.
• View your vendor payments by bank range, vendor range, check status (outstanding, cleared, reversed, or all statuses), transaction type (prepayment, payment, or all types), date range, year and period range, and check number range using the new Payment Inquiry window. You can now easily view payment information without first determining the bank or the vendor numbers. Simply enter a check number and the check information is automatically displayed. If additional information is needed, you can drill down to the original payment. If you require a printed listing of your payments based on the criteria specified, simply click on the Print button.
• Place individual invoices, credit notes, and debit notes on hold during invoice entry. The On Hold status is now attached to the document instead of to individual payment schedules as in previous versions. You can also now view the payment status for each invoice, credit note, and debit note transaction in Vendor Activity.

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Inventory Control 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your inventory system. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Combine any number of items into a single kit using the new kitting feature. You can now sell the kit at a single price instead of selling each item within the kit separately. For example, a customer can purchase a kit of office supplies that contains two highlighters (regular price $0.99 each), two pens (regular price $1.78 each), two pencils (regular price $0.49 each), one stapler (regular price $9.99 each), one paper clip dispenser (regular price $4.99 each) and one tape dispenser (regular price $8.99 each) for $21.99. However, if each item is purchased separately, the total price is $30.49.
• Automatically default the quantity transferred from the quantity requested when transferring items.
• Specify a start date for a contract price.

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Order Entry 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your order and shipping system. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Automatically use the quantity ordered as the default for the quantity committed.
• Automatically use a default for Create Invoices in the Order Entry window.
• Take advantage of the new kitting feature added to Inventory Control 5.3. To use the feature, you simply enter the kitted item and Order Entry automatically prices, displays and prints all of the items within the kit.
• Take advantage of the new contract pricing start date added to Inventory Control 5.3. Order Entry will use the contract price only if the order date falls within the start and end for the contract price.

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Purchase Orders 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your purchasing system. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Benefit from the integration with Project and Job Costing 5.3B. The integration lets you track committed and actual quantities and costs by contract, project and category (and resource if using standard contract).

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Payroll 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your payroll system. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Streamline your timecard entry by providing support for self-service timecards. Employees can now easily enter and manage their own time records from any location (remotely or at the office) they can access a Web browser. Timecards entered by your employees can follow an approval process that lets employees enter new timecards and when complete set the status to Ready to be Approved. When later verified by a payroll clerk, the status can be set to Approved so that the timecards can be processed in a payroll run.
• Benefit from the enhanced integration with EFT Direct Payroll. The integration:
  • Supports a new EFT tab on the Employee window. The EFT tab lets you set up your employee’s bank information. A utility is provided on the Payroll CD that lets you create an import file from EFT Direct Payroll 4.1 or ACCPAC Plus Canadian EFT Direct Payroll 6.5 or U.S. EFT Direct Payroll 6.1.
  • Provides enhanced security. EFT Processing security access rights now appear within the security access rights for the Canadian and U.S. Payroll applications.
  • Handles the reversal of EFT checks within Bank Services.
  • Supports additional calculations for multiple bank accounts. When your employee’s check is split across multiple banks, you can now calculate the portion to allocate to each bank based on a fixed amount, percentage of gross and a percentage of net (remaining balance).
    Note that EFT Direct Payroll is still a separate Sage Accpac Options product that is sold separately and requires a separate activation code (license).
• Benefit from the enhanced integration with eFile. The integration:
  • Lets you generate T4 files in the new XML file format.
  • Lets you generate R1 files.
    Note that eFile is still a separate Sage Accpac Options product that is sold separately and requires a separate activation code (license).
• View employee statistics and checks using the new Employee Activity window. The new Employee Activity window provides month-to-date, quarter-to-date and year-to-date amounts paid and hours paid and accrued for an employee. If you require information concerning the checks paid to an employee, the new Employee Activity window also provides a listing of the checks. If you require additional information, you can drill down to Check Information.
• Assign an earnings or a deductions code automatically to a range of employees using the new Assign Earnings/Deductions to All Employees window.
• Process payroll in a currency other than your functional currency. For example, you can now use U.S. Payroll in a Canadian functional company.
• Easily determine if your employees have duplicate SIN or SSN numbers using the new Find Duplicate SIN for Canadian Payroll and Find Duplicate SSN for U.S. Payroll windows.
• Automatically default a bank in the Payroll Checks and Manual Checks window.
• Specify an inactive date for your employee.
• Print timecard and manual check dates and times on the Payroll Register, Pre-check Register and the new Hours Analysis Detail report.
• Define multiple Workers’ Compensation policies.
• Take advantage of additional support for T4s. Canadian Payroll now supports Box 77 (WCB) and Box 32 combined with Box 14.
• Take advantage of the many reporting enhancements:
  • 941 report prints on the current form.
  • Employee Information report lets you:
    • Select the information that you wish to print (address, profile, taxes, earnings and deductions and other).
    • Include EFT information when a license exists for EFT Direct Payroll.
    • Include optional field information.
    • Print by an additional Employee Name sort option.
    • Print by a specified date range. You can now print by a last maintained date, birth date, hire date, last review date, last raise date, inactive date and termination date range.
  • Earnings/Deductions Summary report lets you print by an additional Employee Name sort option.
  • Earnings and Deductions report:
    • Lets you print the information you require. You can now select the report format. Choose:
      • Detailed Information. The selection prints all details for the earnings and deductions.
      • Employee Listing. The selection prints a listing of all employees that have been assigned the specified earnings and deductions.
      • Included in Listing. The selection prints a listing of where the earning or deduction is used with other earnings and deductions. For example, HOURLY is included in the Base Earnings Include of the Calc Base of GARN and RPP.
    • Prints the General Ledger account description.
    • Lets you include optional field information when a license exists for Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator.
  • Tax Profile report:
    • Lets you print the information you require. You can now select the report format. Choose:
    • Detailed Information. The selection prints all details for the tax code.
    • Employee Listing. The selection prints a listing of all employees that have been assigned the specified tax codes.
    • Prints the General Ledger account description.
    • Lets you include optional field information assigned to each tax code when a license exists for Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator.
  • Options report prints the General Ledger account description.
  • Pre-Check Register and Payroll Register reports:
    • Prints General Ledger account descriptions.
    • Lets you Include EFT information when a license exists for EFT Direct Payroll.
    • Lets you include optional field information when a license exists for Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator.
  • Manual Check report:
    • Prints General Ledger account descriptions.
    • Lets you include optional field information when a license exists for Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator.
  • Accrual report provides:
    • A new detail report.
    • Accrual and payment details for both the detail and summary reports.
  • Timecard report:
    • Prints General Ledger account descriptions.
    • Lets you print a summary of each timecard (a single line for each timecard).
    • Lets you print a listing of all timecards.
  • Tax Profiles report for U.S. Payroll lets you print a listing of the employees that have been assigned the specified tax codes for both tax types – Federal and State Taxes and Local and Custom Taxes types.
  • Overtime Schedules report lets you print detailed information or a listing of employees assigned to overtime schedules.
  • Workers’ Compensation Codes report lets you print detailed information or a listing of employees assigned to each Workers’ Compensation code.
  • Class Code report lets you print detailed information or a listing of employees assigned to each class code.
  • New Hours Analysis report prints the hours paid or accrued for each earning and deduction included on an employee’s check. The hours printed included regular hours, overtime hours, shift hours, accrued hours paid, total hours paid, and hours accrued.
  • New Employee Timecards report prints the details of the self-service timecards entered by your employees. You can choose to print those timecards that are new, ready for approved, or approved.
  • New selection in the Quarterly Wage report to print on the DE6 – California Quarterly Wage form.
  • New EFT Options report prints the EFT options you have selected. The report is available when a license exists for EFT Direct Payroll.
  • New Optional Fields report prints a listing of the optional fields used in Payroll. The report is available when a license exists for Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator.

NOTE – Remember, Payroll 4.2 is being formally retired with this release and as of January 1, 2005 tax table updates for Advantage Series 4.2 will no longer be supported. See the client notification letter.

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Project and Job Costing 5.3 enables you to:

• Define and use all the optional fields and values you require within your costing system. The new Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator application is required.
• Create billing invoices by customer, contract, or project.
• Print the new Detailed Transactions report for a listing of all cost and billing transactions.
• Select the default cost and billing rate (if applicable) to use for Timecard transactions. For standard contracts, choose to default the unit cost and billing rate (if applicable) from the Project and Job Costing employee record or from the employee resource category. For basic contracts, choose to default the unit cost and billing rate (if applicable) from the Project and Job Costing employee record or from the category. Note that if the employee is a Canadian or U.S. Payroll employee, the unit cost will be defaulted from the earning code specified.
• Clear revised estimates in Clear History.
• Select from three additional choices when creating billing invoices in Accounts Receivable. You can now have the Accounts Receivable invoice detail description and comment updated with the contract description, project description, or category description.
• When recognizing revenue, include Fixed Price projects with no costs. You can then specify the percentage complete so that any revenue recorded for the project can be recognized.
• Benefit from the integration with Purchase Orders version 5.3B to track committed and actual quantities and costs by contract, project, and category and for standard contracts, by resource.
• NEW - Enter opening balances and retainage for transferred contracts.
• NEW - Reopen closed projects

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