Review of MAS 90 MAS 200 v4.4 Product Update 3

The Sage MAS 90 and 200 roadmap, that Sage published earlier this year, called for more frequent, easy-to-install, focused enhancement releases. And Sage has delivered, providing customers on maintenance plans with three Product Updates since Version 4.4 shipped earlier this year. Here we will cover Product Update 3 (Version 4.40.0.3) that became available September 2010.

In this third Product Update, Sage delivers new customer-requested functionality focusing on the Bank Reconciliation module, to streamline workflow and resolve bank reconciliation pain points.

Smooth General Ledger Posting
When you receive your bank statement there are usually transactions, such as adjustments and bank fees, that are not yet in your Sage ERP MAS 90 system. Product Update 3 improves the workflow for these entries, allowing you to enter the adjustments and post to the General Ledger directly from the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry, and Reconcile Bank screens. You also can efficiently convert the Bank Reconciliation Report and Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register to a PDF format for easy electronic filing and distribution to others, using new Bank Reconciliation Paperless Office features.

New Columns Facilitate Workflow
The improved flow of information to the General Ledger is accomplished via new columns on the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry screen. The new columns are: Select for General Ledger Posting, Distribution Account Number, and Comment for Checks. These fields also are available when entering checks, deposits, and adjustments on the fly. The information that you put in the comment field will flow through to the General Ledger when the transactions are posted.

Quick Access To Bank Recap
Another customer enhancement request is the ability to access the Bank Recap Report and the Bank Reconciliation Register more quickly. With Product Update 3, you can access both of these reports from buttons located on the Reconcile Bank window.

New Transaction Register
A new Transaction Register task has been added to the main menu for Bank Reconciliation to provide the ability to post selected transactions to the General Ledger module. You also can print the Transaction Register directly from the Check, Deposit and Adjustment Entry, and Reconcile Bank screens.

To safeguard against unintentionally creating duplicate entries, posting only is allowed for those transactions entered directly into the Bank Reconciliation module.

New Security Events
The new workflow includes added security events in Role Maintenance to restrict who can use the new features:

• For the Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register a new Allow Updating of Registers from Preview is added as a standard security event.
• For the Bank Reconciliation module a new Allow Access to the Select for G/L Posting Setting for Check Entries and Allow Access to the Select for G/L Posting Setting for Deposit and Adjustment Entries are added as standard security events.

Paperless Office For Bank Reconciliation The Bank Reconciliation module goes green and joins the other core modules with the ability to create a PDF file of Bank Reconciliation reports. You can choose to print the Bank Reconciliation Report and Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register by specific bank codes, or by all bank codes.

Flexible Paperless Office features give you the ability to easily e-mail or fax the PDF documents. Once converted, the Bank Reconciliation Report and Bank Reconciliation Transaction Register can be saved in the archive for easy recall, with complete security.

Microsoft Office 2010 Compatible
With the release of Product Update 3, Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 now are compatible with the latest version of Microsoft Office, Office 2010. Now you can take advantage of the new features of Office 2010 when creating mail merge letters or exporting to Excel from Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200.

Available Via Download
Product Updates have been designed to be easy to download and install. The compact file containing Product Update 3 can be downloaded from Sage Online. Product Update 3 includes a Pre-Installation Data Scan utility to help identify any data issues prior to installation, thus mitigating the possibility of running into trouble with data conversion. Please give us a call for assistance with the Product Update or with your questions about the new features.