Resources for Sage X3 Users

Sage X3 is designed to provide a robust business management solution that allows you to hand pick the exact complementary software you need to ensure your system more closely aligns to your specific business requirements. Over time, your definition of the ideal ERP system may change as your business grows. Your ERP may need to adapt to address: New business models, channels, or revenue streams Embracing emerging technologies, devices, and networks Launch of products/services into new industry verticals A pressing need to reduce costs or automate a process Expanding your team, number of warehouses, or divisions More intensive reporting, analytical or compliance needs Sage X3 gives you the opportunity to easily add on complementary solutions to enhance your capabilities as your needs change: Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Budgeting and CPM Business Intelligence Credit Card Authorization CRM eCommerce Integration Electronic Data Interchange Employer Solutions Enterprise iPaaS Expense Management Field Service Forecasting & Inventory Optimization Formulation and R&D Mobile Sales Product Lifecycle Management Sales Tax Automation Shipping & Transportation Management Warehouse Management To view all Sage X3 complementary solutions, click here. For more information about how complementary solutions can help tailor Sage X3 to your specific needs and extend the power of your ERP, please contact us.

Segregation of duties is a fundamental principle of many regulatory mandates including the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act. Technology may make it simple for one person to do the job of many, but it also increases the risk of concentrating too much power in the hands of a single person. Maintaining tight internal control over technology-enabled processes requires effective division of duties. Organizations must be able to record the presence and enforcement of this division of duties to meet SOX Section 404 criteria. With the release of Sage X3 2021 R1 (Version 12.0.25), two new features have been introduced to help ensure compliance: Bank account management – Segregation of duty To manage segregation of duties and follow the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act security rules and best practices, two parameters control bank account entry authorization. These parameters are in the TRS chapter, AUZ group, and operate independently of one another. At the payment level for a given user: When BIDPAYENT – Authorize bank acct. no. entry is Yes, the user is authorized to enter a bank account in the Payment entry (GESPAY) or Payment proposals (PAYPROPAL) functions. At the business partner level for a given user: When BIDBPENT – Authorize bank acct. no. entry is Yes, the user is authorized to enter a bank account number for a business partner in the BPs (GESBPR), Customers (GESBPC), and Suppliers (GESBPS) functions. Note: These parameters are set to Yes by default. Select No to remove user authorization at one or both levels. Payment remittance approval – Segregation of duty At the payment type level, you can decide if payment approval is required to process a payment and create a bank file. Approval is authorized at the user level. A bank file can only be created for payments where no authorization is required or for approved payments for manual and automatic remittances. Outgoing payments can be approved at the payment level or the manual remittance level. At the remittance level, mass approvals or mass removal of unapproved payments is available. Payment approval versus payment type is controlled during the import/export process. To see the full release notes for Sage X3 2021 R1 (Version 12.0.25) please click here. For more information on segregation of duties or any other Sage X3 question, please contact us.

In this blog, we will show how to use the data templates of Sage X3 to update data in your system. In this example, we will be setting the 1099 flag on the supplier records included in the spreadsheet. When executing these kinds of operations in Sage X3, it is important to always test in a pilot or test folder before executing the steps in production. And always do a data backup before executing these imports in your production folder. We begin by creating a template to assist in updating the 1099 box. We have named the new template SUPPLIERS_1099. We take the existing SUPPLIERS template and delete all addresses and other repetitive info and add the FRM1099 and BOX1099 fields. Please note that the FRM1099 is referenced in a ref table 3601. For information on how to access field definitions in Sage X3, see the technical help section of the Online Help Center as referenced in this blog: How to Access the Sage X3 Online Help Center. Here is the screenshot of the template just created: The template is flagged as “update”, so it will overwrite the info for the files with no other modifications of the data not changed. After the template is created, go to Usage / Export, and run it as an Excel or CSV export: Upon execution of the export and making the necessary changes, you can save the field as delimited text: Please note that you will have to open the .csv file in Notepad++ or a similar editor and replace the “,” with semicolon “;” prior to importing the template. We can use Excel to edit the fields: Go back to Sage X3 and re-import the file: The file is now imported, here’s the log: As a final step, review the vendors to make sure that it all looks good: For more information on importing data to update fields in Sage X3, or for any other Sage X3 questions, please contact us.

A food recall is every Food & Beverage processor and distributor’s biggest threat to profitability. But it doesn’t have to spell disaster for your business – as long as your team is prepared. Pairing your needs with the right technology platform will help safeguard daily operations as well as mitigate damages to your reputation and bottom line in the event of a recall. Watch this on-demand web event to find out how Sage X3, purpose built for the food and beverage industry, addresses: Traceability: identify and stop contaminants before they taint the supply chain Compliance: track, report, and set parameters that ensure compliance at all times Crisis Management: easily develop, maintain, and execute crisis preparedness plans Access the On-Demand Session Here For more information on managing food recalls with Sage X3, please contact us.

Are your auditors requesting SOC1 compliance reports for Sage X3? Sage Software has released information regarding SSAE 16 and SOC compliance reports via Sage Knowledgebase article 22901.  Because Sage X3 is not a multi-tenant application hosted by the publisher, it is not appropriate for Sage to provide a SOC1 report for Sage X3 under the SSAE certification guidelines (NOTE: Sage Intacct DOES provide a SOC1 report because clients are hosted by Sage on a multi-tenant cloud with Intacct.) Does Statement of Auditing Standards SSAE 16 certification apply to Sage products? Summary Does Statement of Auditing Standards SSAE 16 certification apply to Sage products Does Sage provide an SOC1 report Resolution **SSAE 16 effectively replaced SAS 70 as the standard for reporting on service organizations** SOC1 Report (Service Organization Controls Report) is under the SSAE-18 standards. SSAE-18 supersedes SSAE 16. Because Sage products are provided as packaged software solutions rather than as services, SSAE 16 certification does not apply. The Statement on Auditing Standards SSAE 16, Service Organizations, is an auditing standard that was issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The intent of the standard is to provide a guideline to ensure that adequate controls are in place over service organizations and service providers. SSAE 16 applies when financial statements are audited only if the organization obtains services from another organization. Sage accounting and specialized solutions (such as Sage X3, Sage 100, Sage 500, Sage FAS, Sage 300, Sage Pro, and Sage Business Vision) are provided as packaged software solutions rather than as services. Organizations that use Sage accounting solutions are always in full control of their data – from establishing access, entering information, and producing reports. While organizations may provide data or reports to Sage for specific projects (for example, professional service engagements), no data is ever automatically sent outside of the organization’s control. Under no circumstances is Sage represented as a service provider for retrieving, analyzing, and reporting on any organization’s information. Additional information For more information regarding a SOC1 report, please visit: https://www.ssae-16.com/soc-1/ or contact us.

The calculation of MRP starting stock – the quantity of the product in stock at the start of the MRP process – differs depending on whether the product is non-versioned, versioned, or project related. In this blog, originally posted on Sage City Community by Shawna Lapp in April 2020, we will review how Sage X3 calculates starting stock for each. The available stock is: initialized to the quantity of stock available at the start of the MRP process (starting stock) increased by the incoming supply (i.e., work orders, purchase orders, etc., throughout the MRP process) decreased by the outgoing demands (i.e., sales orders, material requirements, safety stock requirements, etc., throughout the MRP process) The MRP process covers a period of time. This time period is divided into ‘buckets’ (these can be days, weeks, and/or months). If the available stock falls below zero by the end of each bucket (i.e., the demands outstrip the supply), then a suggestion is generated in order to make up the shortfall. In the diagram above, the starting stock = 0 (i.e., there is zero quantity of the product in stock at the start of the MRP process). In the diagram below, the starting stock = 15 (i.e., there are 15 units of the product in stock at the start of the MRP process).   Non-versioned product The value of starting stock is built according to particular requirement parameters. These parameters are “Deduct allocations”, “Rejected stock”, and “Quality control stock” (all found under Starting stock). This refers to physical stock (not Rejected or under Quality Control). If enabled, then starting stock incorporates the following quantities (taken from the table Product-site totals – visible to the user via the Product-site Stock tab): [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Stock (added):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Internal ‘A’ Dock ‘A’ Subcon ‘A[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Allocations (subtracted):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Int. allocated ‘A’ (detail allocations) Global allocated Alloc. subcon. ‘A’[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] This refers to rejected stock. If enabled, then starting stock incorporates the following quantities (taken from the table Product-site totals – visible to the user via the Product-site Stock tab): [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Stock (added):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Internal ‘R’ Dock ‘R’ Sub-con. stock ‘R’[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Allocations (subtracted):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Int. allocated ‘R’ Alloc. subcon. ‘R’[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] This refers to stock under quality control. If set to “Yes in starting stock”, then starting stock incorporates the following quantities (taken from the Product-site totals table – visible to the user via the Product-site Stock tab): [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Stock (added):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Internal ‘Q’ Dock ‘Q’ Subcon. ‘Q’[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Allocations (subtracted):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Int. allocated ‘Q’ Alloc. subcon. ‘Q’[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] If set to “Yes at date end control”, then starting stock is determined as follows (quantities taken from the Stock table where the status is ‘Q’). If there is no Quality analysis request or the Quality analysis request end date <= MRP start date, then add/subtract the following Stock quantities: [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Stock (added):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Active quantity STK[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] [row][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Allocations (subtracted):[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column]Cumul active quantity allocated STK Act qty in process[/one_fourth_column][one_fourth_column][/one_fourth_column][/row] If there is a Quality analysis request and its end date <= MRP end date and > MRP start date, then generate a ‘supply’ transaction (MRP working table – along with all other supply and demand transactions) with a date corresponding to the end date of the Quality analysis request (i.e., when this stock passes QA, and becomes active, then it can be used in MRP at that point.) See the diagram below. Versioned product MRP treats versioned product versions as distinct products. Every incoming supply and outgoing demand must reference a particular product version (a sales order, for example, that has no product version specified is assigned a version by MRP). Similarly starting stock is calculated for each product version as follows: For each product version where Flow = Stock, and Status = Active, link the Versions table and the Major version statuses table. For each stock entry where Location category <> Customer (i.e., not on Loan), link the Stock table and the Lot numbers table – versions are associated with lots. If any of the following rules are met then add Active quantity STK and subtract Total allocated STK: Stock status = ‘A’ Stock status = ‘R’ and Rejected stock is þ Stock status = ‘Q’ and Quality control stock is Yes in starting stock Stock status = ‘Q’ and Quality control stock is Yes at date end control and there is no Quality analysis request or the Quality analysis request end date <= MRP start date Otherwise, if the stock status = ‘Q’, and Quality control stock is ‘Yes at date end control’, and there is a Quality analysis request and its end date <= MRP end date and > MRP start date, then generate a ‘supply’ transaction (MRP working table – along with all other supply and demand transactions) with a date corresponding to the end date of the Quality analysis request (i.e., when this stock passes QA, and becomes active, then it can be used in MRP at that point.) See the diagram below. Project related Supply and demands for a particular product/project are processed separately by MRP. Starting stock must also be calculated (and applied) per project as follows: Determine the projects from all the supply and demands to be processed. For each project (process project related stock): Calculate the available project related starting stock (quantities taken from the Stock table) If any of the following rules are met then add Active quantity STK and subtract: Cumulative quantity allocated Stock status = ‘A’ Stock status = ‘R’ and Rejected stock is checked Stock status = ‘Q’ and Quality control stock is Yes in starting stock Note: this applies to both versioned and non-versioned products. Note: the allocations recorded in the Stock table are for Detail allocations only. Apportion the available project related starting stock across this project’s demands beginning with the earliest. This available starting stock offsets the demand’s requirement when processed by MRP. Process non-project related stock: Calculate the available non-project related starting stock – similar to (1) above. Any global allocations are also applied here reducing the available non-project related starting stock Apportion the available non-project related starting stock across all demands (project and non-project) – if the “Stock for project” flag is enabled (Product-site > Planning); and across non-project related demands – if the “Stock for project” flag is not enabled.

FDA software validation is when an FDA-regulated company “establishes documented evidence which provides a high degree of assurance that a specific process will consistently produce a product meeting its predetermined specifications and quality attributes.” While the FDA provides guidelines regarding software validation, it does not tell companies exactly how to do it. Each company must determine how to do so and provide evidence that is has been done and that the software meets FDA requirements. And even though most software is purchased from a third-party, the third-party vendor is not responsible for validation. The responsibility lies with the company itself. Who needs to validate software? All companies in FDA regulated industries are legally required to validate software if that software could impact product quality, safety, or effectiveness. Sample industries include food and beverage manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, botanicals, medical devices, surgical instruments, dental equipment and supplies, ophthalmic supplies, and orthopedics to name a few (and the parts/ingredients used to produce these goods). Even if you are not in an FDA regulated industry, validation is still a good idea for businesses that want to improve quality. FDA software validation helps manufacturers reduce risk and ensure their products are produced and distributed according to high quality standards. How do you validate software? Validating software involves establishing documented evidence that proves the software consistently meets predetermined specifications and quality attributes—that is satisfies its intended use. The goal of validation is not only to prove the software works correctly and consistently, but to also identify, document, and mitigate any issues that could negatively impact production of regulated goods or their parts/ingredients. Computer System Validation (CSV) Use Case with Performance Validation Our partner, Performance Validation, has been serving the life science industries since 1988, and is a nationwide leader in providing validation, commissioning, and quality services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device manufacturers. Recently, a medical technology company was upgrading their enterprise resource planning (ERP) software system to the latest Sage X3 platform in order to improve their efficiencies in accounting, distribution, and manufacturing. They would be implementing the Sage X3 platform as a SaaS (Software as a Service) with a browser-based interface. The scope of the system implementation was to include warehouse, customer care, field service, purchasing, planning, manufacturing, document control, handheld scanner, and quality control components. Computer System Validation would be required to bring the system into FDA GxP compliance. The company contracted Performance Validation (PV) to create a Computer System Validation (CSV) package for their new system. As a previous client, the company’s stakeholders were happy with the templates, format, and content of the validation package delivered by PV. At the client’s request, PV worked remotely to develop system documentation that would comply with the client’s internal procedures. The client also requested that on-site test execution would be performed, as necessary, to qualify peripherals and to get additional assistance from the client’s Subject Matter Experts (SME). The PV Advantage PV established reoccurring meetings with the client stakeholders to gain information for the creation of a validation plan and to complete assessments (Risk and 21 CFR Part 11). On completion of the system documentation, the PV team accelerated their effort toward writing of the test protocol to ensure adherence to the client’s timeline for implementation. The following components detail the PV solution: 1. PV created a Validation Plan to outline the validation deliverables and the strategy for qualification testing. This document included: A System Risk Assessment was performed and documented following the ISPE GAMP 5 Guide. The software was assessed as a GAMP Category 4 (configured software), with low risk for both likelihood and severity of system component failures. Based on the results of the assessment, PV was able to right-size the qualification phase to focus on integrated testing of standard workflows and configured functionalities, rather than detailed quality testing of individual low-level software component details. 21 CFR Part 11 compliance assessment. PV understood the regulations, the FDA Guidance, and the preamble requirements. This assessment outlined areas of the software that needed to be addressed with a procedure (i.e., gaps) and was also used to create user requirements. A summary of how the gaps were addressed was also generated to include with the validation package. User roles and responsibilities were defined including limitations, exclusions, and assumptions. Requirements for procedural documentation governing security, business continuity, training, and overall validation management were listed. 2. PV created a User Requirements Specification document. The document was develop based on a client-provided spreadsheet list which listed the software requirements to support the business process of each affected department within the organization (example: accounting, warehouse, purchasing, etc..) as well as a list of the “end-to-end” processes. Requirements were developed over several rounds of stakeholder reviews and updates to sort out redundancies and refine the specific required software functionality. The PV team’s extensive years of experience in writing requirement documents for computer systems enabled them to write testable, concise, and repeatable requirements. At the client’s request, the PV team gave additional focus to requirements for several key user roles within organization. A user roles and permissions table was generated and included with the User Requirements Specification to ensure that system permissions satisfied the customer’s business processes, and that these permissions would be tested. Although the Sage X3 software platform is web-based and provided as a Software as a Service “SaaS”, PV identified several peripheral client access components to be included for validation. 3. PV generated initial drafts of the test protocols by exploring the software, help menus, and forums initially. The team then began scheduling time with individual SMEs for respective business areas for support in drafting the test scripts in a manner that ensured that the testing would be reproducible. Final drafts of all test protocols were entered into client’s document management system to be routed for approval. 4. PV sent a team member to the clients’ site to execute testing and to provide guidance, to facilitate review of executed test scripts, and to ensure expedient execution for the remaining user acceptance scripts. A second PV team member simultaneously performed off-site remote testing from the PV office location. It is worth noting that we have since performed several other Sage X3 validations completely remotely, without any onsite execution. 5. PV created a Requirements Traceability Matrix to document where each user requirement was qualified as evidenced by either testing or vendor documentation. 6. Concerns regarding the system and documentation were brought to the attention of the Quality Assurance department in a timely manner to ensure they were appropriately addressed as early as possible to avoid further remediation. 7. PV provided regular project status updates on progress of the validation deliverables, project budget, and risks to the project and schedule. 8. The team delivered a Validation Summary Report to record the delivery of all the planned validation deliverables and to detail how the clients’ documentation satisfied regulatory requirements. The Results The Sage X3 ERP validation was completed ahead of schedule, meeting the customer’s overall system implementation deadlines. The company gained awareness of gaps in their procedures and security and resolved them. PV completed the validation effort by practicing excellent documentation standards, testing processes, and a focus on the customer needs. This medical device company now has an ERP system that is compliant with FDA regulations for computerized systems. The Benefits Performance Validation provided the client with consultation through understanding the software, the stakeholders and their needs, and proposing the best fitting validation strategy for an Enterprise Resource Planning solution. Performance Validation’s experience with creating testable User Requirements from various inputs helped expedite that portion of the project. Experience testing user roles was also valuable to streamline the testing documentation. For more information on computer system validation for FDA compliance, please contact us.

Do you constantly find yourself going through multiple steps to get to a Sage X3 query only to end up exporting it into Excel? Sage X3 gives you the ability to refresh the data right inside excel. Pre-requisites: 1. You need to install the Sage Add-in (Utilities > Installation > Install addins for Office). 2. You need to have built the query and know the unique code that you are setting this up for. Bookmark Sage Support Resources today! Instructions: 1. Go to List of menu items (Administration > Authoring > Pages > Menu item). 2. Select ‘Create menu item’. 3. Enter in the following fields (* indicates that they are required): Code: Required Title: Required Application: X3ERP Endpoint: Folder Name Query Name: Required 4. Save. 5. Once you create the menu item, you can select ‘Excel report’. 6. Select ‘No template’ > Ok > Open Excel. 7. You may be prompted to log in with your Sage X3 credentials, you will see the query load. 8. Now to refresh the data, you will select the ‘Refresh’ icon. 9. Save the excel file. 10. The next time you open the excel file, you will be prompted to authenticate and can use the refresh icon to update the data. You will not be required to go back and re-export to see the updated data. For more information on refreshing your Sage X3 query in MS Excel, or for any other Sage X3 questions, please contact us.

X3CloudDocs automates the accounts payable invoice process through a dedicated workflow. The financial record of the invoice is automatically created in Sage X3, with the original document being securely stored in the cloud. Unlike a manual process, X3CloudDocs provides full control, auditability and traceability. This digital transformation for your finance department provides instant cost savings and incredibly quick ROI. Functionality Mysoft has partnered with a world-class OCR engine to fully integrate the Purchase Invoice automation into the Sage X3 workflow. The key functional workflow for the process is outlined below, however the overall functional areas addressed are: Receive invoices from a variety of sources (email, drag and drop, folder automation) Inbound purchase invoice OCR (header and line level) GL Coding Automated or manual Automatic invoice creation in Sage X3 Purchase and Supplier BP Invoices, as appropriate View the invoice image held in X3 Cloud Docs from Sage X3 PO & Invoice (2 way) and PO, Receipt, & Invoice (3 way) matching Workflow notifications Invoice approvals Secure storage of invoices Multi-Currency Documents validated against Sage X3 data Advanced learning capabilities 1.2 X3 Cloud Docs Automated Read more below to discover how your business can work smarter with X3CloudDocs. For more information on X3CloudDocs or on how you can extend the power of Sage X3 with complementary solutions, please contact us. Bookmark Sage Support Resources today!