SAFE SQL Feature: Direct A/P Posting
Ed. Note: This is the fifth in a series of articles on the major new features in SAFE SQL. The following describes the new Direct A/P Posting features of Sales Order Entry.

SAFE has always been able to automatically post Sales Order information into A/P upon invoicing. In fact, we were the first company to offer this, way back in 1897, er.... make that 1987 (Sometimes it just seems long ago). Back then, since most of you were pure brokers, it worked well, saving much time. But as you have expanded into inventories and orders with multiple phases, it has become more important to be able to track costs posting to A/P at any phase of an order.

So SAFE SQL now lets you not only view, but also manage all A/P linked to a Sales Order from within the Sales Order. In other words, when you want to add a vendor invoice into the system from a Sales Order Line Item, just click a button and Et Voila! it happens in real time.

You can do this not only for unbilled Sales Orders, but also for invoiced orders as well. You can add costs to an order before it was billed and after. (You can use Security Extensions to limit who can add costs after billing.)

But Wait, There's More!
Did we mention that you can edit these costs as well? So you can not only add costs, but if the costs change, you can edit the A/P Bills directly from within the Sales Order and the costs connected with the Sales Order (including commissions) will automatically be updated as well. Immediately.

Using Security Extensions, you can activate this new feature in a couple of ways:

1. Catch All Mode: If you neglect to post the costs to A/P manually, they will automatically post to A/P when you invoice. (This is essentially the same functioning as in SAFE 5.1).

2. Manual Mode: You can turn off all auto-posting so that only Vendor Bills you manually link are sent to A/P.

More Safety Features
You can also configure SAFE so that it is no longer possible to edit A/P Bills generated from a S/O within A/P. In other words, if the A/P was generated within a Sales Order, then it must be managed within the Sales Order. This can prevent A/P clerks from accidentally changing a Vendor Invoice and inadvertently updating a Sales Order's costs incorrectly. Since you have to see the order you are posting costs from, such accidents are far less likely.

You can also prevent users from changing the costs on a Sales Order Line Item if costs have been posted to A/P. In other words, you can force SAFE to automatically keep the cost of each line item synchronized with the posting to A/P. If a cost must be changed, it must be changed in the Linked A/P which will then automatically update the Sales Order.

In Conclusion
Direct A/P provides much more transparency for SAFE. You can now see and manage the relationship between each Sales Order and Accounts Payable without jumping between screens or waiting for billing. This reduces mistakes and improves productivity. Enjoy!
 

FAQ On StarShip Shipping Interface!
We get a lot of questions regarding our SAFExtension interface with VTechnologies' StarShip(tm) shipping software. Basically, they all boil down to something like, 'Why should I pay for that interface if SAFE already supports UPS and FedEx?' So here is a short rundown of the benefits of this SAFExtension:

Out of the box, SAFE supports a direct interface with FedEx Powership and UPS Online. So when you create shipping documents in either of these programs, they will automatically update your SAFE Sales Orders with Tracking ID, weight and freight cost.

Starship provides the following additional capabilities:

1. Support for other carriers such as Airborne, Emery and even user-defined carriers; in other words, you can create an interface for just about any carrier of choice, including local trucking companies.

2. More transparent support for UPS. Starship is able automatically generate UPS Tracking IDs and update SAFE in real time. Without Starship, shipping information is only updated to SAFE in a batch mode at the end of each day.

3. One Stop Shopping: If you use several carriers, having the StarShip interface can make your life easier by having only one program to work with for all your shipping needs. No jumping back and forth between different programs. Starship will automatically generate the labels and billing documents you need for multiple carriers all in one go and automatically update SAFE for all these packages at the same time.

Need Another Reason To Go For It?
The StarShip SAFExtension is normally $1,295. This month we have it on sale for $995 to get more of you to find out how SIMPLE it can make your shipping needs.

Ciaran's Corner: The Emborkinator Strikes Back
The Emborkinator Strikes Back!
Those of you familiar with Microsoft know that they have used a variety of, shall we say, 'tactics' to stymie their competition. One of the most fiendish last year was code placed in Microsoft's MSN Site which prevented users of the free (how shocking!) and in many ways superior browser Opera(tm) from accessing any MSN content. Those great Swedish guys at Opera Software simply programmed around this, thus outwitting the evil-doers. And in a nice bit of comic revenge, the most recent versions of Opera have a new 'Bork' option which emborkinates any displayed MSN content. This is a reference to a series of computer programs, written by shiftless college students in the seventies (one of which done by our own JC) which 'translate' the English language into the vague dialect of the Muppet's Swedish Chef. Bork! Bork Bork!

All humour aside, the fact that Microsoft can so easily shut out competition is the real joke here. Opera has had none of the security problems that Internet Explorer does, plus it displays pages much faster, and is much more compatible with various Internet standards (for example, if you've ever tried to print a page from IE and the margins were all wrong you've just discovered another IE feature which they claim would work much better if everyone would simply switch to using Microsoft Web Servers!)

So: If you want a better, faster, more secure browser that costs nothing to try, why not download Opera today.

'Can You Change...?'  (Another Rant)
One of the most frustrating things for both you and I has to do with the word proactive. We certainly try to look out for you. But many times we'll get a message that says 'Can you change xxxxxx to yyyyyy?'.  Sometimes, we'll simply do as requested. And sometimes a little red flag goes up where we say 'No! Think again!'. And then you yell at us for being insensitive! I'm ---kidding---.

Now I admit that back in 'the good old days' a 'Can you change' question would prompt a lot of very productive back and forth. We got some of our best ideas for SAFE from these discussions. Now, we simply can't do that as much as we'd like. So my suggestion of the month involves a wee bit of behavior modification for both of us.

If you find yourself wanting to write a note which starts, 'Can you change...', please stop. Now start again like so: 'We have found the following challenge xxxxxx, can you help?' This is not one of those corporate-speak games. It has real value.

First of all, everybody responds better to can you help as opposed to we need you to change...' But you knew that, because you're in a customer-driven business, too!'

Secondly, because literally everything in SAFE works the way it does because more than one of your peers thought it should. If you want it to work differently, we want to know what we are missing in our understanding of your business. It may well be that either:

a. There may already be an option in SAFE which will allow you to do what you need without a lot of bother. Since we've been doing this now for almost eighteen years, this is quite often the case. Or...

b. You may want to re-think your rationale and start doing it like others (no need to re-invent the wheel, right?)

And finally, because by enlisting us as a partner in the problem solving, it puts the onus on us to help provide a solution. And that's what we are really, not programmers, but problem solvers. If we know what and why, we can usually come up with a few good answers to how. After all, what you are trying to do has probably already been done.

Til Next Time,

Ciarān Marron
Technical Support Manager
cm@suntowersystems.com

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End of E-News From The Suntower, Volume V #6