As indicated in today's release announcement, this upgrade has literally been in progress for years while the prior version also continued to be developed with unofficial releases and updates for existing users. It is without question the most extensive single release that we have ever published in the Advanced Accounting series.
An update for existing Advanced Accounting (Adv) 7i users (which requires that all of the Adv 7i releases are first installed) is available and has already been installed at several sites. There were some seven official (plus one unofficial) releases in the Adv 7i series. Our preference is to install all needed updates as well as the 7i to 8 update remotely which is a service we provide without any additional cost. An update path for older users also remains available.
The release announcement also includes some eight pages of "what's new" information. And there are many important new features any one of which could be reason enough to update. Adv 8 is also now running on the latest internal updates to the underlying runtime engine which we also publish.
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| Adv 8 main screen - the shortcut icons in he lower 1/3rd can be turned off |
Adv 8 runs on every current Windows operating system that has been released so far by Microsoft.
E-mail related enhancements alone will likely be of key interest to many users. To accommodate increasingly long e-mail addresses, they have been expanded in this release from 40 to 65 characters. More importantly, they are now fully searchable on a case insensitive basis including in customer/vendor lookups.
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| Customer e-mail address lookup/search |
But there is more. The ability to e-mail a pack slip or customer aging list (which is different from a statement) are both new features. A new E-options button in the customer entry screen allows you specify how e-mails should be directed to a given customer. You can of course still simply use the customer's primary/default e-mail address but you can now also specify whether a different e-mail address should be used for sending SO invoices, sales orders, pack slips, statements/aging and quotes. For SO invoices (or POS tickets) you can also specify a default CC: address.
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| Customer E-options screen |
And you can also specify whether e-mail should be the default output option (applicable to those options have an e-mail check box) for any given customer.
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| Customer screen - new options (AR-A) |
Unlimited contacts/e-mail addresses per customer and vendor remains fully available.
But there is yet more just with respect to e-mail. The way that e-mail is processed in certain options (such as printing an invoice) has been enhanced and in a number of other options in terms of how/when it is sent. The underlying setup programs have been significantly enhanced as well as the technology used to actually send e-mails. The setup has been enhanced to include the ability to test e-mail settings without having to log in using that person's credentials. Employees now have a field for e-mail (which can be used when filing federal or state W-2's). Contact e-mails when accessed from customer and vendor maintenance can now be copied even when in read only mode, and there is now a e-mail option to trigger and send e-mail after posting a POS (point-of-sale) ticket which then works in the same way as elsewhere.
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| New POS configuration options |
And, a new e-mail export option is also available.
Finally there is a new and very powerful capability to batch e-mail customer statements. Previously statements could only be e-mailed to a customer one at a time. Now you can globally send statements and still also print statements for customers with no e-mail address that still want their statement to be printed and mailed.
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| AR statements new batch statements option (under AR-E) |
The above e-mail enhancements only scratch the surface of what is included in Advanced Accounting 8.
For our long-time users that have run into some of the old sales order/invoice number, employee/salesperson, and checking account limitations, those are now gone. For those users this will be a must have update. For other users, know that you will never hit the prior 999,999 SO/invoice number limit. For users that like to separate SO/Invoice number ranges by location or POS register, the new expanded limit of 999,999,999 offers unlimited new possibilities. We have had users hit the 999 employee limit and that upper limit is now 99999. Checking accounts have similarly been expanded from 99 to 999. And all of the foregoing without any change to the existing data of current users.
The list of new features goes on. Every time that a general ledger (GL) transaction is posted anywhere in the system, an audit record is now saved into a new data file which includes the actual date and time of the transaction (tied to the assigned transaction number) with the posting date, the program ID that the transaction was saved in, the Adv logon code, the Windows computer name, user name and IP address, and even whether the transaction was made remotely using remote services (RDP); and there is now a powerful new report that can be used to analyze those audit records. The audit report can also include the full GL transaction details within the report if desired. This will be another must have feature for many users.
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| New GL-E-E transaction audit report |
Adv 8 also incorporates the enhancements to the Change in Financial Position (Cash Flow) statement was discussed in a blog earlier this year.
There are powerful new sales tax reporting options and new sales reports. The general ledger module workhorse options that print the detailed trial balance and journals have been modernized. You can now import general journal entries. There are new job costing options and capabilities. Inventory items now have a floor price option. Inventory transfers are again available for on-the-fly transfers during sales order entry, and you can even transfer one item to a completely different item (product code). Sales orders now show the initial portion of any attached notes without having to click on the attached notes button, and include the optional auto complete option (see our prior blog on that topic). Purchase order receiving has a completely new option that may also be invaluable for users and represent the sole reason for wanting to update. Purchase order receiving reports can also be generated after receiving purchase orders from either the new (PO-D-A) or prior existing (now PO-D-B) option, a critical feature for some users. Tthey can also be generated for inventoriable items after the fact.
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| The new PO-D-A option that has been in waiting since 2015 |
And then there are the new payroll (PR) options. To accommodate some of the new options including provision for those needing PTO (paid or personal time off) tracking, we completely redesigned the employee payroll screen and added a number of new fields. We have many users who use Advanced Accounting solely for its payroll module and so we continue to give the PR module the attention it deserves, and also for our many other users who also use the PR module as part of their overall accounting system, providing a complete solution.
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| The new PR-A enter employee information screen with many new fields and features |
There is more. See the release announcement for more information and contact us if you have any questions.
We are very excited about this new release, and all of the new features that we have planned for future updates!
