Why Upgrade to Sage Version 2013

Why upgrade to Sage Version 2013

The Sage 100 ERP 2013 release (formerly Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 5.0) provides compelling value to existing customers, generates interest in the marketplace with new connected services and add-on solutions, and continues to offer more deployment and pricing options. Substantial value is provided to existing customers through new usability enhancements such as Visual Process Flows, delivering on top enhancement requests, simplifying application of Sage 100 ERP Product Updates via Auto Updates, enhanced Credit Card Processing using Sage Exchange, and more.

The main feature and functionality enhancements in Sage 100 ERP 2013 are in Accounts Payable, Bank Reconciliation, Inventory Management, Paperless Office, Sage CRM, Intelligence Reporting, and enhanced Credit Card Processing through Sage Exchange. The Accounts Payable Invoice Number field is expanded, customers and vendors can be designated as Inactive, Paperless Office can utilize public email servers, and several enhancements were made to the Inventory Maintenance screen. Multiple ERP companies can now be aligned to a sing CRM database, and Quick Order Entry screens enable Sage 100 ERP quotes and orders to be processed in the familiar Sage CRM environment. These customer-requested features and functionality were obtained through various feedback and evaluation methods, including the Sage customer enhancement request website and user surveys.

New Visual Process Flows
1. Reduce time navigating through your system using Visual Process Flows, which you can customize for your business, and by user role.

New Sage Visual Process Flows help increase productivity and reduce time navigating business processes by providing a graphical process-oriented interface for customers. The predefined processes provide end-users with a clear view of the steps and tools required to complete a task, simplifying complex tasks. The Visual Process Flow Designer can be used to easily create custom flows for unique needs and specific roles. These customizable processes make it easy for new users to learn Sage 100 ERP or existing users to complete tasks such as year-end, which are only occasionally performed.

Sage 100 ERP 2013 includes seven predefined process flows:

• Sales Order
• Returns
• Shipping
• Inventory, Physical Count
• Purchase Order
• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable

New Functionality in Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable

•  Simplify the process of matching vendor invoices by using expanded Accounts Payable Invoice Number field.
• New Accounts Payable features in the 2013 release provide customers with the ability to use the same invoice number as their vendor’s, inactivate vendors while retaining all their information in the system, and easily view cleared checks in Vendor Maintenance.
• The Invoice Number field is expanded in the 2013 release to accommodate up to 20 characters so that the entire invoice number of a vendor can be entered, exactly as it appears, minimizing the need to truncate. This simplifies the process of matching invoices from vendors and reduces errors by simply using the same invoice number in the Sage 100 ERP system as the vendor’s invoice number.
• Efficiently designate customers and vendors as Inactive without losing historical information.
• New features in 2013 allow Vendors to be inactivated, and “reason codes” may be created to reference why that action was taken. When this functionality is used, all historical transactions are maintained until an authorized user chooses to permanently delete those records. Full details of the action taken are in the audit log, and only authorized users can make a payment to a vendor with an inactive status to avoid payment mistakes. In 2013, Inactive Vendors can be hidden from view, or excluded from listings and forms for faster lookups and data entry.
• New features in 2013 allow Customers to be inactivated, and “reason codes” may be created to reference why that action was taken. When a customer is inactivated, that account is restricted from use in all data entries except for receiving payments. For collections and other activities, when a customer is identified as Inactive they are easily identified and targeted for collections communications, mailing labels and statement printing. Historical information for Inactive Customers is retained and available for view and print, and for sales comparisons. To avoid unnecessary clutter, especially during data entry, Inactive Customer can be excluded from lookups by selecting an option in Company Maintenance. As with the Inactive Vendor, full details of the action taken are included in the audit log.
• Streamline bank reconciliation by viewing relevant bank information in convenient places, such as cleared checks in Accounts Payable Vendor Maintenance.
• In response to Sage 100 ERP customer requests, the 2013 release includes the option to display and access all relevant bank information in convenient places, as well as the option to show the cleared check information in Bank Reconciliation, and in Accounts Payable Vendor Maintenance without having to access the Bank Reconciliation module. Cleared checks also display in Invoices, Transactions and Check Tabs in Vendor Maintenance. Historical check information will not display, these enhancements only apply to checks entered into Sage 100 ERP 2013.

Sage Exchange/Credit Card Processing

• Experience increased flexibility of credit processing though Sage Exchange including card-swipe capabilities, charges for repetitive invoices and Accounts Receivable invoices and more.
• The Sage Exchange Portal provides a user-configured dashboard and the flexibility to view payments information on the web via a tablet or desktop, in the manner each customer would prefer. Customize My Dashboard to gain access to the information that is important to you. Use the Predefined tabs to assign access to the Sage Exchange Portal for your employees, create customized coupons for use with specific credit card terminals. Get 24/7 access to the Sage Payment Solutions customer support database, right at your fingertips.
• Sage Exchange reduces merchant transaction fees when cards are present and speeds the entry process when swiping credit cards using a Sage Payments recognized card swipe device attached to the terminal. Our new card swipe capabilities have been truly integrated so that payments processing is built into the normal Sage 100 ERP workflow, which can replace the disconnected card swipe capabilities so many companies use.

Sage CRM Enhancements

• Align multiple ERP companies or divisions to a single CRM database.
• The Sage ERP 2013 release includes Sage CRM integration enhancements that enable multiple ERP companies to be mapped to a single Sage CRM system. Sage 100 ERP customers who have created and are operating more than one company or division are able to integrate these companies to one single Sage CRM instance. This allows customers using Sage CRM to get a single consolidated view of all customer facing activities, and salespeople to more efficiently move between all their customer records, regardless of the associated Sage 100 ERP company, using customer numbers or database identification.
• Process Sage 100 ERP quotes and orders in the familiar Sage CRM environment through Quick Order Entry screens without installing Sage 100 ERP on the workstation.

Windows 8 Compatible

•  Sage ERP 2013 is compatible with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Testing is currently underway for backward compatibility with all supported versions of Sage 100 ERP.

This is just a sampling of the new features in Sage 2013. For more information, visit our website at www.oasisky.com. You can register for either our February 14^th or March 14^th webinar “Why Upgrade to Version Sage 2013?”