Transcript
The Financial Edge
TM
FACTS for Converting Clients
The Financial Edge FACTS for Converting Clients Read this document to understand specific functionality changes that are important to be aware of before converting to The Financial Edge. We also want you to understand that certain features in Accounting for Nonprofits are not available in the current release of The Financial Edge. In some cases we have removed functionality and replaced it with new, more powerful features so you can take your accounting practices to a new level. In other cases, we have condensed and reorganized reports to improve usability and functionality. You must read this list to qualify for converting to The Financial Edge. Before finalizing your decision, it is important to consider specific changes that affect Cash Receipts 7, Fixed Assets 7, Payroll 7 and Student Billing 7. These changes include functionality and features that are different from previous versions and may affect how you accomplish specific tasks.
Technical Considerations Because products in Accounting for Nonprofits and The Financial Edge share functionality, they must be converted in a specific order. If you have multiple products in Accounting for Nonprofits, you must convert in the following order: 1. General Ledger, Accounts Payable, and Fixed Assets 2. Accounts Receivable and Cash Receipts 3. Student Billing and Payroll (these are separate conversions but it does not matter which is converted first) The order in which Miscellaneous Cash Receipts is converted is dependent on whether or not Accounts Receivable or Student Billing is present in the database. When you convert multiple Accounting for Nonprofits programs (such as General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Student Billing, and Payroll), be sure to include enough time between conversions to test the data and complete the post conversion tasks before starting the next conversion. A sample timeline is available in the Conversion Planning Guide. A test conversion is a conversion used to verify all data will be converted correctly. While there is no separate test conversion procedure or utility, you are required to run a test database conversion on a standalone with a recent backup copy of your 6x products to verify the conversion will proceed as planned in the version 7 products before performing a live conversion.
Using the Enter Key to Navigate Among Fields In previous versions of our accounting software, you could either use the ENTER key or the TAB key to navigate among fields on records. With The Financial Edge, we have removed the ability to navigate using the ENTER key, which is reserved for completing and processing actions. As always, you can use the TAB key to navigate fields. Using the TAB key, which is traditionally used to navigate in Windows-based software, is the ideal method to navigate from field to field. You can, however, use the ENTER key to navigate among cells in specific grids, including the distribution grid and journal entry grid.
Last updated: May 24, 2007
Page 1 of 4
2000 Daniel Island Drive ⎥ Charleston, SC 29492 ⎥
[email protected]⎥ www.blackbaud.com 843.216.6200 ⎥ Sales: 800.443.9441 ⎥ Customer Support: 800.468.8996 ⎥ Fax: 843.216.6100
The Financial Edge
TM
FACTS for Converting Clients
Using Arrow Keys to Navigate in Grids In Accounting for Nonprofits 6.4, you could navigate through the grid of a Journal Entry batch record using the arrow keys on your keyboard. You could also use the arrow keys to navigate in distribution grids in Accounts Payable. In The Financial Edge, you must use CTRL+ the arrow keys to navigate in the grids. You can also use the TAB key to navigate.
Negative Distributions In Accounting for Nonprofits 6.4, you could enter negative distributions to reduce the amount posted to a specific General Ledger account. For example, in Accounts Payable 6.4 you could enter a negative distribution on an invoice, instead of creating and applying a credit memo. To improve the functionality of Accounts Payable 7, Accounts Receivable 7, Cash Receipts 7, and Fixed Assets 7 as well as to safeguard the integrity of your accounting data, we have removed the capability to create negative distributions in The Financial Edge. Instead, you can use miscellaneous entries to arrive at the same result. If you have negative distributions in your database, they become miscellaneous entries in most cases when you convert your data from the latest version of 6.4 to 7. To understand how this may affect data entry, see the “Negative Distributions” part of the Conversion Planning Guide, which is located on the Support section of our Web site under User Guides.
Posting in Detail In Cash Receipts 7, Fixed Assets 7, Payroll 7, and Student Billing 7 you post to General Ledger 7 in detail, which improves the reconciliation process. You can still summarize using control accounts. If you have other version 6.4 subsidiary ledgers, including Payroll 6.4, you can post in detail or summary.
Reports Require More Paper The Financial Edge provides an accounting information system that tracks an unprecedented level of detail and provides useful information that no other system can. Due to this improved and beneficial functionality, some reports require more paper than they did in Accounting for Nonprofits 6.4.
Banks Require Unique GL Account Numbers In The Financial Edge, an account code used for a cash account can be used for only one bank. For example, if the cash account for Bank One is 01-10000, then no other bank can use account code 10000 for the cash account. If your cash accounts are shared among multiple banks, you will not be able to convert to Accounts Payable 7, Accounts Receivable 7, Cash Receipts 7, and Fixed Assets 7. You can edit your bank information before converting or combine segments during the conversion process.
One Net Assets Account In General Ledger 7, you have only one net asset account per fund unless you select the option to close the fiscal year by account segment when closing funds. When viewing net asset account activity on records, you can filter by class, transaction code, and project. You can view net asset account activity by class, transaction code, and project by utilizing filters when running reports.
Last updated: May 24, 2007
Page 2 of 4
2000 Daniel Island Drive ⎥ Charleston, SC 29492 ⎥
[email protected]⎥ www.blackbaud.com 843.216.6200 ⎥ Sales: 800.443.9441 ⎥ Customer Support: 800.468.8996 ⎥ Fax: 843.216.6100
The Financial Edge
TM
FACTS for Converting Clients
Posting to an Export File In Accounting for Nonprofits 6.4, you had the option to post transactions to an export file instead of directly to General Ledger. However, in Accounts Payable 7, Accounts Receivable 7, Cash Receipts 7, Fixed Assets 7, Payroll 7, and Student Billing 7 you must post directly to General Ledger. You can still create an export file at the same time you post to General Ledger by marking the corresponding checkbox. Direct posting is required to maintain accuracy and control between General Ledger and subsidiary ledgers, which is even more important now that each general ledger transaction includes a link to the source record.
Calculating Depreciation for Fixed Assets In Fixed Assets 7, you may experience longer calculation times than in Fixed Assets 6.4. This is a result of powerful new functionality we have included in The Financial Edge. For example, you can now distribute transactions by a variety of characteristics and pull unposted subsidiary ledger transactions into General Ledger reports. The increased processing time required to analyze data from multiple perspectives may impact depreciation calculations. If you experience longer calculation times, we recommend processing these calculations at off-peak hours in your business office.
Cash Receipts 7 vs. Cash Receipts 6.4 When you upgrade to The Financial Edge, you will receive Accounts Receivable 7, Cash Receipts 7, and Student Billing 7. If you are using Student Billing 6.4, Miscellaneous Cash Receipts 6.4, and Accounts Receivable 6.4, you will receive Cash Receipts 7 and Accounts Receivable 7 when you upgrade to The Financial Edge. If you are using Miscellaneous Cash Receipts 6.4, and Student Billing 6.4, but not Accounts Receivable 6.4, you will continue using Miscellaneous Cash Receipts 6.4 until you convert to Student Billing 7.
Specific AP Checks and 1099 Forms Are Not Compatible If you are currently using Accounts Payable 5.0 single stub or double stub checks, please note that they are not compatible with The Financial Edge. We recommend making sure that you have the necessary compatible check stock on hand before upgrading. Also note that The Financial Edge does not support preprinted 1099 forms designed for dot matrix printers.
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 / 2005 Database The Financial Edge runs on a SQL Server 2000 or 2005 database. If you already have SQL Server 2000/2005 Standard or Enterprise, The Financial Edge will automatically install on your existing SQL Server database. If you are not using a SQL Server 2000/2005 database, but you have a database size below 3.7 GB and you are not running any version 6 products after converting, you can install The Financial Edge with the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express version of SQL Server 2005, which is bundled with The Financial Edge. If you are running a combination of version 6 and 7 modules after your conversion, you must install Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE) or SQL Server 2000; version 6 products are not compatible with SQL Server 2005 Express or SQL Server 2005. MSDE and SQL Server 2005 Express have a database size limit of 1.8 GB and 3.7 GB respectively; if you exceed these size limits, you must purchase a full version of SQL Server 2000/2005. After a database has been converted to SQL 2005 or SQL Server 2005 Express, it cannot revert to SQL 2000 without restoring to the last backup made while running the database on SQL Server 2000 or MSDE.
Database Size When converting a database which runs a combination of version 6 and version 7 modules, it is possible that the database size could increase such that it will exceed the size limits of Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE) or Microsoft SQL Server Express. If Last updated: May 24, 2007
Page 3 of 4
2000 Daniel Island Drive ⎥ Charleston, SC 29492 ⎥
[email protected]⎥ www.blackbaud.com 843.216.6200 ⎥ Sales: 800.443.9441 ⎥ Customer Support: 800.468.8996 ⎥ Fax: 843.216.6100
The Financial Edge
TM
FACTS for Converting Clients
your database does exceed these limits after converting, you will need to run your database with either SQL 2000 or SQL 2005. Please see the section above for supported database sizes for MSDE and Microsoft SQL Server Express.
Last updated: May 24, 2007
Page 4 of 4
2000 Daniel Island Drive ⎥ Charleston, SC 29492 ⎥
[email protected]⎥ www.blackbaud.com 843.216.6200 ⎥ Sales: 800.443.9441 ⎥ Customer Support: 800.468.8996 ⎥ Fax: 843.216.6100
