What’s new in Simply Accounting 2008?

New Features in Simply Accounting^TM Basic, Pro and Premium 2008

New MySQL Database for Improved Data Integrity, Security, and Growth

Simply Accounting now uses the MySQL database for improved robustness and scalability, enhanced security, and support for growing businesses. The new data structure is scalable and can support a high volume of transactions and records.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of Simply Accounting, you will notice that the new file extension is .SAI and all company data is stored in files within a .SAJ folder . You can still back up data directly in Windows Explorer by copying both the SAI file and SAJ folder, although the Simply Accounting backup function handles this for you and compresses all data into a single file with a .CAB extension.

User security information and passwords are now stored in the company data file. Due to the enhanced security model, strong passwords (passwords that are not easy to guess and that contain a minimum of 5 characters) are recommended.

Improved Productivity in the Enhanced Home Window

Based on user requests and feedback, the Simply Accounting Home Window has been redesigned for ease of use and the utmost in flexibility and productivity. Do more, all from one central window!

Some of the new Home Window features include:

• left-hand navigation to easily switch between modules
• right-click access to common features and functions
• onscreen workflows designed to guide new users through business processes
• direct access to related tasks, such as configuring module settings and customizing company forms
• quick access to module-specific reports, the Report Centre, and the last 4 recently viewed company reports
• list panes with quick access to record data and one-click access to module-specific tasks
• customizable shortcut list to add links to the features you use most often
• a new Banking module, with quick access to common banking functions including the new Transfer Funds feature
• quick access to data management utilities and Support and Services from the Company page

You can still access the old Home Window from the new view by clicking the Classic View link on the top right below the toolbar.

Terminology Changes for Upgraders

• The non-accounting term “Miscellaneous Transactions” no longer exists. It has been replaced by the accounting term, “General Journal.”
• In the Payments Journal, the term “Make Other Payment” still exists, but is termed “Pay Expenses” in the Payments icon menu on the Vendors and Purchases page.

To learn more about the enhanced Home Window, open the Learning Centre, and then click on the Home Window link to watch a short video.

Increased Performance and Onscreen Customization of Reports

The majority of reports now display in a redesigned Report Viewer window. The Report Viewer features several enhancements, including:

• print preview
• print range – print only the pages you require
• interactive column sizing, sort, and order (drag and drop)
• quick addition and removal of report columns
• text find – search for instances of a specific phrase, word, or value in a report
• export to Microsoft Excel with formatting and calculations intact
• export to portable document format (PDF)

More reports now feature column customization and sorting the number of default columns on some reports has been reduced for better fit on a single printed page.

The layout of all list reports, with the exception of the Chart of Accounts report, has changed. You must recreate any custom list reports created in previous versions of Simply Accounting.

To learn more about the improved Report Viewer, open the Learning Centre, and then click on the Reports link to watch a short video.

Other Usability Enhancements

Easily Transfer Funds Between Accounts

In the new Home Window, click the Transfer Funds icon on the Banking page to easily transfer money between cash and/or bank accounts. This feature supports foreign currency transfers. Funds transfers are identified as “FundsTransfer” in the General Journal report.

Show PAID Stamp

A new “PAID” stamp can be displayed in lookup mode for all sales and purchase invoices that have been paid in full.

Show and Sort Customer Receipts by Invoice Date and Payments by Due Date

A new Invoice Date column has been added to the Receipts window. You can now sort sales invoices by invoice date to quickly locate invoices that are coming due.

A new Due Date column has been added to the Payments window. You can now sort purchase invoice by due date to quickly locate invoices that need to be paid soon.

Print the Subtotal on Sales and Purchases Forms

On sales and purchase transactions, the subtotal before taxes and freight is now displayed onscreen and can be included on the printed form. The subtotal can be printed on sales quotes, orders, and invoices, and on purchase orders.

Set Default Address Information for Customers and Vendors

Minimize data entry by setting defaults for the city, province, and country in which new customers and vendors reside. If most of your vendors or customers reside in the same city or province, set the location once in Settings so that this information is automatically filled in when you create new customer and vendor records. In previous versions, Simply Accounting assumed that new customers and vendors were located in the same city, province, and country as your business.

Receive Confirmation That a Transaction Completed Successfully

You can now receive a confirmation message when a transaction has been processed successfully. If one or more journal entries were created for the transaction, the message will include the journal entry number(s). In the User Preferences window, you can control whether these messages are displayed.

Updated Learning Centre

The Learning Centre has been redesigned, and includes new tutorials and links to online learning and assistance tools. You can open the Learning Centre by clicking the Learning Centre icon on any page in the enhanced Home Window, or by clicking the link in the Help menu.

Select More Industry-specific Terms (Premium and Enterprise)

You now have more options to customize Simply Accounting Premium and higher for your business by changing the way you identify customers, vendors, quotes, orders and invoices on your Simply Accounting input screens.

New Simply Accounting Enterprise Edition!

With Simply Accounting by Sage Enterprise Edition, you can continue to grow your business without sacrificing performance or security. Enterprise Edition is well suited to businesses with many users or advanced inventory requirements. It includes all of the features of Simply Accounting Premium as well as the following features:

• Serialized Inventory and Lot Tracking: Track the activity, location, and cost of individual serialized items. The new Serialized Inventory Report provides a complete history of each serialized item and its current status.
  Note: Serialized inventory is not supported in Simply Accounting Mobile.
• Support for up to 10 Concurrent Users: For larger companies with increased staffing needs, Enterprise Edition permits up to 10 users to access the same company data file at the same time.
  Note: Enterprise Edition is available in 5-user and 10-user license editions.
• Role-based Security: You can quickly assign system access rights to any number of users using role-based security. First, create a role, such as A/R Clerks, set security rights for the role, and then assign the role to one or more users. You still have the option of customizing security rights for individual users.
• Performance Enhancements: Enterprise Edition increases multi-user productivity by streamlining the assignment of form numbers when processing transactions. Conflict messages that may occur when several users simultaneously enter transactions in the same journal can be suppressed.

Improved Accounting Control

Adjust Prior Year Transactions

You can now process and adjust transactions dated in the prior year. Adjusting transactions after year end is now simple and straightforward. We recommend that you use this feature to correct and clean up the data file only up until the time you send the data file to your accounting firm for Year End. After sending the data file to your accountant, only make changes to the data file that the accountant is aware of.

Retain up to 7 Years of Transaction Detail

Simply Accounting 2008 can store, look up, and report on 7 years of transaction history. Simply Accounting Premium 2008 and Simply Accounting Enterprise 2008 can store, look up, and report on 100 years of transaction history.

Project enhancements (Premium and Enterprise)

Track and Report the Hours Employees Work on Projects

When you allocate payroll costs to projects by hours, Simply Accounting now tracks the hours spent on each project and can display the payroll cost per project in the new Project Hours by Employee report. Note that employee hours can only be allocated for hourly, non-salaried employees. There are also some usability enhancements to the allocation dialog and message text to make the allocation screen easier to understand and use.

Connection Manager Enhancements

Included in Release C (July 2008 Payroll tables) of all versions Simply Accounting 2008 are the following enhancements to Connection Manager.

• The Connection Manager for Simply Accounting has been updated. You can now:
• Set the number of connection attempts
• Start and Stop the service from the Connection Manager icon in the Windows taskbar notification area
• Change the buffer pool size setting from the Connection Manager icon in the Windows taskbar notification area

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