Product Overview – AccountMate 8.3 for SQL and Express

AccountMate 8.3 remains a real-time, customizable business management and accounting solution designed to address the needs of small to medium-sized businesses. It utilizes Microsoft’s SQL server to assure scalability, up-time performance, and better data security. Three options for AccountMate 8.3 are available:

1. Express version for businesses with up to five concurrent users and an increased database size limit of
   10 GB. NOTE: The 10GB DB limitation applies to only SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2008 R2
   Express Editions. The 4GB limit remains unchanged with older SQL Server versions
2. SQL version for companies with up to hundreds of users and larger databases. It requires the purchase
   of a full Microsoft SQL Server license
3. SaaS (Software as a Service) version for companies that choose to rent (rather than own) their
   AccountMate software system licenses. For them there is subscription pricing for a hosted option.
4. Hosted version for companies that own their AccountMate software system licenses by chose to have
   them reside on a private cloud option offered by AccountMate.

These versions have the same user interface, ease of use, configuration of modules and are source code
modifiable. Source code and compiled versions of AccountMate 8.3 for SQL and Express are available. The source code version is available at an additional charge.
These versions support Microsoft Windows 7, Office 2010, SQL Server 2012 Standard, Enterprise and Express
Editions, and Crystal Report 2008.
They also provide an upgrade path from previous AccountMate versions and product lines, thereby allowing an easy transition into the new version without incurring exorbitant costs in data conversion and user re-training.

Enhancements in AccountMate 8.3

Building on and in addition to the product features from prior AccountMate for SQL and Express releases, this
AccountMate 8.3 for SQL/Express version offers enhancements and changes from AccountMate 8.2.

Probably the most notable enhancement is the option for companies to switch to IFRS. Depending on the country of operation and whether the entity is a publicly-listed company, an organization may not be required to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) until a specific date in the future. Recognizing this, AccountMate is designed in such a way that allows companies to switch from the US-GAAP compliant setting to the IFRS-compliant setting based on their own timing and if required to comply.

Especially important to note, too, is that AccountMate 8.3 supports Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Standard,
Enterprise and Express Editions.

Many of the enhancements to AccountMate 8.3 were a result of the feature enhancement voting at our
SYNERGY conferences and requests from our AccountMate Business Partners and their customers. Some of
the higher visibility changes include:

GL Enhanced to Support Latest US GAAP Reporting Requirements

The General Ledger module is enhanced to better comply with the latest US Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (US GAAP) on financial statement presentation. The enhancements are:

New Account Categories for Discontinued Operations, Extraordinary Items and Other Comprehensive Income

US GAAP specifies that certain transactions must be reported as discontinued operations, extraordinary items or other comprehensive income in the company’s Income Statement. To meet the requirement, we have added new category types that will be presented under Discontinued Operations, Extraordinary Items or Other Comprehensive Income. Simply enter a Category Name in one of the fields provided for each of the new category types in GL Module Setup; then, assign the new category name to the appropriate GL Account IDs in Chart of Accounts Maintenance for the affected accounts to be presented in one of the three new Income Statement sections.

Updated Cash Flow Captions

We have updated the Generic Captions that are presented in the Statement of Cash Flows under the direct and indirect methods. This includes the addition of generic captions to represent cash flow transactions that were not previously presented in the report (e.g. Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents).

New Cash Flow Categories

We have added more options to the Cash Flow 1 and Cash Flow 2 fields (i.e. cash flow categories). Cash flow categories are used to calculate the amounts that are presented in the Statement of Cash Flows. Each cash flow category is validated against the assigned account group to help ensure that the GL Account ID’s effect on the Statement of Cash Flows is consistent with its treatment in either the Balance Sheet or Income Statement. To facilitate the creation of GL Account IDs, AccountMate also validates that different cash flow categories are assigned to the Cash Flow 1 and Cash Flow 2 fields.

Closing Process Enhanced to Handle Other Comprehensive Income

US GAAP specifies that items of other comprehensive income must be closed at year end to an equity account that is not Retained Earnings*. To satisfy this requirement, we have added an Equity Account for OCI field to the Chart of Accounts Maintenance screen. This field is only accessible if the GL Account ID has a category type of Other Comprehensive Income. During year-end closing, Other Comprehensive Income accounts are closed to the Equity Account for OCI that is assigned to each.

*Note: Since this is also an IFRS requirement, this feature also applies to companies that activate IFRS
features.

2-year and 3-year Comparative Financial Statements

The Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flows can now be generated to show 2-year and 3-year comparative data. Under these report settings, amounts shown in the report reflect year-to-date values through the selected report period for each comparative year. For example: if the Balance Sheet is generated using the 2-year comparison (YTD) setting for the report period August 2012 in a company that has a Jan-Dec fiscal year, the report will show Jan-Aug account balances for the 2012 and 2011 fiscal years.

This enhancement also applies to the Fund Statement and the Revenue and Expense Statement which are only available to non-profit companies.

Supports Rounding Off of Financial Statement Amounts

Companies whose account balances are in hundred thousands or millions of currency units are allowed to present their account balances rounded off to the nearest hundred thousand or million value. To support this presentation method, we have added the Rounding Level feature to these reports:

1. Balance Sheet
2. Income Statement
3. Statement of Cash Flows
4. Fund Statement
5. Revenue and Expense Statement

Account balances can be presented in hundreds, in thousands, in ten thousands, in hundred thousands or in millions of the company’s reporting currency units.

Multiple Step Format vs. Single Step Format Income Statement

The Income Statement can now be generated using either of these formats: Multiple Step or Single Step.

Under the Multiple Step Format, operating revenues and expenses are presented separately from non- operating revenues and expenses to provide more information about the company’s primary business activities. This format segregates revenues and expenses into the following intermediate income components to facilitate analysis of significant aspects of the company’s business: gross profit components (i.e. sales less cost of sales), operating income components (i.e. gross profit less operating expenses), and income before income taxes (i.e. operating income plus other revenues less other costs and expenses).

Under the Single Step Format, items are classified into just two groups: revenues or expenses. The operating revenues and other revenues are still itemized but they are summed up into one total revenue amount. The cost of sales, operating expenses, and other costs and expenses are also itemized and summed up into one total expense amount that excludes income tax expense. Total expenses before tax are deducted from total revenues to arrive at income before income taxes.

One Statement Approach vs. Two Statement Approach Income Statement

The Income Statement can now be generated using either of these approaches: One Statement or Two Statement.

Under the One Statement Approach, items of income and other comprehensive income are presented in a single Statement of Income and Comprehensive Income report. Under the Two Statement Approach, the income statement components are split into two reports: all items that make up net income form part of the Income Statement report; while the Statement of Comprehensive Income report starts with the net income amount followed by items of other comprehensive income to arrive at total comprehensive income.

Option to Switch to IFRS

Depending on the country of operation and whether the entity is a publicly-listed company, an organization may not be required to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) until a specific date in the future. Recognizing this, AccountMate is designed in such a way that allows companies to switch from the US- GAAP compliant setting to the IFRS-compliant setting at their own good time. When the company has reached the point or date when it must start implementing IFRS, it simply has to mark the Activate IFRS Features checkbox in Company Setup to do the switch.

During the switch, AccountMate will verify that the following conditions are met:

1. The company does not use LIFO to cost its inventory since IFRS does not allow the use of the LIFO cost method.
2. All companies in a consolidating group (i.e. parent and subsidiaries) are set to use the IFRS-compliant setting since IFRS requires that all companies that are presented in consolidated financial statements comply with the same set of accounting standards.

After the switch, AccountMate will deactivate all features and functions until the user has run GL Module Setup. This is done to ensure that users assign Category Names to the new set of IFRS-compliant account categories created by the switch and assign the new Account Categories to their existing Account Groups.

IFRS-ready Financial Statements

Companies that have activated IFRS features will be able to generate the following IFRS-ready financial statements:

1. Statement of Financial Position
2. Statement of Comprehensive Income
3. Statement of Cash Flows

Here are some key features of these reports:

• They support 2-year and 3-year (YTD) comparisons.
• They have the rounding level feature that allows account balances to be rounded off to hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands or millions of the company’s reporting currency units.
• The Statement of Financial Position can be generated using either the Current/Non-current Format or the Liquidity Format.
• The Statement of Comprehensive Income can be generated using either the One Statement Approach or the Two Statement Approach.
• The Statement of Cash Flows can be generated using either the Direct Method or the Indirect Method.

Each option mentioned above appears on the report screen to make it easier for the user to switch from one report setting to another.

Enhanced Consolidation Process

We have changed the way AccountMate consolidates account balances to comply with both US GAAP and IFRS requirements. The enhancements are as follows:

Ability to Input Daily, Average and Closing Exchange Rates

US GAAP and IFRS both mandate that foreign subsidiaries’ account balances be translated to the group’s reporting currency (a.k.a. parent company’s home currency) using the following exchange rates based on the account type:

1. Assets and liabilities are to be consolidated using the closing rate.
2. Equities are to be consolidated using the historical rate (a.k.a. daily rate).
3. Components of income and other comprehensive income can be consolidated using the average rate.
4. Cash flow amounts (for all types of accounts) are to be consolidated using the average rate.

To satisfy these requirements, we have enhanced the Consolidation Exchange Rates Maintenance function to allow authorized users to input the daily, closing and average rates for the current fiscal year. During initial setup, authorized users can also input the daily, closing and average rates for the prior year and one historical year. Foreign subsidiaries whose current fiscal year includes periods that belong to the parent’s future fiscal year can also input the daily, closing and average rates for the future year. Every time consolidation is performed or when the subsidiary’s fiscal year is closed, AccountMate will use the applicable exchange rates to
consolidate the foreign subsidiary’s account balances to its parent.

Verify that Translation Adjustment is an OCI Account

Consolidation of a foreign subsidiary’s account balances may give rise to translation adjustments. Translation adjustment is the balancing amount that is required to keep the consolidated home currency debits and credits equal for each consolidating period. It is a normal result of using different exchange rates to consolidate a foreign company’s account balances to its parent.

US GAAP and IFRS both treat the translation adjustment account as an Other Comprehensive Income (i.e. OCI) account. To meet this requirement, AccountMate now validates that the GL Account ID designated as the Translation Adjustment account is assigned an Other Comprehensive Income category type.

Ability to Change Inventory Cost Method

US GAAP and IFRS allow companies to change the method by which inventory costs are measured if such a change is necessary for the fair presentation of financial statements. The new AccountMate version provides the means by which the cost method change can be done.

Authorized users can run the Change Inventory Cost Method function to change from Average, FIFO (first-in, first-out) or LIFO (last-in, first-out) to either Average or FIFO. During the change, AccountMate will display the estimated unit cost (or cost pools if switching to FIFO) and total cost of on-hand items under the new cost method based on the inventory movements (e.g. purchase receipts, completed work orders, sales returns, etc.) recorded in the system. Any changes to the inventory carrying value that results from the cost method change will generate adjusting entries that will be posted to GL on the next transfer or period-end closing.

Apply Payments to Advanced Bills

Some companies issue advanced bills (a.k.a. pro-forma invoices) to their customers if they require a down payment before shipping an order. Upon receipt of payment, it is recorded as an open credit that can be applied to any of the customer’s outstanding invoices.

In the new version, authorized users can apply down payments directly to advanced bills. To do this, simply run the new Apply Advanced Billing Payment function to record payments received for advanced bills. This function works just like the existing Apply Payment function except that the payments will be applied to advanced bills instead of AR invoices. This facilitates proper handling of customer payments by allowing deposits to be applied to sales orders via their advanced bills even if the orders are not yet shipped or invoiced. Any amounts received in excess of payments applied to advanced bills will be added to the customer’s open credit which can be applied to their outstanding invoices.

Allow Deferral of Revenues

US GAAP and IFRS both state that revenues can only be recognized when they are earned. Meanwhile, an invoice may include one or more line items that will be earned over time or when certain actions are performed. To satisfy the accounting requirement, AccountMate now comes with the ability to defer the recognition of revenues.

Mark the Enable Revenue Amortization checkbox in AR Module Setup to activate this feature. Create inventory records that represent such things as services, subscriptions, membership fees, warranties or maintenance plans in Inventory Maintenance and set them up for deferral by unmarking the Update On-hand checkbox and marking the Amortize checkbox. Set the default revenue realization terms by selecting the Method, Recurring Cycle and No. of Cycles. Authorized users can override these settings when creating AR invoices. Finally, enter the appropriate GL Account IDs in the Contract Costs, Contract Obligations and
Contract Discounts fields.

When these inventory records are used in AR invoices, AccountMate will delay the recognition of revenues, discounts and cost of goods sold associated with the line items. In lieu of the regular revenue entries, it will use the Contract Obligations, Contract Discounts and Contract Costs to record the sales price, sales discounts and item costs of the deferred revenue line items.

Supports Two Methods of Revenue Recognition

AccountMate provides two ways in which deferred revenues can be realized: straight-line or specific.

Under the Straight-Line method, deferred revenues will be earned evenly and consistently over a period of time. For example: the company charges fees for an annual gym membership that entitles the member to use the facilities for a 12-month period. This can be set up as a deferred revenue line item that will be amortized using the Straight-Line method on a Monthly recurring cycle for a period of 12 cycles. Assuming the annual fee is 12,000 currency units, the company will earn 1,000 currency units each cycle.

Under the Specific method, deferred revenues will be earned either when certain actions are performed or based on the percentage of completion.

Here is an example of revenue earned based on the performance of an act(s): a theater sells at a discount ticket bundles for the 12 shows it will stage during the year. The fee collected will be split evenly among the shows but the shows themselves will be performed on different dates. This can be set up as a deferred revenue line item that will be amortized using the Specific method on a Monthly recurring cycle for a period of 12 cycles. Unlike the straight-line method, the user can specify a different date for each of the 12 cycles because the shows are scheduled to run on a different day each month.

Here is an example of revenue earned based on percentage of completion: a company charges a fee to install separate water meters for each unit in an apartment/condo complex. The project covers a large area and is expected to take 3 months. This can be set up as a deferred revenue line item that will be amortized using the Specific method on a Monthly recurring cycle for a period of 3 cycles. Unlike the straight-line method, the revenue will not be earned equally each month. Instead, the user has to specify how much of the installation is completed at the end of each month.

User-defined Schedule for Revenue Recognition

Authorized users can set the timing when deferred revenues will be earned using the new Schedule Revenue Realization function. They can use this function to override the straight-line method settings defined in the AR invoice as long as nothing has been realized for that line item. They can also amend the amounts projected to be earned and the dates when they are expected to be realized for the un-posted cycles of deferred revenue line items that are assigned the specific method. They can generate the Revenue Realization Schedule Report to review the schedules set up for deferred revenue line items.

Record Earned Revenues

To record the portion of deferred revenues that has been earned, authorized users can run the new Realize Revenue function. This can be run for all or a range of customers. AccountMate compares the Posting Date Cut-Off that the user enters against the Post Date assigned to each cycle in the revenue realization schedule. All Post Dates that fall on or before the Posting Date Cut-Off will be flagged as earned and the corresponding entries will be made to transfer the amounts from the unearned revenue accounts (i.e. Contract Obligations, Contract Discounts and Contract Costs) to the earned revenue accounts (i.e. Sales Revenue. Sales Discounts
and Cost of Goods Sold).

A Void Realized Revenue function is also available to cancel the recognition of earned revenues.

Revenue Amortization Reports

To facilitate reconciliation of deferred and earned revenue account balances, AccountMate provides the Realized Revenue Report. This report shows the detailed and total amounts of unrealized and realized revenues as of the selected Report Date. When generated with the Show Revenue Details checkbox marked, the report will include a section that shows the Amounts that have been earned for each deferred revenue line item with their corresponding Post Dates. To view a complete log of deferred revenues that were realized or voided, run the Revenue Realization Transaction Listing. To view a list of realized revenues that were voided, run the Voided Realized Revenue Report.

Allow Expense Deferrals

Just as revenues can be deferred, so can expenses be prepaid. To address this need, the new AccountMate version has the ability to record and amortize prepaid expenses.

To activate this feature, mark the Enable Expense Amortization checkbox in AP Module Setup and assign a default Deferred Expense account (i.e. prepaid expenses). Review the Deferred Expense account assigned to each vendor; change it if needed. If the company is set up for fund accounting, assign the appropriate Deferred Expense account to each fund segment value.

Run the new Deferred Expense Invoice function to record vendor invoices that include prepaid expenses. This function works just like the existing AP Invoice Transactions function with the following key differences:

1. Only PO receipts that were set up for AP/PO matching but not accrued can be matched to a deferred expense invoice.
2. This function gives the option to treat as prepaid some or all of the invoice’s line items by marking the Amortize checkbox for the corresponding GL Distribution Account. For each line that will be amortized, configure the expense amortization terms by selecting the Method, Recurring Cycle and No. of Cycles.

When the Amortize checkbox is marked, AccountMate will replace the GL Distribution Account entered by the user with the default Deferred Expense account which may come from either the vendor record (for profit companies) or the fund segment record (for non-profit companies). This will be the prepaid expense account used in the deferred expense invoice’s accounting entries.

Meanwhile, the GL Distribution Account entered by the user will be copied to the Amortized Exp Account field. This will be the account used when the prepaid expense is consumed.

Supports Two Methods of Expense Amortization

Just like deferred revenues, prepaid expenses can be expended using two methods: straight-line or specific. Choose the setting that best fits the nature of the prepaid expense transaction you are recording.

User-defined Schedule for Expense Realization

Use the new Schedule Expense Amortization function to specify when prepaid expenses will be consumed. Authorized users can override the straight-line method settings defined in the deferred expense invoice as long as nothing has been amortized for that line. If the deferred expense line item is assigned the specific method, authorized users can edit the un-posted cycles by changing the amounts and dates when these are expected to be consumed. Generate the Expense Amortization Schedule Report to review the schedules set up for deferred expense line items.

Record Realized Expenses

Authorized users can run the new Amortize Expense function to record the portion of prepaid expenses that has been consumed. This can be done for all or a range of vendors. The Post Date assigned to each cycle in the expense amortization schedule is compared to the Posting Date Cut-Off that the user entered. All Post Dates that fall on or before the Posting Date Cut-Off will be treated as used and the corresponding entries will be generated to transfer the amounts from the prepaid expense account (i.e. Deferred Expense) to the realized expense account (i.e. Amortized Exp Account).

To reverse the realized expenses, use the Void Amortized Expense function.

Expense Amortization Reports

This version of AccountMate comes with an Amortized Expense Report to help users reconcile the company’s prepaid and realized expense account balances. This report shows the detailed and total amounts of unamortized and amortized expenses as of the selected Report Date. Mark the Show Expense Details checkbox for the report to include a section that shows the Amounts that have been used for each deferred expense line item with their corresponding Post Dates.

To view a complete log of prepaid expenses that were realized or voided, run the Expense Amortization Transaction Listing. To view a list of realized expenses that were voided, run the Voided Amortization Expense Report.

Track Items Sold Subject to Conditions

Occasionally, items are sold to customers subject to certain conditions. Here are some examples: the terms of a sale may require the customer to acknowledge acceptance of the goods; items may not transfer ownership until the units arrive at their destination (i.e. FOB Destination); or the sale may require installation of items sold. To correctly monitor these types of sales transactions, AccountMate now comes with an option to specify which line items require acceptance.

To activate this feature, simply mark the Enable Inventory Acceptance checkbox in SO Module Setup. If most sales transactions are unconditional, be sure to mark the Auto-accept checkbox in SO Module Setup as this sets the default for sales orders and quotes. When entering sales orders or quotes, unmark the Auto-accept checkbox for the line items that require acceptance. When the sales orders are shipped, AccountMate will track the line items that are not set to Auto-accept. Items shipped that do not require acceptance can be invoiced at any time. Those shipped that require acceptance can only be invoiced once they are accepted.

Monitors Items Shipped Requiring Acceptance

Items that are shipped with the Auto-accept checkbox unmarked are separately monitored in AccountMate as Interim Qty. Since they are not yet invoiced, their cost will be transferred from the regular Inventory account to the Interim Inventory account that is assigned to the item record. Authorized users can generate the Interim Inventory Cost Report or the Interim Inventory Sales Report to view the costs or sales prices of items that were shipped but not yet accepted by the customer.

Record Acceptance or Rejection of Shipped Items

When the conditions for the sale are satisfied (e.g. customer has accepted/received the item or item has been installed), authorized users can update the system using the new Record Inventory Acceptance function. If some units are rejected, simply input the Refused Quantity in the field provided for it and specify the Receiving Warehouse where they are to be returned.

Mark the Discard checkbox if the refused units will not be returned. Authorized users can generate the Discarded Inventory Report for a list of rejected units that are not coming back.

Rejected units that are not discarded form part of the item’s In-transit Qty. Authorized users can generate the Refused Inventory In-transit Report to monitor the units that are expected back from the customer.

Record Receipt of Returned Items

Authorized users can run the Receive In-Transit Inventory function to record receipt of the rejected units. A Received Refused Inventory Report is available to help users monitor the arrival of returned units.

Report Enhancements

The following report enhancements are also introduced in this version:

Option to View Each Group on New Page

The option “Each Group on New Page” has been added to these reports:

1. Sales Order Line Item Report
2. Open Sales Order Report
3. Shipment Report
4. Invoice Line Item Report

When this checkbox is marked, the report displays each group of information on a separate page. The group that is referred to is the sorting option that is selected when running the report. Thus, if the report is sorted by Customer #, information for each customer will be shown on a new page.

Encrypt/Hide/Show Credit Card Number in Reports

We have expanded the implementation of the credit card encryption feature to extend to the Cash Receipts Report and the Payment Distribution Report. Depending on whether the user has access rights to “Show the Complete Credit Card #” he/she will be able to see the following report options:

1. Hide Credit Card #
2. Encrypt Credit Card #
3. Show Credit Card #

Only users who have the right to show the complete credit card # will see the option to Show Credit Card # on the report screen.

Process AP Checks and Electronic Payments Separately

Authorized users now have the option to process AP checks separately from electronic payments. To do this, the following checkboxes have been added to the Print Computer Check screen:

• Process Direct Deposit – mark this checkbox to process payments for vendors who are set up to receive payment via ACH.
• Process Printed Check – mark this checkbox to process payments for vendors who are to be paid by check.

Supports the Latest Microsoft Technologies

This version supports Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Standard, Enterprise and Express Editions.