Welcome to MBA Business Software's Website - MAS90, MAS200 and MAS500 Reseller and Master Developer

July 2010 - Volume 10 - Issue 4

2010-07-18T20:07:18Z

This Issue's Topics:

Sage ERP MAS Intelligence Module

FRx Replacement Module Produces Reports In The Familiar Excel Interface

When Microsoft announced the retirement of the FRx financial reporting software, which has for many years been included with Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200, Sage began searching for a replacement. Sage ERP MAS Intelligence has been identified as the ideal FRx replacement solution for Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200. It provides powerful and easy to use financial reporting, and it also can provide Business Intelligence across your entire system, including SageCRM and Sage Abra.

Sage ERP MAS 90 And 200 Product Roadmap

Sage recently published a product roadmap for Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200, and Sage ERP MAS 200 for SQL. In this article, we review the highlights of the roadmap, including the just-released Product Update 2 for Version 4.4.

Action Required For Payment Card Industry Compliance

New Payment Card Industry (PCI) regulations are in effect as of July 1, 2010. In a recent edition of this newsletter, we covered the new Data Security Standards (DSS) and reported that Sage ERP MAS 90 ERP software has been updated for compliance and submitted for PCI/DSS certification. However, in addition to standards for your accounting software, the standards also cover other areas of business processes. If you process credit cards, there are questionnaires you are required to complete.

July

Paperless Office for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS92PL1 on July 23, 2010
Visual Integrator for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS90380 on July 27, 2010

August

Data File Structures for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS90300 on August 03, 2010
Paperless Office for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS92PL1 on August 06, 2010
Introduction to Crystal Reports - ACS90310 on August 17, 2010
Paperless Office for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS92PL1 on August 20, 2010
Crystal Reports - Beyond the Basics - ACS90330 on August 31, 2010

Make sure your training is certified. MBA offers the only Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 certified training outside of the Authorized Training Centers (ATC) in the area. Why use MBA certified training instead of going to the ATC? Because we have a low student to teacher ratio, less than 1:5 in most cases. With this ratio you get the most out of your training.

See the full list of classes for MAS 90 and MAS 200
See the current calendar of events

Product update 4.40.0.2 coming soon

2010-06-24T18:47:21Z

Sage released a notice today to business partners that the new product update will be coming soon. This will be the second release to the 4.4 version of Sage MAS 90 and 200. The first pre-release notification for 4.40.0.1 noted new features such as Record Wire Transfers in Account Payable and Search by Lot or Serial Number in Inventory. In this pre-release notification for 4.4.0.2 Sage noted new features like a Recalculate Outstanding Entries Totals Utility for Bank Reconciliation and Positive Pay Export Wizard. New features that Sage has added to the product along with existing Extended Solutions that have been encorparated into the product continue to make Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 a very strong product that continues to grow. We can all help Sage in their process of making Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 a strong product by suggesting product enhancements. Here is what was in the announcement from Sage:

Is Your Software Worth What You Paid For It?

2010-05-05T14:44:11Z

Accounting principles teach us to value business assets at acquisition cost. Dutifully, you’ve booked your Sage MAS 90 or Sage MAS 200 ERP software at its purchase price. But is this truly what it is worth to your business? Accounting software is just a tool, like a lathe or a milling machine. What that investment actually contributes to the welfare of your business depends heavily on the skill of the operator running it.

User Training – Getting What You Paid For

Much of the value paid for in the purchase price of software is lost when its users have inadequate training to operate it. If your users got half the training they needed, how can you expect all of what the software is capable of doing? For most businesses, good employees are the most important aspect of a successful and thriving operation. But what makes an employee good? Can you make them better by paying them more money? Not really. We do know there is a relationship between compensation and ability. In most cases, more knowledgeable employees cost more money. But paying an employee more money doesn’t make them more knowledgeable. Rather, it is money invested in training that makes an employee more knowledgeable, and therefore, more valuable to your business.

May 2010 - Volume 10 - Issue 3

2010-05-03T19:35:19Z

This Issue's Topics:

Payment Card Industry Standards

All Businesses Processing Credit Cards Must Comply

Credit card fraud, fueled in part by the high volume of Web-based credit card transactions, is a serious problem. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (www.privacyrights.org), more than 100 million records containing sensitive information have been exposed to theft since 2005.

Read more...

Work Smarter With Intelligence From Business Insights

Business intelligence is a term you hear a lot these days. In this article we cover the definition of business intelligence, as well as the excellent tools available in Sage MAS 90 and 200 ERP that give you access to intelligence about your business.

Read more...

Is Your Software Worth What You Paid For It?

Accounting principles teach us to value business assets at acquisition cost. Dutifully, you've booked your Sage MAS 90 or Sage MAS 200 ERP software at its purchase price. But is this truly what it is worth to your business? Accounting software is just a tool, like a lathe or a milling machine. What that investment actually contributes to the welfare of your business depends heavily on the skill of the operator running it.

Read more...

Upcomming Classes (Get free trianing)

May

Job Cost for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS90250 on May 05, 2010
Payroll for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS90060 on May 12, 2010
Inventory Management for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS90110 on May 19, 2010
Introduction to Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS90021 on May 26, 2010
Paperless Office for Sage MAS 90 and 200 - ACS92PL1 on May 26, 2010

June

Crystal Reports - Beyond the Basics - ACS90330 on June 16, 2010 to June 17, 2010

Make sure your training is certified. MBA offers the only certified training outside of the Authorized Training Centers (ATC) in the area for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200. Why use MBA certified training instead of going to the ATC? Because we have a low student to teacher ratio, less than 1:5 in most cases. With this ratio you get the most out of your training.

See the full list of classes for MAS 90 and MAS 200
See the current calendar of events

Troubleshooting PHP ODBC Connections to MAS 90

2010-04-07T14:35:36Z

We are seeing more customers wanting to connect to their MAS 90 data and in doing so they are creating .net application or PHP applications that read ODBC. We already addressed how to do this in a previous article with .net. This article will assist in a few common issues when trying to connect PHP to MAS 90. We will not cover the PHP code to create the DSN or connect to ODBC. Instead we will address an issue when you try to connect that says "Table is not accessible, SQL state S0000 in SQLExecDirect".

When an error shows "Table is not accessible" the first thing that should come to mind is path and permissions. Here are the things you should first look at to see if your connection to MAS 90 should work. This is for version 4.x or greater.

Path

It is best to use your own system ODBC DSN. If you use the SOTAMAS90 DSN, the settings can be changed when a user on the machine logs into MAS 90. To make sure that the DSN path doesn't change, a system DSN should be created (you may also create the DSN string in your PHP, either way works).
Make sure that the path in the DSN is correct.

If you are using a Mapped drive in the path for DDF it will give you the error noted in this article.

Permissions

When running apache as a service it usually installs with the log on as set to local system account. If you are still having issues accessing the ODBC for MAS 90 it could be that the user running the PHP query does not have the correct permissions. In this case, change the log on as to an account that has permissions to read execute and write to the MAS 90 directory.

These are the most common reasons for your connection not to work from PHP to MAS 90. One thing to remember about the ODBC driver for MAS 90 is that it is read only. We have tested in the past using the read write ODBC driver with ProvideX and it had serious data corruption and issues that made it unreliable. Therefore we do not recommend using this driver to write back. If you need to write back to MAS 90 some options are:

Use VI to import a CSV file exported from your system on a schedule basis
Use Web Services 4.4 or greater. Web services are not for all modules or functions.
Use Business Objects in MAS 90 to write back (you can also use this to read data). You are limited to the objects function.
Have a Master Developer create an interface.

MBA Business Software is here to help if you need a Master Developer create an interface to your system or website. We have worked with different application and web site developers to create links to MAS 90 data. Call us today to find out what we can do for you.

Windows 7 Support for Sage MAS 90 and 200

2010-04-07T02:53:45Z

Sage Software is now supporting Windows 7, Windows 7 - 64 bit, and Windows 2008 Server 64-bit Terminal Server as workstations for Sage MAS 90 and 200 version 4.3 and 4.4. This was implemented with the following program fixes:

LM4045-T (Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.40)
LM4046-T (Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.30)

Note: After installing the program fix, run Workstation Setup at the server and at all workstations, including workstations with operating systems other than 64-bit. For detailed instructions, please review the program fix documentation.

Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 ERP Product Update 1 (4.40.0.01)

2010-04-05T01:46:52Z

Sage released the first product update for Sage MAS 90 and Sage MAS 200 ERP software version 4.4 on 3/29/10. This will make the current product version to-date to be 4.40.0.01 and it brings two new functions to the software application. Typically Sage would not release new features with updates but as part of their new plan with updates, a select number of extended solutions will be rolled into the product.

For those customers that are on Preferred Support with MBA Business Software, remember that you get these updates installed for FREE! Call our office to schedule your appointment now to get this service update installed for you. If you are not on Preferred Support with MBA Business Software, why not call us to see what you can be getting for FREE as part of our Preferred Support.

The following is a list of enhancements and corrections that have been incorporated for Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 version 4.40 in this Product Update. Product Updates are cumulative, containing all program corrections found in prior updates. This product update includes two new features and one extended solution that was announced in our previous post.

New features are:

Enhanced Credit Card Security:

To safeguard credit card information, new user preferences have been added so you can designate users that can print or display fully formatted credit card numbers. The credit card information will be protected for unauthorized users by masking the credit card numbers. Also to enhance your credit card security, the key used to encrypt the credit card information is now stored separately from your company data.

Enhanced Wire Transfers:

You can pay vendors, record, and reverse wire transfers using enhancements in Accounts Payable. The system generates a unique Wire Transfer Number associated with the transaction. You can print the wire transfer information on the Check History and Payment History reports, and they will appear in Vendor Maintenance, Vendor Inquiry, Invoice History Inquiry, and Payment History Inquiry.

Give a piece of your mind to Sage

2010-04-02T19:05:57Z

Sage software is listening but is anyone talking? Over the years people have suggested things to Sage via emails, webinars, and in person at events. But there has never been a place to go and see what people have suggested nor vote on what you think is important to have in the software. Now there is such a place http://www.sagemas.com/MAS_90_200_feedback.

Product update 4.40.0.1 comming soon

2010-03-26T15:51:44Z

NEW! Sage MAS 90 and 200 Product Updates Delivers Added Value!

You will soon be able to download the first new Product Update for 4.4 — 4.40.0.1.

Conveniently available via a compact download from Sage Online, the first Sage MAS 90 and 200 4.4 Product Update delivers new functionality and product enhancements as an additional on-plan customer benefit. Product Update 1 delivers value across the system and in a range of modules from Accounts Receivable and Sales Order, to Payroll and Job Cost.

New features available to you and 4.4 customers are:

Accounts Receivable (similar to AR-1027) - Locate an Invoice using Customer Information
Accounts Receivable (similar to AR-1200) - Cash Receipts Entry
Account Receivable (similar to AR-1027) - Search for Invoices by Lot or Serial Number
Accounts Payable (NEW!) - Record Wire Transfers
Payroll (similar to PR-1018) - Set Up Automatic Earnings Codes for Each Employee
Sales Order (similar to SO-1096) - Enhanced Duplicate Purchase Order Visibility and Safeguards
Sales Order (similar to SO-1271) - Additional Purchase Controls
Sales Order (similar to SO-1035) - Expanded Options for Quick Print
Sales Order (NEW!) - Print Back Ordered Information on Picking Sheets
Sales Order (NEW!) - Avoid Duplicate Picking Sheet Printing
Job Cost (similar to JC-1046) - Define Allowed Job Statuses in Data Entry Tasks
Inventory Management (NEW!) - Search by Lot or Serial Number
NEW! Enhanced Credit Card Security
NEW! Enhanced Searching Ability in Data File Display and Maintenance

March 2010 - Volume 10 - Issue 2

2010-03-25T21:01:07Z

This Issue's Topics:

Sage MAS 90 Product Update

As a Sage MAS 90 ERP customer, you soon will be receiving the first new Product Update. A Product Update is a release in between major releases that delivers both maintenance functionality and product enhancements that were previously delivered via service packs. This first Product Update follows quickly on the heels of the Sage MAS 90 4.4 release, with a scheduled March 2010 delivery. Enhancements have been added across a range of modules.

Read more...

Marketing With Social Media

Social media-online communities where people exchange ideas, offer opinions, and stay connected with friends-is growing rapidly. In this era of increased competition for customers, social media has become an exceptional, low-cost marketing strategy for businesses of all sizes. Leveraging this important tool is not just smart, but quickly is becoming essential.

Read more...

New eBusiness Web Services With Sage MAS 90 Version 4.4

There is a new module called eBusiness Web Services included with Sage MAS 90 ERP Version 4.4. This module provides an open interface between certain Sage MAS 90 data tables and the Internet.

Read more...

Welcome to MBA Business Software's Website - MAS90, MAS200 and MAS500 Reseller and Master Developer

July 2010 - Volume 10 - Issue 4

Sage ERP MAS Intelligence Module

FRx Replacement Module Produces Reports In The Familiar Excel Interface

Sage ERP MAS 90 And 200 Product Roadmap

Action Required For Payment Card Industry Compliance

Upcoming Classes (Get free trianing)

July

August

Product update 4.40.0.2 coming soon

Is Your Software Worth What You Paid For It?

May 2010 - Volume 10 - Issue 3

Troubleshooting PHP ODBC Connections to MAS 90

Windows 7 Support for Sage MAS 90 and 200

Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 ERP Product Update 1 (4.40.0.01)

Give a piece of your mind to Sage

Product update 4.40.0.1 comming soon

March 2010 - Volume 10 - Issue 2