ALERE Version 19.0 |
Accounting New Features |
| The ALERE Sales Module has been enhanced to support the deferring of revenue on sales orders and sales invoices when customer payments are made in advance of products being received or services being performed. |
| One example of deferred revenue is an annual subscription where payment is made at the beginning of the subscription year, but only one month's revenue is recognized each month. Percentage of completion contracts may also involve deferred revenue, where, for example, a down payment is made but the revenue cannot be recognized until a certain percentage of the job has been completed. |
| A revenue recognition schedule can be defined for each order or invoice. Once defined, this schedule can be adjusted as needed up until the revenue is recognized. This ALERE enhancement includes changes to the GL Default Accounts and Sales Document screens. Additionally, a new Deferred Revenue screen and several new Deferred Revenue reports are being added to the Sales Module. |
| The four new reports were added to the Sales Module to support Deferred Revenue including: |
| The Deferred Revenue Projection report displays the anticipated revenue from deferred revenue orders and invoices based on the dates entered in the Deferred Revenue Schedule. The report includes filters for document ID, customer, and date range. It shows individual documents, ordered by date, then by document number. To access the report, navigate to Sales > Control > Deferred Revenue Projection. |
| The Deferred Revenue Schedule report shows the revenue schedule as defined on the Deferred Revenue Schedule screen from the Sales Order. Sales > Control > Deferred Revenue Schedule |
| The Unrecognized Deferred Revenue report displays a list of outstanding deferred revenue amounts as of the entered date, organized by order, along with the recognized and deferred balances. Sales > Control > Unrecognized Deferred Revenue |
| The Deferred Revenue Journal report shows the GL activity associated with the Deferred Revenue Sales Orders and manual Sales Invoices. This report can be used to reconcile deferred revenue postings. If a date |
| range is selected, the report shows a starting balance and all the postings to or from the deferred revenue account (including document ID and customer) with a running balance. If an "As Of" date is selected, a list of the outstanding deferred revenue amounts as of the entered date is generated, showing the document ID along with the deferred balance on each order. Sales > Activity > Deferred Revenue Journal |
| An enhancement was added to the Sales Order > Line Items screen whereby right-clicking the 'Add' button displays a new "Add Line Items" screen. This screen allows users to select multiple inventory items at once to be added to the order. The screen also features filters for Item, Item Type, Product Class, Inventory Location, and Last Sale Date Range, as well as the option to view either only items that have been previously sold to that customer or all items. |
| A Report Scheduler screen was added to enable automated periodic scheduling of ALERE reports. The screen allows users to define the interval at which the report will be run, such as multiple times a week, once or twice monthly, quarterly, or annually. The day of the week or month can also be set, as well as the time of day to run the report. The screen additionally allows for the selection of the output format for the report, such as printing, emailing, or creating a PDF or Excel file, along with information for the specific printer, email address, or output document path where applicable. Any dates from the report options will also be listed at the bottom of the screen, allowing rules to be defined for those values when the report is run. The definitions defined on the report scheduler screen will later be used by the Report Output application to automate the running of any scheduled reports. |
ACH Enchancements |
| Debit memos & AP payables can now be included in the Mass Payments ACH process. |
| New ACH Reference Number filter and Order By options were added to the ACH Register report. |
| ACH payment emails can now display a list of invoices in a vertical column-oriented format. |
| Automated ACH Emails can now contain a list of Supplier Invoice Numbers. This is set up in the Global Code Definitions screen for Email Message Text in a similar manner to the other embedded information. |
| ACH Register Report now displays the Document type and the Supplier Invoice Number. |
| The Mass Payments Direct Debits/ACH tab now includes a new CCD checkbox, allowing a CCD (Cash Concentration and Disbursement) formatted ACH payment, in addition to a PPD (Prearranged Payment and Deposit) formatted ACH payment, to be made. |
| Mass Payments Screen now has a field to enter Notes on a Direct Debits or ACH Posting. |
| A new ACH Folder field was added to the Checking Accounts screen. This allows a specific folder to be assigned for the ACH files created for each specific checking account. |
Inventory Module |
| A new import function was added to the Inventory Import screen for Customer Item Numbers. |
Job Cost Module |
| A new Estimation Order screen was added to the Job Cost Module. The Estimation Order differs from the quote as it does not require that the customer and/or principal finished item exist within the ALERE system when created. The material list and labor can also be added to the order, regardless of whether the items and labor grades have been previously entered into the system or even if they are left blank. The order will calculate the estimated cost of the finished item based on the material and/or labor entered. |
| A New Estimation Orders report was added to the Job Cost Module. This report displays the relevant information about the estimation order(s) selected. |
Manufacturing |
| A new Forecasting screen was added to the Plan Module. This screen allows Excel forecasting spreadsheets to be defined for use with ALERE. The Plan Orders, Order Push Pull and Item MRP Planning screens, as well as the MRP Planning and Order Push Pull reports, have a new option to select the forecast spreadsheet to be included in the Plan/MRP processing. |
| The Plan > Generate Purchase Orders screen now features a new field that allows linking newly created Purchase Orders to an existing job. |
| A new 'Exclude Non-Stock Items' checkbox was added to the Plan Generate Purchase Orders and Generate Transfer Orders screens. |
New Reports and Report Options |
| Additional barcodes for the Ship To Store, Ship To Bin, Ship From Store, Ship From Bin, Quantity, and TBQ Transaction Type were added to the Barcode version of the Transfer Order report |
| The Sales Order Planning screen now has a new field to link newly created Purchase or Work orders to an existing job. |
| A new Active Status option was added to the Physical Inventory Sheets report. |
| Report preferences were updated to allow the setting of relative dates in a manner similar to screen preferences. |
| A new Active Items report has been added to the product to show what orders are active for an item across Sales, Purchase, Transfers, Work Orders, and Service orders. |
| Copying an AP Payable or Debit Memo now allows an order to be copied to the other document type. |
| Inventory Module - A new version of the Bill of Lading report was added to the Inventory Module for Transfer Orders. |
| Sales Return Screen - Choosing the option to print a Pick List from the Sales Return screen will now print a Receiving Ticket for the Sales Return. |
| InTouch Call Activity Report now contains a new Salesperson filter. |
| The Master Items Report now contains an Active Status filter. |
| The InTouch Call Sheet now features QR codes for contact information. |
New Permissions |
| IRBL = Bill of Lading (Transfer Orders) Report |
| SMDR = Deferred Revenue Screen |
| SRDJ = Deferred Revenue Journal Report |
| SRDP = Deferred Revenue Projection Report |
| SRBU = Unrecognized Deferred Revenue Report |
| SRDZ = Deferred Revenue Schedule Report |
| SRPA = Packing List Report |
| WRLG = Open Orders (Manager) Report |
| WFRS = Access Report Scheduler |
|
ALERE Version 18.0 |
Accounting New Features |
| Transfer of GL Account Values - ALERE is being expanded to support the transfer of GL account values from one company entity to another. Additionally, ALERE will support intercompany Purchase Orders and the transfer of inventory between two linked companies. The intercompany GL account linkages are defined in the GL Default Accounts and Company screens. |
| The transfer of GL account values is accomplished using the ALERE GL Journal Entry screen. Enhancements to the GL Journal Entry screen allow postings from one or more accounts to be credited or debited in the source company and posted to a transfer account or a group of accounts in a linked target company. |
| Images have been added to the modular choice selection screen in configurations. (Sales > Sales Order) |
| Four new User Miscellaneous fields were added to the Company Address screen Supplier -- Supplier Remit To tab and the Supplier screen Settings tab. These fields are defined in the Global Codes screen in the same manner as the other Miscellaneous fields. |
Intercompany Transfers |
| Intercompany Purchase Orders support the sale of items manufactured at a linked (target) company and shipped to the source company or drop shipped directly to the customer. An Intercompany Purchase Order is used to acquire inventory items from a linked company by "purchasing" the items from the target company. |
| An Intercompany Purchase Order behaves in a manner similar to other ALERE Purchase Orders. What distinguishes an Intercompany PO is that the "PO TO" location has been defined in the Company Address screen as a "Transfer" location. When the Intercompany Purchase Order is accepted, a Sales Order will be automatically created in the target company. The created Sales Order in the target company will have the "Bill To" set to the source company. |
| The intercompany transfer of inventory is handled through an expansion of the ALERE Transfer Order capabilities. |
| An intercompany drop shipment can also be processed. The process starts by creating a standard ALERE Drop Ship Sales Order but the ship from ID will be the connected target company, which is defined as a "Transfer" location in the Company Address screen. |
Job Cost Module |
| A new Time Import screen was added to the Job Cost module. This screen allows the import from Excel of Labor postings to a Job's Service Tickets and Work Orders. |
| A warning message was added to the Job Master screen to indicate when the Job is over the projected budget. |
| The Job Cost Quotes screen was enhanced with some changes to the original screen, which is now an Items tab. The vendor columns now only list the quote amounts after the prices have been updated and saved on this tab or on the RFQ. A tooltip on the prices also lists the Quote Document ID and line number for each item. |
| The Job Quotes screen now displays a message containing the item description when the item is clicked on in the grid. Also, double clicking on an item will bring up the Inventory Master screen linked to that item. (Manager > Job Cost > Job Quotes) |
| In addition, a second tab has been added to the screen. The Quotes tab allows the review of each Quote associated with the job. The Quotes can be mass accepted, released to Purchase Orders, marked as complete or mass voided from this new tab. Each Quote ID can be double clicked to bring up the Quote and clicking on any other grid column will bring up a screen that lists all the items that are on that quote. Moving from one Quote to another in the grid will automatically update that Quote Items screen while it remains open. |
FedEx Shipping Integration |
| ALERE now interfaces with FedEx as well as UPS to provide tracking, costing and label creation capabilities. |
| The Sales Order screen has a Parcel button on the Status tab that brings up the FedEx Shipping screen, which allows the entering of address information, entering of package information, verification of the address, ability to get a cost quote and the ability to print the FedEx or UPS label. (Sales > Sales Order > Status Tab) |
| The Company Defaults screen has a new Accounting Option for FedEx Shipping that enables the use of FedEx with ALERE and allows the entering of the FedEx Credentials. (File > Maintenance > Company Defaults > Options) |
| The FedEx Shipping screen can also be accessed directly from the Sales Module ribbon (Sales>Mass Process>Ship Packages) |
| The Release Sales Order screen has a new option on the checkbox for Shipping Label, which will bring up either the UPS or the FedEx Shipping screen during the release process. (Sales > Sales Order > Status Tab) |
| The Track Shipments screen in the Sales Module now also tracks FedEx shipments (Sales>Mass Process>Track Shipments) |
ACH File Generation |
| Automated Clearing House (i.e. ACH) payments were added to the system. |
| The Supplier screen Settings tab had two additional fields added to support the Routing Number and DFI Account Number for each supplier. (Purchases > Supplier) |
| The Purchase Mass Payments screen Direct Debits tab has been changed to a Direct Debits/ACH tab. There is a new checkbox on this tab to generate an ACH (Automated Clearing House) file in addition to posting the debit. There is also a Test checkbox that will generate the ACH file but make no additional postings. (Purchases > Mass Payments > Direct Debits / ACH Tab) |
| There is also a new option on the Company Defaults screen, Options tab, under Accounting Options for ACH Enabled. Checking this option will display a Credentials screen where the Bank information needed for ACH transactions can be entered. (File > Maintenance > Company Defaults) |
Inventory Module |
| A new Notes button was added to the Inventory Master screen ID tab for Lot items. This allows Lot Notes to be added to each individual lot for that item number by selecting the lot in the Treevision and then pressing the Notes button. |
| The Lot ID, Serial ID, and Trait information on the Item Master screen Item tab can now be changed from Lot and/or Serialized or Trait parts to non-Lot, non-Serialized, and non-Trait parts or vice versa, regardless of current stock levels or the inclusion of the item on open orders of any type. If there are current on-hand quantities, then the item cannot be changed to 'On Receipt' type status. In addition, copying older Completed or Voided orders will use the current settings on the items for the Lot, Serial and Trait statuses. (Inventory > Item Master) |
| A Cost column has been added to the Inventory Count screen > Adjust tab grid. |
| The item number from the Inventory Master screen can now be dragged and dropped into other fields, such as the line items on an order. |
Manufacturing |
| BOM Master and Work Order Screens - New Document tabs were added to the BOM Master and Work Order screens. Additionally, several reports including the Sales Order, Sales Invoice, Purchase Order, Indented BOM and Work Order reports have new options to Print all the Associated Documents or just certain Associated Files based on those Document tab directories. |
| The Plan/MRP process now includes material from Service Tickets and Consignment Orders. |
Service Module |
| Express Service Ticket Processing - A new Express Service Ticket Processing screen was added to the Service Module. This screen allows for the rapid creation of a Service Ticket, acceptance of the Service Ticket, posting of all associated labor to the Service Ticket, posting of all associated material to the Service Ticket, releasing of the Service Ticket to an AR Invoice and completion of the Service Ticket. After the processing is complete, the newly created AR Invoice can be printed directly from the screen and the progress message box can be double clicked on to proceed to the Service Ticket. The Service Ticket can also be associated with an existing Job by entering a Job ID before posting. (Service > Express) |
| New Activities and Tests can be added to an active Service Ticket on the Results tab. (Service > Service Ticket) |
| A new Update button was added to the Service Catalog screen to update all open Service Ticket lines for that Service ID with the current Service Activities and Tests listed. |
Mobility Module |
| A new Shopify Products screen has been added to the Mobility Module. It allows top-level products with multiple variants to be defined and uploaded to Shopify. |
New Reports and Options |
| Sales Analysis report - The Sales Analysis report has a new Country filter option and a new Group By option choice for Country. |
| Sales Quotes Analysis Report - A new Sales Quotes Analysis report was added to the product. This report displays the costs, prices and margin on the Sales Quotes in the system. (Sales>Reports>Activity>Quotes Analysis) |
| Costed BOM Report - The Costed BOM report will now display items in red that are inactive in inventory. |
| Lot/Serial Disposition Report - The Lot/Serial Disposition report has a new option to Print the Lot Notes. |
| Inventory Inactive Items Report - A new Active Status option was added to the Inventory Inactive Items report. |
| Physical Inventory Count Screen - A new Hide Inactive Items filter was added to the Physical Inventory Count screen |
| Costed Roll Up Screen - A new Active Items Only checkbox was added to the Costed Roll Up screen. |
| Company Defaults Screen > Accounting Tab - A new Company Defaults Accounting option was added to allow the automatic addition of new Supplier Items when receiving items from Purchase Orders. |
| Active Users Screen - A new Suspend Automatic Refresh checkbox was added to the Active Users screen. While checked, that grid will not automatically refresh. This allows the grid to be sorted and searched more easily. (File > Maintenance > Active Users) |
| Mass Processing ScreenThe Sales Mass Processing screen > Mass Invoicing tab has a new filter for the Need By Date range. This will display any orders that have any open lines with Need By Dates within that range. When invoiced, it will only invoice/ship any lines that are within that range. (Sales > Mass Process > Mass Processing) |
New Permissions |
| BFSD = BOM Save Documents Path |
| GFIC = General Ledger Intercompany Transfers |
| IFIC = Accept Intercompany Transfer Orders |
| IFSD = Inventory Save Documents Path |
| JMTI = Time Import Screen |
| PFAC = Supplier Bank Information Access |
| PFIC = Accept Intercompany Purchase Orders |
| PFSD = Supplier Save Documents Path |
| PRAC = ACH Register Report |
| SFSD = Customer Save Documents Path |
| SRQA = Sales Quotes Analysis Report |
| VMEP = Express Service Ticket Screen |
| WSSC = Company Defaults Credentials |
| WSSP = Shopify Products Screen |
