Business Computer Centre - Prince George BC Canada

Q. I know I should be backing up my data. What is the best way to do this?

A. Many networks have automatic backups. These are essential. However, we often find that it is difficult to select specific data to restore from such backups, perhaps requiring the help of your computer technician. For that reason, we recommend a separate backup of your accounting data that is under your control. This is a supplement to, not a substitute for, the network backup.

One very easy way to backup your data is to use USB Flash Drives. You should have at least two, and alternate them each day. One of those should go off-site after work each day. That means that the worst possible case is that you lose or damage one of the flash drives on the same day your network crashes. You will lose one day’s work – annoying, but not a disaster.

Plug the flash drive into your computer and let Windows install it. Now in one Adagio module (usually Ledger) select File / Backup / Backup options. Use the browse icon to locate the flash drive, then click “OK.”

Now, at the end of each day, make sure all other users are out of Adagio and select File / Backup / Complete dataset. Then click start. A file will be created on the flash drive that has a name like “BKGL0001.zip.” The “BK” means Backup, of course; the GL indicates that the backup was done from the Ledger (although it will contain data from all the modules) and the “0001” is a sequential number to indicate which is the most recent backup and to prevent a current backup from overwriting a previous one.

If you have several sets of data, you will need to do this for each one. (You will want to create separate folders on your flash drives or use separate flash drives for each company.)

Eventually, the flash drives will fill up, and you will have to delete the oldest backups using Windows Explorer.

Ledger

Q. My accountant wants all my year’s transactions in an Excel spreadsheet, however when I select the printer destination as “file” and the format as “Excel,” I only get the first eight thousand or so. I know there are a lot more than that. Why is this happening and how can I get around it?

A. It is happening because Adagio uses a format that is compatible with quite old Excel versions since some are still in use. Since newer versions of Excel can also read this format, this is not usually a problem. However, this format has a much lower limit to the number of rows.

The solution is to use a different format. Instead of “printing” the report to Excel, export a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file instead. Select File / Export / Transactions. Choose “ASCII CSV (Delimited” from the File Format drop down list. Click the check box by “Header Included,” then click on the “Field Selections” tab.

Use the arrow keys to select the fields you want in your spreadsheet and re-arrange the order to what you prefer. (You may wish to click on the “Save As” button to give this format a name so you do not have to re-create it in the future)

Click the Export button. Choose the fiscal year and range of fiscal periods. Change the account and department ranges if you do not want them all. Click on the Export button.

Find the file in Windows Explorer and double-click on it to open the spreadsheet. You will have to adjust some of the formats and some of the column widths.

Q. The data for my subledgers (Payables and Receivables) are in another folder from my Ledger data. Is this a good idea?

A. Generally no. It means that the subledgers cannot see the Chart of Accounts in Ledger so there is an increased risk of bad account numbers showing up in retrieved batches. Also, with the increased level of integration between subledgers and Adagio Ledger 9.0B, you will lose features like two description lines, warnings in subledgers if the transaction date is in a closed fiscal period and more.

Sometimes, however, you cannot avoid this, such as when invoicing is done in another building or city. If you can create a VPN link to the subledger data and map that to a drive letter (talk to your computer consultant about this) Adagio Ledger can easily retrieve subledger transactions. If such a link is not possible there is a way to transfer the transactions on a USB drive. Call us about this.

In either case, it is advisable to put a copy of the Ledger data in the data folder on the subledger computers (not the Ledger program, just the data). The subledgers will then see the Chart of Accounts and other features. You only need to update this copy when you add new GL accounts.

Q. I need to send monthly financial reports to various people by e-mail. What is the best way to do this?

A. You can, or course, export any of the financial reports to Excel and e-mail that spreadsheet. The only problem with that is that the recipient could (inadvertently, of course) edit the spreadsheet.

Perhaps a better way involves the use of a program that allows you to print to a PDF file. A free one is Cute PDF. A more sophisticated – but not free -- one, that allows assembly of pages from multiple sources, is PDF Factory.

Q. My Chart of Accounts has become a snarled mess over the years making if very hard to create clear and concise financial reports. Can I move accounts around to correct this?

A. If there only a few accounts to change, you can, of course, create the new accounts, then post a Ledger batch to move the current balances. You should mark the old accounts “inactive.” This method does not move current or prior year transaction history,

There is a program from Dakota Software called Tool Kit for Adagio that will do this (and more) while retaining all history. It is available through Business Computer Centre.

Q. I am trying to close my fiscal year, but when I print and clear the Batch Status Report, a couple of the batches will not clear. I cannot proceed. What do I do?

A. You have either upgraded from an earlier version of Adagio or switched from ACCPAC Plus during the current fiscal year. These programs did not properly set an internal “flag” when a batch was deleted. But neither did they check these as carefully as Ledger 9.0 does when clearing the batch status information, so they did not cause this issue at year end.

There is a fix for this. Call Business Computer Centre and will be happy to send it to you. It will only be required this one time, since Ledger 9.0 handles this issue correctly.

Payables

Q. I have a huge list of checks in the reconciliation listing, some going back many years. Can I clear them out and only leave the recent ones?

A. Certainly. First, select Payments / Check reconciliation to bring up the list. Use the drop down list to limit the list to one bank if you wish. If all the checks you want to clear are marked anything except “O” for outstanding, skip the next step.

If you want to mark a whole range of outstanding checks as cleared, click on the first one, then scroll down to the last one and Shift-click on it. All the checks in between will be selected. Now, right-click on any of the selected checks and choose “Cleared” from the list. All the selected checks will now show “O>C.” Click on the “Post” button and all the checks will be marked as cleared.

Select Payments / Print Check Reconciliation. Check all the Check Status boxes. (If you do not want a pile of paper, select the print destination as “File” and choose a format and filename.) Click the Print button.

Once the printing is done, you will be asked “Do you want to clear all the checks that are not outstanding?” Select “Yes.” Your list will now only include the checks you did not select.

Receivables

Q. I am comparing the Overdue Receivables report total with the balance in the Accounts Receivable account in the Ledger but they never match. Why is that?

A. The correct report to match to the control account is the Aged Trial Balance. You should select “Calculate as of” from the drop-down list and enter the date the last batch of Receivables transactions was retrieved into Ledger.

The Overdue Receivables report lists only the unpaid (or partially paid) invoices that are beyond their due date. This is primarily a collection tool. For example, an invoice issued on June 10th with terms of net 30 days would not show up on this report until July 11th, but would be on the Aged Trial balance report as soon as the batch is posted.