UDS Green Industry Software, Inc.

Newsletter June 2007

Newsletter topics

Introduction
Fall to Spring Review at UDS
AA – SQL Status
AA Standard Version 9Status
Feature Comparison in Version 9
Big Changes in UDS Web Sites
Future Development – AAtags
Please provide your comments and suggestions
Should we or Should we not – Handhelds

Introduction
Hopefully you are having a good spring. Some areas of the country are hurting from the housing slow down but companies are making adjustments to deal with the slower rate of business. My sense is that the green industry overall is doing well.

AA – SQL is maturing nicely as a product. The number of new companies using AA – SQL and the number of conversions from AA Standard keeps going up. The quality of programming is still excellent. Conversion and updates are barely being noticed by users and that is the way we want to keep it.

AA Standard Version 9Status
AA Version 9 is the first time a release was developed first in the SQL version then moved to the Access version. Not all features were written into the Access version. This creates a function and applications difference that will grow larger over time. Not many features will be added to what is currently in AA Standard. With the limited size and limited number of users that can be supported in AA Standard and the unknown future of the Access database, it is past time for you to switch to Microsoft’s SQL database and AA – SQL. The advanced feature set found in the AA – SQL system adds to the reasons to switch. When changing to the SQL version, your users will notice very little difference. They will continue doing the same things in almost the same way. This makes the conversion almost a non event.

The features not released in the AA Standard version are defined in this document. The topics highlighted in red are included in AA Standard Version 9. Those not highlighted are not included. Some of these features may be important to your company. This is a version 9 feature list:

Feature Comparison in Version 9
Red topics are in Standard all are in AA - SQL

Accounts Payable:
Added a Check Day field to AP Invoices and AP Recurring Invoices that auto fills in the Payment Date on the invoice.  Invoice Payment Selection will not display the invoice until the payment date and then it is displayed on the Invoice Payment selection automatically selected. The payment date field works on any invoice. It can be entered as part of the invoicing process.

Added a new program called AP Recurring Invoice Processing to allow for easier processing of recurring invoices. This routine will generate the invoices and put them into payables for future months. Once created, they will be reversed automatically if the payable amount or distribution changes. This makes Recurring Payables entry easy, accurate and quick. With the Payment date on the invoice it lets you enter the recurring amounts once a year and makes it so you do not have to see all the future invoices to pay when printing checks.

Check Reconciliation is much easier to use and make those small last minute adjustments from recorded information that does not match bank records. This is designed to save time in the reconciliation and balancing process.

Check Reconciliation now displays journal entries made in the month to the cash accounts for transfers that are made to and from reserve accounts. The cash accounts must be defined in the control file in order to receive this treatment. This makes reconciliation much easier.

General Ledger
A new routine was created to allow for automatic posting to General Ledger from AP, PR, AR and GL transactions as they are created.  This routine will monitor the G/L Transaction holding tables from AP, AR, GL, and PR and post the transactions once there is a balanced transaction.

AP Check Reconciliation has additional options for Deposit records.  You can right-click on the deposit record and view the individual payment records for that deposit or you can update the deposit amount, giving it an Adjustment G/L Account.  You also have the option to print the report to file.

AP Check Print now has options to limit the view by Payment Date which comes for the AP Recurring Invoice Processing and also the option to change the Display Sequence to Vendor #/Due Date or Invoice Number and Vendor Alphabetical/Due Date or Invoice Number.

Accounts Receivable
Added Balance 120 days plus to Customer table

A/R Customer Balances Report and A/R Open Invoice Report we added additional options for the size of the report and the aging options.

A/R Deposit Processing now updates the Payment Records with the Deposit Number.  This is used in AP Check Reconciliation to allow you to update information regarding deposit records.

A/R Aging has been updated to handle the addition of the 120 days plus balance in the customer table.

Order Entry
Added fields to the order header table of Ship to City, State and Zip code. These fields can be exported to a delivery mapping application. The delivery mapping applications is not a UDS product. It will calculate best route and truck loading options from a group of orders.

Added to the Order Detail table is a line item Order Date. This will track when a line on the order is added to the order.  You will no longer have to depend on the single order date for the whole order to allocate the lines. The line item order date assumes you will create a new line for each change to the original order.

Items On Order Report has the option to use the Detail Line’s Order Date.

Inventory
Added a Related Items table and Related Items Code to Inventory for POS to popup related sellable items. (Future applications will be available in AA but immediate use will be made in POS.)

Added a Substitute Items table in the future it will make it possible to view a list of substitute items to use when an item is not available.   (Future implementation in AA and POS)

Customer
Customer Name and Address Reference fields to Request Processing Table

Job Costing and Scheduling
Routine to handle the creation of Jobs, Job Plans and Job Schedules created along with the concept of Crew scheduling.  These can then be directly invoiced.

Purchase Orders
Vendor Name and Address Reference fields added to PO Header and PO History Header

Planning
Added Cycle Type to Planning Table

Added Location Quality to Planning History table

Added Handheld Interface for Plan Step Execution

Point of Sale
Added Gift Cards with processing directly to server

Added store server processing of transactions. This allows for “immediate” processing of transactions to the Main AA system so sales and payments are automatically updated in the main system. It also makes POS easier to administer and scale up to larger configurations.

Miscellaneous
Added function to various reports to allow for scheduled running. (I.e. Schedule AR Statement Print to run automatically at a predetermined day each month. This is the beginning of many automatic processing steps in future releases.)

Big Changes in Web Sites at UDS
We will soon begin the process of reorganizing our web sites to better match our products.

The biggest change to existing users is that ActiveApplications Standard version will be supported by a new site called www.aastandardsupport.com. Currently www.activeapplications.com is the support web site. It will be changed to have information about ActiveApplications system design and information that is common to both our products, AA – SQL and AA Standard.

Currently www.udsgis.com has sales information about AA Standard. The name of that site will change to www.aastandard.com. Then www.udsgis.com will be changed to hold information about UDS Green Industry Software, Inc.

Finally both AAstandard.com and AASQL.com will be enhanced with more interactive features and sexier presentation of application information. Our objective is to make both sites tutorials and sales tools for our two products. We will be using the new techniques we have been learning about at the Mix Conference and our on line sessions.

Critical to these changes is the ability to interface with Microsoft Server 2008 and the enhanced Terminal Services options. This will make ActiveApplications even easier to view and use by perspective customers and in training situations.

Current Development ON LINE TAGmaker (AAtags)
In conjunction with all of our web site changes we are beginning development of a web based TAGmaker program. We will use this application to help us learn more about web programming and provide your company and others with convenient tag printing services.

You will be able to use www.AAtags.com to print tags from your ActiveApplications system or directly from the web site. Although designed as a resource for those companies that only want to print tags, AAtags.com will be available for you to submit tag printing jobs to aatags.com. These runs could let you off load the peak season printing of tags or provide an instant and convenient backup for those situations where your printer goes down and tags must be produced.

If there is one consistent trouble spot within the green industry it is the difficulty of setting up and running thermal transfer printers. We hope to provide an easier to use and flexible service for this propose.

Initially there will be a minimum number of tag formats and tag stock available but that will grow as more people use the service and offer suggestions and we have time to learn the best way to deliver the service.

Comments and Suggestions
As always please provide your comments and suggestions on ActiveApplications, UDS Staff and where you think our future development effort should focus. Support issues should be sent to support@udsgis.com. Suggestions can be sent to brain@udsgis.com or call Brian at 800 626-7247 Extension 203. It will ring my phone wherever I am at in the country. I always have time for comments and suggestions. Brian

Should we offer hand held devices?

Should we offer hand held devices?
One of the hottest items is the use of Hand Held devices in the green industry. We have been pushing for more use for years. In recent years we have not offered hardware and left it up to you to choose which hardware you want to choose. As long as you stuck with the Pocket PC it was safe. The current state of handheld computers is that it is confusing and difficult to choose one hand held pocket PC.

I think it is delaying the use of the devices in companies like yours.

Would you like us to offer a particular brand with our “seal of approval” to take the uncertainty about which one to buy? Several of you have chosen Symbol bun type devices. We would choose that one or one comparable.

Please let Brian know if it would help. 800 626-7247 Extension 203 or brian@udsgis.com.  

Summary
This email is a long one. In order to provide this much information and still make it convenient for you to read, I had to change the format. I hope you like it and find the ability to read the topics of most interest to you helpful. As always your comments on this format are desired.