Optional Fields Form

This form appears in the A/P Setup folder if you use age Sage 300 ERP Transaction Analysis and Optional Field Creator, a separately licensed package that you can purchase and use with any edition of Accounts Payable.

To set up optional fields for your Accounts Payable system

1. Choose Optional Fields from the A/P Setup folder.
2. Specify the type of optional field you are defining.
3. Select the optional field code for each optional field you are defining.

   If you want to retain optional field information from Accounts Payable transactions when you create batches for General Ledger, you must use the same optional fields for transactions in Accounts Payable as you use in General Ledger.

4. If you want to set a default value for the optional field, double-click in the Value Set column to change it to Yes.

   Value Set field alerts the data entry clerk that a seemingly blank optional field actually has an entry. By looking at the Value field, you cannot tell whether it has a “blank” default value or no value at all.

5. Enter or select the value that the program will display as the default for the optional field.

   If the optional field you selected requires validation, you must select a value that is defined for the optional field in Common Services. However, if the optional field allows blanks, you can leave the default value field blank.

   If the optional field does not use validation, you can do one of the following:

   • Select a value that is defined for the optional field in Common Services.
   • Leave the field blank.
   • Enter a combination of alphanumeric or special characters and spaces. The entry must be consistent with the type of field (text, number, date, amount, and so on) and must not exceed the number of characters specified for the optional field. In a Yes/No field, you can enter only Yes or No.

   When you specify a value that is defined in Common Services, the program displays the description for the value.

6. To make the optional field mandatory, double-click in the Required column.

   During data entry, if an optional field is required, but does not have a default value, you must fill in the field before you can proceed. If the optional field has a default value, you can accept the value that appears or assign a different one.

   If you make an optional field a required field, the Auto Insert field changes to Yes.

7. Select Yes in the Auto Insert field if you want the program to display the optional field and its default value on the form for the type of optional field when you set up new records or enter transactions. Select No if you do not want the optional field to appear automatically.
8. If the optional field you are defining is for a type of transaction:
   1. Click the Settings button.
   2. In the Settings form, specify the types of accounts for which this optional field can be passed to General Ledger when you post transactions.
   3. If you use Project and Job Costing, select the External Cost Transactions option if you also want Accounts Payable to update the contract in Project and Job Costing.
   4. Click Close to return to the Optional Fields setup form.
9. Click Save to save your changes.

Related Topics