Changes in Bank Services 5.6

With version 5.6, Bank Services offers the following enhancements:

• We have overhauled and streamlined the bank reconciliation process.

  We have streamlined and simplified the Reconcile Statements form, which now consists of three tabs. The updated form includes these highlights:

  • The Summary tab provides a new zoomed form that shows the change to your bank balance since you last reconciled the bank account. If you use Sage 300 ERP General Ledger, this new form also shows the balance of the associated G/L account.

    The simplified Summary tab is also easier to understand and to use.

    • Now, you need to fill in only the Statement Date and the Reconciliation Date. We have removed the Reconciliation Posting Date field from the Summary tab. (We have also removed this field from the Reconcile OFX statements form.)
    • Bank statement balances and adjustments are now labelled as such, so they are immediately identifiable.
    • You can now post any unposted bank entries simply by clicking the Go ( ) button beside the amount of unposted bank entries.

  • A new Reconciliation tab consolidates reconciliation information and provides new tools to help you reconcile efficiently.

    In earlier versions, transactions were assigned to four different tabs that you used to reconcile different types of transactions. You could not view or reconcile all transactions in one place.

    Now, a convenient new Reconciliation tab replaces these four tabs, letting you view and reconcile all types of transactions.

    • To clear the full amount of a transaction, you simply double-click the Reconciled column in the transaction line, right on the reconciliation grid. The program marks the transaction with the Cleared reconciliation status.
    • To clear the transaction with a different amount, you select a reconciliation status to clear the transaction with a type or error or with a write-off, and then you enter the amount to clear.
    • You do not need to scroll through an unwieldy list to find transactions. You can filter transactions by reconciliation status and transaction type — and sort the result by document date or by transaction number.
    • To view individual receipts that make up a deposit, you select the deposit, and then click the Details button.

    Note: The Details button is available only for deposits that consist of multiple receipts. (These can include deposits entered in Bank Services using version 5.5, which permitted multiple details for each deposit. In version 5.6, although you can enter multiple details for each deposit in Bank Entry, posting the deposit creates one lump sum for the Reconcile Statements form.)

    Click the following links for more detailed information on the Reconciliation tab or for steps for reconciling transactions.

    • The reconciliation status Cleared With Credit Card Charges is no longer available for withdrawals.
    • You can select the Reversed reconciliation status to reverse a payment or other withdrawal. However, you must use the Reverse Transactions form to reverse a receipt (deposit).
    • A new Quick Clearing button on the Reconciliation tab opens a Quick Clearing form that lets you clear an entire range of payments all at once. (If you clear a range of transactions accidentally, you can restore the Outstanding status just as easily!)
    • The Bank Entry button on the Reconciliation tab opens a new Bank Entry form, where you can enter any kind of reconciling transaction — from simple service charges to compound entries that use distribution sets.
    • You can drill down to source ledgers to view withdrawals and deposits in the original entry form. For example:
      • If you select a vendor payment on the Reconciliation tab, then click the Drilldown button () for Withdrawals, the payment appears in the A/P Payment Entry form.
      • If you select a deposit that contained multiple receipts, then click the Details button, the program lists the individual receipts on the Deposit Details form. You can select a receipt on the detail list, and then click the Drilldown button (or press the F9 key) to view the receipt in the A/R Receipt Entry form.

    Note: The Deposit Details form no longer supports the reconciliation of individual receipts. You reconcile deposit totals using the Reconcile tab.

  • A new Totals tab provides a breakdown of cleared payments and deposits by reconciliation status (for example, Cleared With Bank Error or Cleared With Write-Off).
• Enhancements to the Bank Options form provide new options for transaction processing and reconciliation.

  The Bank Options form now has three tabs that let you specify:

  • Contact information for a Bank Services contact person.
  • New processing options, including a default bank code and options for reconciliation and transaction entry.
  • New document numbering options.
• Consistent with other Sage 300 ERP applications, you can now add distribution sets as well as distribution codes to simplify transaction entry. (In earlier versions, distribution codes were called "transaction types" in Bank Services.)

  Distribution sets are groups of distribution codes that you use together in a transaction.

• A new Bank Entry form (similar to the G/L Journal Entry form) lets you record more complex transactions than in previous versions.

  Because the new form accommodates any number of general ledger accounts, you don't have to use Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable to include interest and taxes in bank transactions. For example, you can record mortgage payments right in Bank Services — you don't have to set up your bank as a vendor in Accounts Payable.

  You open the Bank Entry form using the icon in the Bank Transactions folder, or by clicking the Bank Entry button on the Reconcile Statements form. The Reconcile OFX Statements form also lets you open a modified Bank Entry form that includes just the fields required for a reconciling entry.

  For more information, see Bank Entry Form.

• You can post a bank entry using the Bank Entry form, or you can use the Post Entries form to post a range of entries.
• A new Bank Entries Posting Journal maintains your audit trail.
• The G/L Integration form lets you specify different reference information from bank entries, bank entry details, and reconciliation entries to use in the corresponding G/L entries. (See the Bank G/L Integration - Transactions Tab topic for details.)

  Also regarding G/L Integration, if you use the Create G/L Transactions By Creating A New Batch or the Create And Post A New Batch and you reverse multiple checks, Bank Services 5.6 assigns all the check reversals to a single G/L batch.

• Because Bank Services now keeps a history of posted transactions, you can review bank transactions even after posting them.
• A new Transaction History Inquiry form lets you look up the status of transactions that affect your bank accounts, and print the results of your inquiry. You can also drill down from this form to view selected transactions in the original entry form in Bank Services, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, or US or Canadian Payroll.
• A new Reverse Transactions form lets you reverse both payments and receipts more easily. The Reverse Payments and Return Customer Checks forms no longer exist.

  You must use the Reverse Transactions form to reverse deposits in version 5.6. You cannot reverse deposits by changing their reconciliation status in the Reconcile Statements form. (Click here for information on reversing Bank Services-entered deposits.)

  You can reverse a deposit that was entered (but not cleared) in Bank Services version 5.6. The program removes the reversed transaction from the Reconciliation tab of the Reconcile Statements form. Corresponding journal entries appear on the Bank Entries Posting Journal, and once you post the reconciliation, on the Reconciliation Posting Journal (in the Summary section).

  You can also reverse a deposit that was entered in Bank Services version 5.5, or earlier, provided the deposit has not been cleared. When you reverse a deposit entered in an earlier version, Bank Services creates an offsetting withdrawal entry with Outstanding status. It also resets the deposit status to Outstanding (similar to the treatment of deposits from Accounts Receivable). Both the offsetting entry and the reversed deposit remain outstanding on the Reconcile Statements form, where you can clear them in the next bank reconciliation.

• When checking data integrity for Bank Services, you can check restart records, only. (There is no Fix option for restart recovery.)
• We have updated all transaction reports for version 5.6, and we have added the following new reports:
  • Transactions History Inquiry report, which you print from the new Transaction History Inquiry form.
  • Deposit Register.
  • Bank Entries Posting Journal.

New Security Authorizations

We have added the following security authorizations for Bank Services:

• Reverse Bank Entries
• Post Bank Entries
• Transaction History Inquiry
• Print Deposit Register
• Clear History
• Setup Maintenance

In addition, we have renamed the Return Customer Receipts authorization. It is now called Reverse Customer Receipts.

Terminology Changes

• Payments, withdrawals, and deposits

  In previous versions, all transactions were either "withdrawals" or "deposits" in Bank Services.

  In version 5.6:

  • "Deposit” describes all funds moving into the bank account.

  The following transactions are classified as deposits on the Reconcile Statements form, Bank Entry form, Transaction Listing report, Reconciliation Status report, Bank Reconciliation report, and Deposit Status report:

  • Deposits.
  • Withdrawal bank errors where the Withdrawals amount is greater than the Cleared Amount.

  • "Withdrawal" describes funds moving out of the bank account.

  The following transactions are classified as withdrawals on the Reconcile Statements form, Bank Entry form, Transaction Listing report, Reconciliation Status report, Bank Reconciliation report, and Withdrawal Status report:

  • Payments.
  • Withdrawals.
  • Reversed receipts.
  • Deposit bank errors where the Cleared Amount is greater than the Deposits amount.
  • A/R refunds, A/P payments, and payroll checks are labeled "Payments" on the Transaction History form, Transaction History report, Reverse Transactions form, and Check/Payment Register.
• Outstanding status for deposits

  "Outstanding" reconciliation status is now used for deposits, rather than “In Transit.”

If You Are Upgrading from an Earlier Version of Bank Services

Note that during activation to version 5.6, the program assigns default values to a number of fields in the following forms:

• Reconcile Statements
  • Summary tab:
    • Reconciliation Description: Blank
  • Reconciliation tab:
    • Display: All
    • Transaction Type: All
    • Sort By: Date

    All is also used as the default for the Display and Transaction Type fields for the Set Settings As Defaults menu.

• Options
  • Company tab:
    • Company information, Contact Name, Phone, Fax Number: default information comes from the Company Profile's Address tab.
  • Processing tab:
    • Check For Cleared In Future Period: Warning.
    • Default Bank Code: blank.
    • Service Charges (Default Distribution Code, Default G/L Account): blank.
  • Documents tab:
    • Next Number Bank Entry: 1
    • Next Number Bank Transfer: as stated in version 5.5
• G/L Integration Transactions tab
  • Bank Entry:
    • G/L Entry Description: Entry Description
    • Bank Entry Detail:
    • G/L Detail Reference: Reference
    • G/L Detail Description: Description
    • G/L Detail Comment Comments
  • Bank Reconciliation:
    • G/L Entry Description: Bank Code, Posting Sequence
    • G/L Detail Reference: blank
    • G/L Detail Description: blank
    • G/L Detail Comment: blank