Extended Solutions for MAS90 and MAS200

April 22, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

Have you ever wished that your existing MAS 90 or MAS 200 software had just a little more functionality? Some good examples of functionality tweaks that our clients have requested would include:

Multi-company transaction processing
ACH processing for Accounts Payable (wireless transfers)
Payroll Direct Deposit
Custom pricing within Inventory
Unlimited history

There are literally thousands of inexpensive enhancements that are already written for your MAS90 system. These install as if regular MAS 90 programs and each year when MAS 90 is upgrade – so are your enhancements.

We recommend that you always first browse the Sage Extended Solutions (catalog example below) prior to hiring anyone to customize MAS90. Even though some of the items available as add-ons for MAS 90 or MAS 200 will appear expensive at first – we think you’ll ultimately save money long term.

You can review the entire list of Sage Extended Solutions or browse down for a sample listing.

Mas90 Enhancements and customizations

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs consulting MAS90

Batch number xxxx already exists in the direct deposit transaction file

January 28, 2009 by Wayne Schulz

Here’s a quick resolution to a very common error message that occurs with Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 Payroll Direct Deposit (Extended Solution PR-1017).

If you receive the message:

“Batch number xxx already exists in the direct deposit transacton file”

While trying to update your payroll register — take the following action:

Go to Payroll
Direct Deposit Menu
Generate Direct Deposit Interface
Select the second option on the menu – Purge Direct Deposit Interface Files
Select a beginning date that is early enough to remove the offending register number (Tip: In some instances I’ve had to go back as far as 1900 even though I was certain we weren’t using Sage MAS 90 payroll Direct Deposit then…;-) )

Link: Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 Direct Deposit Manual (PR-1017)

Client Advisory: Do not install any Extended Solutions without calling Sage and asking for the latest version

October 6, 2008 by Wayne Schulz

If you are upgrading you Sage MAS 90 or 200 accounting software and are using Extended Solutions from Sage Software we strongly advise you call Sage (or your Sage Business Partner) immediately prior to installing the upgrade and request a free update to the latest version of your Extended Solution (Sage tracks the different levels by program release date).

In many instances you may be told that you’re at the latest release. Don’t let that discourage you from calling each and every time prior to upgrading.

Update – 10-7-2008: Spoke with Paula Mikkelsen at Sage Software Extended Solutions and she provided me with the name, email and phone extension of the person who is in charge of generating the Extended Solutions for customers and resellers. I’m not going to post her info here because I don’t want a flood of spam to chase her inbox. Send me an email and I’ll be happy to forward you the contact information.

Why do you need to do this?

Sage Software does not have an automated way to provide the latest versions of their Extended Solutions to resellers. When solutions are initially available they are sent out in an email to the reseller which announces the availability of the upgrade.

This email is often weeks (if not months) ahead of when a company may actually install their Sage MAS 90 or 200 program upgrade. In the passing months there are increasingly more program fixes needed for Extended Solutions.

Unfortunately there is no central place to regularly view what the current release levels are for the Extended Solutions. All of this work must be done via phone call (or email) to Sage Software.

What We’ve Suggested To Sage

In the future we are hopeful that what can happen is that the intial link that is sent to a reseller points to the very latest copy of the enhancement (including any patches made since the update was released).

Another possible solution would be for the enhancement itself to contain a “self check” where it would query a database to make sure that the latest version is being installed.

MAS90’s Hidden Weapon: Extended Solutions

September 29, 2008 by Wayne Schulz

Many users of accounting software secretly (and often not so secretly) wish that their programs could be customized so that they more tightly fit the needs of their business. Unfortunately custom programming often proves to be both expensive and time consuming.

Not anymore.

With Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 there is a large catalog of customizations that have already been written and can be purchased for a fixed fee.

Examples of Extended Solutions include Multi-Company processing for General Ledger and Accounts Payable. With this enhancement you can have one master company processing accounts payable invoices and checks for dozens of subsidiaries. The entire due-to and due-from process is managed by the enhancement (See AP-1027 – Multiple Company Accounts Payable which provides just this functionality for only $1,795 + $265 Maintenance).

What’s so powerful about these Extended Solutions is that not only do they save you the initial development time (and money) – but as the Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200 programs are upgraded you receive the enhancements at your current level for no extra charge.

Selecting and searching for an Extended Solution for Sage MAS90 and MAS200 is easy. Simply log into the Extended Solution Site and search for your desired functionality. Once located, you’ll see a screen with the cost, description and a link to the full product manual.

Tip: Not everyone knows this, but all of the Extended Solutions may be requested as a free trial. They will ship you the solution so that it only operates on the dummy data company code and with certain other restrictions. This gives you a chance to “try before you buy” – something not available with most other custom programming.

If you have more questions about whether an Extended Solution might be right for your business, ask yourself these questions:

Will I save time by having the feature (and if so how much)
Are there alternate procedures that I could perform that would eliminate the need for this enhancement
How many enhancements am I looking to purchase (Rule of thumb: Under 6 is probably ideal with most companies using only one or two).
Am I willing to wait an extra month or two after the main MAS 90 or MAS 200 program has been updated for my ehancements to be ready (This is the typical wait time).
Will I be using third party vertical solutions like Job Ops or ACS Service Managemenet which may conflict with Extended Solutions?

In general we strongly recommend the use of Extended Solutions to our clients. When a pre-written customization is required it is our favored solution based on the sheer numbers of enhancements available as well as the positive feedback we receive from our clients.

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