Supported versions for
year end updates
OSAS
For the upcoming tax year,
2009 W-2s, 2009 1099s, and
2010 tax table updates, Open
Systems will be providing
Year End Compliance updates
for OSAS versions 7.03 and
7.5x. Open Systems will be
testing on the current build
of each version and we
strongly recommend that you
stay on the current build of
your OSAS version.
TRAVERSE
For the upcoming tax year,
2009 W-2s, 2009 1099s, and
2010 tax table updates, Open
Systems will be providing
Year End Compliance updates
for TRAVERSE versions 10.2
build 7189, with prior Year
End builds installed,
TRAVERSE 10.5 build 8175,
and build 9092 and TRAVERSE
11. Open Systems will be
testing on the current build
of each version and we
strongly recommend that you
stay on the current build of
your TRAVERSE version.
(Please note that Year End
Compliance Updates will not
be provided for 10.5 phase
one builds 7086 or 7210).
To be eligible to receive
any of the above updates,
the end-user must be current
on their Maintenance
program.
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Sales Tax Reporting
Each month or quarter you
must report taxable,
non-taxable, and sales tax
for each state and or
locality that you make sales
in. Especially if you are
selling within several
different taxing authorities
it can become a nightmare
keeping up with what you
have collected and what you
must remit.
Did you realize your
accounting software can keep
up with all of this for you?
System Manager, Tax Setup is
where you define all the
pieces you need to collect
and record sales tax.
Tax Classes
allow you to assign up to
ten different categories.
Examples of categories (or
classes) would be Taxable,
Non-Taxable, Enterprise
Zone, Interstate Commerce,
Governmental Entities, etc.
Each one of these would
correspond to a line on your
sales tax reporting form.
For example if a customer
you are selling to is in an
Enterprise Zone, then you
would enter that tax class
when entering an Accounts
Receivable Invoice for that
customer. This sale would be
recorded in your sales tax
reports and listed
separately on the line for
Enterprise Zone.
Tax Locations
are generally set up to
represent each state or
reporting entity that you
must report to. Tax
locations also hold the
Sales tax percent that
applies to each Tax Class,
as well as the Sales Tax
General Ledger account
numbers that apply to each.
Tax Locations also assign a
Tax Level to each of these
Locations. The tax level
defines whether this is a
single tax (level 1) or
part of a series of taxes
(level 2-5). An example of a
multi-level tax would be
where there is a set STATE
tax amount plus a COUNTY or
a LOCAL tax percent added
onto the State tax,
depending on where the
exchange of goods took
place.
Tax Groups
are set up to define what
Tax Locations make up a
particular tax group. In the
example above a State Tax
Group would be set up with
the State Tax Level One and
the Local tax amount set up
as a level 2. When using
this Tax Group both the
state and the local tax will
then be calculated for the
Customer on each invoice.
You can select whether you
want these multiple tax
levels within a group to
print on the invoice as a
lump sum total (combined) or
to list each of these tax
levels separately on the
invoice (separate).
You set up a default tax
group within the customer
master file but you have the
ability to change tax class,
and/or tax group on each
invoice. At the end of the
reporting period simply run
the Tax Locations List
Report to see all your
taxable, non-taxable and tax
amounts for each class,
location and group. These
figures tie back to your
General Ledger.
Because this is a separate
file from your Sales History
when you make adjustments to
taxability or taxes you MUST
reverse out the incorrectly
taxed invoice and re-enter
it taxed correctly in order
for this report to be
accurate.
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Product
Suggestions
Almost each year Open
Systems releases a new
updated version of the
software. Both OSAS and
TRAVERSE have been written
over the years from
suggestions by people who
use the software on a daily
basis.
Is there something you
wished the software did (or
did not do)?. If so, there
are probably others out
there that wish the same
thing.
By letting Open Systems know
of features you would like
to see and when others
suggest these same features
you can be pretty sure you
will see them in a future
release. It’s kind of like
having the software
customized to your
specifications.
Product Suggestions are
found on your tool bar above
Traverse and can then be
either printed and then
faxed, or emailed directly
to Open Systems if your
email service has been set
up within TRAVERSE.
You can also log onto EVAR
and send your suggestions.
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CES—Why
You Need It
CES is an acronym for
Continued Enhancement
Subscription. This
entitles you to receive the
software free from Open
Systems, Inc. for all
enhancements, updates,
upgrades, new releases and
any Payroll Federal and
State Withholding compliance
changes, as well as 1099
processing for the
Miscellaneous form type and
updates to the Fixed Assets
Depreciation tables.
Your renewal does not follow
a calendar year, but renews
in the month of your
original purchase, so it may
or may not coincide with the
actual release of a new
version.
Your CES entitles you to log
in to www.osas.com as an
E-user. Once logged in you
can download Year End Check
lists and other educational
documents as well as see
upcoming events and road
shows. You can also offer
suggestions on changes to
the software you would like
to see.
The cost of keeping your
software current is
approximately 17% - 19% of the
original cost of the
software. Should your CES
lapse the cost to get your
software current again can
be has high as 65% of the
original cost.
Keeping your software
current ensures that it will
continue to function at it’s
optimum as new operating
system software releases are
made.
From a training and support
stand point there is less
interruption to your daily
procedures when software
upgrades one version at a
time. This gives your
employees a chance to absorb
small amounts of changes to
each version, rather than a
major, drastic change when
you jump several versions.
Is it worth it to keep your
software current? Only you
can answer that, BUT, like
any other major investment
you make you SHOULD PROTECT
IT!
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General Ledger Audits
and Statement Verification
in OSAS
A new report found in
Resource Manager, Company
Setup will go through your
Accounts Payable, Accounts
Receivable, Payroll, and
Resource Manager
applications looking at all
General Ledger account
numbers used in the setup of
the application.
The report will list any
missing or incorrect General
Ledger account numbers used
anywhere in the set up of
the application. The report
will list the File, the
Record, Field Name, General
Ledger Account used, and
whether it is missing or not
found in the General Ledger.
With this information you
can then go to the set up of
the application and correct
or include the proper
General Ledger Account
numbers.
In General Ledger,
Management Reports the
report ‘Financial Statement
Verification’ can be run for
one or all Content Files
within your General Ledger.
It will determine any
missing General Ledger
Account Numbers within a
specific Content file or it
will list any duplicate
General Ledger Account
numbers within a Content
file.
The content files is what
defines the General Ledger
account numbers that appear
on your financial
statements.
Running this report
periodically insures that
your financial statements
are correct and include all
necessary account numbers
and no duplications.
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The American
Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
This act provides tools to
get loans, give lenders new
incentives to make more
small business loans, and
help unfreeze the secondary
markets to boost liquidity
in the credit markets. To
learn more about how these
SBA loans can assist your
company go to
www.sba.gov/recovery.
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Lookups in OSAS
Did you know that when you
are in any Vendor, Customer,
Employee, or Item field that
you can lookup the proper ID
by several methods. In text
view when you select F2, or
in the graphical mode when
you select the lookup button
a “sort” appears at the top.
When you select the insert
button you can then change
the sort.
For example in Accounts
Payable when you ‘lookup’
you can then press the
‘insert key’. Once selected
the sorts that open up to
you are Vendor Class,
Distribution Code, Name and
Priority Code. If you select
the sort NAME then as you
type in the name it will
take you to the series of
names that begin with what
you are typing in.
When you are unsure of a
particular ID you have
several ways to look up this
ID.
In Accounts Receivable you
can lookup by Name, Phone,
Sales Rep, State/City, Zip
code and credit limit.
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InterMicro Enhancements
Based on requests from
clients, we have created a
number of enhancements that
may also benefit you. We
will be making a section on
our website to support a
listing of these
enhancements. Each month we
will feature an enhancement
in our newsletter as well.
For more enhancements
available from InterMicro
visit
http://www.intermicro.com/products.html.
Integrated
Payment Processing
With the PPI
solution, you can enter
credit card information
directly into Traverse for
easy & efficient one-step
payment processing. And
while others offer piecemeal
services, only PPI gives you
one resource for
everything you need.
Learn more