Release Notes MYOB AccountRight Standard 2011 Beta MYOB AccountRight Plus 2011 Beta Contents Section See About this release below Getting started page 2 New features page 6 Features unavailable in this beta page 18 Known issues in this release page 19 Reporting defects and other issues page 20 AccountRight 2011 Beta SDK page 21 About this release AccountRight 2011 Beta is MYOB s next generation of business management software. As a beta tester, we encourage you to use this software as your main accounting system, provide feedback, participate in feedback sessions, and to complete an exit survey. Before you begin, note the following: Please read the Next Generation AccountRight Products Beta Agreement document before installing MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. This software is a beta version. It may not work the way a final version of the software will, and some features may not be complete. See Features unavailable in this beta on page 18 and Known issues in this release on page 19. MYOB Technology Pty Ltd 2010
The workflow and behaviour of some features in MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta are different to how previous MYOB AccountRight releases worked. If you experience a software crash that you can reproduce, please report it immediately. See Reporting defects and other issues on page 20. Throughout the beta testing period, MYOB will post information about issues and software updates to the known issues page and the community forum. To access the community forum, go to community.myob.com and log in using your my.myob login details. For more information about software updates, see Updates to AccountRight Beta on page 21. An SDK is available for developers to explore the MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta API. See AccountRight 2011 Beta SDK on page 21. Getting started Do the following to install and begin exploring the MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. Task See 1 Check the minimum system requirements below 2 Install MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta page 3 3 Upgrade a company file page 3 4 Migrate custom forms page 5 Task 1: Check the minimum system requirements Check that your computer is able to run MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. Operating system Microsoft Windows 7 (32 bit or 64 bit) Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (SP1, 32 bit or 64 bit) Microsoft Windows XP Professional (SP3) Hardware Pentium processor at 1GHz or faster 2GB RAM minimum 10GB free hard disk space Screen with resolution of at least 1024x768, 32 bit colour Software Adobe Reader (minimum v7) Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 Internet Broadband connection for receiving automatic software updates. 2 RELEASE NOTES GETTING STARTED
Task 2: Install MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta To install MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta 1 If your computer only allows users with administrator privileges to install programs, log in as an administrator. 2 Close all programs. 3 Locate the installer file you downloaded and double click it to start the installation. The installer file will be called setup.exe. An installation window appears. NOTE : Software developers only If you want to install the Beta Software Developer Kit (SDK), you need to select the Custom install type, in the installation wizard. 4 Follow the on screen instructions. 5 When installation is complete, select whether you want to launch MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta and the Help Centre, and then click Finish. To open the Clearwater sample file 1 Click Find File in the Welcome window that appears when AccountRight starts up. 2 Go to the default folder for AccountRight company files: Windows XP, go to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\MYOB Windows Vista or Windows 7, go to C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\MYOB. 3 Select the clearwtr_au.myox file and click Open. Task 3: Upgrade a company file You can upgrade an existing.myo company file to use with the beta. Before upgrading, note the following: You cannot upgrade a company file that has inventory items with negative on hand quantities, or Receive Items transactions that have not been converted to bills. If you have linked graphics to cards or items in the company file you are upgrading, and you want to continue using them, ensure that they are saved in a folder named Graphics that is in the same location as your company file. For example, C:\Plus19\Graphics. If your graphics are stored in a different folder, you will need to re add them to your new file manually. Note also that all picture files must be 200KB or less. Files larger than this size will not be linked. RELEASE NOTES GETTING STARTED 3
If a password has been assigned to the Administrator user ID, you will need to enter this password to upgrade the company file. If the company file you want to upgrade is more than 500MB, the upgrade process may fail and a System out of memory message may appear. We recommend you avoid upgrading company files larger than 500MB. If this is unavoidable, consider backing up your previous version company file, then purging some historical transactions to reduce the size of the file before attempting to upgrade. To upgrade a company file NOTE : Windows Vista and Windows 7 users If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, and the company file you want to upgrade is located in a C:\Program Files subfolder, log on to Windows as an administrator. 1 Launch MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. 2 In the Welcome window that appears, click Upgrade a company file. 3 The Upgrade Assistant opens. Click Continue. 4 Click Browse to locate and select the company file you want to upgrade, and then click Open. 5 If a password for the Administrator user ID has been specified in the company file you are upgrading, type the password. 6 To edit the upgraded company file s name, type the new file name. See New company file format on page 7. 7 To save the upgraded company file in another folder or computer, click [...] and select the location. 8 Click Upgrade to start the upgrade process. 9 When upgrading is complete, click Open Upgraded File. 4 RELEASE NOTES GETTING STARTED
Task 4: Migrate custom forms If you have custom forms that you want to continue using after you upgrade, they need to be migrated into your AccountRight 2011 Beta company file. Previously, custom forms were upgraded using the Templates Upgrade Assistant. In this release, you can migrate them from within AccountRight. Note that custom forms are now stored within the company file (rather than in a folder on your computer). So you only need to migrate them into your company file once, instead of upgrading them on each workstation where they are stored. To migrate custom forms 1 Go to the File menu and choose Migrate Custom Forms. The Migrate Custom Forms window appears. 2 Click Browse, select the folder that contains your MYOB AccountRight custom forms and then click OK. 3 Select the forms you want to migrate and then click Migrate to import the selected forms into your company file. RELEASE NOTES GETTING STARTED 5
New features The following outlines some of the new features and enhancements included in this beta. Feature Description See... Accessing company files The way you access company files has been simplified. below New company file format Backing up and restoring company files Forms Reports New look and feel Searching and sorting Field help Other changes The company file format has changed, and there are new rules for company file names. page 7 The backup and restore process has changed. page 8 The custom forms feature has been redesigned with an improved interface and more customisation options. The reporting function has been improved with more customisation options and an improved interface. The interface has been updated, and you can now resize and rearrange columns in lists. Finding records and transactions is now easier, with better searching features and more sorting options. Get instant help for almost any field or button by hovering over it with your mouse. There are several other changes that may affect the way you work in MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. page 9 page 10 page 11 page 13 page 14 page 14 6 RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES
Accessing company files It s now easier to access the company files you use. In the Welcome window that appears when you start MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta, you can: Open a recently used file by double clicking the file name in the Company File list. Launch the Upgrade Assistant to upgrade a company file. Click Restore to restore a backup company file. Find and open a company file by clicking Find File. New company file format AccountRight 2011 Beta company files are saved in a file format that supports a range of improvements and new features. The company file extension has changed to.myox, and the default location for company files is now: Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents\MYOB\AccountRight\ 2011.0\AU Windows Vista or Windows 7 C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\MYOB\AccountRight\2011.0\AU. Note that there are restrictions on using special characters in company file names. A company file name: can include letters and numbers, as well as the following special characters: at (@), dollar ($), hash (#) and underscore (_). If your company file contains characters that are not allowed, such as an ampersand (&), an asterisk (*) or a period (.), they will be replaced by an underscore (_) when you upgrade or create the file. must begin with a letter or an underscore. You cannot start a company file name with a number. RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES 7
Backing up and restoring company files There have been changes to the way backing up and restoring of company files is done in MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. You can now protect the zip file containing the backup file with a password. This added security helps prevent unauthorised access to your company file. To back up your company file 1 Close any open windows, other than the Command Centre. 2 Go to the File menu and choose Back Up. The Back Up Company File window appears. 3 Click Browse and select the location you want to save the backup file to. 4 If you want to protect the backup from unauthorised use, enter and confirm a password. This password will need to be entered when restoring the backup file. 5 Click Back Up. To restore a backup file 1 Close any open windows, other than the Command Centre. 2 Go to the File menu and choose Restore. The company file is closed and the Restore Backup File window appears. 8 RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES
TIP : Restore from the Welcome window You can also restore a company file by clicking Restore in the Welcome window that appears when you start MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. 3 Click Browse and select the backup file you want to restore. 4 If the backup is password protected, enter the password in the window that appears, and click OK. 5 To save the restored company file in another folder or computer, click Change and select the location. 6 Click Restore. Forms Forms can now be customised in many more ways than was previously possible. You can access the form customisation window by going to the Setup menu and choosing Customise Forms, or by clicking Customise in the Advanced Filters windows. Some of the changes to the form customisation window are shown below. RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES 9
In this beta, you can customise form templates and migrate existing custom forms (See Task 4: Migrate custom forms on page 5). Note that custom forms are no longer saved as.frm files, but are saved in the company file database. In a network situation, this means that all users can access the forms without having to have local copies on their workstations. In this beta, custom forms cannot be transferred between AccountRight 2011 Beta files. However, this functionality will be enabled in the future release. Reports The way you produce and customise reports has changed. For example, the Index to Reports window has been redesigned and there are additional functions. 10 RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES
Improved reports customisation features enable you to easily sort and filter report information, and customise the way reports look. You can customise a report when you display it in the Report window. The following shows some of the new options available in the window. For detailed information about how to produce and customise reports in the new version of AccountRight, see the Reports section of the online help. New look and feel The MYOB AccountRight user interface has been updated. Some of the main changes are listed below. Features that have changed See... Selection lists page 12 Errors and warnings page 12 Column resizing and arrangement page 12 Changed button positions page 13 Zoom arrows page 13 RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES 11
Selection lists Previously, when you typed a record name or code that wasn t available and pressed TAB, a Select from List window would appear. Now, the list of records appears below or above the field so you can quickly select from the list or create a new record. You can sort and resize the columns and resize the list box to make it easier to find the record you want to use. Errors and warnings Most warning and error messages now appear next to the relevant field as you enter information in the field. Previously, error messages would always appear in a popup window. If a field is filled in incorrectly, an error message appears next to the field, explaining the error and giving information about how to correctly fill in the field. The message disappears after a couple of seconds. To redisplay the error message, hover over the error icon ( ). If you enter a value that appears to be incorrect (for example, selecting the wrong account type), a warning message appears next to the field, explaining the possible error and how to fix it. This message disappears after a couple of seconds. To redisplay the warning message, hover over the warning icon ( ). Column resizing and arrangement You can now resize and rearrange the columns in your list and transaction windows. To resize a column, click and drag a column boundary to a new position. To move a column, click and drag the column header to a new position. 12 RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES
Changed button positions of windows. Previously, buttons such as New and Print were positioned along the bottom Task buttons can now be found on a toolbar at the top of the windows. The help button ( in the top right corner of the window. ) is now located Zoom arrows Zoom arrows, displayed next to various fields, allow you to display more detailed information about a specific entry such as a transaction or customer record. Previously, a white zoom arrow ( ) indicated that you could make changes to the detailed record. A grey zoom arrow ( ) indicated that this information was read only. Now, a changeable transaction is indicated by a blue zoom arrow ( ), while a grey zoom arrow ( ) indicates a read only transaction. Searching and sorting Searching lists Previously, you could only search your items list and cards list. You can now search all of your lists, including accounts, activities, jobs and categories. To search a list, open the list window, such as the Jobs List window, and type the text or number you want to search for in the Search field. The list entries that match your search are displayed and updated as you type. In the example below, a search for the term GM found two jobs with this term in their names. RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES 13
Sorting lists You can now sort most information displayed in your list windows. Click on a column header to sort the list entries by that property. A triangle next to a column header indicates the list is sorted by that property and whether it is sorted in ascending or descending order. Click again to reverse the sorting order. Field help You can now hover your mouse over buttons, text fields, columns and command centre items to display a short description of the item. You can turn field help on or off in the Help menu, and in the Windows tab of the Preferences window. Other changes Tracking and deleting categories Deselecting the category tracking preference no longer clears all of your category history. You can now view category history information in reports and the Find Transactions window even when the category tracking preference is deselected Note that in this version, you cannot delete a category while the category tracking preference is selected and set with the Required option. If you want to delete a category, you will need to deselect the category tracking preference or select the Warn option instead of Required, and then delete the category. Finance charges Finance charges are now recorded as invoices or bills. Previously, they were recorded as Receive Payments or Pay Bills transactions. This means that you can now delete a payment for a finance charge without deleting the finance charge invoice or bill. 14 RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES
Finance charge transactions are now automatically assigned the default tax code for the linked account for late charges. This allows them to be included in BAS reports. Superannuation Choice form [AccountRight Plus only] In MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta, the Superannuation Choice form is now created using a Microsoft Word template. To view and print the form, you need Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007. Save a pay run [AccountRight Plus only] Pay runs can now be saved if you need to close the Process Payroll Assistant part way through processing pays. Previously, if you closed the Assistant, you had to begin the pay run again later, losing your changes. You are now prompted to save the pay run. When you next open the Process Payroll Assistant, you are then prompted to use your saved pay run or start a new one. Recording multiple activity slips Previously, you would enter a batch of activity slips by clicking the Multiple Activity Slips tab in the Enter Activity Slip window. RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES 15
In this release, you need to click the Multiple Activity Slips button in the Enter Activity Slip window. Also, activity slips are only recorded if you click Record in the Multiple Activity Slips window. If you click Cancel, any activity slip information you have entered will not be saved. In previous versions, activity slips were automatically recorded when you tabbed to the next line of the grid. Transaction Journal entries Previously, when you viewed taxable transactions in the Transaction Journal or Recap Transaction windows, two trade debtors or trade creditors entries were displayed: one for the tax exclusive sale or purchase amount, and one for the tax component. Now, only one trade debtors or trade creditors entry will be displayed, for the whole amount, including tax. Note that this only applies to transactions created in MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta, not those recorded in a previous version. 13th period adjustments Previously, you recorded a 13th period transaction by typing an asterisk in the date field of a Record Journal Entry, Spend Money, Receive Money, Transfer Money or Adjust Inventory window. In MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta, the way you record 13th period transactions has been simplified: 13th period transactions are now known as year end adjustments. 16 RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES
You can only enter year end adjustments in the Record Journal Entry and Adjust Inventory windows. You mark a transaction as a year end adjustment by selecting the Year End Adjustment option. The option to create a company file with 12 or 13 periods has been removed from the New Company File Assistant. All company files (new and upgraded) will have the ability to record entries as year end adjustments. Note that if you upgrade a company file with Spend Money, Receive Money or Transfer Money transactions recorded in the 13th period, these transactions will be identified as year end adjustments, but if you edit them, they will lose their status and you will not be able to resave them as year end adjustments. Year end adjustments are labelled [Yr End Adj] in the General, Inventory and All tabs of the Transaction Journal window. You can also filter reports to show year end adjustments. Purging transactions Previously, when closing a financial year or payroll year, you could choose whether you wanted to purge historical data in order to reduce the size of your company file. You could also purge data at any time during the year by selecting the purge function from the File menu. AccountRight 2011 Beta stores your data more efficiently, meaning your company file is more compact and secure. The ability to purge data is no longer needed. Importing and exporting data Data import and export is now done through the Import and Export Assistant. The Assistant provides the same import and export choices as in previous versions, but in a wizard format that is easier to use. You can access the Import and Export Assistant through the File menu. RELEASE NOTES NEW FEATURES 17
Features unavailable in this beta The following windows or features are not available in this beta release. Window Activation and confirmation Feature unavailable (if blank, all features in the window are unavailable) Accessed from... Help menu Active Workstations Index to Reports Report Batches Report Styles M Powered Services File menu Reports menu All command centres, Prepare Electronic Payments Pay Liabilities Print Payroll command centre Pay Superannuation Payment Summary Assistant Preferences Step 7: Print and save payment summaries Step 8: Print verification report Step 9: Create EMPDUPE file and print Magnetic Media form Security tab Activate audit trail Prompt for session report Check for errors automated confirmation User IDs Reports Export reports to PDF, comma separated and tab delimited files. Email reports Payroll command centre Payroll command centre Setup menu All reports 18 RELEASE NOTES FEATURES UNAVAILABLE IN THIS BETA
Known issues in this release Function Task/Window Issue Suggested workaround Automatic Updates Banking BASlink Checking for updates Editing reconciled transactions Prepare Statement An error will occur if you click Restore hidden updates in the Software Manager window, then click New updates & messages and then select an update. If you change any information in a cleared transaction, its reconciliation status will revert back to uncleared. In the final release, only changes to amounts, accounts and dates will revert a reconciled transaction to the uncleared status. An error will occur if you start the BASlink application without logging on to Windows Vista or Windows 7 as an administrator. Forms Migrating An error may occur if you migrate an MYOB BusinessBasics form. Remote access Saving a custom form Printing Connecting When you customise a form and then close the form, you are not prompted to save your changes. You cannot print forms directly from the Spend Money window. In some cases, you may not be able to connect to a remote company file. Reports Printing You cannot print some reports using the Print buttons located in registers, list windows, and other windows, such as Reconcile Accounts. Upgrade Migration When upgrading large AccountRight company files, for example a 500MB.myo file, the upgrade process may fail and a System out of memory message may appear. If you click Restore hidden updates, close and reopen the Software Manager window before selecting an update to download or install. Re reconcile the transaction that has become uncleared when next reconciling the affected bank account. Log on to Windows Vista or Windows 7 as an administrator. Migrate MYOB AccountRight v19 or v19.5 forms only. Make sure you save the form by clicking Save As in the File menu before closing. Print forms using the Print/Email windows accessible from the relevant command centre. No workaround. This issue is being investigated. Print available reports by going to the Reports menu and selecting Index to Reports. Avoid upgrading company files larger than 500MB. If this is unavoidable, consider backing up your previous version company file, then purging some historical transactions to reduce the size of the file before attempting to upgrade again. For information about other known issues and fixes, check the AccountRight Beta known issues page. RELEASE NOTES KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE 19
Reporting defects and other issues If you find issues or defects that you can reproduce in this beta release, you can report them via email or via the my.myob.com website. When you report an issue: specify your operating system provide instructions for how to reproduce the issue provide the build number (can be found by going to Help > About). if you are reporting an error log message, click the Save Error To File option in the error window and attach the file. If you have queries relating to the installation of the software or a feature, email accountrightbeta2011@myob.com and provide a clear and complete description of your issue or enquiry. Check to see if an issue has been reported Before reporting an issue, check the known issues page or go to the community forum to see if it has already been reported. To access the community forum, go to community.myob.com and log in using your my.myob login details. Click the topic section for AccountRight Beta. To submit a defect or report an issue Via my.myob Log in to my.myob.com for your region and select the AccountRight Beta product from the list at the top of the window. Post to the Community forum go to the Support menu and choose Community Forum. View the AccountRight 2011 Beta topic and check to see is your issue has been logged or a workaround has been posted. Create a new message or comment on an existing topic. Create a support request go to the Support menu and choose Support Request. Complete the online form. Via email Describe the issue in an email and send it to accountrightbeta2011@myob.com. Via the beta software If you receive an error log message while using AccountRight beta and you want to report it, you can do one of the following in the error window: Click Email Error to MYOB. This automatically inserts the error message in an email to MYOB. Note that you still need to enter information about your operating system and steps to reproduce the error, before sending the email. Click Save Error To File and then choose where to save it. A text file of the error message is created and saved to the specified location, which you can then attach to an email later. 20 RELEASE NOTES REPORTING DEFECTS AND OTHER ISSUES
Updates to AccountRight Beta Software updates will become available via Software Manager. Updates fix known issues that have been reported by other users. You should check for, and install updates regularly. To check for and install updates 1 Go to the Windows start menu and choose All Programs>MYOB>AccountRight 2011 Beta>Check for MYOB Updates. The Software Manager window opens, listing the current updates. 2 Select the update you want to install and click: Install to install the update immediately. Download Only to save the update file to your computer to be installed later. AccountRight 2011 Beta SDK A Software Development Kit (SDK) is available for MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta. The SDK contains API documentation and sample applications that can help you integrate your solutions with the new framework. The SDK includes MYOB API help that integrates with the Visual Studio 2008 help system, giving you full access to all AccountRight 2011 Beta API documentation as well as F1 context sensitive help from within Visual Studio. To open the MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta API help You need to have installed MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta as a Custom installation type in order to access the SDK. For installation instructions, see Install MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta on page 3. 1 Using Windows Explorer, open the SDK folder that is located in the MYOB AccountRight 2011 Beta program folder (for example, C:\Program Files\MYOB\AccountRight\2011.0\AU Beta1\SDK). 2 The Help folder contains the help file that can be launched using Visual Studio. RELEASE NOTES UPDATES TO ACCOUNTRIGHT BETA 21