ABC Direct Sales
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Recent ABC6 enhancements and new functions

(many of these are suggested by people like you -- Thank you)

July 2010

  • The input routines have been worked on. For example you can now enter a date as "23" and ABC will fill in the current month and year. And when selecting Stock in Sales Invoicing you can now type the first couple of charatcers of the stock code and ABC will display a list of matching items for you to select from.

June 2010

  • A new Custom Reports option available. If you have a need for a report that is too complex for the ABC report Generator, ABC Direct Sales can now easily produce a custom report for you. This will then appear on your Main Menu.
  • Using ABC across a network has been dramatically speeded up by rewriting some of the code.

May 2010

  • A new report in Sales Ledger to list all ProForma (held) Invoices.
  • The old Noticeboard has been revived, with a new feature.
  • ABC now remembers your settings for screen colours, etc.
  • SpreadSheet enhanced with new functions. There is now a Date cell type, and you can specify the number of decimal places for any type of numberic cell. Margins and option settings are now automatically stored with each Sheet.
  • Added options in Customer records. You can now choose not to print your Company Address at the top of Invoices (if you want to use your headed paper), and there is an option to print the word "COPY" at the top of any reprinted invoice.

April 2010

  • Nominal Ledger Opening Balances has been simplified. Now you can only have one set of Opening Balances, and ABC automatically creates it for you if it doesn't exist.
  • ABC6 now remembers the size and position you prefer for the main ABC window, and will restore this when you start up.
  • Entering unpaid bills no longer requires that something is entered in the Description Field (by public demand).
  • New functions in the SpreadSheet. Highlight a block of cells, then move the cursor to an edge so it changes to an arrow -- now you can drag the block somewhere else, or hold down CTRL and drag to Copy the block somewhere else. This will bring formulae and colours, fonts, etc to the new position, but you may still need to set cell types after this operation. Some more Import and Export options added. The above Drag/Drop function can be turned On or Off from the Edit Menu.

March 2010

  • Some internal components of ABC have been replaced to make the input routines smoother and more robust. You should not notice much difference, except maybe small cosmestic differences to the screens. We think it's an improvement.

February 2010

  • Change to Record Card editing. Click EDIT to start editing a Record Card, and now you can edit all the Tab Pages before you press SAVE (or CANCEL). Previously you had to SAVE each page separately.
  • VAT Audit report now shows the Heading Code on each line
  • Trial Balance report now has options to sort in different ways.
  • Nominal Audit and Heading History reports have options to sort in different ways.
  • Selection of Headings, Stock Items, VatCodes, Payment Methods, have all been made smoother and easier. For example, when selecting a Heading Code if you type a number or a letter, the cursor jumps straight to the first matching line.
  • Sorting options added to N/L reports Trial Balance and Heading History.
  • Customer Record card changed. Now shows more information on the first Tab Page. Also, resizing ABC resizes window contents.
  • Find a Record has been overhauled. The Find Grid now defaults to remaining visible all the time (previously it slid closed when not in use. And the Record Card is now synced to the Grid. The NEXT and PREVIOUS buttons have gone, but you can still use the little Forward and Back arrows under the grid for the same function.

December 2009

  • NL Trial Balance report has been rewritten to make it more clear.
  • NL Heading History report rewritten and is now about 30x faster.
  • Network users will benefit from the revised code that allows Workstations to start up more quickly.
  • Sales Ledger invoicing -- new functions to print unfinished invoices as Quotations, Delivery Advice, etc..

November 2009

  • The Filing Label Print function has been completely rewritten and improved. Now you can set the size of your label (including choose Avery Label sizes) and then drag Fields to position them on the label, and set the font and size and colour of each field. Even position a picture on the label. And you can choose which File to use and select a range of Records.

    • October 2009

    • We have added little popup messages to various parts of ABC. For example, after you click SAVE a little popup will tell you that the item was saved OK. You can ignore these popups and they fade away after a few seconds. But if you want to admire their beauty for longer and read the catchy little message slowly, just move the mouse cursor over the the popup and it will stay there as long as your patience allows. You can also drag the popup around the screen if you so wish.

    September 2009

    • The Charts (aka Graphs) on the Customer and Supplier Record Cards have been improved. In the near future we will add a separate Graph option to let you see various forms of analysis of your business in graphical form.

    August 2009

    • An exciting addition to the Report Preview window. Now you can view a report, and then click on options to change the sorted order, or show more detail or less detail. Not all reports have this feature yet -- take a look at Aged Debtors, List Customers, Trial Balance, and Nominal Audit List reports to see it working (look for extra buttons on the toolbar).
    • New CashBook function STANDING ORDERS has been added. This allows you to setup a list of regular transactions that you can view/edit or post each month.
    • When entering Unpaid Bills in the Purchase Ledger you can now UPDATE STOCK levels at the same time. To turn this function ON or OFF there is an OPTION tickbox on the Unpaid Bills screen.

    April 2009

    • Further work on Aged Debtors/Creditors Reports and Trial Balance report allow you to reprint these for past periods. The Nominal Ledger Opening Balance function has also been improved.
    • Aged Debtors Report has an extra option for sorting into Account Key order.
    • The Nominal Ledger Opening Balance system has been improved. Along with this have been changes to Edit Heading Records (new features added, including Tools > Recalculate Balances), Year End, and Accounts Check. We think it is now easier to use.
    • New feature for the SpreadSheet allows you to import all your Customers, Suppliers, Stock Items, or Headings into the SpreadSheet (File > ABC Accounts Data > choose Customers, etc). To demonstrate what we might do with this, we arrange to colour-code some lines depending on various criteria. For example, Stock Items that are On Order will be shown with red background; Customers who bought from you last year but have not bought anything this year are highlighted, etc. We will expand this idea in future.
    • Minor changes to the SpreadSheet. The Options Menu now allows you to customise the way the cursor moves around the screen, and whether or not the cell content is selected when you go to edit a cell.
    • Bank Reconcilliation has been improved. The screen now also shows the batch totals of the items you have "ticked". And when you SAVE, the items that have been saved (and that do not match the criteria) disappear from the list.
    • At the Customer Record you can view their current balance or history. If you right-click on an Invoice there is now an extra option to reprint it as a Delivery Note.
    • A nice improvement to the Import function. Now it scans all drives on your network and displays a list of suitable ABC5 files for you to select from. The same improvement ha been added to the ABC6 Payroll
    • The "Import from ABC5" and "Clear the Account Files" functions have been improved to make them a bit more user friendly. Not something most of us will ever use more than once, but newcomers to ABC will benefit.
    • Recent changes have concentrated on the Network version of ABC6, and we have changed the way it is installed and updated. Hopefully you won't even notice this improvement.
    • One of our programmers had nothing to do over Christmas so you now have a neat new feature. At the top of the Main Menu you can select Help > Update ABC. This will check our web site and download an updated version of ABC programs if available. Now it is even easier to keep up to date.
    • Although no users have mentioned it, it appears that Windows Vista treats the cursor keys differently to Windows XP if you are trying to move from Field to Field on the screen. ABC6 has been changed so everything now works the same in Vista as in XP.
    • A new utility function has been added -- CHECK ACCOUNTS. This goes through all your accounts transactions files and puts the totals for each Customer/Supplier/Heading and Stock item into the appropriate Record Cards.
    • The data grids in Customer/Supplier and Headings records now remember any changes you make to column positions and widths. (At the top of the Window use Misc. > Save Grid Layout to store any changes you've just made to the layout.)
    • Filing Global Change has been implemented. This is quite powerful and allows you to change or delete Records in your own Files. (Can also be used on the accounts files if you know the special password). It has a SQL Wizard for selecting which records you want to change.
    • The Stock Sales List report has a new feature that allows you to choose a range of dates for the report. If printed as part of the Month End, the range is automatically set to this month.
    • The Customer Record card now has a new OPTION, where you can specify this customer is to be invoiced at zero rate VAT -- ideal for Charities or EU customers. Of course you can still change the VAT code on a line by line basis if necessary.
    • All the input screens have been made smarter and tidier. Tell us if you like the changes.
    • The Password system has been changed. If you set a password for the Stock System at level 2 or below, then this restricts viewing of Stock Records to the stock item descriptions and selling prices only -- cost prices and supplier details are hidden. This applies even when invoicing.
    • A new Accessory has been added to the Main Menu ACCESSORIES Menu (top of screen). The View Company Stats shows a quick summary of the company you are working on.
    • Bank Statement has been added to the reports ABC can print automatically at Month End.
    • Log On to ABC has changed. If you have more than one company set up in ABC you first choose which company to use, and then enter your password for that company. (Of course you can also choose not to bother with passwords if you prefer).
    • While producing a Sales Invoice you can now fully view or edit the Stock File (eg. to maybe add a new stock item).
    • Sales Invoicing CASH WITH ORDER has been implemented.
    • Statement Printing has more options.
    • Bank reconciliation now allows you to reconcile any of the bank or cash Headings.
    • The Nominal Ledger Opening Balance entry screen has been improved. It now sorts the Headings into order, only displays Headings that can be altered, and shows any unbalanced amount in red.
    • Aged Debtor report (Sales Ledger) now has option to show all the unpaid invoices instead of just a summary.
    • There is now a Bank Statements Report (CashBook Menu > Reports) which prints out all transactions Paid Out or Received by a bank.
    • Registration and Serial Number features now enabled.
    • Big changes to the way the Nominal Ledger (Headings) Opening Balances work. Now you can have several "sets" of Opening Balances (eg. one for each accounting year) and these are kept in a separate file. These can be edited outside of the accounts (eg. to match what your accountant tells you). You can also now set the Start and End of your accounting year. The combination of these changes means you can reprint reports like Trial Balance, Profit & Loss, etc, at any later time.This feature is something that accountants, rather than the average user, will care about.
    • The Nominal Ledger direct entry routines have been given their own section on the main menu. These include Opening Balances, Journal Entries (transfers), Entry of Stock Value and Wages Summary.
    • When you start up ABC the Noticeboard will automatically appear (you can turn this feature off or on from the Main Menu > Accessories menu. If you have several companies, there is a separate Noticeboard for each one.
    • Help is now available -- the Help system is greatly enlarged and covers all parts of ABC. Whatever you are doing you can usually select Help (or press F1) and a relevant Help Page will appear.
    • The Report Design function in FILING has been rewritten and is now much easier to use and more powerful. There is a SQL Wizard to help filter and select Records, you can group and sort and total, and now you can produce reports using data from more than one file (Table).
    • Filing -- Select A Database has been made more user friendly.
    • The ZOOM function (expand an invoice to show detail) has been enhanced to now include the Heading (Analysis Code) Number.
    • While looking at a Supplier Record's history you can now right click on an old Unpaid Bill entry and View/Print it. Although this is not seen by the Supplier, it may be useful for you to add notes about that order while entering the Unpaid Bill. This new function allows you to recall that information as required.
    • You can now print Letters, Envelopes, and Labels while viewing a Customer or Supplier record -- their address is automatically mail-merged into the document. The Envelope printer is also available at any time from the Main Menu > Accessories menu -- you can type in a name and address. Make all these items look more professional and personal by selecting a picture or logo, and ticking the box to have your Return Address also printed.
    • The area for editing your Company Parameters (Company Name, Address, Invoice Numbers, etc) has been overhauled and made more user friendly. It does nothing it did not do before, but it is prettier.
    • More Payment Methods added. Credit and Debit Card, Internet Banking and Standing Orders.
    • Password security has been added. at present it only works in sales Ledger (though you can set Password access for all areas of ABC). You can turn Passwords ON or OFF (Accounts Utilities > Edit Passwords).
    • New system for specifying the pictures you can have printed at the top of invoices, statements, and reports. A different set of pictures can be used for each company (if you several sets of accounts in ABC). When producing an Invoice or Statement, use the Option Tab Page to change the picture. To alter the picture (eg.your logo) that prints at the top of reports, from Accounts Menu select Utilities > Edit Accounts Parameters > Picture Tab Page.
    • The ABC Spreadsheet can now import Excel worksheets.
    • When you produce a Sales Invoice, if you include a Stock Item that is out of stock, the Quantity will be shown in red (on screen only) to alert you.
    • Supplier statements and history reports have gained an extra column that shows the Supplier's invoice number.
    • Transactions in Sales and Purchase Ledger have an extra Field that stores a "Paid Reference". For example, you can look back and see that Cheque 12345 was in payment of three Invoices, or that a particular Discount was associated with Invoice 5432 and Payment 97865.
    • Invoices and Statements can now have their own logo or picture at the top, and these are now much larger. Go to the OPTIONS Tab Page in either invoice or statement, and choose your picture. You can create your own picture files as .BMP, .GIF, .JPG, .WMF, or .ICO format. Best size is about 7cm wide by 3.5cm high, approx 72dpi. The default folder to store them is \ABC6\A_DATA (for company A). Max filesize is 50k, so JPG is probably best. Contact us if you need help producing your own company logo.
    • More Stock reports have been added, including a Valuation Report and a Blank List Report (useful for stocktaking). As requested, many of these have a Location Field that can be used to show where an item can be found.
    • Invoices and Statements now can include an attention grabbing border around a Message or Special Note you enter. Useful for Special Offers, Seasonal Greetings, or chasing overdue accounts. Choice of borders.
    • Statements have an Automatic Message function which will select one of three preset notes to print, depending on the age of the unpaid items (ie. 30, 60 or 90 days overdue). You can edit these messages, and add a choice of border if required.
    • Filing System now lets you set Record Cards to have Auto-Date Field (fills in Today's date when you edit the Record) and Auto-Number Field (Fills in the next number -- eg. useful for serial numbers, etc).
    • Customer and Supplier Record Cards The Misc Menu (at top of window) offers option SORT IN ORDER. This allows you to choose in what order you wish to step through records when using NEXT or PREV. ABC will remember the setting.
    • Stock Record Cards: The History Tab Page has an option to view Sales -- This will display every invoice line containing the stock item. ie. see which customers have bought this item.
    • Stock Record Cards: A new panel on the Options Tab allows you to set the type of recalculation to apply when Saving a Stock Record -- and you can tick a box to make this happen automatically from now on.
    • CashBook Reports:: An additional column has been added to display your own reference (eg. cheque number).