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Version 4.5 Offers Extensive New Capabilities

The Version 4.5 release of Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 is due out in early fall and packed with new features designed to smooth your workday. This article takes a closer look at enhancements in the Sales Order module, including new capabilities in pricing, commissions and lot/serial distribution, as well as more flexible integration between the Sales Order and Job Cost modules.

New Pricing Features

Price Level by Customer and Product Line – In Version 4.5, price levels by customer have been enhanced to allow you to establish default price levels for each customer by product line. This will make it easy to reward customers purchasing large quantities of different items across a product portfolio, not just for a large quantity of an individual item. Because discounts can be pre-set by price code or ship-to code, order entry staff will not need to refer to additional documentation to determine customer pricing discounts, making it easier for you to reward your best customers and keep them loyal.

Pricing Flexibility for Total Item Quantities – Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 have always had the capability to set discount pricing for large quantities of a specific item. In Version 4.5, you can set discounts based on groupings of items or item totals. Discounts can be based on the total of products in a product line, the total for specific groups of products in a product category or by the total sum quantity on the order.

This flexibility is especially useful if your company offers many different colors and sizes of the same items. Perhaps you’d like to run a special on widgets and widget accessories, but you stock widgets in four different sizes and 10 colors and accessories fall into six different product groups and number in the hundreds. Using Sage ERP MAS 90 Version 4.5, you would be able to discount the entire widget product line by 10 percent, set a 20 percent discount on two of the accessory item categories and discount the total order by an additional 5 percent if the total items ordered reach a certain level.

Advanced Distribution of Lot & Serial Numbers

With Version 4.5 of Sage ERP MAS 90, you can assign specific lot or serial numbers when you first create a sales order, rather than when invoicing. This allows you to reserve specific lots for your best customers. Or, if a customer has ordered from one lot and wants to order more from that same lot, you can easily accommodate them. If, for example, a granite supplier sells different types, colors and grains and allows customers to choose a specific piece to be used for a remodeling project, that item can be reserved for that specific customer. The selected lot and serial numbers can be printed on the sales orders and picking sheets for more reliable processing and communication. The new Lot and Serial Number Distribution option is enabled on the Line Entry tab of Sales Order Options.

Greater Flexibility in Salesperson Commissions

Commission Rate Table by Salesperson, Customer or Item – A commission rate enhancement in Version 4.5 allows you to set up salesperson commission rates by any combination of salesperson, customer, item and effective date. For organizations with different price tiers for specific customers, a large number of items and multitier commissions, the new commission rate tables provide an automatic method for ensuring your salespeople are paid correctly. The rate tables are easily set up and revised through a new maintenance program. The rates you assign will override any commission rates set up for items in Item Maintenance or the commission rate entered for the invoice.

Split Commissions by Customer – Sage ERP MAS 90 and 200 users can split commissions between two or more salespeople, such as inside and outside sales or salesperson and sales manager. With Version 4.5, the percentage splits and specified sales personnel can be set for each individual customer. After the default split commission has been set up for a customer, this commission split will default automatically so users don’t have to enter this information each time they create a sales order or invoice for that customer. The new default split commission feature supports a primary salesperson and up to four additional salespeople.

Enhanced Sales Order Integration with Job Cost

A series of new features within the Sales Order to Job Cost integration allows you to specify how revenues and costs are posted to the general ledger and set job-cost-related defaults to save time in order entry. These capabilities are configured on a new Job Cost tab in Sales Order Options.

The new revenue and cost-posting options are found in three areas. You can:

• Post sales order invoice costs to job costs, amounts only or amounts and units
• Have amounts update the Estimate fields in Job Cost
• Choose to post drop-ship costs to Job Cost—the choices are Yes, No and Purchase Order only

With Version 4.5, you also can elect to include the job number and description in the general ledger posting comment for work in process, cost of goods, revenue and expense accounts.

New inventory-related options allow you to relieve inventory quantities using the Product Line general ledger accounts for sales and cost of goods, rather than the Job Cost Job Type accounts, when entering items for jobs in Sales Order. You also can choose how sales kits will appear on job invoices.

Other new features give you more control in sales order and invoice entry. You can choose to validate that the customer entered is correct for the job. You can select the cost types to be used in Sales Order, and you can choose to automatically change the Job Status to Complete during invoicing in Sales Order. This is a useful feature if you only invoice jobs once. To further save time, you can set a default cost code and cost type for a customer. Invoice History Inquiry also now displays the full job number and description.

To discuss your questions or potential upgrade to Version 4.5 of Sage ERP MAS 90 or 200, contact our Sage Software Support Center.

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