Tech Tips

Are You Ready for MAS 4.0? 

by Ken Phillips

This list can be used as the basis for a MAS 90 4.0 upgrade:

1. Review your list of company codes in Company Maintenance. Delete all company codes you no longer use, and do not wish to migrate to MAS 4.0. You can delete all MAS demo data company codes such as ABC, EEC, FDD, LWW, UWI, XYZ and SB1. You may also wish to delete backup and test copies of your data files (i.e. TST or BAK). You should back up these MAS 90 data files to an archive tape or CD before deleting them.
2. Review your Report Master reports, and delete those reports you no longer use, or do not wish to migrate to MAS 4.0. Delete unused queries and one-time reports. Make a list of your production reports, and consider re-writing them in Crystal Reports or 4.0 Business Insights Reporter (Crystal Reports Wizard). Report Master will be retired in version MAS 4.10.
3. Review your Import Master import programs. You will need to re-create these imports in Visual Integrator since Import Master no longer exists in MAS 4.0. If you have imports, but do not own Visual Integrator, you will need to purchase the V/I module.
4. Review all your Crystal Reports form codes (i.e. Sales Order, S/O Invoice, Pick Sheets, Purchase Order, A/R Invoice and A/P checks). Delete any form codes you do not wish to migrate and re-compile in MAS 4.0. You can delete the unneeded form codes using Report Manager.
5. Review your Visual Integrator Exports and Import jobs. Delete any Visual Integrator jobs you do not wish to migrate to MAS 4.0.
6. Review your MAS 90 User Codes, and delete any User Codes you will not need in MAS 4.0. Security in MAS 4.0 changes, so removing any obsolete user codes will assist creating your new MAS security setup.
7. Download and install the MAS 90 3.71 GL-3053-T.exe patches from the Best website Support section.
8. The GL-3053 contains programs and Crystal Reports which verify your General Ledger does not have missing G/L accounts in GL5 (Transaction Detail file) and GL8 (Budget & History file), special or illegal characters in your G/L account number, and checks for Out of Balance source journals. Any of the above conditions will prevent you from migrating to MAS 4.0 until the accounts or source journals are corrected.
9. Review the MAS 90 or MAS 200 4.0 Supported Platform Matrix, and verify you have the required hardware configuration. The current SPM can be downloaded from the Best Support website, or contact your Customer Representative at DSD Business Systems.
10. Verify you have enough disk space. MAS 4.0 will be installed in a separate directory as a parallel installation, and your data will be migrated or copied to the new MAS 4.0 system. System Setup and Library Master require 150 MB, with 15 to 25 MB for each module, plus your company data files. To recover disk space, review the DSD MAS 90 Tech Tip No. 20 “Recovering Hard Disk space from MAS 90 and MAS 200” on the DSD website ( http://www.dsdinc.com ). You may be able to recover significant disk space simply by deleting old company codes, and deleting all *.OLD MAS 90 files.
11. Confirm in Accounts Receivable Customer Maintenance that all customers who have tax-exempt numbers have a defined sales tax code or schedule. If a sales tax code is not defined, the tax-exempt number will be deleted during the upgrade/migration.

Finding G/L Problems and Preparing for MAS 90 4.0 

DSD Professional Services recommends all current Sage Software Maintenance Plan MAS 90 and MAS 200 users download and run the utility programs and Crystal Reports contained in GL3053_t.EXE in preparation for migrating to MAS 4.0, or to clean up your MAS 90 3.71 (or prior) General Ledger Accounts.

Major changes have been made to the MAS 4.0 General Ledger account structure and data files.  In order to migrate your MAS 90 and MAS 200 data file to MAS 4.0, your General Ledger cannot have any missing accounts, special characters or Out Of Balance Source Journals.   To assist you in finding these G/L problems, Sage Software has provided the GL-3053_T.EXE download file, as well as two Knowledge Base Articles (GL4000-KBA and GL4001-KBA).

The GL-3053_T.EXE contains G/L programs to remove future date transactions, and five Crystal Reports which will report any accounts with invalid characters, any  missing accounts in your GL5 – Detail Transaction file, any missing accounts in your GL8 – Budget and History file, or Out of Balance Source Journals. GL-3053_T.EXE can be run on any MAS 90 3.71 or prior MAS system.   GL-3053_T.EXE and Knowledge Base articles can be downloaded from the Support Section of the Best Website.

The GLWURA and GLWURD programs analyze your G/L files to determine data integrity before migration to MAS 4.0.  The five Crystal Reports are:

1. InvalidAccountCharacters_371.rpt. checks for invalid special characters in your account numbers.

2. MissingAccount_371_GL5.rpt checks your transaction detail for missing accounts in GL1.

3. MissingAccount_371_GL8.rpt checks your account summary file for missing accounts in GL1.

4. OOBsourceJournal_371.rpt checks your GL5 file for Out of Balance Source Journals.

5. OOBsourceJOurnal_400.rpt checks MAS 4.0 G/L files for Out of Balance Source Journals.

Out of Balance Journals normally result from an error during a subsidiary ledger journal or register update, causing the Daily Transaction Register to be out of balance.  This would be corrected with a One Sided Journal Entry in the General Journal.  All out of balance source journals must be corrected prior to migrating to MAS 4.0

These Crystal Reports can be run on your system, even if you are not planning to upgrade to MAS 4.0 right away, and will assist you in cleaning up your G/L.  If you plan to upgrade to MAS 4.0 in the near future, running these programs will allow you to correct the General Ledger in a timely fashion prior to the actual MAS 4.0 migration.

Contact DSD Professional Services at 619-683-9900 if you would like assistance in downloading or running these programs.