ActivityHD Release 8.0

System-wide

    8.0-0

  • nQativ becomes AccountingWare!

    nQativ is being redubbed "AccountingWare". In this release, all visible references as well as underlying references to "nQativ" have been changed to "AccountingWare". Some of the changed underlying references include:

    • Installation path names
    • Registry path names
    • Web references (online help, support, email, OData)

    When you upgrade to version 8, registry values are automatically migrated from the old nQativ registry keys to the new AccountingWare keys. One benefit of this migration is that user preferences for the ActivityHD view pane are preserved.

    For financial design users, the path for the ActivityHD Excel add-in has changed to C:\ProgramData\AccountingWare\Activity Explorer\Activity.xlam. Since the add-in has moved it must be registered again. Registration occurs automatically for the installation user. For other users it occurs automatically the first time they edit a financial design from within ActivityHD. If the add-in is not registered and you need to edit a financial design Excel workbook outside of ActivityHD or to run an import macro, press and then select AccountingWare ActivityHD > ActivityHD Excel Add-in from the Windows menu.

    If an existing financial design or import macro includes links to the ActivityHD Excel add-in, it will have to be updated to reference the new path. This occurs automatically once the add-in is registered. Simply follow the prompts in Excel to "Update Links" in the affected workbook.

  • 8.0 upgrade

    ActivityHD now requires that you successfully convert to version 7.30 or higher before converting to any release of version 8. This requirement should not be cumbersome since most sites are currently on version 7.30 or higher. Nonetheless, if you find that you are running a version older than 7.30, you should install and convert to 7.30 or higher before attempting to install and convert to version 8. By heeding this requirement, you ensure that conversions load and run faster since unnecessary conversion steps for older versions of the software are removed and only steps for 7.31 and higher are included.

  • ActivityHD Automation Server (AAS)

    A new automation method called "NewCode()" has been introduced on the IActivity and ICompany interfaces. NewCode() attempts to generate a unique code value for a particular data folder and original code value. This need can arise, for example, when importing longer codes from a data source into shorter code fields in ActivityHD where truncating the original code value could result in duplicate code values.

    The NewCode() automation method uses the following logic:

    1. If needed, NewCode() truncates the original code value to the maximum length allowed in ActivityHD.
    2. If the value from step 1 is unique, NewCode() returns that value.
    3. If the value is not unique, NewCode() appends a disambiguation suffix "(xx)".
      • If appending the disambiguation suffix makes the new code too long, NewCode() truncates the original code value to make room for the suffix.
      • The suffix iterates a counter beginning at "1" until a unique code is achieved.

    Example

    Suppose you are importing AP vendor codes from an external system which allows 30-character vendor codes. ActivityHD only allows 20-character vendor codes, so codes which exceed 20 characters will need to be truncated, possibly leading to duplicate codes. The import bot can use the NewCode() automation method to create unique codes as illustrated:

    External vendor code ActivityHD AP vendor code Comments
    Acme Brick Acme Brick Code is imported as is; no truncation required.
    Acme Brick and Plaster Acme Brick and Plast The truncated value is unique.
    Acme Brick, Stone, and Cement Acme Brick, Stone, a The truncated value is unique
    Acme Brick, Stone, and Plaster Acme Brick, Ston(1) The truncated value is not unique. The truncated value with suffix "(1)" is unique.
    Acme Brick, Stone, and Siding Acme Brick, Ston(2) The truncated value is not unique. The truncated value with suffix "(1)" is not unique. The truncated value with suffix "(2)" is unique.

    NewCode() returns a string value containing the unique code value. NewCode() requires the following three string parameters:

    NewCode(PackageName, FolderName, BaseCode): UniqueCode;

    Sample code for calling NewCode() using the ICompany interface:

    Dim old_code

    Dim new_code

    old_code = "ACCUM_DEPR"

    new_code = MacroProcess.Company.NewCode("General Ledger", "Rollup Items - Bal", old_code

    MacroProcess.AddMessage "Old: " & old_code

    MacroProcess.AddMessage "New: " & new_code

    NewCode() does not work for all code types. Code types must have the following properties:

    • Must be a single segment code.
    • Must allow alphanumeric characters.
    • Must be at least four characters long.

    The NewCode() function can abort with any of the following exceptions:

    • "Cannot generate unique new value for multi-segment code (Account)"
    • "Cannot generate unique new value for numeric code (Department)"
    • "Cannot generate unique 'Vendor' code for (ACME) after trying 10000 suffixes"
    • "Cannot generate unique 'Store' code for (XYZ)"
    • "The code length (3) doesn't allow enough space"

    Tip

    Consider entering the original code in the Memo field in case the imported code results in a truncated or "fabricated" unique code.

  • Disconnect

    Previously, it was possible to get an access violation by right-clicking the Activity System folder or a company folder and selecting Disconnect. The access violation no longer occurs.

  • Disconnect

    Activity System > Administration > Security > Authorized Users

    [Company] > Administration > Security > Authorized Users

    A new Disconnect command has been added on authorized users which allows a user with appropriate privileges to forcibly close all connections of a particular authorized user and thus disconnect them. In the Authorized Users HD view you can access the new command from the menu ( > Edit > Disconnect), from the shortcut menu (select an authorized user and right-click), and from the toolbar.

    "Disconnect" access on authorized users is required to use the new command. The Disconnect command should be considered an administrator command and should be used sparingly and with caution. Because it forcibly disconnects the user, any unsaved changes in the user's session(s) are lost. Disconnect closes all the authorized user's connections meaning that if the user has multiple connections, all the connections are lost.

    When would I use the Disconnect command? Suppose a user goes home for the weekend and leaves ActivityHD Explorer running. It's possible the user left some resources locked which is preventing other users from making changes. In the past, the draconian solution was to restart the server, disconnecting all users. It was also possible, albeit very technical and difficult, to kill the user's ActivityHD Explorer process. With the new Disconnect command, you can easily disconnect a single authorized user from ActivityHD Explorer without disconnecting other users.

  • New minimum version of Microsoft Office required

    Because Microsoft ended support for Office 2007 years ago and support for Office 2010 ends in mid-October 2020, AccountingWare is now requiring Office 2013 or later for use with ActivityHD.

Accounts Payable

    8.0-0

  • 1099 Detail Report

    Accounts Payable > Vendors > [right-click] > Select and Report > 1099 Detail Report

    Prior to version 8.0 of AccountingWare, you could not include 1099-NEC amounts for vendors on the 1099 Detail Report. Now an option has been added on the Detail tab of the report wizard to include 1099-NEC Nonemployee Compensation. 1099-NEC amounts are applicable beginning in 2020.

  • 1099s

    Accounts Payable > Vendors > Records > 1099s

    In conjunction with the IRS's reintroduction of Form 1099-NEC came modifications to Form 1099-MISC to remove Box 7 (nonemployee compensation). As a result, other box numbers on the 1099-MISC changed as well, including:

    • Crop insurance proceeds are now reported in Box 9 instead of Box 10.
    • Gross proceeds to an attorney are now reported in Box 10 instead of Box 14.
    • Section 409A deferrals are now reported in Box 12 instead of Box 15a.
    • Nonqualified deferred compensation income is now reported in Box 14 instead of Box 15b.

    Accompanying these changes to the IRS forms, AccountingWare has introduced a new year-specific structure for 1099 amount type properties. The new structure can handle changes to the following:

    • Box numbers
    • Amount description
    • E-File amount code
    • Inclusion/exclusion of an amount from "Total Withheld" on Form 1096
    • Inclusion/exclusion of an amount from "Total Reported" on Form 1096
    • Minimum threshold amount for reporting

    This flexibility allows prior-year 1099 reporting with correct box numbers, amount descriptions, and minimum thresholds, and simplifies the process of making future changes when the IRS alters the format of 1099 forms.

    Year-specific 1099 form information such as box numbers is only available in contexts where the tax year is known. For example, when setting the 1099 type on an APCode, the 1099 Type dropdown lists only the form name and amount description without the box number since the tax year is not known. However, wherever the tax year is known, like 1099 records and payment APCode detail, the box number and amount description are shown to provide the appropriate information for the 1099 amount for the given reporting year.

  • Report Independent Contractors

    Accounts Payable > Government > Report Independent Contractors

    When Form 1099-NEC was introduced in version 7.35, existing APCodes for 1099-MISC Box 7 were converted to 1099-NEC Box 1; however, the Independent Contractors report was not updated to look for vendors with 1099-NEC codes. As a result, when the report process was run, vendors with APCodes that had been converted to 1099-NEC were skipped. Now the report includes vendors with 1099-NEC default APCodes. For historical reporting purposes, vendors with 1099-MISC Box 7 default APCodes are also included.

Accounts Receivable

    8.0-0

  • ActivityHD Automation Server (AAS)

    The IARInvoiceType automation interface has been introduced to provide access to AR invoice types.

Contracts Processing

    8.0-3

  • Settle Contracts

    Contracts Processing > Contracts > [right-click] > Select and Settle Contracts

    Previously, the Settle Contracts process was incorrectly calculating sales tax in a couple of cases:

    • The customer tax category on the contract customer was set to a nontaxable category. In this case, sales tax might be calculated when it should not have been. If all products on the contract were nontaxable, the sales tax was zero, so the problem was mitigated for some nontaxable customers.
    • The tax entity was different from the default [origin] tax entity and the sourcing rules required the destination tax entity to be used for calculations. In this case, the sales tax calculations always used the default [origin] tax entity.

    Both issues have been corrected.

Fixed Assets

    8.0-0

  • Vehicle depreciation limits

    Vehicle depreciation limits have been announced for 2020. The limits remain unchanged from 2019. The limits for automobiles put in service in 2020 are:

    Tax year 2020 limit with bonus 2020 limit without bonus
    1st tax year $18,100 $10,100
    2nd tax year $16,100 $16,100
    3rd tax year $9,700 $9,700
    Each succeeding tax year $5,760 $5,760

General Ledger

    8.0-0

  • ActivityHD Automation Server (AAS)

    The GLAccountIndex data interface has been introduced to provide access to account index records via automation. Activate and Deactivate methods are also available.

  • Chart of Accounts

    General Ledger > Chart of Accounts

    In the past, the error message caused when creating or editing an account for an ambiguous rollup did not include the name of the guilty rollup. Now it does.

    Moreover, a new field is now available through automation to indicate the name of the ambiguous rollup.

    Example:

    vAccountData.Fields("AmbiguousRollup").Value

  • Drilldown Explorer

    Since the As Of date field was added to the Drilldown Explorer, it was a required field and only accepted a date between the selected period's begin and end dates. Now these restrictions are relaxed; the As Of date is now optional and, if specified, must contain a date which falls on or before the end of the period; the date is not required to be on or after the beginning of the period.

    If the period is changed and causes the previously specified as of date to go beyond the end of the period, the date is blanked out. There is no function for which it is useful for the as of date to fall beyond the end of the period. Since such a date would have no effect and could cause confusion, it is removed in this situation.

    Still, this easing of restrictions can result in illogical situations; therefore, it is left to the user to formulate meaningful selection criteria. As an example of illogical but not illegal criteria, suppose you use a balance function on accounts with closing entries but specify an as of date before the beginning of the year. These criteria could cause closing entries to be excluded from your results.

    If you specify an as of date before the beginning date of the period while using an Activity function, no postings are shown as should be the case. Similarly, using a YTD function with an as of date before the beginning of the year also shows no postings.

  • Financial designs

    General Ledger > Financial Designs

    An optional As Of date has been added to the Workbook Options dialog box. If an as of date is specified, all postings dated after the date are ignored.

    A common scenario where an as of date is useful is on a financial design with columns for each of the twelve periods of a year. At mid-year future postings may already exist but need to be excluded from the financial statement. For instance, if an as of date is not specified, postings for July may be included on a June statement; however, with an as of date of 6/30, all postings after June 30 are excluded.

    An as of date, when specified, must fall between the period beginning date and the period ending date of the current period.

    In connection with the addition of the As Of date in Workbook Options, an AsOf financial design function has been added which returns the specified as of date. The function returns a date data type and a date value of 0 if an as of date is not specified.

    In order to use the AsOf function in an optional way, consider dealing with the possibility of the as of date not being specified. The following function displays "As of <date>" when a date is specified and nothing when it is not:

    =IF(AsOf()=0,"","As of "&TEXT(AsOf(),"mm/dd/yyyy"))

Payroll/Human Resources

    8.0-1

  • Print Form 940 Returns

    Payroll/Human Resources > Government > Form 940 Returns > [highlight a return and right-click] > Print

    Previously, printed 940 returns showed the wrong overpayment option. If you selected "Apply to Next Return", the printed form showed the "Send a Refund" checkbox as marked, and vice versa. Now the overpayment option prints correctly.

    • 8.0-0

  • 2020 tax updates

    The following corrections to state tax functions have been introduced:

    • Arkansas. The supplemental rate was changed from 6.9% to 6.6%.
    • Kansas. The supplemental rate was changed from 4.5% to 5.0%.
    • Maryland. The minimum allowance amount was changed from $1500.00 to $1550.00; the maximum allowance amount was changed from $2250.00 to $2300.00.
    • North Dakota. The tax function previously was not distinguishing properly between calculations for employees with pre-2020 W-4s and those with 2020 W-4s. Now it does.
    • Oregon. The standard deduction amount for "Married" was changed from $4545.00 to $4630.00.

    Also, the following updates were made for 2020:

    • Maryland. The following county tax rates were updated:
      • Anne Arundel County: 2.81%
      • Baltimore County: 3.20%
      • Dorchester County: 3.20%
      • Kent County: 3.20%
      • St. Mary's County: 3.17%
      • Washington County: 3.20%
      • Worcester County: 2.25%
      • Non-residents: 2.25%

    A spreadsheet model of the updated tax functions can be found in "...\Extras\Payroll\Tax\Test Tax functions.xls".

  • Checks

    Payroll/Human Resources > Checks

    Three types of journal entries arise from payroll checks: accrual, liability, and cash. In this version of ActivityHD, a new feature is introduced which allows you to apply attribute account masks to the PRCode liability credit account on check lines.

    The credit side of a liability entry uses the deduction liability or tax liability account from the PRCode. In the past, the account on individual PRCode segment items could include wildcards; however, when the account masks on the segment items were combined, the resulting account had to be a valid account. This requirement was problematic if you wanted to separate your payroll liabilities by a GL segment such as department or company. That entailed creating a specific PRCode for each liability-company combination. Now the wildcards on the PRCode can be filled in from the new credit account assigned to the employee's attribute items.

    Example

    As an example, consider the following accounts:

    2020-1-A   USA Tax Payable for Company 1

    2020-2-A   USA Tax Payable for Company 2

    Do the following:

    1. Set the liability credit account on the Tax:USA segment item to:

      2020-?-A

    2. Set the new payroll credit account on your company attribute items. Note: This occurs automatically if the attribute is sourced from the company segment.

      ____-1-_

      ____-2-_

    3. Assign the appropriate company attribute value (1 or 2) to each employee. When you process payroll, the PRCode mask and the mask on employee attribute items are combined to derive the default liability credit account for the check line.

    The liability credit account now displays at the end of each check line on the Lines tab of the Check window.

    The account is also shown in the Check Line window:

    Like other GL accounts in ActivityHD, the liability credit account on a check line exhibits these features:

    • Pressing F2 opens the Account Expand dialog where you can view the account sources. For liability credit accounts, employee attribute items, combined in attribute order and displayed as one employee value, and the PRCode are the account sources. Specific values on the PRCode override values on employee attribute items.

    • Overriding the default account value causes the account number to display in purple text.
    • Incomplete or invalid accounts display with yellow shading.

    Like the accrual debit account, a check can now be merged with an incomplete or invalid liability credit account number. The following effects are now seen when a check is merged with an incomplete or invalid account:

    • The proof and merge reports show a warning instead of an error.
    • The Check GL Detail Report and the Checks GL Summary Report show the invalid account.
    • The liability entry in the General Ledger is out of balance and cannot be merged until the account is corrected.
    • The Proof Journal Entries report shows errors for the missing accounts. For example:

      Error: Journal Entry Line 1 - Payroll check line credit account not valid

      (Merge #: 315 Line: 2 PRCode: Ded 401 Account: 0-2610-0-BBBB-A)

    • The "Ready to Post to AP" filter on the Check Lines HD view selects lines with invalid accounts; however, if you attempt to post the check lines, a "Must be a valid account" error is returned.
    • The "Has Invalid Accounts" filter on the Checks and Check Lines HD views finds rows with either an invalid check line liability account or an invalid distribution account.

    After the invalid account is created, use the Validate GL command on checks to revalidate the accounts.

    Note

    Employee attribute item credit accounts are selected as of the check line liability date. The default liability date, either the check date or work date, is determined on the PRCode but can be changed. To change it, either use mass change on the Check Lines folder, or make the change in the Check Line window.

    Also note that the employee attribute item debit accounts are now selected as of the distribution GL date instead of the work date. In time sheets, the employee attribute item debit accounts are still selected as of the GL date, if there is one, or as of the work date.

  • Form 940 Returns/Form 941 Returns

    Payroll/Human Resources > Government > Form 940 Returns

    Payroll/Human Resources > Government > Form 941 Returns

    Since version 7.42, when you viewed the Form 940 or Form 941 return record, neither option in the Overpayment Option field appeared to be selected; however, the value for the field was correctly stored in the database and visible in the HD view. Now the return records correctly reflect the selection in the Overpayment Option field.

  • Garnishments

    Payroll/Human Resources > Employees > Records > Garnishments

    Rhode Island has announced a new minimum wage rate of $11.50 effective October 1, 2020. ActivityHD has incorporated this new rate to calculate limits on Rhode Island civil garnishments.

  • Segment item parameters

    Payroll/Human Resources > Setup > Segment Items > Parameters

    Until now, a single segment item parameter could not be marked as obsolete. Setting a segment item obsolete effectively makes all its parameters obsolete, but that is not always appropriate. Moreover, the recent influx of built-in parameters has made it useful to be able to selectively "hide" parameters. Now individual parameters, even built-in parameters, can be marked obsolete. As is the case with other obsolete items in Payroll, obsolete parameters and their values are still used for payroll processing and reporting.

    You can mark segment item parameters obsolete in either of two places:

    • Segment Item. An Obsolete column has been added to the Parameter Declarations table on the Calculations tab.

    • Segment Item Parameter. An Obsolete checkbox has been added to the Parameter window.

    If you need to mark/clear the Obsolete checkbox on a number of segment item parameters, the mass change feature allows you to maintain the state of the Obsolete checkbox on selected parameter records.

    When a parameter is marked obsolete, its values are likewise considered obsolete. If your HD views are set to include obsolete parameters/parameter values, the obsolete indicator is used to denote which records are obsolete. The following windows include an obsolete banner when an obsolete object is open in the window:

    • Segment Item Parameter
    • Segment Item Parameter Value
    • Employee Parameter
    • Employee Parameter Value

    Other objects have special behavior related to obsolete parameters. In the PRCode and Segment Item windows, obsolete parameters appear in the Available Parameters tables only if a value is assigned.

    In the Employee window on the Calculations tab, the obsolete parameter does not appear in the Parameters table when the "All", "Automatics", "Pay", "Deductions", "Taxes", or "Statistics" filter is applied; however, a new "Obsolete" option has been added so that you can view and maintain obsolete employee parameters.

    Finally, the Segment Items Listing and the Segment Item Parameters Listing have been updated to include obsolete parameter values.

  • Segment items

    Payroll/Human Resources > Setup > Segment Items

    Previously, attempting to delete a built-in segment item resulted in the following error:

    A built-in item cannot be obsolete.

    However, with the proliferation of built-in state segment items, managing the list of segment items has become unwieldy, especially for sites which deal with only a handful of states. Now any built-in payroll segment item can be set to obsolete, thus allowing companies to only see the segment items which apply to them. As with segment items which are not built in, when you obsolete a built-in segment item its parameters are also set to obsolete.

  • State W-4s

    Payroll/Human Resources > Employees > Records > State W-4s

    Previously, if you attempted to calculate state withholding using StateW4.Withholding('PA') for an employee from Pennsylvania who did not have a state W-4 record for PA, a calculation warning occurred. However, the warning is unnecessary since PA has no required arguments; the state W-4 record is only used to record an exemption from PA tax. A warning no longer occurs under this condition.

  • W-4s

    Payroll/Human Resources > Employees > Records > W-4s

    Formerly, the Filing Status selection field on W-4s was incorrect. The selection field was missing the "Head of Household" option and users could only select one status, not both, out of the two available ("Married" and "Single"). Now the selection field provides a checkbox for each filing status option.

Purchasing

    8.0-0

  • Operators

    Purchasing > Setup > Operators

    In the past, if an operator merely wanted to receive PO approval notifications using the "Email All" method, it was necessary to set an approval level for the operator within their department. This was not the intended behavior and it has now been fixed.

  • Orders and Purchases

    Purchasing > Orders

    Purchasing > Purchases

    In the past, you could change the attribute items on orders and purchases at any time. Now attribute items are subject to GL calendar controls under the following conditions:

    1. The attribute is set up for Use on GL Detail and to Follow Calendar Post Control.
    2. The invoices associated with an order or purchase are merged and the corresponding GL journal entry is merged.

    Under the conditions described above, if the posting control is "Error", the attribute item is protected from change. If the posting control is "Warning", the attribute item can be changed, but a warning message displays when the attribute item is changed.

    The posting control is applied as follows:

    • Control calendar. If there is a segment-specific calendar associated with the GL account on the GL detail or extra GL line, it is used; otherwise, the default calendar is used.
    • Calendar period. If there is an AP-specific posting control for the period that contains the posting date on the GL detail or extra GL line, it is used.
    • Apply periods before/after. If the period of the posting date is outside the periods before or after the current period, the posting control on the calendar is used.

    Note

    The beginning and ending posting dates on an account are not checked for attribute item changes as they are for account changes.