Q1 2022 Release Notes -- Final

Q1 2022 Release Notes -- Final
Table of contents

• CARE UPDATES FOR CA CUSTOMERS:
• SALES PROCESSING:
• INVENTORY CONTROL:
• BARCODE MANAGEMENT & PRINTING:
• JOB COST:
• PURCHASE ORDERS:
• INSTALLATION SYSTEM:
• ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:
• ACCOUNTS PAYABLE:
• GENERAL LEDGER:
• SALES ANALYSIS:
• OWNER FUNCTIONS:
• MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS:
• SPECIAL FUNCTIONS:
• B2B CATALOG PROCESS:
• SYSTEM MAINTENANCE:
• API/BMS EFFICIENCY TOOLS PROGRAMMING NOTES:

 
BMS Retail System
Release Notes v2102.2 – Q1 2022
 

CARE UPDATES FOR CA CUSTOMERS:

The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) is the stewardship organization that administers the California Carpet Stewardship Program. Retailers buying and selling carpet in California pay an assessment on each yard/foot of carpet sold. They have to collect and report based on a number of criteria. BMS Software continually implements system updates to handle ongoing changes enacted by CARE in order to keep our customers compliant and able to pass an audit. https://carpetrecovery.org/california/california-ab-2398/

The following updates are in place for the new differential assessments that will take place on 4/1/22. 
There are two areas of the system that require minor adjustments to be performed in time for the new differential assessments that will take effect on 4/1/22. Both are in Inventory Control: Product Code Maintenance and Catalog Maintenance. 
In Product Code Maintenance, on any Product Codes already designated as CARE, a new drop-down box will appear to the right of that checkbox as follows: 

This checkbox will default to Carpet. There are only two options: Carpet and Carpet Tile. The only changes that need to be made are to those non-B2B Product Codes for Carpet Tile. In those cases, this drop-down box will need to be changed to “Carpet Tile.” This is because Carpet Tile is assessed at a higher rate than roll goods.
In Catalog Maintenance, where CARE is active in BMS, at the bottom right of the screen, the Cost Tab section will now appear as follows:

The CARE Active - $0.35 displays if the Product Code has been set up as explained above. If a style meets the post-consumer content requirement of over 10%, you can click that box to drop the fee down to $0.33. This info should be available from the manufacturer and may also appear on the carpet label. FYI: Carpet Tile fees are $0.48 and $0.50. If these fields are not edited by the User, the system will default to the higher rate. 
The “Edit All Colors” checkbox can be enabled on each style prior to making a change provided all colors meet the criteria. Another alternative is to use the Catalog Export/Import where a column now exists to flip this switch on applicable post-consumer content products. 
Below is a chart of the Differential Assessment Levels that will be in place as of 4/1/22:

For CA B2B customers, it’s important that BMS be updated with any program changes by 3/31/22. Developers are working closely with manufacturers to have those changes communicated to BMS so that the catalog import side is compliant for imports dated 4/1/22 and later. Customers should stay tuned for info on this update.
Please Note: If your company uses Progress Billing Invoicing, these recent changes have necessitated a change to that program and feature. Primarily, you will need to estimate your CARE assessment charges based on each of the four different assessment levels above. In conjunction with this change, the module has also been updated to a graphical screen. More details on the graphical update appear in the Sales Processing section below.  

 

SALES PROCESSING:

1. The system is now keeping an audit record of changes to the Job Status field.

 

2. In the Assign Inventory to Order screen, the From PO tab screen now displays the Memo field from the PO Line at the bottom left of the screen as follows:

 
 

3. In the Add or Change a Line Item screen located in Quote Entry, Order Entry, and in Templates, if the Box Qty field in Catalog Maintenance is populated, you will now see the Box Quantity button on these items, whether or not the Catalog Item Sold By Box checkbox is enabled. 

 

4. When printing an Invoice with Detail, if a Line is tied to a Bundle, the Do Not Print option is disabled for that Line. 

 

5. When the Cancel/Close option is used on a Job, the system will first look for any un-invoiced negative material lines. If any are found, the system will not allow the Cancel/Close function to continue.

 

6. In the Property Management/Builders Templates module, a new Filter has been added as follows: Sales Rep. When this Filter is used, the system will first check the Sales ID on the Ship To Code, and then fall back to the Salesperson of record in Customer Maintenance.

 

7. The Overhead Percentage field in Job Type Maintenance will now accept a decimal point as opposed to only a whole number. For example, 1.5 for 1.5% can now be entered. This field is only visible and accessible for Owners, Managers, and System Administrators. 

 

8. The Progress Billing Invoicing module has been modernized. When you enter this module, the screen will now appear as follows:

The primary functionality of this module has not changed. Other than modernizing and adding the SSP print functionality, a couple of additional options were added that should enhance the Users experience. One of those changes includes the display data for Previous Invoices, as displayed in the screen above, and the ability to double-click to Reprint a previous Invoice. The other change impacts only CARE (dealers in California) customers. Because of changes taking place on April 1st of 2022, the need to estimate assessment charges based on the type of material being sold has been addressed in this updated screen. The new assessments have been covered in the section on CARE updates above. Please reach out to our Support department if you need additional guidance. 
 

9. The Sales Tax Detail/History reports have been converted to SSP docs. Also, additional data now appears on the report and export to Excel as follows: Branch, Job Type Code, and Customer Name. 

 

10. In the Sales Tax Collected export to Excel, the Invoice Date now appears for each record.

    

INVENTORY CONTROL:

11. New fields have been added to Product Code Maintenance to setup Overbill and Freight defaults by Product Code. Those new fields appear at the bottom left of the screen as follows:

These can be either a Percentage or Dollar Amount. This was added to allow new items and edits to existing items to maintain up-to-date freight and overbill values. 
 

12. There are new Branch access controls for A-J Product Pricing. When accessing the A-J Product Pricing option from within Catalog Maintenance, if the User is not set up in all Branches with the ability to edit, they will be blocked from accessing the Branch and Vendor fields. Additionally, if a change is made in a Branch, but the User is not setup in All Branches, they will not be able to save in the **All ** Branch mode. By extension, in the Catalog (A-J) Pricing Maintenance/Print module, whether in the Margins or Product tab windows, a User will only have access to the Edit and Delete right-click options for the Branches for which they are set up. If a User is not set up in All Branches, they will not be able to Edit or Delete any item where the BR column is blank, since that indicates All Branches.

 

13. In the Associated Products tab of the Catalog Maintenance module, a few updates have been made to increase functionality. The first update is tied to the Qty per Sale UOM option. It now allows for 5 places past the decimal point. The second is a rounding feature. A new drop-down box appears below the UOM options as follows: 

 

The default is “None,” which uses standard math for calculations and represents no change to the way the system was working before. The 2nd option is “Up” which stands for Up to Next Integer. This is considered the “ceiling” function and rounds up to the nearest integer, i.e., 75.74=76 or 75.0001 = 76, etc. The final option is “Nearest” which stands for Down to Nearest Integer. This is considered the “floor” function and rounds down to the nearest integer, i.e., 75.00 = 75, 75.4=75, 75.99999=75.
 

14. Several updates have been made to the Build Order Processing module. Only dealers needing to “build” products such as blinds, mats, etc., before they sell them as a whole, utilize this functionality. The first round of changes deals with substitutions and changes to the way they are processed. The next change is the addition of Build Order items to the Inventory Cut Sheet based on Required Date. Additionally, the ability to “cut” roll components from with the Build Order module has been added. When you right-click on a Build Order Line, you will see the option as Cut. Also, a Barcode Lookup button has been added to the top left of the main screen, next to Print BO Report. And finally, the ability to move a Build Order to another Branch has been added. The User must be set up in the current Branch and the Branch where the Build Order is to be moved in order for this to work. From within the Build Order Maintenance screen, in the Functions menu, you will now see the following option: Move BO to Another Branch. Also, the Catalog must be shared between the two Branches in order for this to work.   

BARCODE MANAGEMENT & PRINTING:

15. The SSP 2” Barcode Labels will now print in portrait or landscape. This includes Catalog, Inventory and Transfer labels.

 

16. The ability to print SSP 4” Barcode Labels has been added to the Work Order program. When selecting a piece that has been cut, the option to print a label is now available.

 

17. In the Inventory Labels module, a new print option was added as follows: Only Print Items that have never had a Label Printed. Regardless of receipt method, by enabling this switch, you can now print Inventory Labels for these items.

JOB COST:

18. The Job Cost family of Work in Process reports have been modernized and combined into one module. These include the following: Work in Process – Costs From JC, Work in Process – By Invoice Date, Billed vs Unbilled – Costs From A/P, and Billed vs Unbilled – A/P w/Paid Inventory. Please Note: the Billed vs Unbilled – Costs From A/P will only display in the selection box if the following System Control option is set to “Y” for yes: J/C Dtl. Questions In AP. When you access this new module, the screen will appear as follows:

Select the desired report from the Report drop-down box to begin. You can predetermine a default report using the Setup menu and then Set Default Output. The default selections in the screen above will alter slightly based on the Report selection. The available fields in this screen mirror the previous Select Option menus in the Text programs. Once all selections have been made, you will click the Generate button to display the data on screen. From there, you can export to Excel or Print to paper. 
 

PURCHASE ORDERS:

19. In the Print Purchase Orders option, a checkbox has been added to the bottom of the Print Options box as follows: Include Item Description. This checkbox defaults to unchecked, and thus allows for the option of including or not including Item Descriptions on the printed PO moving forward. 

 

20. On the PO Print document, the Square Meter verbiage has been removed. 

INSTALLATION SYSTEM:

21. In the Job Labor Mtc./Installer Payments module, a Total Cost display field has been added to the Installer Payment Summary section as follows:

 

22. In the Installers Payables System, the system now allows for Negative Net Pay to an Installer. Moving forward, when an Installer Payables report is generated with a negative amount, the system will allow posting to A/P and create a Credit Memo on the Installer’s account.

 

23. Several improvements have been made to the Installer Maintenance module for improved flexibility when looking up and when adding an Installer to your BMS System. The first change you will notice is in the lookup screen. This screen now appears as follows:

The Installer ID field is now a drop-down menu, which allows you to select whether to search by ID or Name. Additionally, a Wild Card button has been added as an additional method for searching by either Installer ID or Installer Name. Additionally, the system will now allow for adding a new Installer with a Pay Type of Sub Contractor or Lic. Contractor to both Customer Maintenance in A/R and Vendor Maintenance in A/P. This ensures the ID matches all three areas of the system. In order for this to take place, some setup needs to be done. In the screen above, you will now see a Setup menu, next to the Functions menu. Two options will appear as follows: Accounts Receivable Defaults and Accounts Payable Defaults. Please Note: only Users with an A/R and A/P Custom Menu access will see these options. A sample A/R Default screen appears as follows:


These are all required fields in Customer Maintenance. Set these fields to the default settings for the majority of your Installers. This will create a customer record with the matching ID and any additional data can be filled in later. A sample A/P Default screens appears as follows: 


A big difference with this screen is that the Vendor ID setup requires a Tax ID or SS#, and this will be different for each Installer. This means something needs to appear in this field, but not anyone’s specific # or ID. A “NEEDED” option or something that will trigger the A/P Department to add this info prior to printing 1099’s should be used. When a new Installer is being added, the system will display the Active status for A/R and A/P and a prompt will appear once you hit Save to confirm the process is complete as follows:

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE:

24. The Customer Payment Register and History reports now print to SSP.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE:

25. The ability to use a Foreign Currency G/L Account when entering an A/P Check Discount was added to the system in a previous update. This option only impacts companies paying Vendors in a different currency. Any company utilizing Exchange Rate Maintenance, will also have access to an Exchange Account field in the G/L Account Maintenance module to identify these separate accounts and make them available to use for discounts during A/P payment processing.  

 

26. In the Bank Reconciliation module, a change was made that impacts the Reconcile Now button. The system will now warn with an “out of balance” message when the Bank Balance does not match the system General Ledger, or in other words, if the Difference in the Reconciliation Recap is anything other than zero.

GENERAL LEDGER:

27. In the End of Month Processing module, when attempting to close a month, the system is now verifying if any data for the month/period is pending on the Invoice Register. If so, it will not allow the month/period to close until the Invoice Register has been printed and cleared and the data available in the G/L.

SALES ANALYSIS:

28. N/A in Q1 2022.

OWNER FUNCTIONS:

29. N/A in Q1 2022.

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS:

30. N/A in Q1 2022. 

SPECIAL FUNCTIONS:

31. In the Customer Facing CSV Imports module, updates have been made to the Catalog – Material import. The process now only requires one of the key fields to be populated (B2B Sku, Cat Seq, or Broadlume upid). Empty columns will be treated as “no change” in the routine. 

B2B CATALOG PROCESS:

32. A new B2B Product Code has been added for sheet vinyl with a width of 13’6”. That new Product Code should be set up as follows: “er” / Generic Vinyl 13’6” / Factor: 05.

SYSTEM MAINTENANCE:

33. In the User Control module, when using the (F5) Add – To Branch option, if the User is a Salesperson, the system is now copying the maintenance record to the new Branch.

API/BMS EFFICIENCY TOOLS PROGRAMMING NOTES:

34. N/A in Q1 2022.