Overview
Release Frequency and Schedule
Updates to our release frequency and schedule include doing our best to have three major (Push) releases each year (Spring, Summer and Winter). These releases will be automatically pushed to sandbox and production environments. Each Push release will be preceded by two Preview releases that will be made generally available and are not automatically pushed. Since all our releases (previews and pushes) are cumulative, the latest release will contain all the changes from the prior releases.
Our Release Notes for each Push release will be updated with the changes from each Preview release as they become available. Before the Push release is automatically pushed to sandboxes, these Release Notes will be updated with the changes made in that release as well. A good way to see incremental changes in each Preview and Push release is to view the respective “What’s New” in the release video below:
Accounting Seed is excited to inform you of our Summer ’23 release. This article presents information about the new features and enhancements available in this release. To print a copy of the Release Notes, right-click and select Print. In the Destination drop-down list, select a specific printer name or select Save as PDF. Then, click Save.
Installation Notes
Our Summer ‘23 release has been deployed to production environments. The installation links can be accessed by clicking here, if necessary.
Configuration Changes
This release includes configuration setups, which existing Accounting Seed users must perform. There is also an optional configuration change that can be performed by existing and/or new Accounting Seed users. For more information, refer to the Summer '23 Configuration Changes article.
Contents
Customer Requested Enhancements
- Auto-Post Enhancement
- GL Account Defaults Update
- Advanced Line Manager supports Formula Fields with Images and Hyperlinks
- Changes to Purchase Order – Create Payable screen
- Clearer Validation Rules Error Messages
- Bank Direct Connect – Bank Settings Updates
- Payable Days Due field included on Contacts and Employees (Users)
- Manual Cash Disbursement - Void Changes
- Capture Paid Date on Billings
- Journal Entry Line Help Text update
New Features
AR Automation
Our new AR Automation feature is included in this release. The AR Automation feature is open to customers who have the following:
- a single Ledger
- use a single currency
- and primarily process credit card payments (ACH is planned for a later release)
Our new AR Automation feature is included in this release, but only open to beta participants at this time. AR Automation is a seamless credit card and ACH payments integration, which
- Automates the reconciliation of your payments and associated fees
- Allows you to personalize and brand your payment site
- Provides the ability to pass on convenience fees automatically to your customers
- Allows your customers to make partial payments
The overall benefits are reduced time spent on reconciliations and competitive rates for payment processing. For additional information, refer to the AR Automation articles in our Knowledge Base.
Soft Close
Open and Close Accounting Periods
This release includes the ability to Soft Close a selected subledger(s) so that no transactions can be posted into that Accounting Period for the closed subledger(s). The actual Accounting Period status can remain “Open,” while it has been soft closed for a selected subledger(s). A Soft Close can be performed on source records for any one of or all of the following:
- Accounts Receivable (Close AR)
- Accounts Payable (Close AP)
- Inventory (Close Inventory) - if you have the Orders & Inventory package installed
When a Soft Close is performed on an open period, the Close AR, Close AP, and Close Inventory fields can be unchecked (opened) to correct past transactions.
Best Practice: While you do not have to Soft Close in chronological order, we recommend that you do so for easier reporting.
The option to do a Soft Close can be performed from the List View on the Accounting Periods screen. For more information refer to the Soft Close section of the Open and Close Accounting Periods article. Additionally, the Soft Close can be performed directly from the Accounting Period record. For more information, refer to the Add the Soft Close Fields to Accounting Period section of the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
Generate Inventory History Records on Period Close
This release also includes a new setting in the Enablements screen, which is “Enable Inventory Period History.” This new setting allows for the creation of Inventory history records when an Accounting Period is Hard Closed or a Soft Close is performed for inventory. On new Accounting Seed installations, this setting defaults to “On.” Most clients will want to leave this button set to “On” in expectation of being audited by external auditors or investors.
Existing users who plan to “Enable Inventory Period History” in the Enablements screen can remove the “Create Inventory History” button from the Inventory Quantity Available list view. For more information, refer to the Remove the Create Inventory History button section of the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
Note: Enable Inventory Period History is only available if the Orders & Inventory package is installed.
BDC Supports EU Banks (Plaid)
Bank Direct Connect – Bank Settings
With this release, Bank Direct Connect now supports European Union Banks when Plaid is your Aggregation Service Provider. Bank Direct Connect with Plaid provides access to Financial Institutions for the following countries:
- Canada
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Netherlands
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- USA
Customer Requested Enhancements
Auto-Post Enhancement
The Auto-Post setting has been enhanced to allow you to choose which source documents should be automatically posted. You have the option to select any or all of the following for Auto-Post:
- Cash Receipts
- Billing Cash Receipts
- AP Disbursements
- Amortization Entries
- Inventory Movements
On new Accounting Seed installations, all of the Settings in the Post Settings screen default to "On." For existing users, the "On/Off" toggle for these settings will be set to the current value of the Auto-Post Source Documents field in your org. If this field is currently set to "Off" in your org, when the upgrade completes, these new fields in the Post Settings screen will be set to "Off." If any of these fields are disabled (set to Off), you will need to either manually post the records or configure a Scheduled Post job to post the records.
GL Account Defaults update
With this release, you can now add a custom Default GL Account(s) to the Default GL Accounts screen. For information about how to create a custom Default GL Account, refer to the Add a Custom Default GL Account section of the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
Also in this release, if you create a new Ledger, when you select it from the Ledger drop-down list in Default GL Accounts screen, the GL Accounts that are associated with your Default Ledger will automatically display for the new Ledger. The GL Accounts can be modified for the new Ledger, if necessary.
Advanced Line Manager supports Formula Fields with Images and Hyperlinks
Recurring Billing
Recurring Payables
Recurring Journal Entries
The Advanced Line Manager functionality that is available on the Recurring objects now supports the ability to use a formula field to include images and hyperlinks. If you include images on your products or other objects and would like to display that image in the Advanced Line Manager, you will need to create an image formula field. If you want to include a hyperlink to a document, two formula fields will need to be created (a hyperlink formula field to display a clickable link to the document in the Advanced Line Manager, and a URL field to contain the address/location of the document). Once the new formula fields have been created, you will need to add them to the Advanced Line Manager Columns or Drawer field set.
Advanced Line Manager Additional Enhancements
With the release, the Advanced Line Manager also includes the ability to edit the header section, which will refresh and display the changes on the Advanced Line Manager data grid (if the changed field is included on the data grid). For example, you might update the name in the Customer field of the header section on a Recurring Billing. When you save the change in the header section, the data gird will automatically update the line with the correct Customer Account name. Additionally, if you make changes to the header section while adding a new line, you can continue working on that line and after saving it, any changes made to the header section will be reflected on that line.
Changes to Purchase Order - Create Payable screen
Create a Payable from a Purchase Order (Average Cost)
Create a Payable from a Purchase Order (Standard Cost)
On the Create Payable from the Purchase Order intermediate screen, the Issue Date will no longer default to today’s date and has been set to blank. You can click the Date hyperlink to populate the Issue Date. The Due Date continues to be calculated based upon the Issue Date plus the Payable Days Due on the Account. If the Payable Days Due field on the Account is blank, the Due Date will automatically display the same as the Issue Date. However, you can manually adjust this date, if necessary.
Clearer Validation Rules Error Messages
The Validation Rules error messages have been updated for both Financial Suite objects and ERP (Orders & Inventory) objects to display more user-friendly error messages. For example, prior to this release, a validation message displayed as “The start date cannot be greater than the end date.” Now, that validation message displays as “ Accounting Period: The start Date cannot be greater than the End Date.” Therefore, you know this message is specifically related to the Accounting Period object. Another example of a validation message prior to this release was “You must enter a value.” Now more descriptive information displays based upon which object this is related to and what is needed, such as “Inbound Inventory Movement: You must enter a Credit GL Account.”
Bank Direct Connect – Bank Settings Updates
Bank Direct Connect - Bank Settings
The Map Financial Institution Accounts to Bank GL Accounts data grid on the Bank Settings tab has been updated to include the Provider column, which will display the Aggregation Provider for each row as Plaid or Yodlee
In the Ledger column on the data grid, this field is editable even if you only have one Ledger, which allows you to search for and select that Ledger, if necessary.
The limit on Account records that will be searched for possible matches when the Pre-populate Account Info checkbox is selected has been increased from 5000 to 40,000. With this release, up to 40,000 Customer Account records will be reviewed for possible Account matches each time you refresh Bank Transactions or upload new transactions.
Payable Days Due field included on Contacts and Employees (Users)
Set up a Customer or Vendor
Create or Clone a Payable
If you create Payables for Contacts and/or Employees (Users), the Payable Days Due field is now available on the Contacts and Employees. The functionality is the same as on the Accounts. Therefore, if you create a Payable for a Contact or an Employee, and the Payable Days Due field on the Contact or Employee includes a specified number of days, that number will be used to calculate the Due Date on the Payable. Due Date on a Payable is calculated as: Issue Date (on the Payable) + Payable Days Due (from the Account or the Contact) = Due Date.
Manual Cash Disbursement – Void Changes
With this release, a Cash Disbursement can be voided even if it has been applied to a Payable. However, if the amount on the Payable needs to be updated (which could be why the Cash Disbursement is being voided), the Cash Disbursement must be unapplied prior to voiding. This is because the amount on a Payable cannot be changed if a Cash Disbursement has been applied.
Capture Paid Date on Billings
Receive and Apply Cash
Receive Payment Directly from a Billing
When the Balance on a Billing is made 0.00 (fully paid), the Applied Date of the most recent cash or credit application is set as the Paid Date on the Billing. Otherwise, the Paid Date on the Billing will display blank. The Paid Date on the Billing will only populate when the Billing is fully paid.
Note: Existing Accounting Seed users who want to capture the Paid Date will need to add the Paid Date field onto the Billing page layout. For more information, refer to the Add the Paid Date field to the Billing Page Layout section of the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
To have the Paid Date field automatically populate on existing Billings that have been fully paid (Balance = 0.00), display each Billing, click Edit and then click Save.
Note: If you have Billings that are before the Iris release, you must first Edit and Save the Billing Cash Receipt (BCR) record. Then, Edit and Save the Billing in order to have the Paid Date automatically populate.
Journal Entry Line Help Text update
When creating a new Journal Entry Line, the help text for the GL Account field has been updated to remove the word “Credit.” The help text now reads “The GL Account used to record the transaction in the general ledger.” The same help text displays on the Bank Direct Connect – Unmatched Bank Transactions tab for the GL Account field when the help text is viewed in the expanded drawer.
Stripe Enhancements
Important Configuration Changes for Custom Permission Set Users
Payment Processors
Payment Settings
Connect to Stripe
Connect to Stripe in the Test Mode
Manage Stripe Payment Methods
Charge a Customer Using Stripe
Pay a Billing in a Future Accounting Period
Receive Payment Directly from a Billing
Receive Payments from Multiple Billings
With this release, we added a new Payment Processor object which represents an individual payment processing account. This allows you to connect multiple payment processors to Accounting Seed, if necessary. We have also added a Global Default Payment Processor setting, which allows you to set a specific Payment Processor as the default.
We have added a Payment Processor Customer object that associates the Account to the Payment Processor and stores the Stripe ID on the Account. For additional information, refer to the Add a Payment Method using a Stripe ID section of the Manage Stripe Payment Methods article.
Information for existing Stripe users who upgrade to Summer ’23
- During the upgrade process, a Payment Processor record will automatically be created representing your existing Stripe account. Additionally, this will be set as the Global Default Payment Processor so that Billings being directly paid via the Payment Link can be paid using the same Stripe Payment Processor.
- The Payment Processor Customer records are also created for each Account that has a Stripe ID.
- The Payment Processor will also be updated on existing Payment Methods so that you can continue to receive payments without disruption of service.
Additional Stripe User Interface Changes
The Stripe Settings screen has now become the Payment Settings screen, which includes the ability to select a Global Default Payment Processor. Configuring the Payment Link remains on this screen.
The Manage Payment Methods button on the Account has been renamed to Manage Stripe Payment Methods. The Payment Processor has been added as a drop-down list to the existing page. Similarly, the Payment Processor drop-down list has been added to the Payment screens in Accounting Seed: Create Payment and Receive Payment/Receive Payments. If there is only one Payment Processor, it will auto-populate in this drop-down list. This drives the Payment Methods that display on screens.
The Payment Processor field has also been added to the Billing and Cash Receipt objects. Existing Accounting Seed users who want to include the Payment Processor field on the Billing and Cash Receipt objects will need to add this field onto the page layouts for the respective objects. For more information, refer to the Add the Payment Processor Field to a Billing and/or Cash Receipt section in the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
The Payment Activity Status job has been added to the Automated Jobs screen. This job will update Payment Activity records, which provides the ability to view the latest available Payment Activity from the Payment Activities screen. This new job can be scheduled or Run on demand.
Note: For Stripe users, this is the same job that will run when you click the Status ACH Payments button from the list view on the Payment Activities screen.
To connect to Stripe in the Test Mode using your sandbox or other non-production environment, refer to the Connect to Stripe in the Test Mode article.
Existing Accounting Seed Users with Stripe will need to Update the Payment Type Picklist Values on the Cash Receipt abject. Refer to this information in the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
Important Configuration Changes for Custom Permission Set Users
If you use custom permission sets, in order to receive and create payments, there are some required changes included with this release. You will not be able to receive/create payments until these configuration changes have been made. For more information, refer to the Custom Permission Set Changes for Payment Processing section in the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
GL Defaults update on Consolidation & Elimination Ledgers
When you add a new Ledger in the Set up Consolidations screen, if the GL Accounts listed below have already been added for the Ledger in the Default GL Accounts screen, these required fields will auto-populate from the Default GL Accounts screen.
- Current Year Earnings GL Account
- Retained Earnings GL Account
- CTA GL Account (only displays if Multi-currency is enabled)
If these GL Accounts have not already been added to the Ledger on the Default GL Accounts screen, they can be added at the same time that you are adding the Ledger to the Ledger Hierarchy.
Bank Direct Connect – Refresh button
BDC – All Bank Transactions
BDC – Unmatched Bank Transactions
A new Refresh button has been added to the button options that are available on the Bank Direct Connect – All Bank Transactions tab and the Unmatched Bank Transactions tab. When clicked, this button will reload the page. It works similar to a browser refresh to reload the page with updated information. For example, a new Billing and/or Cash Receipt may have been posted, which includes a match to an unmatched transaction. Using this example, clicking Refresh will search for and display the matched record that was located.
Bank Direct Connect – Expanded Drawer Enhancements
BDC – Unmatched Bank Transactions
BDC – All Bank Transactions
On the Bank Direct Connect – Unmatched Bank Transactions and the All Bank Transactions tabs, when the drawer is expanded, the Type field has been renamed to “Source Record Type.” Additionally, the Base Type and Type fields from the Bank Transaction object will display in the expanded drawer as read only fields on the right side of the screen. The Type field from the Bank Transaction object describes the nature or the intent behind the transaction. For example, information in this field could include payments, purchases, charges, fees, etc. On the expanded drawer, the Type field will display as “Transaction Type.” The Base Type from the Bank Transaction object identifies if the transaction is a debit or credit, and will display on the expanded drawer with the heading name of “Debit/Credit.”
Bank Reconciliation - Negative Cash Receipts and Cash Disbursements
Bank Reconciliation of Type = Bank
When a negative Cash Receipt (from the Refund process or created manually) displays on a Bank Reconciliation, it will display as a Payment. In the Bank Reconciliation Calculator, the Cleared Payments will be updated when the record is cleared. If the record is left uncleared, the Uncleared Payments will be updated. We have made similar updates for any negative Cash Disbursements.
The table below shows the values for each type of source record on the two different Bank Reconciliation types.
| Source Document | Type of Bank Reconciliation | Type Column on the Data Grid and Bank Rec Calculator (Cleared/Uncleared) |
| Negative Cash Receipt or a Refund Cash Receipt | Bank |
Payment |
| Credit Card | Charge | |
| Negative Cash Disbursement | Bank |
Deposit |
| Credit Card | Payment |
Create a new Cash Receipt from Apply/Unapply Intermediate screen
When you click the Apply/Unapply button on the Cash Receipt screen, the Save & New button has been added to the Apply/Unapply intermediate screen. Click this button to save your changes and display the New Cash Receipt dialog box to create a new Cash Receipt.
AvaTax - Override Address Information on Billing Lines
Calculate Tax on a Billing with Avalara’s AvaTax
You can now override the default address on a Billing Line to include an address that is different from the information currently entered on the Billing header in the Origin Address Override/Destination Address Override fields and/or the default address entered in the Tax Settings screen. When the Calc Tax button is clicked, AvaTax will calculate taxes based upon the updated address information on the Billing Line.
Note: Existing Accounting Seed users who want to override address information on Billing Lines will need to add the fields to the Billing Line page layout. For more information refer to the Add AvaTax Override Fields for Billing Lines section of the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes article.
Sales Order - Allocate All
Allocate Inventory to a Sales Order (Average Cost)
Allocate Inventory to a Sales Order (Standard Cost)
A new Allocate All checkbox has been added to the Sales Order - Allocate Sales Order intermediate screen. If you want the Allocate textbox to auto-populate with all available inventory quantities that can be allocated for each Sales Order Line - Warehouse, click the Allocate All checkbox to automatically populate the Quantity Needed in the Allocate textbox.
Add a Tax Rounding Threshold
We have added an enhancement to address rounding issues caused by tax rates and tax groups for AS Native Tax with Header Level Posting. On the Tax Setting record, we now have a new Tax Rounding Threshold drop-down list with values from 0.00 to 0.10. If an option is selected, small discrepancies that are caused by rounding tax calculations will be adjusted up to the selected threshold amount. For additional information, refer to the Create a new AS Native Tax Settings Record in the Tax Settings article.
Important: This is only applicable for AS Native Tax users with the Header Level Posting setting.
Existing Accounting Seed users who want to include a Tax Rounding Threshold will need to perform a few configuration setups. For more information, refer to the Add a Tax Rounding Threshold section of the Summer '23 Configuration Changes article.
Generate Outstanding Statement as of Date
Email a Customer Statement
Mass Email Customer Statements
A new Generate Statement as of date field has been added to the Outstanding Statements tab on the Create Statements intermediate screen on the Account. You can now specify a date to generate the statement. This new date field defaults to today’s date. However, it can be changed to an earlier or later date, as necessary. Posted Billings as of the date specified will be shown on the Outstanding Statement. The same new date field and functionality has also been added to the Create Outstanding Statements intermediate screen from the Accounts list view.
Custom Metadata Types and Fields
Custom Metadata Types and Fields
New Metadata Types & Fields, and SObject Fields that were added as part of this release have been included in the Custom Metadata Types and Fields article.
Deprecation List for the Summer ’23 Release
With this release, the following elements have been deprecated:
Note: Existing Accounting Seed users who want to remove the deprecated elements should refer to the Remove Deprecated Elements section of the Summer ’23 Configuration Changes
Pages
For existing Accounting Seed users, the pages below can be removed:
- AccountingHome.page
Note: After completing the steps to remove this page, only one selection for Accounting Home will display when you search for it from the App Launcher. - AccountingSettingsAddressValidator,page
- BankReconciliationNew.page
- BankReconciliationPDFReport.page
- BankReconciliationUnclearedPDF.page
- BillingFromOpportunityConfirmation.page
- OpportunitySalesAvaTax.page
- Printchecks.page
- ProjectFromOpportunityConfirmation.page
- RecurringBillingFromOppConfirmation.page
Buttons
For existing Accounting Seed users, the buttons below can be removed:
- Apply button on the Cash Receipt page
- Apply Credit Memo button on the Billing page
Field
For existing Accounting Seed users, since this field is on a packaged Lightning page, no action is required.
- Auto Post Source Documents field on Accounting Settings object
Software Corrections
Scheduled Post Job
A change to the GL Account Defaults caused the Scheduled Post job to try to erroneously post Payable-sourced AP Disbursements. Since these records do not post transactions, the job has been corrected to exclude them.
An issue that created a DML exception while running the Scheduled Post automated job has been corrected.
Purchase Order PDF and Shipment PDF
The Purchase Order PDF can now be sorted by Quantity, Unit Price and Total fields. The Shipment PDF can now be sorted by Quantity Shipped and Product fields.
Updated Permission Sets
We have updated our Accounting Manager and Cash Out & Banking permission sets to have Edit access to the Void Date field on the Cash Disbursement object.
Create Billing from Sales Order
Users who have the Salesforce platform license with the Order platform permission + AS Full Admin & ERP permission sets can now create a Billing from a Sales Order.
Cash Disbursement Error Message
An error message that displayed, when the Debit GL Account was not specified on a Cash Disbursement (Source = Manual) and the Prepaid Expense GL Account was blank on the Default GL Accounts page, has been updated. The new error message displays as the following:
“The Cash Disbursement could not be created. Please ensure that the Prepaid Expense GL Account has a value on the Default GL Accounts page.“
Yodlee Error Handling
We have improved the error handling for the scenario where Yodlee stops supporting a particular Financial Institution that is set up and mapped in Bank Direct Connect. The page now displays an error message, but will render the Bank Settings page correctly so that you can take corrective action.
Foreign Currency Translation
The calculation that occurs during Foreign Currency Translation has been rectified to sum up the translated Revenue and Expense financial cubes rather than translating the original Current Year Earnings financial cube.
Billing Aging History
The Billing Aging History record is no longer generated for Credit Memos that are created during the Refund Cash Receipt process.
Orders & Inventory GL Accounts
When Financial Suite is the only installed package (and Orders & Inventory is not installed), the Inventory Variance, Vouchers Payable and Work In Process GL Accounts will not be required on the Default GL Accounts page.
When the Orders & Inventory package is installed, using Weighted-Average Cost, the Vouchers Payable and Work In Process GL Accounts will continue to be required on the Default GL Accounts page. However, the Inventory Variance GL Account will not be required.
When the Orders & Inventory package is installed, using Standard Cost, the Inventory Variance, Vouchers Payable and Work In Process GL Accounts will continue to be required on the Default GL Accounts page.
Payroll Import File
Rounding validations on the user interface sometimes caused an erroneous “out of balance” error to display on the Payroll Import File. This issue has been corrected.
Time Card Line
On a Time Card Line, an “insufficient privileges” error was shown when attempting to save a comment after the hours for a Time Card Day were entered. This has been corrected so that you can enter hours and a comment without clicking Save in between.
Pay Batch Intermediate screen
On the Pay Batch intermediate screen, an incorrect Starting Check Number displayed at times. This issue has been corrected.
Outstanding Customer Statements
The Last Statement Sent date on the Account was not updated for successful attempts if an invalid email address in the batch caused its statement to not be emailed. This has been fixed.
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