Release Notes - Version 21.02.01

Overview:

Release 21.02.01 went live on February 23, 2021. A summary of the updates and enhancements contained in this release is below.  Additional detail on new features or enhancements is listed below this overview: 

• The layout for Company Settings has been reorganized.  
• There are new display options for transactions made prior to a closed inventory count. 
• A new option to Order by Item (in addition to the existing Order by Vendor feature). 
• A Yield option has been added to Production. 
• A new POS interface to Linga POS.
• New features for posting invoices to an Accounts Payable system (for customers not using Plate IQ).  
  
  • New Company Settings for Receiving
  • New Delivery Date, Document Date, and Due Date have been added to the invoice Receiving entry.
  • Option for Accounts Payable export by Vendor Group and Due Date.
  • New Invoices to accounts payable exports to AccPac and Great Plains accounting. 

More Detail:

More detailed explanations of the updates and enhancements listed above are provided below: 

New (Simplified) Company Settings: The General tab on Company Settings was crowded and not as easy to decipher as we normally prefer.  New tabs were added to put features related to the same functional area on the same tabs.  Below is the new Company Settings display. Please note that tabs have been added for Receiving, Transfers, Counts, and Production. Options or Settings that are related to these tabs, that were on the General Tab, have been moved accordingly.   

New Display Options for Transactions Prior to a Closed Inventory Valuation: Closing an inventory valuation count in COGS-Well used to trigger counts, receiving, transfers, and production transactions prior to the closed valuation count, to no longer display when you select to enter or view transactions. To provide greater flexibility, we have added company settings for controlling the display of transactions prior to a closed valuation count. Below is an example of using Company Settings to configure the display for inventory counts prior to a closed count. Please click this link for more information on the Close Inventory Counts feature. 

Display with the option to Hide Counts not Checked: Putting a checkmark in the box will result in inventory counts prior to the last closed inventory not showing in the inventory counts transaction display. Below is an example of the Inventory Counts transaction display with the option in Company Settings to hide counts prior to a closed valuation count NOT checked. Please notice that the prior valuation counts can be viewed, but cannot be edited. This new option was created so that viewing or auditing prior transactions (in this case valuation counts) will be easier. 

Order By Item: The Order By Item feature provides the option to record, enter, and edit orders by Inventory and Combined Item. This feature has been added to the existing feature for ordering by Vendor. Order by Item allows you to enter the items you want to order and not be limited to one vendor (like you are when you are in the Order by Vendor feature which only displays Items you buy from that vendor). Like the Order by Vendor feature, Par levels can be utilized to create suggested reorder quantities when you Order by Item. Order by Item can also help you select what vendor to order an item from in situations where you buy the same item from more than one vendor. Please click this link for more detail on the new Order by Item feature. The Order by Item feature will only show up on your Inventory Entry Menu if it is enabled in Company Settings. 

A Yield option has been added to Production: There is now an option in Company Settings to enable Yield in Production Entry.  Because a Recipe Item's Batch Size is not always going to perfectly match the actual batch size that resulted from making (producing) the Recipe Item, Yield enables you to adjust for any differences. Please see the example below:

Production Yield %: In the above example the percentage of the Batch Size that was actually yielded for each Production Item after it was Produced is being entered in the Yield % column. For example, the yield after production for 1 batch of Chicken Salad was actually 3 gallons. So 109% was entered (3 divided by 2.75) as the Yield %. By entering yield %s, the usage and cost for Chicken Salad will be adjusted for the actual Production yield. You can see the Batch Cost adjustment for each Production Item above in the "Yielded Cost" column.  

Linga POS Interface: A new POS Interface has been developed for the Linga POS system. 

Posting Receipts to Accounts Payable: COGS-Well was designed from inception to post Receiving information to an Accounts Payable system. Customers who import invoices directly from a vendor (like Sysco or US Foods), or enter invoices manually into COGS-Well's Receiving, may want to post the invoice summary information to their Accounts Payable system. If you are using an AP Automation system like Plate IQ which already handles the posting of invoices to accounts payable, you don't need to concern yourself with the explanations below for using COGS-Well to export Receiving records to Accounts Payable: 

Company Settings for Receiving: There is now a tab in Company Settings that is dedicated to the Receiving features. The new options in Receiving are highlighted in red below and they primarily relate to posting invoices to an Accounts Payable system. Please see below: 

Require Balanced Receipts:  An invoice that is "in balance" means the invoice amount that comes from the vendor matches the distribution total that was entered into COGS-Well. The distribution total in COGS-Well represents the items received multiplied by their quantity received and pack cost, plus any discounts, shipping, tax, or direct GL distributions that are entered. If this box is checked, an invoice cannot be posted to Accounts Payable if it is not in balance. If this box is not selected, you can select a Receipt Balancing account on the field above and any out-of-balance amounts will be distributed to the GL Account you select. On the Enter Receiving transaction display, any invoice receipt that is out of balance will display in red on a new "Status" column.  Please see below:

Allow Editing of Exported Receipts: If you do not want invoice receipts that have been exported to Accounts Payable to be editable, then check this box. A System Administrator will still be able to adjust a Receipt, but not other Users.  

Enable Receipt Approval: If you are using COGS-Well to export Receipts to accounts payable, and you want your users to approve the Receipts before they can be exported, then click this box.

Hide Receipt Prior to a Closed Inventory Count:  This is the same option we explained above in these Release Notes for "New Display Options for Transactions Prior to a Closed Inventory Valuation". Checking this box will hide from view on the Enter Receiving display, transactions prior to a Closed Inventory Count.  

Delivery Date, Document Date, and Due Date: Most accounts payable systems require a delivery date, document date, and a due date for invoices so these fields have been added to the Invoice Receiving display. If this information is available on the invoice import from the vendor (which is typical), then the fields will be completed. This information is made available to COGS-Well by Plate IQ. Below is an example of the added fields on the criteria screen for invoice receiving:

Receiving Export to Accounts Payable Option for Vendor Group and Due Date:
The Vendor Setup feature now includes an optional field to assign a Vendor to a Vendor Group (such as a group of vendors that you pay weekly and a second group that you pay monthly). The feature for exporting to Accounts Payable includes an option to filter for Vendor Group and for Due Date. 

New Accounts Payable System Interfaces: Our initial Accounts Payable interfaces have been developed for AccPac and Dynamics.  More AP system interfaces will follow.