NorthScope 2020.08.28

Owned by Janice Dannenberg (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Nov 18, 2020 by Emma Greenwood
9 min read

(Software Version: 2020.08.28 Database Version: 2020.08.28)

Release Date: August 28, 2020


New Feature

NS-5973 & NS-6884 Developed NorthScope™ 3.0 Framework

Feature Spotlight! We are extremely excited to announce that the NorthScope™ 3.0 framework has arrived! As a direct result of feedback gathered from our users, it’s a bigger and better, speedy and modern approach to how we process and display data. We built it from the ground up and all the Inventory Transaction Record Views, Cycle Count, Transactions List View and Inventory Inquiries now utilize the new framework. Though you will notice a few differences, such as the look and feel, be assured that all the existing functionality is still available. Some notable additions include a cool new Quick Filter text box to the toolbar, as well as two toggleable icons, one to display/hide the Column Filter row and one to display/hide the Group By row. The Quick Filter text box filters on all columns in the grid while the column filter only filters values for the specific column. Users may drag and drop one or more columns into the Group By row and sort those columns ascending/descending. Please click here to read more about why we moved to a new framework and all the associated benefits.

Improvements

Financial

NS-6364 Updated the GL Account Format Record View with Record Count column

We’ve added a ‘Record Count’ column to the GL Account Format Record View that will display the number of active GL Accounts that contain an associated Segment Number. The ‘Record Count' column will not take into account any inactive GL Accounts that contain the Segment Number. Additionally, a datafix is included to automatically add any missing Segment Numbers from active GL Accounts to the GL Account Format Record View.

NS-6617 Updated the Checkbook Register Inquiry

The Checkbook Register inquiry has 5 new columns that are visible by default: Payment Source, Class ID, Reconciled, Reconciled Trans and Batch ID. The ‘Reconciled’ column displays “Yes” if the payment is on a new, approved or posted Reconciliation transaction. The ‘Reconciled Trans’ column displays the [Reconciliation Transaction ID] - [Balance As Of Date].  Also, clicking the payment number hyperlink now opens the Process Payments page in a new tab, instead of within the inquiry.

NS-6649 Updated the Checkbook Transaction Inquiry

The Checkbook Transaction inquiry has 2 new columns that are visible by default: Batch ID and Class ID. The ‘Reconciled Trans ID’ column changed its name to ‘Reconciled Trans’ and now displays [Reconciliation Transaction ID] - [Balance As Of Date]. Additionally, the ‘Transaction’ column is more descriptive for ACH Batches and displays [1st ACH Payment Number] - [last ACH Payment Number], instead of “Multiple Payments”. And finally, clicking the payment number hyperlink now opens the Process Payments page in a new tab, instead of within the inquiry.

NS-6621 Added an ACH Batch Detail Edit Report

We are including a new ACH Batch Detail Edit report with this version of NorthScope. A report definition will ship with this release and will be available to deploy to the report server. Users can now easily print a detailed report of ACH batch payments that is generated in the Financial functional area via the Print dialog on the Checkbook Register Inquiry and the Checkbook Transaction Inquiry.

Fisherman Accounting

NS-6269 Added ability to set Price Decimals on Fish Ticket Items

To make life easier and be more consistent, we have added a new column to the Fish Ticket Items List View called Price Decimals. Users can enter the desired number of price decimals (between 2 and 5) for the associated item, which will allow the Current Cost and Default Price values to be entered with the corresponding number of decimals. Fish Ticket Price Lists and Ticket Reprice will use the price decimal value from the ticket item master.

Price decimals values can be increased at anytime, however if the value is decreased and the item is on an active or future price list and the user enters a price decimal value on the ticket items list view that is less than what is on the price list for the associated item, the following message will be displayed: "Price List [Price List ID] contains an active or future price for Item [ItemID] that has a higher decimal precision than the decimal digits being saved. Please change the Price List to use [Requested Price Decimals] decimals of precision, or less, before saving this change."

NS-6681 Enhanced Mass Update for Fish Tickets to Add Delivery # and Tender

Users now have the ability to mass update Delivery # and Tender on Fish Tickets via the Mass Update window launched from the Fish Tickets List View.

NS-6705 Removed the Max Number of Tickets to Reprice Preference

Previously we had a preference named “Max Number of Tickets to Reprice”. This preference stopped users from repricing more than the saved value. This just didn’t quite seem fair, so we removed this limitation and you can now reprice so many tickets at one time there isn’t a need for this preference.

NS-6800 Added a Fisherman Statement Report

We are including a new Fisherman Statement report with this version of NorthScope. A report definition will ship with this release and will be available to deploy to the report server. Users can now easily view Fisherman balances and transaction details as a statement that is generated in the Fisherman Accounting functional area via the Reports page from the left hand menu or from the Statement hyperlink on the Fisherman Balances page.

 NS-6812 Added the Invoice Report for Fisherman Sale and Tender Resale Transactions

We are including a new Invoice report with this version of NorthScope. A report definition will ship with this release and will be available to deploy to the report server. Users can now easily print Invoices for Fisherman Sales and Tender Resale transactions that are generated in the Fisherman Accounting functional area via the Print dialog on the Fisherman Sale and Tender Resale record view, Fisherman Sales list view and the Fisherman Sale History Inquiry.

Inventory

NS-5643 – Updated how Inventory Units and Weight are stored for Inventory Transactions

We’ve gone behind the scenes and changed the way inventory transactions store units and weight. We’re tricky like that. When an inventory transaction is created, we now store the units and weight in the Item’s default inventory UOMs, as specified in the ‘Inventory Unit UOM’ property and ‘Inventory Weight UOM’ property on the Item Record View. For example, if an inventory transaction is created for an item in Cases and kgs, but the Item is set up with an ‘Inventory Unit UOM’ as Cases and an ‘Inventory Weight UOM’ as Lbs, we will convert the kgs to Lbs when the transaction is saved.

The transaction Record Views will still display the item’s units and weight as you entered them, but this new process allows us to always keep the units and weight quantities in check and store them using a consistent UOM. Please note that any previous inventory balances will not be affected.

Please click here for a FAQ on how UOM conversions work, the business rules behind the conversions and everything else you ever wanted to know about how we now store those UOM conversions.

NS-6084 Updated the Cycle Count Record View

The “All Lots” filter option for the ‘Include Lots’ filter has been updated to be more descriptive and is now displayed as “All Open Lots”. We’ve also added Item and Lot Attributes as additional columns hidden by default.

NS-6685 Improved performance on inventory transactions

To improve performance, we’ve made key updates to our code and the way we display, process and save information. You will notice that inventory transactions load and save quicker than ever.

Additionally, we are encouraging users on inquiries to specify certain filters prior to clicking the Refresh button to narrow down the search results. For example, users will be presented with filter options when opening the Item Balances List View and will need to first specify one or many Items, Item Classes and Sites which means they can choose what they want to see instead of being forced to wait for all data to be returned. In turn, the more information we have to filter on, the faster the inquiry will run and the more relevant the returned results will be. A win-win.

We’ve also added a new View button to the transaction Record Views, in place of the hyperlink for a saved Production Batch. This button will work by selecting a single line item. Now you can view the selected Item, Production Batch and Warehouse Lot setup directly from the transaction Record View and then simply close the window to return to your inventory transaction.

Purchasing

NS-6601 Updated Settlement Applications for Better Performance

The procedure used for settlement applications was old and needed a refresher. We gave it a little makeover so now it’s faster and more efficient.

NS-6549 Fixed an issue with deleting Purchase Orders that linked to Invoices that were deleted/voided and made some improvements

You know how they say, “When you click the delete button it isn’t ever really deleted”? Well this in fact was the case with Invoices and Credit Memos in the Purchasing functional area. They were just marked as “Deleted” and not actually deleted. This caused some issues however with deleting Purchase Orders that were referencing these “Deleted” Invoices/Credit Memos. And let’s be honest, does anyone really ever need deleted transactions? Not likely.

We will now physically delete (instead of just marking as “Deleted”) any Invoices or Credit Memos when the user clicks Delete from the record view or selects the record(s) from the list view and clicks Delete from the toolbar if the transaction is in New status.

Note: If a Purchase Order was linked to an Invoice/Credit Memo that has been deleted, then the Purchase Order would be left without an invoice / Credit Memo.

Additionally, if an Invoice or Credit Memo has been voided, the user will be able to re-use the Doc No and Load from PO on new Invoices/Credit Memos.  If the Purchase Order type is “Allow Single Invoice” and an Invoice/ Credit Memo linked to that PO is voided, the PO will automatically update to ‘Open’ status and will be displayed on the Purchase Orders list view and any amounts will be recalculated as expected.

A couple of validations have been added as follows when the user tries to delete a Purchase Order that is associated to an Invoice or Credit Memo that are in ‘New’, ‘Approved’, ‘Ready To Post’, or ‘Posted’ statuses.

  • "Purchase Orders referenced on unposted transactions cannot be deleted. This Purchase Order is referenced on the following transaction(s): [TransID]."
  • "Purchase Orders referenced on posted transactions cannot be deleted, they can only be Closed or you must void the transactions first. This Purchase Order is referenced on the following transaction(s): [TransID]."

This item also includes a datafix that will remove all existing invoices in the status of ‘Deleted’ and their associated temp journals.  Additionally, the PO field will be cleared on any Invoices and Credit Memos associated with a Purchase Order that are in the status ‘Void’. 

NS-6537 Added a Purchase Order Report

We are including a new Purchase Order report with this version of NorthScope. A report definition will ship with this release and will be available to deploy to the report server. Users can now easily print Purchase Orders that are generated in the Purchasing functional area via the Print dialog on the Purchase Order record view, Purchase Order list view and Purchase Order History Inquiry.

Sales

NS-5583 Changed Sales Order Allocations to create Inventory Transactions in the Inventory UOM

In the Sales functional area, we updated the way sales allocations store units and weight. When a sales order is created and allocated, we now store the units and weight in the item’s default inventory UOMs. These UOMs are set in the ‘Inventory Unit UOM’ property and ‘Inventory Weight UOM’ property on the Item Record View. For example, if an item was produced in Cases and Lbs, but sold in Cases and kgs, we will convert the kgs to Lbs when the item is allocated. The sales order will still display the item’s units and weight as you entered them, but we’ll be storing the unit and weight quantities in the default inventory UOMs.

Please click here for a FAQ on how UOM conversions work, the business rules behind the conversions and everything else you ever wanted to know about how we now store those UOM conversions.

NS-6553 Added Quick Sale Price Lists to display on the Customer record Price List tab and in the lookup

The Price List tab on the Customer record already displayed any Sales price lists that a customer was assigned to, however Quick Sale price lists were not displayed. Now users will see both Sales and Quick Sales price lists that customers are assigned to. Any Quick Sale price lists will be shown in the lookup as “[Price List] – QS”.

NS-6613 Added Tax Class to Customer and Customer Addresses List Views

The Customer List View and Customer Addresses List View have a new column called ‘Tax Class’ that is visible by default. Now the customer’s Tax Class will be just a glance away, instead of several clicks away. 

Bug Fixes

Fisherman Accounting and Purchasing

NS-6585, NS-6804 and NS-6808 Fixed some issues with ACH setup data

There were a few issues with the ACH setup data that users were running into that we have now fixed. 

  • Users that had a Vendor/Fisherman’s address setup for ACH but had a default payment type of ‘Check’ were unable to process an ACH payment when processing a payment batch.
  • The length of the ‘Next ACH Number’ field on the Checkbook master file was causing some problems so we updated it to support 12 characters and as a result have updated the ACH Remittance report to support 12 characters also.

This field has also been updated to support letters in the middle of the number, for example 10ACH0000, so that the next number will calculate correctly.

  • Updating Fisherman or Vendor ACH records will no longer result in account numbers being stored in the database with asterisks. This change does not affect how the account number is displayed in the system to users.


Technical Changes

Please view cumulative schema changes here.