Ostendo Update Notes from 25 November 2008 – What’s New

Ostendo Update Notes from 25 November 2008 – What’s New

Inquiry Screens

We have added a new style of view called ‘Inquiry’. This enables information to be displayed and inquired on, via the standard screen interface. In other words, Inquiry screens have an Opening List, Detail Tab, and optionally a Lines tab. These screens are found at the bottom of the main module menus in their own sub-menu called ‘Inquiries’. As with Reports, Analysis Views, Charts and Pivot Views, these new Inquiry screens can be developed or modified to suit the specific company or user requirements.

In this update we have included 46 new Inquiry Screens. Following are a few examples:

• Warehouse Inventory – This Inquiry screen displays the value of stock per warehouse with the ability to drill down and display the actual inventory
• Price Level List for Items – This Inquiry screen displays the number of Items defined for that Price Level with a drill down showing all items with their calculated prices
• Overdue Purchases by Supplier – This Inquiry screen displays the total outstanding value of purchases by supplier with a drill down to the actual purchase lines
• Bills of Material Stock – This Inquiry screen displays for each Bill of Material the on hand stock quantity and the maximum quantity that could be manufactured based on the component on hand stock quantities
• Outstanding Invoices by Customer – This Inquiry screen displays each Customer with their outstanding balances

The above is just a small sample of what comes with Ostendo. Development and modification of these Inquiry Screens is achieved through the Report and View Developer.

Additional Fields at Line Level

We have added additional fields to Order and Invoice lines throughout the system, along with a number of other screens that didn’t previously have additional fields. For a full list of screens and lines that have additional fields please refer to the ‘Additional Fields’ screen.

Note: When defining additional fields, if the name and field type of the field is the same, and where one is derived from the other (eg: an Item and the Job Line), the value held in that additional field for the Item will be automatically copied to the Job Line (assuming the Job Line is for that Item).

Price Level Override for Sales & Jobs

We have added the ability to override the Price Level for Jobs and Sales Orders. The idea behind this is to allow a different Price Level (and Rate Level if Jobs) to be used rather than the default for the Customer. The next update will allow for Pricing and Rate Level Matrixes to be defined for a combination of Customer and Job or Sales Type.

Purchase Invoice Enhancements

We have added a number features focussed primarily on speed. These are as follows:

Speed Entry for Invoice Only: If Purchase invoices are entered directly (i.e. Invoice Only) you have the ability to define the speed entry field for the invoice line. This works in the same manner as found in the: Purchase, Sales, Jobs and Assembly Order screens. Activation is in the Purchase Rules screen (Order Speed Entry)

Invoice Posting Tolerance: This allows Purchase Invoices to be posted if there is a difference between the Supplier Invoice amounts and the Ostendo calculated Amounts within that specified tolerance (defined in the Purchase Rules). Effectively Ostendo automatically creates the balancing values (either tax or net) to ensure a match.

Defaulting the Supplier Invoice Amounts to the Ostendo Amounts: This option automatically sets the Supplier Invoice amounts to the Ostendo calculated Batch amounts, as lines are either being entered or matched off. The flag to enable this can be found in the Purchase Rules screen, called ‘Default Supplier Invoice Values’.

Default Allocation Type: This allows a default allocation type to be defined in the Purchase Detail tab – thereby defaulting any lines created to that allocation type. Only applicable for the ‘Invoice Only’ style, and mainly relates to allocations to Job Orders.

Creating Items or Descriptors on the Fly in Purchasing

We have added the ability to create an Item or Descriptors on the fly when creating new Purchase Lines. This option is on by default but can be disabled via the Purchase Rules screen.

POS Enhancements

We have added some more rules for the POS operation. These are as follows:

Customer Required For Value: The value assigned to the field determines whether an actual Customer is required for the Sale if the sale value exceeds that value. In other words the default Cash Sale customer can’t be used.

Default Payment Style: This allows the default ‘Payment Style’ to be changed to ‘On Account’, rather than ‘Cash Sale’.

New Sale Sign In: This option prompts the operator to sign-in on every sale.

Service Enhancements

We have added the Service Zone to the Customer Assets screen and allowed for this field, and any additional fields that have been defined, to be used when filtering the Orders Required in the ‘Service Orders Required’ screen.

Inventory & WIP Value Reporting

We have changed the Inventory & WIP reporting outputs to include the detail of the inventory and orders as at the required valuation date (previously these figures where summary amounts).

Daily Statistics automatically emailed from Ostendo

When managing a business it can be extremely useful keep a track on key business statistics at a daily level. Having these turn up in your inbox each morning, is probably the most convenient method of delivery, bypassing having to be in the office or logged into Ostendo.

The script is one of the more useful examples included in the new scripting help, and can, with little effort be tailored to suit the requirements of any business.

There are 2 main configurable options within the script (assuming the email host name and sender address are defined also):

1)       The recipients of the Daily Statistics (email addresses)

2)       The Daily Statistics sent to each recipient:

a.       Job Order Statistics

b.      Sales Orders Statistics

c.       POS Statistics

d.      Invoice Statistics

e.       Debtor Statistics

f.        Inventory and WIP Statistics

Beyond just using the script as is, it can be modified to suit any business type. Ostendo scripts can be run via a simple scheduler, allowing them to be run at predetermined times, and at predetermined days (i.e. 1 am each morning). Please see the new scripting help file for more information on all of the above.

Scripting Help & Examples

Ostendo has a comprehensive custom scripting facility to enable everything from importing supplier catalogues to validating data keyed into screens. We have now released a Scripting Help file that covers the basics of scripting, where it can be applied, built-in Ostendo functions, and working examples.

Various Small Fixes & Improvements

Various other smaller issues and enhancements that have been reported to us have also been fixed in this update.