aspen version 10.0 release notes - chartersoftware.com

ASPEN Version 10.0 Release Notes Winter 2021 of 15

NEW LOGIN WINDOW IN VERSION 10.0 – SEE PAGE 14

Version 10.0

Release Notes

Release Highlights

Part Location Parts Selection Screen This significant enhancement gives you the ability to optionally view part information by location instead of just part global information. A new "Return Location Results" checkbox on the General tab controls whether location records or part master records

are displayed in the grid. Results columns change if location results are returned, including: Bin, Overflow Bin, Available, Avg Cost among others. Additional fields have

been added to the Field Chooser and you may save grid layouts for each results option - master and location results.

New criteria has been added to give more analysis options. Overflow Bin, Available, Last Received Date, Last Sale Date, Last Ordered Date criteria have been added and display in the grid.

Analysis and management can be done through Part Selection now rather than requiring running multiple reports or modifying reports for the analysis. Using the new

selection screen functionality allows building part lists to be used for ordering, report criteria, or other uses and easily allows part management or mass updates using the enhanced selection criteria.

Voucher Maintenance – Voucher Due Date Now In Voucher Header Section Added the due date to the voucher header section in Voucher Maintenance. This is not a new field, but allows quick editing or display of the due date that is on the Payment

Schedule tab. This will save a lot of time and clicks if the due date needs to be changed or you wish to see the due date when viewing a voucher.

The following functionality has been added: On a new voucher, entering a date creates a payment line with the invoice

amount and the entered due date upon Save.

On an existing voucher, the Due Date shows the due date from the next un-completed line.

If there are more than one payment line, the Due Date shows the next upcoming

payment date, but it is READ-ONLY. The Due Date is editable when there is a single active un-completed payment line. Editing the header Due Date updates the Due Date on the single payment line.

Editing the grid Due Date, will refresh the header Due Date.

If you archive rows, the Due Date will become editable when there remains a single line.


User Experience (UX) Redesign Started We are excited to announce the first changes from our User Experience redesign and improvements. These are the first changes led by our new UX designer. The changes streamline the wizards and screens for a smoother user experience with fewer clicks.

Watch for more enhancements in upcoming releases! Wizards changed in this version include

Parts Suggested Orders Work Order Move to Segment Work Order Transfer Segment

See feature release notes below for additional information on each of the new user

experience redesigned features.

Keyboard Shortcut Shortcut key F5 is now a standard “refresh” key on all screens. On all selection screens and the order maintenance screen, F5 will refresh the search to display updated results.

For example, once you set criteria in Work Order Selection, hitting F5 will refresh the results grid without having to click on the Search button.

Reset Order Codes Background Processing Added the ability to run reset order codes in the background. You may now minimize the Reset Order Codes window when it runs. You may click the Background button to run the process in the background. The process can be accessed via the new gear icon in the

status bar next to the database and username, showing status and any error messages (the gear will turn red if there are errors) after processing is complete. This allows work to continue without having to wait for the reset routine to complete.

Voucher Maintenance Enhancements Multiple enhancements to Voucher Maintenance allow for streamlined entry and maintenance. Full details are in the Feature Release Notes below.

The due date has been added to the first screen to allow for quick and easy adjustment of the due date for single-payment vouchers. Quickly adjust the due date without having to go to the payment schedule.

Increased the payment schedule to accept unlimited payment entries. This is helpful for vouchers with installment payments beyond 24 months.

Payment schedule and optionally GL detail rows are automatically updated when

the Invoice Amount is changed. This will save a lot of time and clicks when the voucher invoice amount is updated.

Customer Deposits Viewable in Customer Maintenance

The deposit report is now available from Customer Maintenance to quickly see deposit details for the customer.


Interfaces*

Name Update

John Deere – Sales Center

Unit Upload

New ASPEN integration with John Deere Sales Center is included with this release. The new integration uploads ASPEN units to John Deere

Sales Center. The unit upload feeds Sales Center Build & Price, Sales Center Equipment, and Quick Sale mobile app functionality. This integration is included with the John Deere Communications Interface.

There is setup required to use the Sales Center Unit Upload functionality through Manufacturer Interfaces – JD Communications Interface on the

General and Dealer Locations tabs. Data is updated from ASPEN to Sales Center every hour automatically and can be manually sent at any time as well.

This interface is in pilot with the release. Full release will be after a 2 week pilot.

CNH – eParts 4.0

New ASPEN integration with eParts 4.0 is included with the CNH

Communications Interface. Credentials and manufacturer mapping are needed for the eParts integration. These settings are managed in ASPEN under System Settings - Mfg Interfaces Setup - CNH Communications.

ASPEN parts manufacturers must be mapped to the matching CNH brand in eParts on the Manufacturers tab in CNH Communications Setup. The user, password, and URL needed for eParts 4.0 integration is displayed

in Manufacturer Interfaces - CNH Communications on the Parts Catalog tab. There is a button to copy the value for each field to the clipboard to make configuration in eParts 4.0 easier. Please see the ASPEN wiki for

details on eParts integration screen configuration.

Please note it may take 20 minutes for setting changes in ASPEN to

sync and communications to be established in eParts for the eParts integration to work.


Kubota

LOOKUP PARTS: NEW KUBOTALINK TAB

A New KubotaLink tab that displays part inquiry information when viewing a Kubota part in Lookup Parts. The Dealer Inventory link on the tab performs a dealer locator inquiry to show availability of the

part with other Kubota dealers. This saves time and clicks to see the information from Kubota without requiring navigating to the Mfg Interfaces link to perform the inquiry. Please ensure you have

mapped Kubota Manufacturers under System Settings - Manufacturer Interfaces - Kubota to take advantage of the new automated functionality included in the Kubota Communications

Interface as part of ASPEN's certified Kubota integrations. PART ORDER SUBMISSION

Validation has been added to use the existing KubotaLink (US) submission type included as part of ASPEN’s certified Kubota integrations when submitting a parts order for Kubota parts. This will

help ensure the correct submission type is used to electronically submit Kubota parts orders. Kubota will require electronic submission of parts orders to qualify for participation in future

functionality.

LOOKUP UNITS: SERIAL VALIDATION Serial/model validation is automatically performed in Lookup Units for a Kubota unit to help ensure correct model and serial numbers

are entered. Correct values are required for warranty submission and inquiries. This saves time and clicks by validating without navigating to the Mfg Interfaces link under Tasks. Unit integrations

are included in the Kubota Communications Interface as part of ASPEN’s certified Kubota integrations.

LOOKUP UNITS: NEW KUBOTA WARRANTY TAB A new Kubota Warranty tab is available in Lookup Units for Kubota units. The Kubota Warranty Details information for the selected unit

is displayed on the Kubota Warranty Tab. This saves time and clicks by providing the information immediately in Lookup Units without having to navigate through the Mfg Interfaces link under Tasks. Unit

inquiry integrations are included in the Kubota Communications Interface as part of ASPEN’s certified Kubota integrations.

TELEMATICS A new Kubota Telematics tab is available in Lookup Units. The Kubota Telematics data is displayed on the new tab. Telematics data

is downloaded hourly. The data requires the unit to be flagged as a Kubota unit category (see System Settings – Category Map below) via an overnight task and the serial must be validated and match the

serial from the telematics feed. You may configure the telematics tab to display one or 2 different grids of data or change to view the data you wish to view. Telematics is included in Kubota Communications

Interface as part of ASPEN’s certified Kubota integrations. This is Phase 1 of our telematics integration. Please let us know what other functionality you wish to see with the Kubota Telematics integration!


Kubota

SYSTEM SETTINGS – KUBOTA DEALER NUMBER

The dealer number in Kubota Communications Manufacturer Interfaces now supports more than 5 characters as requested by Kubota.

SYSTEM SETTINGS – CATEGORY MAP

Added the ability to map unit categories in Kubota Manufacturer

Interfaces setup. This is required for Telematics, automated warranty inquiries, and future Kubota integrations. Please map Kubota categories under System Settings - Manufacturer Interfaces -

Kubota to take advantage of the automated functionality available as part of ASPEN's certified Kubota integrations.

WARRANTY ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION Kubota electronic warranty submissions are supported using ASPEN Warranty Request. Designate your work order as a Kubota warranty

work order, then automatically generate an ASPEN Warranty Claim Request when the work order is finalized. New Kubota-specific fields have been added to the Claim Request. Once all data is complete,

automatically submit the claim and any associated images directly to Kubota directly within ASPEN with a button-click.

To use Kubota Warranty in ASPEN, configure a Warranty Submission Type and assign it to Kubota Warranty Work Orders.

Save time, reduce errors, and track all Kubota warranty details directly within ASPEN.

This functionality is currently in pilot. Watch for general release coming soon!

Polaris

Added 3 file formats for the Polaris order export to support changes on

the Polaris site for importing an order. The three file formats now available for export:

Polaris Recommended (.tab) – original fixed-length format

Tab Delimited (.tab) Comma Separated Values (.csv)

* ASPEN best practice is to refresh your interfaces after a new release is installed.


Feature Updates

Component Description

Accounting –

Bank Reconciliation

Added a count of the bank rec detail lines to the bottom of the JE Lines grid. This will provide an item count without having to export to Excel.

Accounting –

Bank Reconciliation

Increased the ending bank balance to accept values up to

$999,999,999.99

Accounting –

Bank Reconciliation

The bank rec search window now sorts by descending bank reconciliation

number and also contains a filter row to give more options to easily find a desired bank rec.

Accounting – GL

Entries Images and files may now be attached to journal entries.

Accounting –

Vendor Maint A warning is now given when archiving a vendor with open vouchers.

Accounting – Voucher

Maintenance

Added the due date to the voucher header section in Voucher Maintenance. This is not a new field, but allows quick editing or display of the due date that is on the Payment Schedule tab. This will save a lot of

time and clicks if the due date needs to be changed or you wish to see the due date when viewing a voucher.

The following functionality has been added:

On a new voucher, entering a date creates a payment line with the invoice amount and the entered due date upon Save.

On an existing voucher, the Due Date shows the due date from the

next un-completed line. If there are more than one payment line, the Due Date shows the

next upcoming payment date, but it is READ-ONLY.

The Due Date is editable when there is a single active un-completed payment line.

Editing the header Due Date updates the Due Date on the single

payment line. Editing the grid Due Date, will refresh the header Due Date. If you archive rows, the Due Date will become editable when there

remains a single line.

Accounting – Voucher

Maintenance

Unlimited voucher payment schedule lines are now allowed. The previous limit of 24 lines was removed.


Accounting – Voucher Maintenance

Streamlining

Payment schedule and optionally GL detail rows are automatically updated when the Invoice Amount is changed. This will save a lot of time and clicks when the voucher invoice amount is updated. The following functionality

has been added: If there is one non-completed payment row, the amount is

automatically updated to the new Invoice Amount.

If there is only 1 GL Detail row and it is not system-generated, the amount and memo amount will be automatically updated to the new Invoice Amount value.

A "Balance" link has been added to the "Pmt Schedule" tab which works like the GL Details Balance link. This is hot-key accessible as Ctrl+B.

The proof error if GL Details or Payment Schedule is not balanced will indicate which tab is causing the issue.

Communications The customer is now defaulted when starting a communication from a customer-owned unit. This will streamline the user experience and reduce

clicks when logging a communication against a customer-owned unit.

Customer – Maintain Customer

CONSOLIDATED CUSTOMER INVOICES The Consolidated Customer Invoices report from the Open Invoices link

in Maintain Customers now supports drill-down to the invoice. PARTS ON ORDER

Drill down is now functional on the Parts On Order Report accessed from the Open Orders link in Maintain Customers.

Customer – Maintain Customer

Added the Deposit Listing to the View menu in Customer Maintenance. All deposits are now visible on the report while viewing the customer without navigating to the reports menu to run.

General Exports Updated file formats to new Microsoft XLSX default. This removes the row limits imposed by older Excel XLS formats when exporting. This impacts all grids, reports, and Query Tool exports.

Invoicing

Added an information warning icon if the customer requires a PO. Enforcement of the required PO is done on finalize, but the information icon is displayed prior to finalize if a PO will be required. The warning

message will disappear once a PO is entered. This will help notify the user if a PO will ultimately be required to finalize the invoice.


Parts – Location Parts Selection

This significant enhancement gives you the ability to optionally view part

information by location instead of just part global information. A new "Return Location Results" checkbox on the General tab controls whether location records or part master records are displayed in the grid. Results

columns change if location results are returned, including: Bin, Overflow Bin, Available, Avg Cost among others. Additional fields have been added to the Field Chooser and you may save grid layouts for each results option

- master and location results. New criteria has been added to give more analysis options. Overflow Bin,

Available, Last Received Date, Last Sale Date, Last Ordered Date criteria have been added and display in the grid.

Analysis and management can be done through Part Selection now rather than requiring running multiple reports or modifying reports for the

analysis. Using the new selection screen functionality allows building part lists to be used for ordering, report criteria, or other uses and easily allows part management or mass updates using the enhanced selection criteria.

Parts – Lookup Parts

Enhanced the verification done for a part before it may be archived. This

will prevent inventory errors that previously occurred if a committed invoice with an archived part was voided. Now the void rules for parts include the following checks:

1. Verify that the on hand is zero at all locations. 2. Verify that the part is not associated to another part. 3. Verify that there are no parts on Alternate Stocking Locations.

4. Verify that there are no unreceived parts on orders. 5. Verify that there are no open invoices with those parts. 6. Verify that there are no Part Lists with this part.

Parts – Shelving Selection

Archived is added as an option to the Completed selection criteria box to

select Archived lists. Archived lists are no longer included in the results unless Archived or no Completed criteria is selected. A ghost icon is now displayed for archived lists in the results grid.

Parts –

Suggested Orders

User experience (UX) redesign to streamline the suggested order wizard. All options are now available on one screen. New information is displayed

for multi-selects giving information on total items available and number of items selected. All functionality and logic remains the same as the original wizard, only the layout has changed. Note if you have saved settings they

will have to be re-entered and re-saved due to the layout changing.

Parts Receipts The auto-created invoice from Parts Receipts now transfers the shipping information from the original customer order.


Performance

RECEIVABLES AGING DETAILS REPORT Increased performance for the Receivables Aging Details Report to

realize a performance gain of over 95%. This was applied as a hotfix automatically to the cloud environment and is now available in the release to all dealers.

RECEIVABLES AGING REPORT

Increased performance for the Receivables Aging Report to realize a

performance gain of over 95%. This was applied as a hotfix automatically to the cloud environment and is now available in the

release to all dealers. RECEIVABLES LISTING REPORT

Increased performance for the Receivables Listing Report to realize a performance gain of over 98%. This was applied as a hotfix automatically to the cloud environment and is now available in the

release to all dealers. GL SNAPSHOTS

Performance tuning to the GL Snapshot refresh routine to help prevent timeouts.

PART COUNT LISTS Creating part count lists was tuned to increase performance.

SERVICE CHARGES Performance tuning to the Create Service Charges routine.

UNIT ORDERS Performance improvements in the unit order submission routine.

Sales Added "Void" to the top of the invoice when viewing a voided invoice to give a better visual indicator the invoice has been voided. Note: the printed invoice was not changed.

Sales The invoice details grid now supports saving the grid layout using the army knife. This functionality is available on an Invoice, Quote Invoice, Work Order, Rental Contract and Invoice, and Work Order Quote.

Service The WIP tab now supports saving the grid layout using the army knife.

Service – Move to Segment

User experience (UX) redesign to streamline the Move to Segment wizard. The new routine has the same functionality but streamlines the wizard for a smoother user experience with less clicks.

Service – Transfer

Segment

User experience (UX) redesign to streamline the Transfer Segment wizard. The new routine has the same functionality but streamlines the wizard for

a smoother user experience with less clicks.


Units

The unit transaction created when posting a unit voucher now places the voucher invoice number into the transaction description. This data is visible on the Transaction tab in Lookup Units. Adding invoice number

prevents having to drill to the source voucher to determine an invoice number when viewing unit transactions.

Units – Unit

Receipts

Added a new checkbox option to create a single setup work order for all units as part of the new receipt units workflows introduced in version 9.0. If you select to create a single setup work order, all received units flagged

for a setup work order will be placed on a single work order under individual segments.

Units – Unit Templates

Added the ability to archive and unarchive templates. The archive/unarchive may be done in bulk by selecting multiple templates in the results grid then clicking the Archive link. This will save a lot of time

and clicks if archiving multiple templates at once.

Units – Work

Order Invoice Builder

Workflow is followed when creating a new internal work order for an in

stock or expected unit. The customer, service code, default tech are used from workflow configuration for the selected location. If there is no workflow defined for the selected location, the values are blank and

require entry.

Updated the "One Work Order per Unit" label to "Unit on Header/One Work Order per Unit" to better describe the existing functionality. If one work order per unit is created, the unit will be placed on the work

order header, not as a segment override. This is a label change only - functionality was not changed.

The Work Order Invoice Builder now defaults the One Work Order Per Unit checkbox to the last selected option.

System – Help Wiki

The wiki will now open in the user's default browser. This makes the wiki window more usable because you can keep it open and have multiples open if desired.

System -

Licensing

There is no need to refresh licenses with version 10.0. All licenses are

refreshed and updated automatically.

System – Login

There are changes to the login screen. A new Company field is included in the login screen. It will normally be filled in automatically. See login window section at the end of the release notes for screen shots and

instructions if the company name is not correct when you view the Login window.


Bug Fixes

Component Description

Accounting – Bank

Reconciliation

The currently selected row will still be selected after sorting the grid. This applies to sorting on all grid columns including sorting by absolute value.

This fixes the “jumping” previously experienced when sorting the grid.

Accounting – Bank

Reconciliation

Fixed a bug that could limit the number of bank rec lines to less than the

supported 5000 lines.

Accounting – GL Entries

Corrected a bug that prevented saving if there was an archived line with a zero amount.

Accounting – GL

Snapshots Performance tuning to the snapshot refresh routine.

Accounting –

Voucher Maintenance

A unit voucher may no longer be voided if any unit lines contain an

archived unit. New vouchers can no longer be created for archived vendors.

Customers – Maintain Customers

The Part Orders link now correctly displays the part order line expected date in the results grid.

Invoicing

An invoice with an archived part may no longer be voided. To void the

invoice the part must be unarchived. This will prevent inventory issues due to archived parts having on hand as a result of the invoice void.

Invoicing Corrected a bug that caused Unit Lists to not be available in Add From List.

Invoicing The salesperson is no longer reset to the current user when drilling to the

customer from an invoice or work order.

Invoicing A salesperson is no longer required when archiving an invoice.

Invoicing

Made changes to address incorrect net extension on an invoice after

receiving the same part multiple times. In some situations the invoice had the correct quantity for each part line but the net extension value was the total for all part lines.

Invoicing – Quotes

The Modified Date and Modified By fields are now updated when a quote is archived.


Multi-Currency Interface

Corrected an issue where MSRP was wrong when receipting a part from an order for a multi-currency vendor.

Parts – Lookup Parts

Archived parts are now prevented from being placed on order.

Parts – Order Maintenance

Corrected the saved layout sort on part number.

Parts – Part Count Lists

Part Count List Est Adj Amount column now calculates and displays correctly if the arrow keys are used to navigate down the grid.

Parts – Parts Invoice Builder

Archived parts can no longer be placed on an invoice using the Invoice Builder.

Parts Order

Maintenance

An archived vendor cannot be entered on an parts order. If an existing

parts order has an archived vendor, the order may not be submitted.

Parts Receipts

Corrected a bug where the receipt report printed a receipt line multiple times. This occurred if the first partial receipt placed the partially

received line on the original invoice then the original invoice was finalized prior to the 2nd partial receipt.

Parts Receipts Corrected a bug where moddate was occasionally updated for completed

order lines not on the receipt.

Query Tool

AFTER SALES UNITS TRANSACTIONS QUERY Adjusted the description for the After Sales Units Transactions query

in the library to better describe what transactions are included.

EMAIL STATEMENTS Customers with a credit balance are no longer emailed a blank pdf when Exclude Credit Balance Statement is selected.

Quotes The grid no longer jumps around when deleting an item from the costs grid and the standard job grid in option attachments.

Rental – Rental Entry

The saved layout is now used and displayed on the Rental Entry grid.

Reports – Invoice

Balancing

Corrected a bug where multiple payments of the same payment type and amount against an invoice were not printed properly on the

Invoice Balancing Report.

Customer ID now prints as entered including embedded spaces.

Trailing spaces have bene removed from the Customer ID hyperlink.


Reports – Parts

Location Transfer Report

The Parts Location Transfer Report now includes the line reference

instead of the order reference when printed from Order Maintenance.

Reports – Receivables Report

Performance

Increased performance for the Receivables Aging Details Report. This fix was already provided as a hotfix for cloud dealers and is now

included in the general release for all dealers.

Reports – Unpaid Vouchers by

Control Account (BETA) Report

If the unit lines on a voucher are all for the same unit, "multiple" no longer displays in the unit info column. Now, "multiple" will only display if

multiple different units are on the voucher.

Sales Multi-unit window now resizes properly.

Sales An invoice may no longer be Returned if any parts on the invoice have

been archived.

Service

Fixed an occasional crash when opening a work order in the invoice

viewer. This was provided as a hotfix to all cloud dealers and is now available in the release for all dealers.

System Settings – Bank

Accounts

Location number now correctly displays using the location map (example, 002 vs. 02).

Units – Work Order Invoice

Builder

The segment on a new work order created using the Invoice Builder from Lookup Units, Customer Equipment, or Unit Selection is now set to Open status.

Warranty date is now populated when creating a new work order

directly from a unit using the Invoice Builder.

Corrected a bug that impacted searching for service codes when using

the invoice builder to create a customer work order.

Units –Invoice

Builder

The unit price is now locked when creating an invoice using the Units

Invoice Builder.


IMPORTANT: New Login Window in Version 10.0

Please note: there are changes to the login screen included in this version.

A new Company field is included in the login screen in version 10.0. This will normally be filled in automatically.

If the company name is blank or is not correct, click the search icon next to Company Name field and enter 3 or more characters of your company name, then Search. You should see your company displayed in the window. Select your company and click OK.

On the login screen you will then be able to select your database name, enter your username and password as before. The system will save your last entries.


Friendly Reminders

ALL Customers Version 4.7.2 of the Microsoft .NET Framework MUST be installed on all of your

workstations.

Query Tool users should install the most recent version of the Query Tool. All interfaces should be refreshed after the update is installed.

INSTALLED Customers SQL Server 2014 or higher is required to update to Version 8.6.0, but Charter

recommends using SQL Server 2017 A new Install/Config Utility is required PRIOR to installing the new release

The ASPEN services require Version 4.7.2 of the Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed all workstations and the server

Price File Client must be updated as part of this release. All interfaces should be refreshed after the update is installed.

For additional details or assistance, please contact Charter Software Support by

phone 303.932.6875 or email [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]

aspen version 10.0 release notes - chartersoftware.com

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