customer master update for version 14€¦ · add write ‐off and ... third party accounting...

Customer Master Update for Version 14.2

Date: October 2014 From: MACC’s Product Development Team Re: Version 14.2 Release

The following enhancements have been made to the Customer Master software application. Please take time to review

these changes, which become effective with Version 14.2 of Customer Master.

This document provides an overview of the changes made and added functionality included in the latest version of the

software. It refers to the changes by Module, followed by a brief summary of the enhancements included in that

Module.

Customer Master’s online help has also been updated to include information on the latest enhancements. Please refer

to the help documentation for an in‐depth explanation of the enhancements included in this letter, or contact your

MACC Customer Master Software Support Representative. Web training sessions on these enhancements are also

available.

Table of Contents

CUSTOMER MASTER LOOK AND FEEL CHANGES……..……………..………………………………………………………………………………………………2

BILLING ……………….…..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………4

E‐911…………………………….………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…38

MAINTENANCE ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….44

TOOLS…………….……………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………………………49

REPORTS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………51

Customer Master 14.2 – Fall 2014

2

Customer Master Look and Feel Changes

Several changes will be immediately noticeable with the release of Customer Master 14.2 as they relate to the ‘look and

feel’ of the product. MACC implemented these changes to better serve our customers and to create a fresher, more

efficient, and user friendly product.

Suites

A suite will bring like processes and maintenance tables together in a single, central location. Every suite will have a

navigation sidebar listing all the possible screens within the application that can be docked into the suite’s workable

area. Selecting a screen from the navigation sidebar will create focus on that feature in the work space. Screens can

be opened individually for use or can be opened as tabs across the bottom of the suite. Customization will allow you

to hide certain screens from your navigation sidebar or set specific screens as the default for the suite. Full

functionality of the screen will remain intact within the suite.

Using a suite will limit the opening and closing of screens from the main menu to complete a task. It also provides a

more complete set of related items in a task. You’ll find yourself using fewer clicks to get from one area of the

system to another using the suites feature.

Service Order Suite


3

Ribbon

Navigation throughout the system can now be performed directly from a ribbon without having to use the main

menu drop‐down selections. Any screen accessible from the previous Packages, Reports, Tools, Window, and Help

drop‐down menu is now available from the ribbon.

Each module will have at least one associated suite on the ribbon for easy access to all processing and maintenance

screens. Common processes and screens used on a more frequent basis will also appear on the ribbon.

A custom section will be available from each ribbon tab to allow for the addition of screens you frequently access to

your workstation ribbon. Screens can be added from anywhere in the system making it easy to navigate to your

most used functions.

Account Management Ribbon

Additional Notable Look and Feel Changes

The implementation of customizable skins will give your system a unique style that fits your personality.

With 40+ skins available, they range from a holiday theme to specific color themes. Skin management will

be found under the File tab on the ribbon.

The Account Management Tab located in the ribbon consolidates the Service Order, Inquiry, Trouble,

Marketing, Prospect, Address, Messenger and Reports Suites. The Financial Management Tab consolidates

the Receivables, Billing, Refunds, Accounting, Delinquency, Capital Credits and E‐Rate suites. This is

generally the model for each of the new Suites across the top and standard security for each module will still

be applicable.

The main tabs are Account Management, Financial Management, Network Management, Employee

Management, Miscellaneous and Custom.

MACC will begin to transition icon images across the system into a new updated style. These icons will be

noticeable on the ribbon in 14.2.

The product icon for Customer Master has changed and will appear differently on your workstation icon and

your computer’s toolbar.


4

Billing

Accept Nightly File from Web Sign‐ups for eBill and Auto‐pay

Currently, there is no automated interface between the eBill management website and Customer Master. This

has caused some manual entry into Customer Master or confusion as to whether the subscriber has signed up

for or canceled eBill and Auto‐pay services.

A new import facility is provided to read a nightly file and perform the necessary updates within Customer Master. Service Orders are generated to affect the changes, providing a complete audit trail for the updates done on the website.


5

For Online enrollments, the Bill Medium is updated to Paper or Paper & eBill.


6

Also, eBill Auto‐pay is updated as needed to either on or off.


7

Add Write‐Off and Security Deposits to Accounting Master/Journal Entry Export

Accounting | Import Chart of Accounts

A Clear button was added, so you can run the import as many times as you want. Once the import is successfully run, it

is disabled. Press the Clear button to reset and run again.

Accounting Master Package

Chart of Accounts will now pull directly from the Accounting Master database.


8

User has the option to choose All companies, or select a single company. o Only companies set up on the CM database will be available from the AM database.

Third Party Accounting Package

This option still uses a file. No changes were made.


9

or

The Edit report has the username, page 1 of x, and a total at the bottom. If a company was selected, it will show in the

heading (Accounting Master Interface option only).


10

The # of items updated will display, the Import button is disabled. Press Clear to run again, or close the screen to finish.


11

Options

New options for including security deposits or write off payments in the Cash JE were added to the Receivables screen.

Default = unchecked or ‘no.’

These options are only available if the Accounting Package is Accounting Master.


12

Main Report Area

If the company preference to export Security Deposits is turned on, this new field is required. It should be set up on all Main Report Areas. Otherwise, the JE will not be created if it is missing. This is used for the offsetting JE.


13

Security Deposits

Required field Batch was added to the screen.

Defaults to blank if company preference set

If not set to blank, and the login is in the employee table with a default batch set up:

If login is not in the employee table, it uses the first 10 characters of the user name.

Optional field Export JE

Enabled only if using Accounting Master interface.

Defaults to checked if the company preference is set:

Manual

Security Deposit and JEs are updated as soon as data is posted/saved.

Deleting (cancelling) a Security Deposit will automatically create a reversal JE if the JE has already been exported.

Service Order


14

The Journal Entry is deleted / created during the Apply process. This is because once the JE is deleted or updated, there is no history to go back to if the Service Order is cancelled.

If the JE has already been exported, the Security Deposit cannot be deleted (cancelled) from a Service Order if you want the JE to be reversed.

Use the Manual screen to delete a Security deposit with an exported JE to create the reversing JE.

When saving a Security Deposit, determine if the Main Report Area’s Security Deposit G/L is set up, and if the company preference is set to export Security Deposit JEs. Display a confirmation message, letting the user continue.

o If the Security Deposit is being edited in a Service Order, look in ACCT_SO for this service order to get the current report area/MRA ‐ (this will include new installs).

o If the Account is being edited from Inquiry, look in the ACCOUNT table for the report area / MRA.

o


15

Write‐Offs

Write‐Off Payments

The grid displays new fields Batch, Export JE, JE Exported By, and JE Exported Date.

If a Write‐Off payment has already been exported, it cannot be edited:

If attempting to delete a Write‐Off payment that has already been exported, a confirmation message is displayed:


16

When inserting a new Write‐Off Payment, Batch is now required. It will auto‐populate if the employee is set up with a default batch name. The Export JE checkbox is automatically selected if the company preference for creating JEs is on.

Batch was added to the Standard and Receipt Printer.


17


18

When attempting to delete a Write‐Off tax row, if a journal entry has already been exported, the following message displays with options:

When attempting to delete a Write‐Off Payment row, if the journal entry has already been exported, the following message displays:


19

When attempting to edit a Write‐Off that has a JE that has already been exported:

Spread Payment

New required Batch is populated as previously described. Export JE is automatically populated if company preference is

turned on.


20

Write‐Off Report / Detail


21

Added Batch to the payments row.


22

Packages | Prospect Management | Quote/Prospect Wizard

Security Deposits on a Prospect can now be exported.


23

Without an Employee/login payment Batch Name Default, the Batch will populate with the first 10 characters of the

user name if created from a Prospect.


24

If a JE has already been exported, the Batch and Export JE options are disabled.


25

Examples of the Security Deposit Receipts:

**************************************

SUCCESS TEL 14.2

111 ADMIRAL DR STE 2

BLAIR, NE 68008‐2522

04/08/2014 11:48:56 AM

**************************************

SECURITY DEPOSIT

Acct Number: 7

Name: HENRY BAKER

Deposit Date: 01/01/2012

Amount: $100.00

Contact: (319)555‐0120

Method: ______________

Method Num: ______________


26

Batch: 20140403KG

Pmt Taken By: _______

Source: INQ

**************************************


27

Reports | Common | Security Deposit


28

Accounting – Export Cash Journal Entries


29

If a Security Deposit batch was selected, but the Main Report Area was not set up with the offsetting G/L Account number, this message will display:

Here are the possible situations that exist where the JE will not be exported:

Write‐Off payments and Security Deposits will be included in the available batches, if the company preference is set up to export them.


30

If using Accounting Master interface, the JEs will be imported directly into the AM database.

If not using the Accounting Master interface, the same process/file will be created. It will not include Security Deposits or Write‐Offs in the available batches.


31

The Journal Entries will be summarized like they currently are, but will optionally include Write‐Offs and Security

Deposits. Once in the JE exported batch, you will not be able to tell the source of the JE, they will be summarized based

on the company preference Batch JE option. Inter‐company will work the same. The only difference will be the

offsetting JEs.

Offsetting JEs – Write‐Offs

The Write‐Off Payment is linked with a Write‐Off Category which is associated with a USP Code. The G/L Account on

that USP code is used in the offsetting JE.

Offsetting JEs – Security Deposits

The Account’s Main Report Areas Security Deposit Credit G/L Acct is used for the offsetting JE.


32


33

Exporting the CM JEs into the AM database.

If the number of CM JEs doesn’t match the number of AM JE’s, a message asks if you would like to try the export again:

If answering Yes,

The export will be attempted using Delphi instead of the stored procedure to copy the data from the CM database to the AM database.

If that fails, you will also get that message and the JEs will be rolled back on the CM database.

If any JEs were copied into the AM database, CM will attempt to delete them.

If there is a problem deleting the AM JEs, you will receive this message:


34

To resolve from the AM application:


35

Cash JE Batch Report (Reports | Accounting | Cash JE Batch)

Added Security Deposit and Write‐Off as Payment Method options to the dropdown.

The first 25 characters of the Security Deposit and Write‐Off description will print in the Category/Desc section with the

Detail option.

The Payment Method will show Security Deposit or Write‐Off in the Summary option.


36

E911

Include the FIPS code for County in NENA Records for Certain PSAPs

There have been requests from certain areas of the country that the FIPS code for a State/County be included in the

NENA‐2 Standard 911 Records. Since there is no basis for doing this universally (it’s not in the NENA Records

Standard), it will be an optional feature that companies will likely only use if a PSAP requests it.

From the E911 Suite or from Maintenance – E911 – PSAP Administrators you get the PSAP Administrator screen:


37

Highlight a row and on the PSAP Admin screen and double‐click or click the edit button to reach the editor:

A checkbox was added in the “File Layout Options” group box for ‘Use FIPS County.’ It defaults to unchecked. This tells

the process that creates the E911 file to use FIPS County instead of the usual four character county code.


38

From the E911 Suite or from Maintenance – E911 – E911 County you can add the FIPS code to the applicable counties.

Highlight, double‐click or click the edit button to reach the editor:

FIPS County is an optional field, and doesn’t change anything else on the screen.


39

Since there are vendors not requiring county in some scenarios, if the FIPS County flag in PSAP Admin is set, but FIPS

county is not present in the E911 County Editor shown above, a message is displayed asking the user if they want to

continue.

If you elect to continue, the FIPS County field in the E911 file will be blank (spaces) for any county where FIPS County is

not entered.

The FIPS County and County Code are added to the grid on the E911 County screen:


40

The FIPS County has been added to the County drop‐down field on the E911 Address screen:


41

The FIPS County is added to the E911 County on the Service Order E911 screen:


42

Maintenance

Improved IP Address Tracking

A new maintenance table has been added for IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) subnet management. A subnet is a

subdivision of an IP network, and IP addresses branch from these subnets. New functionality allows you to create

Subnet models to define a range of numbers and then a tool that generates multiple addresses in the table.

IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) functionality currently allows you to set the first 3 groupings of the v6 address

scheme, and the system will generate the fourth group.

Updated Number Management facilities

A new maintenance table has been added to provide a Reference Code for use with any type of numbers. This table

provides a convenient description for the number that may help users remember things such as why a line was

marked as reserved. Also, new Status Values are added for Available/Held and Unavailable/Snap Back. To assist

with implementation, a mass update tool is provided to assist in updating line numbers with status values and the

new reference code.

Paging numbers are now picked up and included for the Form 502 Number Utilization Reports, as they are North

American Number Plan Area (NANPA) controlled numbering resources and must be reported on the 502 report.

Also added are totals on the report at the NPA/NXX level for companies that report only at that level (not at the

NPA/NXX/X level).

Add a Detail/Summary option to the 502 Report. Detail shows all line numbers that make up the counts in the

columns of the report. This will be handy for research into what lines numbers are being counted in each row of the

report.

Add an Inactive flag to the NPA/NXX table for situations where you no longer need a particular NPA/NXX in your

table (a ported in number is no longer with you, or other situations like that).


43

Maintenance‐>Common‐>Number Reference

Standard grid to hold user defined Number References.

Maintenance‐>Common‐>Number Reference‐>Editor

Editor to allow you to insert and modify number reference codes.


44

Tools‐>Mass Processing‐>Tel/Cel/Pag Mass Insert/Update

New Action option ‘Update Reference’ allows you to mass update network numbers with a reference.

New Statuses (Available/Held | Unavailable/Snap Back) in Status and Release Status dropdowns for all options (Insert/Update Status/Update Release Status).

The Available/Held Status helps you manage numbers that you are ‘reserving’ for a client or special situation in your service territory. The number is ‘available’ for use, but only for certain situations. You might also connect a Reference Code to that number/numbers to clearly explain a reason such as ‘Held for ABC Corporation’. The Unavailable/Snap Back is used in the situation where you once had a number Ported In to your company and served a customer with that number. When they disconnect, the number ‘snaps backs’ to the original carrier, so you cannot use it again. However, it must remain in your number table because it’s connected to a telephone network tier that was in service, and must be present in the table. This Status helps you to manage these situations.


45

Tools‐>Reports‐>Network Reports‐>Telephone and Wireless Numbers

New Reference Option allows you to run the report by Reference Code.

New Statuses (Available/Held | Unavailable/Snap Back) added to Status and Release Status options. Number dropdowns display all values, but new Inactive column has been added. Inactive values are sorted to

the bottom.

Tools‐>Reports‐>Network Reports‐>FCC Form 502


46

New option to allow you to run the report with Network Numbers. It also has the ability to filter network number results down by number status.

Reports grid displays all values, but the new Inactive column has been added. Inactive values are sorted to the bottom.

Numbers with ‘Available/Held’ are considered Available.

Numbers with ‘Unavailable/Snap Back’ are excluded from this report.

Paging Numbers are now getting picked up in report.

NXX Group now has total counts for the five different number statuses.

Ported‐Out Numbers are now being listed under Assigned.


47

Tools

Integration of the Scheduler and Stages

Scheduling has been exclusive to trouble tickets and service orders. A new capability provides for the ability to

schedule the individual stages within a service order.

A new schedule type of ‘Stage’ has been added to the Schedule Type table. The user may not change or delete this

type, as it is used by the system.

The Scheduler is accessible from the Stages screen toolbar. When selected this way, the schedule type of ‘Stage’ is

pre‐selected. The Stage button is only enabled if the company is setup to use the Advanced Scheduler, the stage is

not completed and the user has one of the security roles of ADMINISTRATOR_1, SERVICE_ORDER_1,

SERVICE_ORDER_2, SCHEDULER_1, or SCHEDULER_2 (all 3 must be true).


48

The Stage screen provides you with a number of options for assignment such as estimated time and sequence,

but if you choose to schedule a stage, the work group, schedule date and time selected on the scheduler

overrides these values for this stage. The scheduler performs independently of these stage values.

If a stage is scheduled, but there is no Assigned‐To value selected, the Assigned‐To will carry the value selected

from the Employee drop‐down on the scheduler.

If a stage is scheduled, the SO number associated with the stage and step are noted on the scheduler. Basic

stage and schedule information is included on texts and emails automatically distributed to employees for

scheduled work notification. Basic stage information includes the step, department and associated service order

number.

You have the ability to schedule the entire service order, in addition to individual stages.


49

Reports

Added Feature to FCC Form 477 to Create File‐11‐ Voice Telephone Subscription Detail

The Form 477 updates that had to be rushed out in Release 14.1 did not include an integrated solution for creating

File‐11 of the form packet, namely Voice Telephone Subscription Detail. That report is done at the Census Tract

level, which is stored in the Address record during the Geocoding process. At this time, most companies’ addresses

have been geocoded.

This reporting section also required reporting of Voice Grade Equivalent (VGE) services, Voice over Internet Protocol

(VoIP) service types, and also how many of those services are included in a Consumer Grade service plan.

The USP codes must be marked as to whether they represent a VGE or VoIP Service.


50

When creating a new Network type Telephone, the USP codes attached will mark the network as VGE, VoIP or Not

Applicable, as indicated on the USP code.

Tools have been provided to assist you in preparing your data to produce the counts you need for your Form 477. Your

Software Support Rep will work with you to complete these steps and prepare you for creating your final numbers to

report.


51

And finally, the FCC Form 477 has a new Tab – 11 – Voice Telephone Subscription Detail where you get your numbers to enter into the FCC Web Site.

customer master update for version 14€¦ · add write ‐off and ... third party accounting...

Documents