TheFinancialEdge. Integration Guide

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1 TheFinancialEdge Integration Guide

2 Blackbaud, Inc. This publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Blackbaud, Inc. The information in this manual has been carefully checked and is believed to be accurate. Blackbaud, Inc., assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions in this manual. In no event will Blackbaud, Inc., be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any defect or omission in this manual, even if advised of the possibility of damages. In the interest of continuing product development, Blackbaud, Inc., reserves the right to make improvements in this manual and the products it describes at any time, without notice or obligation. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc. All other products and company names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holder. FE IntegratingFEWithAFN

3 Contents INTEGRATING THE FINANCIAL EDGE WITH AFN Accessing Accounting for Nonprofits From The Financial Edge Bank Accounts Checks Posting to General Ledger from Subsidiary Ledgers Security Reports Updating Accounts

4 chapter 1 Integrating The Financial Edge with AFN 6.4 Accessing Accounting for Nonprofits From The Financial Edge Bank Accounts Bank Account Considerations Checks Posting to General Ledger from Subsidiary Ledgers Security Reports Updating Accounts

5 2 C HAPTER Welcome to the integration guide for The Financial Edge (version 7 and higher) and Accounting for Nonprofits version 6.4. This guide details how these two programs interact, specifically bank account, posting, security, and reporting issues. Warning: For the latest documentation and information, visit our website at www. blackbaud.com. Interaction between The Financial Edge and your Accounting for Nonprofits subsidiary ledgers is essentially seamless. For example, bank accounts in The Financial Edge and your 6.4 subsidiary ledgers are synchronized. You can easily post to The Financial Edge from your 6.4 subsidiary ledgers, and you can run the Update Accounts utility to update your 6.4 subsidiary ledger account and project tables with edits made in The Financial Edge. Accessing Accounting for Nonprofits From The Financial Edge Tip: We recommend creating a document for your users explaining considerations between Accounting for Nonprofits and The Financial Edge, and then adding a shortcut to that document in the same location as the program shortcuts. Your Accounting for Nonprofits version 6.4 programs, which may include Student Billing and Payroll, are installed with The Financial Edge and run simultaneously with The Financial Edge as separate executable files. Without The Financial Edge, you must open each Accounting for Nonprofits program and module by accessing the Programs menu in Windows. However, with The Financial Edge, you can quickly access your Accounting for Nonprofits programs from the Financial Edge shell. Creating a shortcut to an Accounting for Nonprofits program In The Financial Edge, you can use a plug in to create a navigation bar shortcut that you can use to open an Accounting for Nonprofits program from the shell. 1. On the navigation bar, click Plug Ins. 2. On the Plug Ins page, click Create Links to Blackbaud Systems. 3. On the Create Links to Blackbaud Systems page, mark checkboxes for shortcuts to create and click Create Links.

6 INTEGRATING THE F INANCIAL EDGE WITH AFN The program shortcuts appear in a Blackbaud Systems section of the navigation bar in The Financial Edge. 4. Click a shortcut to open a page for the program containing links to each module. Bank Accounts Because bank accounts exist in both Accounting for Nonprofits 6.4 and The Financial Edge, they display checks and deposits that exist in all programs. You can add, edit, and delete bank accounts from any program. The bank accounts are synchronized, meaning changes made in a 6.4 subsidiary, such as Student Billing, immediately appear in the Financial Edge bank register. You can edit generic bank account information, such as bank account ID, description, and contact information, through either the 6.4 or 7 interface. When you are in version 6.4, you cannot perform processing in The Financial Edge. When you are in The Financial Edge, you cannot perform any processing in version 6.4. However, you can report on your check bank register in both 6.4 and 7 programs at any time. Warning: If all installed products that require banks are upgraded to The Financial Edge 7, the 6.4 Bank Accounts module is disabled. If you later install additional 6.4 systems that require banks, the version 6 Bank Accounts module will also be installed. You can edit system specific bank account information and perform system specific processes only in the related program. For example, you can specify the next accounts payable check number in the version 7 bank account only, and you can specify the next payroll check number in the 6.4 bank account only. You can print accounts payable checks in version 7 only and payroll checks only in version 6.4 only. Bank Account Considerations We strongly recommend you use the version 7 register exclusively for reporting and reconciling bank accounts. You can create adjustment transactions only in version 7. Transactions created in version 6.4 appear in both the 6.4 and 7 registers; however, they can only be viewed in detail and modified through the 6.4 register. Transactions can be renumbered or voided through either register. Changes in one register are reflected in the other. Posting transactions added in version 6.4 also marks the corresponding transactions in version 7 as posted. Transactions created in version 7 can be edited or modified only in the version 7 register. We strongly recommend you use the same cash account code for a bank account used in both version 6.4 and version 7.

7 4 C HAPTER If you use a single bank account between version 6.4 and version 7, we recommend you use the same cash account code in both programs. This makes reconciliation easier. Payroll checks can be printed only through version 6.4. Student Billing direct disbursements are added to the version 7 bank, but can still be viewed in the version 6.4 register. Checks If you are currently using Accounting for Nonprofits 5.0 checks with your dot matrix or laser printer, be advised they are not compatible with The Financial Edge. We can create custom checks, student bills, statements, invoices, purchase orders, tax forms, envelopes and other computer forms that are specifically designed for use with The Financial Edge. These forms are pre printed in color with your organization s logo and contact information. For more information, visit: forms.blackbaud.com or send an e mail to: forms@blackbaud.com. Posting to General Ledger from Subsidiary Ledgers You cannot post 6.4 subsidiary ledgers from The Financial Edge. All 6.4 subsidiary ledgers must be posted from the subsidiary programs. Because transaction codes and class characteristics are not available in Accounting for Nonprofits, the program looks at fund requirements and defaults to determine batch values when posting from Accounting for Nonprofits to The Financial Edge. Because transaction codes and class characteristics are not available in Accounting for Nonprofits, the program looks at fund requirements and defaults to determine batch values when posting from Accounting for Nonprofits to The Financial Edge. For more information about posting from a program in 6.4, see the program s user guide in the Accounting for Nonprofits documentation. From a subsidiary ledger in The Financial Edge, such as Accounts Payable, you can post to General Ledger in two ways (1) from the Post link in Administration in General Ledger or (2) from the subsidiary s Post link in Administration. For more information about posting from General Ledger and posting from a version 7 subsidiary ledger, see the Administration Basics chapter of the Administration Guide. Security Security rights are not linked between Accounting for Nonprofits and The Financial Edge. Security settings made in The Financial Edge apply to General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Cash Receipts and Fixed Assets. Student Billing and Payroll security is defined in Accounting for Nonprofits. Reports The Reconciliation Report is no longer available in Bank Reconciliation Reports Analysis Reports section in Accounting for Nonprofits because you cannot reconcile from version 6.4. A Bank Reconciliation Report is available in version 7.

8 INTEGRATING THE F INANCIAL EDGE WITH AFN The Transaction Report, Bank Summary Report, System Analysis Report, and Bank Register Report display migrated 6.4 adjustments. These reports also display bank adjustments, checks, and deposits from version 7. The Batch Reconciliation Report shows posted bank adjustments for both 6.4 and 7 banks. The Bank Account Profile Report in The Financial Edge includes information from both 6.4 and 7. Updating Accounts Update Accounts is a plug in utility you use to update accounts and projects in your 6.4 subsidiary ledgers with changes made in General Ledger. Student Billing and Payroll are not automatically updated when changes or additions are made in accounts and projects. This process is exclusive, meaning that all users must be logged out of all Financial Edge and Accounting for Nonprofits programs when you run the utility. You should run the update accounts utility after any of the following changes in a 6.4 subsidiary ledger: Adding new accounts or projects. If you add a new account or project in The Financial Edge database, you cannot select that account or project in the 6.4 database until you run this utility. Editing account numbers or descriptions. For example, if you change an account number from to in The Financial Edge, the account number will display as in the 6.4 database until you run this utility. Editing project IDs or descriptions. Adding a new segment. Increasing the segment length. Reordering account segments. Updating a fund closing method. If you do not run the Update Account utility after applying any of these changes, you will not see the new or edited accounts on the search screen in Accounting for Nonprofits. Likewise, if you run reports, the outdated account and project information will display. Updating Accounts from the Plug Ins page 1. From the Plug Ins page of The Financial Edge, select Update Accounts. The Update Accounts page appears.

9 6 C HAPTER 2. On the Update Accounts page, mark the corresponding checkboxes to update accounts and update projects. 3. Click Update. When the update process is complete, a confirmation message appears. If successful, your accounts and projects are updated.