Spearheading its vision to offer business software solutions that go way beyond accounting, Pastel Software has introduced Pastel Accounting V6, a 32-bit, feature-rich addition to its range of award-winning accounting software.
On top of improved integration with Microsoft Windows and Office 2000, the new package is modular in design, allowing SMEs the ability to purchase the solution that best meets the specific needs of their business.
Pastel Accounting Version 6 supersedes the popular Pastel Partner V5 range. "It offers SMEs functionality that will add immense value to their business processes," says Stephen Corrigan, managing director of Pastel Software SA, a Softline company.
"The Multi-Store module represents a breakthrough. It should not be confused with multiple inventory location software that merely records stock held at head office and at various branches. Multi-Store goes way beyond that. It links warehousing and manufacturing stores within a company such as raw materials, spares, accessories and finished goods, and is supported with a fully integrated store transfer activity. Each stock item can be categorised and the software can report on a per category, per stock general ledger integration group or on a per store basis, giving management a powerful multi-dimensional reporting mechanism, geared towards optimising stockholding and minimising shrinkage."
The purchasing of inventory items is facilitated by an "inventory re-order wizard" that allows users to automatically create multiple supplier purchase orders using the inventory quantity levels facility. In addition, these purchase orders can be customised to reflect the suppliers inventory code, aiding the ordering process and ultimately eliminating the possibility of human error.
Pastel Accounting V6 is a true 32-bit application product. Corrigan says this is of critical importance as it ensures that the software program has the inherent stability required for today`s operating systems and for USB printer-port compliance. General ledger capacity has also been significantly increased with the program now catering for a 4-digit main and a 3-digit sub-account structure.
"Pastel Accounting V6 has a similar look and feel to the V5 product range to ensure a natural migration for existing users," says Corrigan. "People using earlier versions of our software as far back as V3 can upgrade at a significant discount and have their existing data fully converted to V6, rendering the move both simple and cost effective."
The core module of Pastel Accounting V6 is similar to the traditional "Bookkeeping" package. Users can then select from the add-on modules - "Inventory", "Multi-Store", "Multi-Currency", "Point-Of-Sale", "Bill of Materials" and Multi-User" -- to create a tailor-made accounting software solution. On upgrading users of V3, V4 or V5 software will be upgraded to the equivalent modules in V6.
Integration with Microsoft Office 2000 enables users to take financial reports and general ledger, customer and supplier data into Word, Excel or Outlook for further processing into documents, letters, spreadsheets, presentations, contact lists or diary entries. Navigation has been improved with the Pastel Explorer. This offers either a function view or a data view of the program. The function view is simple and intuitive and the data view gives easy access to master-file data with access levels being controlled and set for individual users.
Reporting functionality is enhanced and users with a third party reporting tool, such as Crystal Report Writer, can now run customised reports from the menu facility within the Pastel Accounting V6 program. Document processing is also very user-friendly. Different document types are easily distinguished as they appear in different colours, and a new field in the printer options screen gives users the option of customised form layouts for invoices, statements and other documents.
Other practical enhancements include the ability to regulate commissions payable on a per inventory item basis as well as the inclusion of supplier user-defined fields, allowing users to include proprietary information on selected supplier documentation such as remittance advices and purchase orders.
The new cheque and remittance printing assistant function supports daily cash flow management, as it allows users to remit selected supplier payments on a per invoice basis. Once a user selects a remittance date the invoices that are due for payment on that date are then displayed in a table. Users can then select the invoices to be paid after which the payment is automatically generated in the cashbook and a remittance and cheque for each supplier is printed.
Documents such as statements, invoices and quotations as well as any other reports, can be emailed in HTML format, eliminating time barriers and ultimately expediting the business process.
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