Creating unrelated companies

summary

1. Create the Companies in maestro*
2. Define the Chart of Accounts
   1. Create the Group of Accounts
   2. Create an Account
   3. Define the Sales Department(s)
   4. Define Cheque Formats
   5. Create Bank Accounts
   6. Define General Ledger Parameters
3. Create Accounts Payable
   1. Create the Tax Codes
   2. Create the Types of Suppliers
   3. Create the Terms of Payment
   4. Create the Suppliers
   5. Define General Configuration Parameters
4. Create Accounts Receivable
   1. Define the Terms of Credit
   2. Create Salespersons
   3. Create Types of Customers
   4. Create Customers
   5. Define the Customers’ Addresses
   6. Define General Configuration Parameters
5. Open the Fiscal Year
6. Create the Projects
   1. Create the Types of Projects
   2. Create Categories of Projects
   3. Create Departments for the Projects
   4. Define Templates for the Projects
   5. Create Cost Groups

 

steps

1. Create the Companies in maestro*

ATTENTION! The new company must mandatorily be created FROM THE DATA SERVER DIRECTLY and not locally on a workstation. Furthermore, the latter can only be created by a user with an Administrator access. The company creation methods referred to in this document are applicable to maestro*'s classic operational mode only. Please note that any assistance for preexisting procedures will be charged.

1. From the menu Company selection, click Create a new company. The window Open a Company will open.
2. Enter the name of the company and fill out the various fields that are displayed in the Details tab.
3. In the Directory field, click the icon to view the list of available directories.
4. Create a new folder in the Data directory.

The name of this new sub-directory cannot contain spaces or special characters; 40 is the maximum number of characters that can be used.

5. Click the Save icon.
6. Select the newly created company and click Accept. Maestro* will create all the files that are required to run the new company’s activities; will also show the progression of the create command. Once the files have been created, the main menu is displayed.

Users can change the information or finish entering what was started when creating a data folder for the new company; click the Configuration icon and select Modify company settings.

 

2. Define the Chart of Accounts

Creating the chart of accounts is done by first creating groups, and then the accounts. Groups represent the high-level groupings that appear on financial statements, such as Current assets or Shareholders’ equity.

a. Create the group of accounts

maestro* > Accounting > Maintenance > Accounting > Account Groups

1. In the window Account Groups, select the group type from the list Group Type (assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, equity).
2. In the Group Code field, enter a group number. Maximum allowable length is of 2 alphanumerical characters.
3. In the French Description field, enter the description that is to be displayed in the French-language reports.
4. In the field Description, enter the description that is to be displayed in the English-langue reports.
5. Click the Save icon.
6. Repeat steps 1 to 5 to create as many groups as required.
7. Click the Quit icon.

b. Create an Account

maestro* > Accounting > Maintenance > Accounting > Chart of Accounts

1. Click the New icon.
2. Fill out the required information for each of the ledger accounts to be created:

Fields	Description
Number	Number that identifies the account in the general ledger; maximum of 6 characters. If the record already exists maestro* will display the data that belong to that given record.
Description	Description that will appear on the various reports.
Group Code	Code of the group to which the account belongs, for the purpose of generating financial statements from the Account groups option.
Type	Type of account. This information is used to perform a search of the GL account and will display only the relevant accounts based on where the user is in the system.
Status	Option used to view the account on various reports or to make the account non-retrievable.
Access Level	Used to determine the level of security on access control to the given account when users can select a general ledger account on which to perform an inquiry. NOTE: Access level control applies to the following: transaction analysis and general ledger, disbursement journal and any report where a bank account number is entered, a reverse entry is posted or a reconciliation is carried out.
Currency	Currency used for the account.
Supplier Code	Code fed from Supplier Management, used to produce and send automatically tax payments through the report List of Taxes Collected/Paid (access path: maestro* > Accounting > General Ledger > Reports > List of Taxes Collected/Paid). NOTE: At this stage of the company creation process, the supplier code has not been created yet in Supplier Management. Users must go to that window to do so.

3. Click the Save icon.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 to create all the required ledger accounts.
5. Click the Quit icon.

c. Define the Sales Department(s)

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Customers > Define Sales Departments

Define sales departments is used to initiate invoice numbering, quotations or contracts and to define invoice formats by department. A sales department takes into consideration counters, masks, various files such as invoices, quotations, and contracts, and so on.

Sales departments are usually linked to the various general ledger receivables. The accounts receivable Accounts Receivable–Standard must be configured in General Settings as the default for invoicing entries. The Accounts Receivable–Standard account can also be defined in Currency Management. A sales department is listed in the system’s invoicing options based on the accounts receivable that has been defined.

d. Define Cheque Formats

maestro* > Maintenance > General Maintenance > Processing > Cheque Format Configuration

Cheque configuration is used, among other things, to define where, on a cheque, maestro* is to print the various elements.

Configure the cheques by following the online help procedure Cheque format configuration. The variables that can be used in the cheque forms, for instance to print amounts in different formats, are listed in the appendix of the help procedure Cheque Format Configuration.

Note that cheque formats for suppliers, employees, as well as bank deposits must be defined in the Bank Accounts window during the step where users create bank accounts (next step in this procedure).

e. Create Bank Accounts

maestro* > Accounting > Maintenance > Accounting > Bank Accounts

The Bank accounts management option is used to create the various bank accounts that are to be involved in transactions such as receipts, payroll and disbursements, as well as the reconciliation of bank accounts and bank statements.

Create the bank accounts and enter your banking information by following the online help procedure Bank Accounts.

f. Define General Ledger Parameters

maestro* > Accounting > Maintenance > Accounting > Configuration

To determine the GL accounts that are to be used for certain transactions:

1. In the directory tree view on the left-hand side, double-click General Ledger then General.
2. Connect the newly-created GL accounts to the following maestro* basic account standard attributes. Connect the new bank account to the following attributes:

Section	Attribute
General	Retaines earnings account
Purchases and Disbursements	Standard A/P account Accounts payable-project Discounts on purchases Discounts on payments Holdback on purchases Tax on holdback Supplier advances Bank account for disbursements Bank account for direct payment disbursement Exchange rate account
Sales and Receipts	Accounts receivable–Standard Discounts on sales Discounts on cash receipts Holdback on sales Tax on holdback Customer advances Bank account for cash receipts Exchange rate account

3. Click the Save icon.
4. Click the Quit icon.

It is not necessary to connect a different account to each of the basic account standard attributes in maestro*. However, we recommend that you enter 9999 – To be analyzed, instead of leaving the field empty, which will help you identify any possible errors.

 

The receivable named Standard accounts receivable cannot be linked directly to a GL account. Furthermore, red-coloured account numbers indicate that the given account requires further configuration in maestro*.

 

3. Create Accounts Payable

Certain elements that are used to qualify the various accounts payable must be created before the supplier master records are created.

a. Create the Tax Codes

maestro* > Accounting > Maintenance > Accounting > Tax Code Table

To create different tax codes a Tax code table must be configured. Refer to the online help procedure Taxe Code Table.

The tax code table must be completed before users start any of the following actions: accounts payable transactions, recording supplier or customer information, accounts receivable transactions.

b. Create the Types of Suppliers

maestro* > Purchasing > Maintenance > Suppliers > Define Supplier Types

By defining supplier types, users can categorize their suppliers in order to group them in lists or make it easier to search for information. For example, users can set up discount rates per supplier, based on supplier types, for the purposes of reporting, searching or giving discounts.

Create the supplier type(s) by following the online help procedure Define Supplier Types.

c. Create the Terms of Payment

maestro* > Purchasing > Maintenance > Suppliers > Payment Terms Management

By defining terms of payment, users can enter a pre-determined number of days before bills are paid to suppliers.

To obtain detailed instruction on creating terms of payment (for example, a “net 15 days”), refer to the online help procedure Payment terms management.

Terms of payment determine the due-by date when the supplier’s invoice is recorded in the system, based on the current date. Payment terms can be applied to project purchases, orders, subcontractors’ contracts, purchases made within service calls, and invoicing orders. Once created, terms of payment can be selected by default from the configuration window Purchasing–General or from Supplier Management.

d. Create the Suppliers

maestro* > Purchasing > Maintenance > Suppliers > Supplier Management

By defining suppliers, users can create and update the master record of every supplier. Suppliers must be defined before users can access the various purchasing options in maestro*. Enter the required information by following the online help procedure Supplier management.

If a company has already been defined, users can copy the information from existing suppliers in the master records. To get more information on that topic, refer to step b. of the How-To document Create a company– Method B, topic 3 – Creating a company by copying an existing chart of accounts, suppliers or only customers.

e. Define General Configuration Parameters

maestro* > Purchasing > Maintenance > Suppliers > Configuration

Various configuration options are available for users to define how they want to use the Purchasing module. These configuration settings will indicate which of the general ledger accounts maestro* will use to perform certain transactions and define the format for orders, subcontracting contracts and modification notices. Other actions are possible, such as approving payments, what happens upon receiving goods, or the length of a description.

To get help on defining the general parameters, go to the Configuration window and refer to section Purchases of the online help procedure Configuration.

 

4. Create Accounts Receivable

The ability to qualify certain elements of accounts receivable is useful when creating customer master records.

a. Define the Terms of Credit

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Customers > Credit Terms Management

Defining credit terms allow users to enter a pre-determined number of days for customers to pay their bills and, when recording the customer’s invoice, to determine the due-by date based on the current date. To define credit terms, refer to the online help procedure Credit Terms Management.

Two configurations are possible from this window. Users can select only one method for defining credit terms: either A) a Number of days or B) a Day of the month with a Number of months. The credit terms can be linked to customers in Customer Management and be used as a default for the various invoicing entries in the system. Customers’ terms of credit can be processed automatically or manually, based on the status of the invoices recorded in maestro* and the terms of credit that were selected in option Credit Validation.

b. Create Salespersons

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Customers > Salesperson Management

Salespersons’ codes are used to produce important information regarding sales. These codes can be applied individually, that is one salesperson at a time, or they can be applied to a team of up to four individuals.

When combined to customer orders, salespersons’ codes are used to report on commissions by salesperson, to check budgets and to compare them to the sales. Profitability reports can also be generated.

To create a salesperson or a sales team, click the New icon and follow the procedure indicated in the online help document Salesperson Management.

c. Create Types of Customers

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Customers > Define Customer Types

Types of customers allow users to categorize customers, to group them in lists and to provide better search results. It is also possible to define discounts by customer according to defined customer types. Create types of customers by following the online help procedure Define Customer Types.

d. Create Customers

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Customers > Customer Management

Customers can be created one at a time, can be added to the system and their information updated. Customers must be created before users can access the various sales options in the system. Create customers by following the online help procedure Customer Management.

e. Define the Customers’ Addresses

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Customers > Define Customer Adresses

Customer addresses are used to build a database with the address of each of the customer’s branches. These branch offices can be used when recording sales or orders. To obtain detailed instructions on creating customers’ addresses, refer to the online help procedure Define customer addresses.

f. Define General Configuration Parameters

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > Invoicing > Configuration

1. In the main toolbar click the Configuration icon and, from the pop-up list, select General Settings.
2. From the tree view on the left-hand side, click Billing, then General. Define the general parameters.

To get detailed instructions on setting the various configuration parameters, go to the Configuration window and refer to section General of the online help procedure Configuration.

 

5. Open the Fiscal Year

maestro* > Invoicing > Maintenance > GL Maintenance > Open a Fiscal Year

To define the various periods of a given fiscal year users must open a fiscal year. Accounting reports, such as journals or financial statements can later be printed according to these periods.

Every system transaction is associated to a given period. Maestro* supports fiscal years of 12 or 13 periods; 12 being generally the most commonly used.

1. In window Open a Fiscal Year, click the New icon.
2. In section Selected year detail, enter the fiscal year of the same name.
3. In field Beginning of year, enter the begin date of the first period of the year.
4. In field End of year, enter the end date of the last period of the year.
5. In field Number of periods, enter the number of periods in the fiscal year.
6. Click the Apply icon. The periods are displayed in the lower section of window Open a Fiscal Year.
7. Click the Save icon.
8. Click the Quit icon.

 

6. Create the Projects

a. Create the types of projects

maestro* > Projects > Maintenance > Projects > Define Project Types

The first step to creating projects is to set up types of projects. Types are a project management device that are used to generate reports or to control access, for security purposes, based on project types. To obtain detailed instructions to create project types, refer to the online help procedure Define Project Types.

b. Create Categories of Projects

maestro* > Projects > Maintenance > Projects > Define Project Categories

Project categories provide a second-level classification option, or the possibility to categorize projects and make it easier to produce reports or to limit access. To create project categories, refer to the online help procedure Define Project Categories.

c. Create Departments for the Projects

maestro* > Projects > Maintenance > Projects > Define Project Departments

Project departments are used to group results by department in financial statements. To define a project department, refer to the online help procedure Define Project Departments.

d. Define Templates for the Projects

maestro* > Projects > Maintenance > Projects > Define Project Templates

Project templates make it easier to create projects at a later date as they provide ready-made commonly used models. To obtain detailed instructions on creating templates and entering the required information, refer to the online help procedure Define Project Templates.

e. Create Cost Groups

maestro* > Projects > Maintenance > Projects > Define Cost Groups

Cost groups are used to make it easier to classify transactions and to analyze results. To obtain detailed instructions, refer to the online help procedure Define Cost Groups.

 

Formerly, How To no. 35

Last modification: September 20, 2024