76

(15 replies, posted in Wish List)

docuwiki is simple and good too, with a very basic markup coding structure. IMHO the pages looks a bit friendlier to users than mediawiki. Either way, it's going to be the content that is important, but before the content, it would be good to agree on a STRUCTURE, especially of the pmwiki that is embedded in the system. What do people think? Structure here means a 'template' layout that all wiki items would adhere too.

I'm happy to kick off an write an article for the wiki: first of all though, what are people's thoughts on the most valuable, 'chunkable' FA topic. Preferably one that a) confuses people, b) is important, c) gets used alot and d) has not much or no info available presently? My first port of call might be describing the differences in the methods for handling sales ie. do a Sales Order, then a Delivery, then an Invoice vs. just doing all three in one hit as a direct invoice. This was confusing for me when I started using FA, but makes sense now.

I want to reiterate itronics point above: keep the 'how to's' in the system wiki, and the conceptual stuff in the online web-based wiki.

PS. To use the pmwiki successfully on a PHP version > 5.3 and get rid of all the deprecated error messages that prevent you from seeing the screen,  you will probably want to change line 20 in /modules/wiki/pmwiki.php from:
error_reporting(E_ALL ^ E_NOTICE);     
to
error_reporting(E_ALL ^ E_NOTICE ^ E_DEPRECATED);
ie. report ALL errors EXCEPT Notices EXCEPT Deprecated

77

(14 replies, posted in Accounts Receivable)

Hello again Waverider. As a fellow Aussie I had the same issue with the invoices and needing room for BSBs etc.. To fix it, I simply made some minor changes to the invoice report. Send me a message if you want details. Also, as Joe mentioned, FA does not physically delete voided transactions. This is good accounting practice, but I know it can look a bit disturbing. If you are au fait with the db structure, MySQL and PHP, there's a way to do it....but you need to be proficient in these things first as its very easy to muck up your entire system. I do this because I'm not relying on the system for production data 100%, and enjoy understanding what's going on. Again, PM me if you're interested (and proficient at coding).

78

(7 replies, posted in Setup)

Waverider, there's nothing to stop you renaming company 0, and reloading SQL data with 0_ as a prefix if you really want to get rid of Training Company. Having said this, as mentioned above, there are benefits to keeping Training Company (namely, testing and learning).

Don't forget you need never see Training Company if your user profile is set to use a certain company as the default - it can just hang around in the background.

Personally, I run separate test and production databases because I don't want to back up training data and include it in the production backup. It's also less confusing for me when I'm in phpMyAdmin looking around.

79

(6 replies, posted in Setup)

molyko wrote:

is it possible for to edit the chart of accounts to suit my taste? this is because am not use to these numbers and am just applying them as they appear.Thanks

The answer is yes. I'm afraid you're not going to get spoonfed an answer everytime you ask though. Your questions are difficult to answer because they are vague and look like you haven't tried to understand anything yourself.

I have a suggestion: Please just try to use the system for a week or so, learning how it works as you go. Then formulate a list of questions once you've at least tried to use the Frontaccounting.

Once you've put in some effort, and framed a question properly, people will be sure to answer it quickly.

Hi tomhallman

Your idea sounds OK for dimensions, but I think it's a bit risky for accounts to be tagged - mainly because the integrity of the DR/CR balancing transactions is compromised eg.. user enters DR/CR 3 months ago into accounts with different tags. You then run a report, it picks up the DR but not the CR = invalid report. This is a pretty serious problem to introduce into a ledger based system! I think this is the point Joe raised.

Back to the business need though - I can see a need to report on selected items - I'm just not sure tagging the G/L account is the right way to achieve this. Perhaps you could make your implementation, do some reports, and let people think about it some more when they've seen what it could do.

cheers
Pete

Have updated the chart to reflect the standard accounting equations in version 2.1.5...standby to see it in downloads.

It's generic enough to use for any service company, but also has Australian GST tax codes/structure in there, and a heap of Quick Transactions demonstrating regular things you need to do like pay for your mobile phone and internet connections!
Utilising the account groupings now, we will be able to write some exciting (!) financial reports for everyone to use..this was a limitation in the old system.

82

(10 replies, posted in Announcements)

Hi Janusz - OK will start looking at the 2.2 version for this change.

(By the way, I sent a Joe a new copy of the Australian chart of accounts today (it's generic for any service company anywhere really). I have updated the chart of accounts to reflect the new standard accounting equation you guys put in, so the structure should be right for future versions. Hope to see it replace the old Australian in Chart of Accounts downloads soon, or I can send it to you Janusz)

As OSC - FA integration seems a pretty popular idea, you might want to team up with some other people in the FA forum with that interest - could save you some money if you split the cost.

Are you asking a question?

If so, "Error: Cannot create database" sounds like you don't have authority to create databases in MySQL - you need to check your user id and ensure it has CREATE DATABASE authority. This is done in MySQL, not FrontAccounting.

85

(59 replies, posted in Modules Add-on's)

enmityjav what version of PHP are you using? If it's 5.3 you might need to downgrade: 5.3 is much stricter on object creation and usage. Your first error sounds like the code is calling a method on a static object which doesn't exist. Also, your timezone error is something that I first saw PHP complain loudly about in 5.3. It's easy to fix, BUT I suspect it is only the very beginning of problems you will have with 5.3.

86

(1 replies, posted in Installation)

It looks like you don't have a valid account setup on MySQL for your database.
Make a valid account in MySQL for your Frontaccounting database, then make sure the user id and password appear correctly in the file config_db.php.

The second error message is a consequence of the first.

OK here's my 2 bob's worth on the issue

1) The class changes made by the guys make good accounting sense. The vast majority of countries use the categories defined. This change has NOTHING to do with IFRS or IAS - it's just ordinary double entry accounting to have accounts classifed as Assets = OE + Liab etc. and has been around for 600 years.

2) Where national rules are different, Joe and itronics tried again and again to explain how to manage this situation. It would require you to edit you (and your clients) chart of accounts, but the system could still work fine. I realise this could be disruptive, but it hardly spells the end of the software.

3) I agree with most people here: IFRS/IAS provide NO basis for making a changes to FA. I hope the guys don't get asked to do anything with that justification.

4) (Personal note): I find 'we are planning to send you money' (but of course, haven't actually done it yet) threats to the developers impolite. An apology would be nice.

88

(10 replies, posted in Announcements)

Hi Janusz
Back again after a bit of a break from FA:.....did you put this tax change into the 2.1.5 or would you still like me to look at it? Also, I responded to someone's PHP 5.3 issue here just a minute ago: maybe we could put a posting up clearly that PHP 5.3 is unsupported (I'm presuming you guys are on 5.2, I used 5.3 but stopped after an hour of debugging, and downgraded back to 5.2).
Cheers
Pete

sasmedia and anyone else using PHP 5.3....

You are likely to get a host of errors using this version of PHP.
For starters, they include new functions defined in PHP eg. date_diff, that are also defined in FA.  Like all PHP 5.3 problems, there is a strong likelihood that these new errors may take a while to iron out.

I would strong advise using an earlier version of PHP.

I am going to work through the errors for maybe a couple more hours, if it sorts itself out: I'll post back what I did, otherwise I will downgrade too.

(Note there's nothing odd about FA here: most software vendors are refusing to support PHP 5.3 at the moment, as there was a feeling it came out too quickly, and people haven't had time to make the many changes to their software this requires.)

Just a suggestion - did you ensure your category existed first?

91

(10 replies, posted in Announcements)

Well you obviously get my support!

92

(7 replies, posted in Installation)

hi jonnyx
With your proxmox installation, there will be a default .sql file that is loaded up for your company. You could check the table 0_users or 1_users, and get the correct user id from the first column: user_id.
Then - you also have an MD5 hashed password  in the 'password' column. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to crack that, however, you could check the contents against some known passwords - in the Sourceforge FA download sql file for instance, or you could even try (if on a *nix box)
md5 -s testpassword
Try a few passwords to see if you get a match against what's in the original table.
Pete

93

(7 replies, posted in Installation)

Check that MySQL is running first. The same screen (invalid login) appears when that's not running AFAIK.

94

(18 replies, posted in Report Bugs here)

Hi ITCynic and Joe

I spent a spare 30 minutes today looking into this date format problem (I'm going to customise it for faster data entry for me), and can shed some light on it for you to either fix it, or workaround it. FA uses an interesting javascript cache technique to reflect user preferences by using code that actually creates a new code file - in this case date_picker.js which lives in
/company/x/js_cache  (where x is your company number).

When you change your user date format in the display_prefs.php screen, the system updates the $_POST variable with your requested format and other changes you want. A few other steps are run, and then /includes/ui/ui_view.inc actually writes out a NEW javascript file that includes the code for the date picker, including the order of days and months. This file goes in your /company/??/js_cache folder, replacing the old one. So... you end up with a new javascript file (date_picker.js in this case) that matches your formatting preferences.

ITCynic, it sounds like your date_picker.js file is NOT being copied into the  /company/x/js_cache directory properly. You can see if this is occurring by checking line 51 of the date_picker.js file: 

if(dateField){try{var dateString=new String(dateField.value);var dateParts=dateString.split('-');selectedDay=parseInt(dateParts[0],10);selectedMonth=parseInt(dateParts[1],10);selectedYear=parseInt(dateParts[2],10);}catch(e){}

(this is part of the 'show' function which takes your on screen inputted date, and updates the popup when you click it).

Note this line should contain your separator 'split('-') AND the right offsets for day and month that come from the text input box screen. In the case above, Day is element 0, month is element 1, representing a 31-12-2009 style date.

Your problem might be caused by write permissions on the directory, or some other defect in the .js file copying process.

If you plan on sticking to one format,and one separator, you can overcome your problem by just editing this date_picker.js manually, replacing line 51 with the one above (assuming you want 31-12-2009 format). Try this and let us know how it goes. It does sound like a problem unique to your environment though, as everybody else is creating the date_picker.js file and copying it successfully.

Cheers
Pete


PS. HAHA - I just missed Joe and ITCynic's updates - oh well, I've learnt about the date picker and will let the forum know when I've updated a new one I want that will let you type in
12032009
120309
12-03-09
12-3-2009 etc.

I find the digits only way very quick to enter data.

Joe that is the correct accounting method - allocation of fixed costs are logically ONLY done at the end of reporting periods. Reporting on them during the reporting period is not done, because the results will vary widely from day to day as fixed cost invoices are paid eg. every quarter to lighting, electricity. A unit cost that includes ALL costs including overheads is an interesting year end measure, but doesn't make sense within the production cycle.

Hameed - when you talk about other overheads you want in the profit margins, shouldn't these overheads actually be variable costs and treated as such? That way, they could be included in your unit cost performance measure . An example of this would be if you are doing strict accrual accounting for all 'overheads' - then they notionally variable costs, and you would include them in cost of goods (note: incorporating fixed costs in unit costing is a tax office offence, at least in Australia for public companies - the reason being companies would get an excuse to record a tax-loss during the year, saving regular taxation payments until the end of the year and helping their cash flow!! Aren't people sneaky!)

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cogs.asp (and some of the other definitions clearly explain what goes in product costing.

96

(18 replies, posted in Report Bugs here)

ALL browsers have a host of discrepancies/bugs when handling javascript. The engine's have previously been the last thing the browser developers have worried about.

In response to ITCynic, I support the developers 100% in the way they prioritise work. In your case, the best guess is this is a javascript problem with the date picker (I looked at the PHP code too), and I'd prefer they didn't waste time trying to accommodate browser issues for one country (so far). If you don't believe javascript engines are crappy, ask yourself why google has spent millions developing a framework that tries to integrate them!

I have a totally different view to ITCynic on the way bugs are handled in FA. Genuine, reproducible and significant bugs get almost immediate attention off these guys - more than any I've seen in any other software, commercial or otherwise. In regards to help, I think the guys also do a sterling job - to those who can communicate their problem and understand accounting adequately. To clueless people on here who ask questions like: "can someone tell me how to interface FA to xxxx payroll" etc, or "can someone do all the hard work so I don't have investigate or learn about my problem" I would encourage the guys to keep giving them polite, but short shrift. This is open source software - you get what you put in.

To be blunt ITCynic, come back when you understand and have debugged the PHP code, otherwise make an offer to pay someone to sort out the problem for you rather than criticise the developers because they don't do it your way . Your experiences with dates in non-browser applications you've used since Y2K are irrelevant - as I said, javascript engines are awful. A more practical piece of advice for you would be to replace the existing javascript date picker with another one (there are heaps of them out there) - not too difficult, and will narrow down the problem for you.

Joe/Janusz
Could you please stop implementing Hameed's interpretation of financial standards changes? I'm worried many years of consistent and successful use will be changed by someone according to their own interpretation/wishes. I've seen a few of these that are simply incorrect, and others that are just local interpretations.

Perhaps Hameed you could finish your testing then list all your requested changes in ONE posting, then the group can comment before the guys make changes to the system? Also, if you think there's an IAS problem, reference the exact clause.

Doing these things would be more respectful of the developers time, given it's provided freely to all.

Thanks
Pete

Actually Hameed your accounting interpretation of Gross Profit Margin is wrong.
It only includes costs directly attributable to producing a single additional unit - usually materials and often labour. In most systems, COGS accounts are flagged as such so this calculation is done correctly.

Overheads are NEVER included in gross profit margins.

Note to Joe/Janusz - it's appropriate to include any COGS expenses, but overheads like lighting, electricity etc. ie. anything not directly attributable to creating an additional single unit should not be included in a Gross profit margin reporting.

THe original poster might be mixing up Net Margin - this is never done at a product level, but across the business, and includes all expenses.


This site has good, international definitions of most accounting terms:
http://www.investopedia.com/

Pete

The developers are best answering this, but here's a few of corrections I know of:

Ability to create custom plug-ins via SDK or API      --- NO
Simple annual budget      --- YES
Transactions audit report      --- YES you can see all transactions posted.

Do your own work finding the references by hunting around the site, or better still, use the software demo and verify the functions you're interested in - it's a bit much to ask other to do this for you.

Between the smiley faces and the multiple explanation marks, I couldn't really understand the chinglish here, but I think she means is "is FA multi-company".

The answer is NO, there are no subcompanies or consolidated reporting like you get in SAP or other huge packages. I can think of a few basic workarounds, but they'd to be too complicated to explain to a brand-new user and wouldn't give a proper result.

Questions about functionality tongue probably shouldn't go in the 'Report Bugs Here' section either.