Archives: Features

• Training Course Terms & Conditions
• Your place on the course is only secured upon payment of the Proforma Invoice that will be sent to you.
• Bookings and payment must be made by 12 noon the day before the event. 
• All our Training Courses are held online using Zoom.

 

• Free Email Support

Free email support is available for all currently supported versions. We will respond to your email within three (3) business days.

If you need assistance sooner then you will need to look at our paid support options.

• First 30 Days

To help new users get started, we provide free email and telephone support for the first 30 days from the date you register your software with us.

We will also provide remote assistance via TeamViewer© at our discretion.

This support is not intended to cover full training. If this is required you will need to look at attending an Omni Training Course or booking a one on one training session.

• Upgrade Subscription plus Full Support

This option includes:

• An annual upgrade subscription (which ensures you stay on the latest software version)
• Full Telephone & Priority Email support for the year.

NOTES

• Upgrade subscriptions for older software versions will incur a once-off Catch-Up Fee.
• The price is calculated at 21.5% of your software value with a minimum amount of R999.00.
• This option is only available on single-user Trader & Essential Bundles. The other bundles have a mandatory Annual Licence Fee (ALF).
• Monthly Debit Order payment options are available.
• Hourly Support

This option is used for the following types of support:

• To develop custom reports written to your specifications
• In-depth Data Analysis to help you resolve issues.
• Once-off telephone, remote or email support where no support contract is in place.
• One on One support/training viaTeamViewer©
• Any other services which fall outside the scope of Full Support.

NOTES

• This service is charged at our current hourly support rates.
• The minimum time is half an hour (30 minutes).
• Please contact us for a quote.
• Full Support

This option includes:

• Telephonic Support
• Priority Email Support (same business day response)
• Remote  Assistance via TeamViewer at our discretion.

NOTES:

• This option only applies to Trader and Essential Bundles. The other bundles are covered by an Annual Licence Fee (ALF)
• This is a chargeable service, payable in advance, for 1 year of support. View T&Cs.
• The price is calculated at 10% of your software value with a minimum amount of R999.00.
• Non-current versions of the software will pay 15% of your software value.
•  A Monthly Debit Order payment option is available.
• Software Rentals

The Omni Trader, Business and POS Bundles have an option for renting the software instead of an outright purchase. The rental amount is paid monthly and you will be required to sign a Debit Order form accordingly.

Please request a quote or call one of our Sales Consultants for more information.

• Vehicle Loading

The Switch Stock Dimensions should be used so that the dimensions and weight of each stock item can be recorded.

A load is created for a vehicle and then Sales Orders are then added to the load. The system will warn the vehicle is overloaded.

Once all the orders have been added a Loading Sheet can be produced to assist with the physical loading of the vehicle. The orders can be invoiced and a Trip Sheet printed, showing all the customers in sequence according to the route as well as the invoice numbers for each delivery.

Deliveries that cannot be made can be moved onto another load. Any claim for credit picked up during the delivery can be noted.

• Customer Routes

Customers can be allocated to one or more routes. This allows for easy compilation of a delivery schedule for a vehicle.

• Vehicles and Drivers

Each vehicle used for delivery can be created with vehicle details as well as its load capacities in weight as well as volume.

A list of drivers can also be created.

• Custom Reports

The Switch Design Custom Report layout provides the ability to fully customise your reports. Using the powerful FastReports component, you have full control over the layout of the report. The ability to add calculated fields onto the report is available and you can also use your own SQL queries to extract information from the Omni Accounts database. With this ability, the sky is the limit to the type of reports that can be extracted.

We offer the service of writing custom reports for you. Please contact us to enquire.

 

• Setup Reports

This provides additional functionality which can be added to the standard Omni Report Writer is the ability to set up your own reports.

The Switch Setup Reports allows you to add and remove fields or columns,  change the sort order of the fields, add filters, group by various fields and define the type of output for the report.

The Switch Setup New User Defined Reports allows you to save the reports that you have defined with your own names.

Note that these two Switches should always be purchased together. as they are co-dependent.

 

• Multi-User Ready

All Omni Bundles support a multi-user environment. Additional users are purchased as concurrent user licences. The cost of each licence is calculated as a percentage of your total software value. It is important to note that once you add additional users to your software, you will be liable to an Annual Licence Fee.

 

• Annual Licence Fee (ALF)

This is a yearly mandatory licence fee. It is calculated as a percentage of your total software value. It covers the following:

• Upgrades to the latest software version.
• Telephone Support.
• Same-day Email Support.
• Remote Login Assitance if necessary.

The ALF applies to the following bundles as well as certain switches and when extra user licences are purchased.

• Business
• Business Pro
• POS
• Enterprise
• Premium

The ALF can also be paid monthly on the condition that a Debit Order is signed.

 

• Dashboard Formats

Some of the functionality that can be incorporated into Dashboards:-

• Graphical presentation.
• Formulas in the report setup.
• Ability to click and drill down into details.

 

• Scheduled Dashboards

Scheduled Dashboards are dashboards that are extracted at a scheduled day and time and which are usually emailed to the relevant people. These scheduled reports can be set to run outside of business hours so the reports will be available first thing the following morning. This is achieved by the use of Omni Automation so that the reports run silently in the background.

• Dynamic Dashboards

A Dynamic Dashboard is one that is set to refresh automatically. The refresh interval is user-definable. This means that it is possible to have information that is virtually real-time.

For example, a  shop floor manager with multiple POS till points can see at a glance what the takings at each till point is, accurate to the last 5 minutes.

A Sales Manager can see what the total value of orders for the day is for each Sales Rep accurate to the last 10 minutes.

• Automation

Using the Omni Automation Switch it is possible to automate certain functions. Here are some examples:

• Automate importing data into Omni
• Automate exporting data from Omni.
• Automate reports to be compiled and emailed to selected email addresses.

 

 

• API and Integration

The Omni Automation Switch allows for the use of the Omni  REST web service which uses JSON to pass data to and from the Omni database.
This provides the ability to integrate third-party software or your website with Omni Accounts.

• Multiple Currencies

The Multiple Currency Switch allows the following accounts to be set up as being held in different currencies from the home currency:

• Customer Accounts
• Suppliers Accounts
• Bank Accounts

Additionally, Stock Prices can be created in different currencies. The Nominal Ledger values are always held in the home currency. Reports can be printed in the home currency or the currency of the relevant accounts. Exchange rates can be set per month and a revaluation wizard is available which will revalue accounts at the latest exchange rate.

It is highly recommended to add in Multiple Debtor Control Accounts and Multiple Creditor Control Accounts Switches so that separate Control Accounts for Debtors and Creditors can be set per currency to provide easier reconciliations.

 

 

 

• Branch Controls

Employees at each branch can be restricted in terms of what information in other branches is available to them. This is done by means of user permissions as well as setting up access for specific branches or accounts.

Stock levels can be viewed by all branches, but a restriction can be set up that prevents selling and cost prices from being visible.

 

• Branch Reporting

The ability to report on Customers, Suppliers, Stock, Banking Accounts, VAT and Nominal Ledger Accounts, is automatically provided by the Multiple Branches per Company switch.

Reporting can be enhanced by the use of the various Omni categories and groups such as Reporting Categories, Customer Areas etc.

• Multiple Branches

The Multiple Branches per Company switch allows companies with different branches to manage each branch separately and, at the same time, have consolidated control and information about the whole company. This is often called Branch Accounting.

This allows each branch to be controlled as a separate entity, in all aspects, Stock, Customers, Creditors, Banking, VAT and Nominal (General) Ledger. At the same time branches can have user-defined access to certain sections of other branches, for example, to see if another branch has stock of an item.

 

• Purchase Planning

Once the short or below minimum level stock has been identified and the necessary Production  Batches or Jobs created, then it is possible to extract a report showing what Purchase Orders need to be raised.

Some factors which affect Purchase Planning are:

• Supplier Lead Times
• Minimum & Optimum Stock Levels
• Critical dates.
• Multiple Suppliers per Stock Item.
• Supplier Price Lists.
• Production Planning

The ability to plan production depends upon all stock required to be taken into account. Some sources of these are:

• Sales Orders. Orders from customers.
• Bill of Materials. The raw materials required to manufacture/assemble an item.
• Using sales forecasts to predict future sales.
• Stock flagged as being below a minimum level.
• Decanting (Production) batches already created.
• Jobs requiring tock items.

Reports can then be extracted which show the stock items which need to be manufactured/assembled.

• Stock Work in Progress (WIP)

Using an additional Stock Warehouse as a Work in Progress (WIP)  warehouse, when stock is issued to a Job, it can be issued or transferred to the WIP warehouse. Only once the stock is actually used during the course of the Job, does it get issued out of the WIP warehouse. This may not be a factor when the Jobs are low value and of short duration, but for many businesses, it is critical to control the value of WIP products. Working in this manner can reduce stock losses and ensure that stock is not left unused for long periods. Have a WIP warehouse also ensure a healthier Balance Sheet as the stock is still shown as an asset.

• Better Planning

Job Costing allows for better planning. Regardless of whether you are manufacturing bulk items, making specific products to order, or repairing or servicing items, having Jobs can assist with the allocation of the resources required.

By linking Sales Orders to a Job and bring in the associated raw materials from a BOM, the relevant stock items are updated so that delays created by stock shortages can be alleviated by the timeous placing of Purchase Orders against Suppliers. The use of user-definable dates on Jobs provides control over the start date, end date and progress points of the Job’s life cycle. Adding Communications to Jobs provides the ability to set follow-up dates to Suppliers for Outwork and to staff to check progress.

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• Control Costs

As costs are allocated to a Job, the overall costs incurred to date can easily be seen. This provides a constant real-time update on the current status of the Job. Additionally, by linking Purchase Orders to a Job, the expected future costs of the Job are available. It becomes a simple matter to see when a Job is likely to have a cost overrun and to pick up any errors or omissions.

• Measure Profitability

Job Costing allows for the accurate and seamless measuring of the profitability of Jobs. Linking Customer Quotes to a Job and then linking all costs incurred during the processing of the Job provides the ability to compare the estimated figures with the actual figures. If a Sales Invoice is processed and linked to the Job, this then provides a complete overview and details of the cost of the Job against the income.

If Job Costing is used to control manufacturing processes, the same will apply, as the actual costs of manaufacture will be allocated to the Job and an overall cost can be extracted.

Costs can be allocated to a Job from all the various processing throughout the Omni Accounts ERP software.

• Email Supplier Documents

This functionality enables the ability to Email Supplier Documents. This covers documents such as Supplier Invoices, Purchase Orders, Supplier Credit Notes, Supplier Delivery Notes (GRNs) and Remittance Advice.

All of this functionality is a definite requirement to unlock the full potential of the Communications switch.

These emails are then captured as communications that can be assigned a follow-up date and optionally assigned to an employee.

Additionally Communications allows you to use an SMTP server for email rather than an email client such as ™MS Outlook.

• Email Sales Documents

This functionality enables the ability to Email Sales Documents. This covers documents such as Sales Invoices, Sales Orders, Sales Credit Notes, Customer Delivery Notes, Proforma Customer Invoices, Customer Quotes and Recurring Customer Invoices.

Email Customer Statements is also highly recommended for a user who has only the Essential Bundle.

All of this functionality is a definite requirement to unlock the full potential of the Communications switch.

These emails are then captured as communications that can be assigned a follow-up date and optionally assigned to an employee.

Additionally Communications allows you to use an SMPT server for email rather than an email client such as ™MS Outlook.

• Communications

Add the ability to capture and follow up communications for a wide variety of functions. These communications work in conjunction with Omni’s Contacts, which are held in a common database table that can be linked to Customers, Suppliers and Employees.
Examples of the types of communications that can be tracked are:

• Customer Documents.
• Supplier Documents.
• Inter Warehouse Documents.
• Jobs.

Using communications ensures that staff timeously follow up documents – for example, quotes, purchase orders, outstanding invoices, inter warehouse documents etc. The communications are logged automatically when emailed or they can be manually created. Communications can be configured to have a follow-up date and to automatically notify the relevant user when they open Omni.

• Stock Decanting/Production Batches

Stock Decanting Batches are essentially manufacturing or production batches.


Each Decanting Batch has a target (output) and source (input) section. The raw materials and their quantities are entered into the source section and the finished stock item(s) are entered in the target section. Should the target stock item have an attached BOM, then, by first entering the desired quantity, simply right-clicking on the item will pull through the recipe items with the relevant quantities into the source section.

Decanting Batches can be prepared and saved to be processed at a later date and will reflect in the various stock items reserved and on order fields thus allowing the planning of production batches as well as the reordering of stock.

A decanting batch can be linked to a specific Sales Order, Warehouse Requisition or Job.

 

• Stock Bar Codes

Stock Bar Codes (Barcodes) can greatly enhance the management of an Inventory System. Omni allows you to enter a primary bar code as well as multiple alternate bar codes per stock item. These bar codes can be used to scan stock codes rather than keying them in which provides faster more accurate processing. Omni uses USB or keyboard wedge type scanners.

Using bar codes in a POS environment is particularly common. Stock Bar Codes can also be set up to handle bar codes produced by scales.

Bar codes can be printed for example or Purchase Orders to assist suppliers to correctly identify the items on the order, thereby minimising the chance of errors.

Print stock price labels with bar codes. (Note: although not essential, a proper bar code printer is recommended).

Use a programmable bar code scanner (which produces a CSV file) for quick and accurate stock takes, and import the stock counts into an Omni stock take batch. Read Barcodes for more information

• Bill of Materials

Omni’s Bill of Materials (BOM) allows for the creation of both recipes and sub-recipes, enabling the manufacture/assembly of multiple stock items.

There is no limit to the number of recipes and sub-recipes which can be created. This functionality enables businesses to monitor the cost of manufacture as well as plan and project raw material requirements and schedule production via production batches. The order in which sub-recipes are manufactured can be configured.

The cost of the manufactured or assembled stock items is calculated from the costs of the stock items used in the recipe. Other costs, such as labour, can also be included in the recipe by using Stock Service items.

A Bill Of Materials (BOM) Can be used to make up kits, covert stock from one unit of measure to another, break down cases of beer into six-packs or individual units. When used in conjunction with  Auto Manufacture When Short switch, the finished good stock item can be manufactured using the recipe at the point of invoicing or issuing the stock item.

Read What is a BOM, and How to Successfully use it?

• Inter Warehouse Documentation

In a multiple warehouse environment, the Inter Warehouse Documentation produces requisitions and/or inter-warehouse transfer documents to fully control movement and costs of stock between warehouses.

There is also the option of using an ‘In Transit’ warehouse.

Requisitions also have last modified dates and revision numbers.

Stock items can be scanned using Barcodes.

Inter Warehouse Transfers can also be linked to Job Costing. This can be useful for controlling Work In Progress.

Communications (see SF013) can also be linked to inter-warehouse transfer documents. This is useful for tracking the status of an internal request between the source and destination warehouses or to head office for an indication of stock statuses and ETAs. The buyer can then optionally use inter warehouse documents as a request for a quote from their supplier and use the communication switch to track the status of these requests as well.

• Stock Serial & Batch Numbers

Omni Serial and Batch numbers are referred to as Tracking Numbers. The main difference between the two is that serial numbers are unique per single stock item, whereas batch numbers apply to multiple items per stock code. The system can be configured to handle the use of only serial numbers, only batch numbers or a combination of both serial and batch numbers.

Serial numbers are typically used to track high-value items such as cell phones or pumps/engines for warranty purposes.

Batch numbers are often used in industries such as the food industry, for quality control purposes, enabling manufacturers or distributors to recall batches of products if necessary.

Each stock item can then be defined as using a tracking number. This means that any stock transaction processed against the stock item will require a serial and/or batch number to be specified.

• Multiple Warehouses

Stock can be separated into different warehouses. These warehouses can be physical warehouses at different locations such as different branches. The warehouses can also be at the same physical location but used to separate sections in a factory different environments e.g. raw materials held in different locations to finished goods or used to define areas like Work In Progress (WIP).

Stock cost prices default to the same price across all warehouses but can optionally vary for each warehouse. Inter Warehouse Documentation can be produced to gain control over the movement of stock between warehouses.

Different Suppliers and Customer Deals can be set per warehouse as well as Minimum and Optimum Levels.

The system defaults to one warehouse.

• Sundry Switches

There are a few Sundry Switches that fall under General.

• Pure VAT on Invoices. This Switch is used by companies that import goods using a clearing agent. It enables them to add the VAT amount on the imported goods which is raised on the clearing agent’s invoice which the agent then pays over to SARS.  Similarly, the function can be used by a company that acts as a clearing agent and needs to raise these VAT amounts on their invoices.
• Unlimited Number of Companies. The standard number of companies that can be linked to an Omni Accounts installation is five. This Switch allows for an unlimited number of companies to be added. Essential if you are an accountant doing the books for multiple clients.
• Invoice Negative Quantities. This allows the use of negative quantities on Customer and Supplier documents. Useful for adding trade-ins or exchanges. Also useful in a Point of Sale environment.
• Import Accounts

Omni Accounts Import Accounts Switch is used for all applications where any master account (Customer, Supplier, Contacts, Stock etc) information needs to be imported from an external source. This import function can also be used to update existing data. Data can be imported from CSV or fixed-length ASCII files as well as a Copy & Paste function.

• Report Writer

The Omni Report Writer is the method by which most reports are configured.  It forms a powerful generic and flexible foundation to enable the user to print reports for their own needs. There are four sections that define the report structure.

• • Layout/Columns. This section allows you to define which fields to print, the sorting hierarchy as well as the grouping structure. Setup Reports controls this functionality.
  • Parameters. This section enables the user to define the parameters of the report. For example date ranges or periods, specific field values e.g. a specific Stock Category or specific field conditions e.g. quantity <> 0.
  • Filters. This section provides more options for filters on the data extracted.
  • Printer Setup. Select the printer as well as options such as setting a label format, export the data or print orientation or small fonts. The report can then be previewed, output to a grid, exported, emailed or sent to Advanced Data Analysis

With Setup New User Defined Reports, you can save the report so you don’t lose the settings.

With the Design Custom Report Layout Switch, you can design your own unique reports.

• Omni Grids

Omni Accounts’ Grids are an integral part of the power and flexibility of the software. Some of the functionality unlocked by the Customise Grids Switch are:

• Drag and Drop. Rearrange fields on your screen or add new fields and remove existing ones.
• Group Data. By dragging one or more fields into the Grouping section, all the data on the screen is grouped by those fields with subtotals and totals.
• Sort Columns. Click on a column to sort in ascending or descending order. Hold the CTRL key to sort by multiple columns.
• Layouts. Save up to five different layouts per grid.
• Export. Export your data (or just a section of it) to a spreadsheet. Export Data from Grids Switch controls this functionality.
• Drill Down. Double click a row to drill down into the source document.
• Filter. Use the Filter Panel to define exactly what data you wish to display.
• VAT Codes

From the Omni Trader Bundle onwards, the Omni VAT Control switch is enabled. VAT Codes are then captured on all accounts, such as Customers, Suppliers, Stock and Nominal Ledger. This helps ensure that the correct VAT Code is used when transactions are processed against the account.

The VAT Codes can be set as one of the following types:

• Exempt
• Standard
• Capital
• Not Registered
• Zero Rated

Other types are available for EU and foreign countries. See HMRC – Making Tax Digital if you are in the UK.

• Stock Reports

Omni Accounts delivers standard reports such as comprehensive Audit Trails and Stock Listings. The Omni Business Bundle offers a Stock Valuation Report and Omni Enterprise Bundle offers the ability to print Stock Labels. The Omni Premium Bundle contains the most stock reports of all the bundles. The remaining reports are found in the various ERP Modules.

• Stock Codes
• Nominal Ledger Reports

Omni Accounts Nominal (General) Ledger reports provide standard reports, such as a Trial Balance as well as detailed Audit Trails. The Audit Trail reports contain information as to the source of the transaction. Drilling down on a transaction will display the original source transaction e.g. Sales Invoice.

• Balance Sheet

Omni Accounts delivers Balance Sheets reports which comply with  International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Balance Sheet reports can be extracted as a high-level summary or as a detailed report. The reports can also be extracted per branch if your company has the Multi Branch option enabled. Additionally, if the Customise Reports option is enabled, then you can customise the reports to your own specific requirements.

• Income Statement

Omni Accounts delivers Income Statement (Profit & Loss) reports which comply with  International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Income Statement reports can be extracted as a high-level summary or as a detailed report. The reports can also be extracted per branch if your company has the Multi Branch option enabled. Additionally, if the Customise Reports option is enabled, then you can customise the reports to your own specific requirements.

• Banking Reports

Omni Accounts Banking Module has both summary and detailed reports of all banking transactions against a bank account. These provide comprehensive audit trails of all transactions. Included in the reports are any VAT Codes and amounts processed against a transaction.

• VAT Return

The Omni Accounts VAT Return uses the information input into the system to construct a VAT Return. This makes filling in a VAT Return very simple. You can also reprint a previous VAT Return at any time as well as see exactly which transactions made up the VAT Return.

 



 

 

 

 

• Advanced Data Analysis

The Omni Accounts Advanced Data Analysis Switch extends the power of standard Omni reports and pushes the data into a columnar or Pivot Table type format. Within this function, the columns and rows can be dragged into different positions and the report can be seamlessly shown in a graphical format. No need to export your data into Excel, just do the same thing within Omni.

• Statements & Age Analysis

Statements.

• Can be extracted individually or in bulk.
• Can optionally be emailed.
• Can be printed for any previous period at any time.
• Statement design can optionally be customised.

Age Analysis

• Shows a list of Customers or Suppliers and the amounts owing or to be paid in the various age periods e.g. 30, 60, 90 days etc.
• The report can be printed for any previous period.
• Can optionally be exported to Excel.
• Supplier Reports

The Suppliers module comes standard with these reports and documents which can be reprinted for any period at any time:

• Detailed Audit Trails
• Statements
• Age Analysis
•  Invoices & Credit Notes

Some examples of additional reports and documents:

• Credit Notes Delivery Notes, and Purchase Orders and
• Purchase Analysis, both basic and advanced.
• Payment Schedule
• Supplier Price Lists
• Customer Reports

The Customers module comes standard with these reports and documents which can be reprinted for any period at any time:

• Detailed Audit Trails
• Statements
• Age Analysis
• Quotes, Invoices & Credit Notes

Some examples of additional reports and documents:

• Delivery Notes, Proforma Invoices, Sales Orders and Recurring Invoices.
• Sales Analysis, both basic and advanced.
• Collection Report
• Unlimited History

Omni Accounts does not delete any transactions, ever.  What this means, is that the history of all transactions processed on the system is always available.

• Customers & Suppliers: All invoices, credit notes, payments and other documents or transactions are always accessible.
• Stock: All stock movements plus any cost price changes are always available.
• Banking: All banking transactions, receipts, payments, bank charges etc are always available.
• Nominal Ledger: History for all accounts is always available.

Omni Accounts do not delete any accounts if any transactions have been processed against it. The account is merely deactivated. So this means that the history on these accounts is always accessible.

• Fully Integrated

Omni Accounts is a fully integrated Accounting and ERP solution. This means that all aspects fully integrate with each other.

For example, a Sales Invoice will :

• Update the Customer Account
• Reduce the Stock Levels
• Update the VAT Return
• Update the Nominal Ledger Revenue Account
• Update the Nominal Ledger Debtors Control and VAT Control accounts.
• Optionally update Nominal Ledger Cost of Sales.
• Update a Job.
• Banking Processing

Omni Accounts Banking Module offers the ability to process payments and receipts via either Standard (Dynamic) or Batch Processing. Standard (Dynamic) Processing updates all records on a live basis and can be enhanced with Quick Mode – a faster processing mode which makes use of predictive text and the pre-filling of cells such as those relating to date, transaction type, the bank account to which or from which a payment is being received/paid. It will also automatically increment the transaction reference number.

• Banking reconciliation

Omni Accounts Banking Module delivers the ability to easily reconcile the transactions entered into the system against Bank Statements obtained from the bank.

The reconciliations can be done at any point in time, daily, weekly, monthly or intermittent.

Read this article for why doing regular Bank Recons are important. https://omniaccounts.co.za/4-tips-to-manage-business-finances-weekly/