MoneyWorks blog

Newsletter March 2022

2022 is something of a milestone year for us, as February marked thirty years since the first release of MoneyWorks. Just for fun we’ve included some screen shots from the (almost) first version.

What’s in this newsletter

Remembering MoneyWorks 1.0.2

Today’s MoneyWorks is a vastly different product to the original, with features that were inconceivable “back in the day”. But it is built on the very solid architecture and foundations of the original MoneyWorks 1.0, which shipped on a single 420K floppy disk in February 1992. MoneyWorks 1.0 was for Mac only, Windows 95 being but a twinkle in Bill Gates’s eye. PC users had to wait until 1998 and MoneyWorks 2.1 before they could use MoneyWorks (and oddly, there are still people out there happily using MoneyWorks 2.1 on Windows!).

Below is a brief retrospective overview of MoneyWorks 1.0.2, which, at the risk of sounding like David Attenborough, is the oldest extant version that we know of. These are courtesy of Andrew from Capistrano Beach in California who, somewhat incredibly, has a functioning Mac SE from the late 1980’s.

MoneyWorks 1 finder view

The MoneyWorks 1 disk in the Finder (the Mac SE is running System 6.0.8). It is astonishing how small the screens were on the original Macs.

MoneyWorks 1 transaction list

The original MoneyWorks transaction list was a representation of a filing cabinet. Unfortunately the screen shot has no transactions, but the basic metaphor has been used ever since.

MoneyWorks 1 names list

The names list from the sample tutorial file, which was based on a hypothetical school. Schools were a big user of MoneyWorks (and indeed, still are).

MoneyWorks 1 customer/supplier entry screen

The original entry window for customers and suppliers. Now there are many more fields and options (email for example didn’t exist in 1992), which are organised over different tabbed panels.

MoneyWorks 1 preferences

The preferences window. Life was simpler in 1992!

MoneyWorks 1 account enquiry

The account enquiry screen. Presumably it didn’t have drill down capability in those days.

Announcing MoneyWorks 9.0.8

The current MoneyWorks version is the just released 9.0.8, and as usual we recommend that you update as soon as convenient. For more information see the change notes.

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Support for Multi-Jurisdiction Tax Filing

With the explosion in on-line sales over the last few years, many countries are requiring that you (as a supplier) collect and pay GST/VAT for on-line sales into their country, even though you might have no physical presence there. For example, you must register for Australian GST if your sales into Australia exceed $AU75,000 per annum (for New Zealand the threshold is $NZ60,000).

In MoneyWorks 9.0.8 we have made managing offshore GST/VAT handling much easier. Offshore businesses selling into Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore and the UK can use the built-in MoneyWorks Guide forms to prepare their returns, and for the last three of those countries, the returns can be submitted direct to the tax authorities using the MoneyWorks electronic GST/VAT filing. For more details see Paying GST/VAT in Multiple Countries.

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Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce support

If you are operating a web store based on one of these platforms, a direct connection from MoneyWorks Gold/Datacentre is now available as a MoneyWorks Service. In essence, you just click a button in MoneyWorks to download your latest sales/orders. For more information see the notes on Shopify, BigCommerce and WooCommerce.

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Singapore on-line GST filing

We’ve been working with IRAS over the last few months to bring on-line submission of GST Returns (F5, F7 and F8) to MoneyWorks. This is part of their ASR+ Digital Products initiative. We anticipate this will be ready in late April, once it has gone through the final step of IRAS’s very rigorous approval process. For information on how this works see Singapore On-Line Filing.

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It’s time to reinstall TeamViewer QuickSupport

If you have used our telephone support, you will be aware that during calls we use TeamViewer to access your screen. A problem we are encountering is that many of you are using ancient versions of TeamViewer, and these will shortly stop working.

The next time you need to use Teamviewer, start it in the normal manner by choosing Help>User TeamViewer QuickSupport. In the confirmation dialog box that opens, hold down option key (Mac) or the shift key (Windows) and click on the “Use TeamViewer” button. You will then be invited to install the newest version (after the installation is done, you need to choose Help>Use TeamViewer QuickSupport again to start the session).

Some tips on using TeamViewer

  • When you first run TeamViewer on a Mac you will need to give it access to Screen Recording and Accessibility (it will prompt you, but you may need to go into System Preferences>Security & Privacy>Privacy and specifically enable these for TeamViewer).
  • Always start TeamViewer before you phone, as this will save you money (and us time).
  • When you give the password, please “describe” the letters (e.g. “f for freddy”, “s for sally”). Often we cannot distinguish the spoken letters, especially if the line is a bit noisy.

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Supported Mail Clients on Mac

You can send emails from MoneyWorks using your local mail client only if the client supports Mac automation. These are the supported clients:

  • Apple Mail
  • Microsoft Outlook 16 (2022) (not in “New Outlook” mode — this mode does not support automation)
  • Microsoft Outlook 2016
  • Microsoft Outlook 2011

Unfortunately Thunderbird and “New Outlook” cannot be supported as they have no provision for automation.

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End of Financial Year

With the end of the financial year approaching in a number of jurisdictions it might be timely to review this resource topic: What should I do at the End of Financial Year?.

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Tips du Jour

If you are operating on a computer with more than one screen, you can occasionally “lose” a window–you open a Window and nothing appears to happen. This is usually caused by some physical reconfiguration of your screens, so MoneyWorks is opening the window on a screen in the last place you left it, but that screen is no longer there. Depending on the type of window, here’s how to fix it:

  • If the window is non-modal (so you can still access the menu bar at the top of the screen), choose Window>Cascade Windows, and all open windows should appear cascading down your screen.
  • If the window is modal you will not be able to access the menu bar. Instead press the escape key (esc) on your keyboard to close the window (it is still open somewhere, but you just can’t see it). Then hold down the shift and ctrl keys and re-open the window, which should open it in the default position on your main screen.

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Posted in News | Comments Off on Newsletter March 2022

Newsletter December 2021

After more than 100 days of lockdown here in Auckland we’ll be very happy to see the end of 2021. At least we are now coming into summer, and can look forward to a much needed summer holiday. As is usual over the holiday period, our support services will be operating on reduced capacity (see Holiday Support).

The MoneyWorks Team would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas, and to thank you for your support over what has been a very long year.

What’s in this newsletter

MoneyWorks 9.0.7

The current MoneyWorks version is the just released 9.0.7. This is primarily a bug fix, and our recommendation is that you update as soon as convenient. The more information see the change notes.

New things you may have missed

Since the release of MoneyWorks 9 over six months ago, we have been progessively adding new features and capabilities. Here are some that you may have missed:

Drag and drop budgeting import

You can now drag and drop a suitably structured text file onto a cell in the budget editor to import a budget. The first period for the budget is determined by the column into which the text file is dropped, and the type of budget (A or B) is determined by the current budget being displayed. The text file must be tab delimited and have the account code in the first column, followed by columns of budget values (the number of these determines the number of periods of budget information). As of version 9.0.7, the text file can contain blank lines. You can create such a text file by copying a block of cells out of Excel or Numbers and pasting them into a new NotePad or TextEdit document.

Profit and Loss for Date Range Report

This report will generate a profit and loss report based on transactions dated in the nominated date range, allowing you to report on, for example, any seven day interval. The report was added primarily to assist businesses applying for Covid relief funding where it is necessary to compare revenue and/or profitability over some arbitrary time intervals.

Tax by Currency Report

Use this audit report if you are handling GST or VAT in multiple currencies or jurisdictions. The report summarises the GST/VAT paid and received by tax code and currency, allowing you to both check the GST/VAT coding, and also extract the necessary figures for filing GST/VAT in other jurisdictions. The report can be run for nominated tax cycles or a nominated period range (and for the latter, you can specify a cash/payments basis).

As an example, assume you are based in New Zealand and pay GST every two months on an invoice basis. However you also sell into Australia and need to submit GST every three months on a cash basis. You would continue to handle New Zealand using the GST Report. For Australia you would run the Tax by Currency report with the periods set for the required three months and the Cash Basis option on. The GST codes used for Australia, along with the GST Paid and Received over the time interval, will be listed in the report.

MoneyWorks doesn’t use Log4j

You may have read about the recently discovered “Log4j” vulnerability, which, according to cyber security experts, is one of the most serious remote execution exploits ever discovered, affecting a huge number of internet servers around the world. We’ve been getting questions from concerned IT professionals wanting to know if MoneyWorks is vulnerable. MoneyWorks doesn’t use Log4j, so rest assured it has no exposure to this exploit. We’ve also checked our worldwide web properties to make sure they are not vulnerable.

Holiday Support

As previously alluded to, most of the MoneyWorks support and admin team will be taking a much needed break over the holiday period. “Taking a break” at Christmas in New Zealand means beaches, barbeques, boats, eating far too much, and generally relaxing.

Phone support will be unavailable after 4:00pm 23rd December NZDT, and will resume on 10th January. Support will be available by emailing support@cognito.co.nz, but with a longer turn around time than normal.

Tips for email support

  1. Be sure to include details of the MoneyWorks version you are using (e.g. MoneyWorks Express 9.0.5, MoneyWorks Now), as well as the version of your operating system (e.g. Windows 10, macOS Monterey).
  2. Outline what the problem is, and if you are getting an error message of some sort, tell us exactly what it says.
  3. Where appropriate include a screen shot or two. For details on making screenshots see the March 2019 Newsletter.
  4. Use a descriptive subject line — support tickets in a queue with a subject of “Help” or “MoneyWorks question” are not very informative, and as such are less likely to get the timely attention of the right person.
  5. Tell us your company name in case we need to verify your details.

Wishing you a safe and healthy festive season
The MoneyWorks Team

Posted in News | Comments Off on Newsletter December 2021

Introducing MoneyWorks 9 – May 2021

MoneyWorks 9 is now available. This is a major upgrade from MoneyWorks 8, with significant new features and capabilities. The remainder of this newsletter contains important information about MoneyWorks 9:

What’s New in MoneyWorks 9

As usual, quite a bit!

There are some “big ticket” items like a full asset register in MoneyWorks Gold, and smaller productivity improvements like being able to search in the print preview, or insert a line anywhere into a transaction instead of just at the end. Some of the highlights are:

  • Asset Register: Fully integrated asset register for MoneyWorks Gold/Datacentre.
  • Bank Feeds: Automatic loading of the latest bank transactions for nominated bank accounts (optional service).
  • Invoice/Order Automation: Automatic entry of pdf invoices received from your suppliers (or purchase orders from your customers) without the need to rekey (optional service).
  • e-Invoicing: In supported jurisdictions, electronic issuing and receipt of invoices based on the PEPPOL standard (optional service).
  • Universal Binary: Runs natively on newest Macs with Apple M1 processors. Up to twice as fast as running on an Intel CPU
  • 64 bit Gold and Datacentre for Windows: Up to 15-30% faster than the 32-bit version.

For more information on what’s new, please visit cognito.co.nz/v9/

Software Maintenance

With MoneyWorks 9 we are moving away from large upgrades, and, in keeping with industry norms, will be providing more frequent and smaller updates. This will enable faster development and deployment, will be far less disruptive for MoneyWorks users, and has worked extremely well for MoneyWorks Datacentre users over the last ten years.

To cover the costs of future development, we are introducing an optional annual software maintenance fee. When you get MoneyWorks 9 (either through an upgrade or a purchase), the price includes the first twelve months of software maintenance. After this, you will be asked to renew your software maintenance for another twelve months (at a rate of just 1% per month of the retail value for Gold and Express). If you elect not to pay the maintenance, your MoneyWorks will keep working fine, but you will not be able to use a later version until you catch up with your maintenance (which will keep accruing).

MoneyWorks 9 System Requirements

The new system requirements for MoneyWorks 9 are:

    Mac: macOS 10.12.6 (Sierra) or later
    Win: Windows 7 or later. MoneyWorks Datacentre requires 64 bit (clients can be 32 or 64 bit).

MoneyWorks Services

We have extended the architecture of MoneyWorks Gold, Express and Cashbook to allow for MoneyWorks Services. These are optional modules that can be incorporated into specific MoneyWorks 9 data files, and, if enabled for a document, are installed automatically. These services are often provided by a third party, so there will normally some sort of charge. Services introduced with MoneyWorks 9 include bank feeds, e-invoicing and invoice automation. More are planned, and when introduced you can elect to use them or not. Services are managed under the new File>Manage Services menu.

Upgrade Pricing

For those who purchased a new version of MoneyWorks within the last twelve months we are offering a free upgrade provided you upgrade before the anniversary of your purchase. Once you upgrade, you will be prompted for the software maintenance on the anniversary of your purchase (in effect, we have given you twelve months of software maintenance).

The current upgrade pricing from MoneyWorks 8 is shown below (you can still upgrade if you are using MoneyWorks 6 or MoneyWorks 7). These prices will increase over time to reflect the accrued maintenance.

MoneyWorks 9 Upgrade Pricing

Note that at this time you can also move up a level from Express to Gold, or from Gold to multi-user Datacentre, at special discount pricing.

To upgrade, or to view upgrade options and pricing, click the Upgrade button on the MoneyWorks website.

MoneyWorks Subscriptions

If you have a current subscription to MoneyWorks Gold, Express or Cashbook, just go to Help>Software Updates to upgrade your MoneyWorks. You do not need a new serial number.

If you have a subscription to MoneyWorks Datacentre follow the instructions below with your current serial number (subscription Datacentres have a serial number starting with “xRD”, where “x” is your country designator).

MoneyWorks Now

MoneyWorks Now users will receive the upgrade automatically. The MoneyWorks Now server upgrades are being done progressively over the next few weeks.

Upgrading a MoneyWorks Datacentre

For MoneyWorks Datacentre users who are on an annual software maintenance plan, the upgrade is included as part of this. New Datacentre serial numbers are being sent by separate email to these Datacentre users, along with more detailed upgrade instructions. In brief, once the serial number is received:

  1. Enter the new serial number into the MoneyWorks Datacentre console
    Ignore the yellow warning and user keys at this stage
  2. Click the Check Now button (under the Updates tab)
    Datacentre should detect and download/install the new version
  3. When the Datacentre restarts, enter any additional user keys if appropriate
  4. If you are upgrading from Datacentre 7 you will need to upgrade your data files. Click on the Folders tab in the Datacentre Console, then click the Upgrade Files to V9 button.
    The MoneyWorks 7 files will be converted to MoneyWorks 9 (this may take a few minutes).

There is no need to update your MoneyWorks 8 data files — they will be automatically updated next time you connect to them. Datacentre clients will be updated as per normal when they next connect.

Important Note for UK Users on MTD

HMRC has mandated changes in the submission of on-line VAT reports, purportedly to reduce fraud. These are implemented in MoneyWorks 9, and UK users (or anyone with a UK entity that uses MTD) need to upgrade before July to remain compliant.

Free Bank Feeds Trial

MoneyWorks 9 includes one month’s free trial of the new bank feeds feature for New Zealand users. To try this;

  1. Choose Command>Load Bank Statement
  2. Set the Bank popup menu to the bank account you want to load
  3. If this is the first time you have used Load Bank Statement, set the Default accounts
  4. Set the Source pop-up menu to Bank Feeds and click the Set up Bank Feeds button
    A warning will be displayed about pricing. Ignore this, as you will only be required to pay a month after your trial starts, and if you elect to continue with the service.
  5. Click Register
    The Bank Feeds Account window will be displayed. This lists your existing feeds.
  6. Click Link New Account, then sign up to the service by following the instruction on screen
  7. Once you have linked the bank account, check the date range and click Fetch Transactions
    Bank transactions in the date range will be loaded (note that you cannot go more than six months back).

If you decide you want to continue with Bank Feeds, choose File>Manage Services and register your file and credit card details. This will be charged quarterly in advance when the trial period is over.

For more detailed instructions see the Bank Feeds section in the MoneyWorks 9 Manual.

Tips du Jour

Search in Preview

Search in Preview

Looking for a number or text in a previewed report? Just type it into the Search box in the top right of the preview window, and all occurences of that text will be highlight. Press Ctrl/Cmd-G to move to the next occurence.

Inserting a transaction line

New line icon

Clicking on the New line icon has always appended a line when entering a transaction. If you hold down the Shift key and click the New line icon, a line will be inserted above the current line you are on.

Don’t forget that you can also move lines up and down by holding down the Shift+Ctrl (Windows) or the Option key (Mac) and dragging the line.


Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Introducing MoneyWorks 9 – May 2021

Newsletter December 2020

So 2020 is almost gone—it’s odd, but I doubt many people will miss it! In this part of the world we are just coming into summer, and are looking forward to a much needed break (it turns out there is a finite limit to the amount of pandemics, US elections and other news that one can bear). As is usual over the holiday period, our support services will be operating on reduced capacity (see Holiday Support).

The MoneyWorks Team would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas, and to thank you for your support over what has been a very long year. To cheer you up and give you something exciting to look forward to in early 2021, we’re sharing some of what is coming up in the next version of MoneyWorks.

MoneyWorks 9

In an ideal world, you would now be enjoying the benefits of MoneyWorks 9. However, as some of you may have noticed, 2020 has not been an ideal year, so MoneyWorks 9 is still a couple of months away. But we thought we would share with you a little bit of what is coming.

One of the design goals of MoneyWorks 9 was to make it easier to provide additional, on-line services. These are specialist services that we can provide through partnering with third parties and include:

  • Bank Feeds: Automatic loading of the latest bank transactions for nominated bank accounts (in partnership with Yodlee).
  • Supplier Invoice Scanning: Automatic entry of pdf invoices received from your suppliers, reducing the need for manual data entry (in partnership with FerretSoftware).
  • e-Invoicing: In supported jurisdictions, electronic issuing and receipt of invoices based on the PEPPOL standard (in partnership with Link4).

Because these services are provided by third parties they will incur additional fees for those users who decide to use them.

There are of course lots of new features and improvements, the main one for MoneyWorks Gold/Datacentre being a new, fully integated asset register (to preview the draft asset register documentation click here). MoneyWorks 9 will also natively support Apple’s newest Macs with Apple Silicon processors (although the current versions of MoneyWorks 8 run just fine on them, MoneyWorks 9 will run even faster).

Upgrade pricing is yet to be finalised, and as is usual with MoneyWorks upgrades, those who have purchased MoneyWorks in the last few months will be eligible for a free upgrade.

macOS Big Sur Glitches

A couple of glitches have emerged when running MoneyWorks on macOS Big Sur. We have released an update (MoneyWorks 8.2.5) to fix these. These are available through the normal software updates process.

Holiday Support

As previously alluded to, most of the MoneyWorks support and admin team will be taking a break over the holiday period (and in theory gearing themselves up for an exciting 2021). “Taking a break” at Christmas in New Zealand means beaches, barbeques, boats, eating far too much, and trying to ignore electronic devices.

Phone support will be unavailable after 5:00pm 23rd December, and will resume on 11th January. Email support will be available at support@cognito.co.nz, but with a longer turn around time.

If emailing for support, please be sure to include details of the MoneyWorks version you are using (e.g. MoneyWorks Gold 8.2.3), as well as the version of your operating system (e.g. Windows 10, macOS Big Sur). Outline what the problem is, and, if you are getting an error message of some sort, tell us exactly what it says (better yet, include a screen shot). Brevity might be the soul of wit, but it will significantly hinder any help we can provide.

Wishing you a safe and healthy festive season
The MoneyWorks Team

Posted in News | Comments Off on Newsletter December 2020

Newsletter June 2020

Another quarter has flown by, much of it in lockdown for many of our users (and developers and support team). It was good that so many of you were able to take advantage of MoneyWorks’s remote access capability as outlined in our last newsletter (and if you missed it, you can see it here).

Changes to Gmail Security

At the end of this month (June 2020) Google are requiring new security settings for gmail. If you are using the gmail SMTP server to send emails direct from MoneyWorks and have not implemented the new gmail two factor authentication, you will need to reset these. Please see Using Gmail SMTP from MoneyWorks.

macOS Big Sur and Apple Silicon

Yesterday Apple announced a new version of the macOS (Big Sur), and the transition of Mac hardware away from Intel processors to Apple’s own ARM processor.

As usual with new macOS releases, we urge caution. At this stage we don’t know what, if any, changes will be required in MoneyWorks to maintain compatibility or meet new security requirements. When we are confident that MoneyWorks runs on Big Sur we will let you know.

MoneyWorks has already undergone four Apple CPU transitions (Motorola 68000; to PowerPC; to 32-bit Intel; to 64-bit Intel), so we expect to take the next one in stride as well. Apple have stated that existing 64-bit Intel apps (like MoneyWorks 8) will run on the new Apple Silicon Macs without issue, but we anticipate supporting native Apple Silicon some time in 2021 once new architecture Macs are generally available.

Changing VAT and GST Rates

There is some discussion in the UK about temporary reductions in the VAT rate to help boost the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic. Should these eventuate, you will need to change the rates and the changeover date in the affected VAT codes in MoneyWorks (see this blog entry). As the rates are date driven, the changes can be done in advance of any rate changes.

Fiji VMS Accreditation

VMS is a system introduced by the Fiji Government whereby all sales transactions must be sent through a centralised Government system which calculates the correct VAT, and also mandates a QR code on invoices so that this can be checked by the recipient. Fiji users of MoneyWorks will be pleased to know that MoneyWorks has been accredited by the Fiji Government as being VMS compliant. A pdf of the documentation is available here.

Getting MoneyWorks for your Accountant

For many years we have made available specially licenced versions of MoneyWorks to the external accountants of MoneyWorks users at no charge. This means you can just give them access to your MoneyWorks file and you are 100% compatible with them—what you can’t do is give your accountants (or anyone else) your MoneyWorks serial number.

To organise a copy for your accountant simply choose Help>Register on Line in MoneyWorks and fill in your details and click the check box to enable you to enter your accountant’s details. Once these details are vetted, which might take a couple of working days, we will send the accountant their special licence (it pays for you to advise the accountant in advance, otherwise they might ignore the email).

If you change accountants (or your own contact details change), just re-register. We also normally ask you to re-register when a new major version of MoneyWorks is released, just to make sure your details are current, and to ensure that your accountant remains compatible.

If you are using MoneyWorks Cashbook, it is probably easier just to get your accountant to subscribe to the free version. This is done by creating a MoneyWorks account at https://secure.cognito.co.nz/user/login.php.

Daylite and FileMaker Plug-ins

These plug-ins, which allow direct communication between Daylite and FileMaker, have been updated to meet new system requirements

Daylite is a popular CRM for Mac, and the plug-in allows the updating of customers and quotes from Daylite. The current plug-in version is 1.5.5, and can be downloaded from the original link sent when purchased. Older versions should not be used with Daylite Cloud.

FileMaker is a widely used database and app builder system for both Mac and Windows, and the plug-in allows two-way exchange of data at the desktop level between FileMaker and MoneyWorks. A signed version of the macOS 64 bit FileMaker plug-in is now required for macOS Catalina and later. This, and the Windows version, are available from the original link sent with your purchase.

MoneyWorks 8.2.2

The current version of MoneyWorks is 8.2.2, which was released earlier this week. For a list of changes/enhancements please the MoneyWorks 8.2.2 Change Notes

End of Financial Year in Australia

The end of the financial year is approaching for most Australian users, so it might be timely for them to review this resource topic: What should I do at the End of Financial Year?.


Posted in News | Comments Off on Newsletter June 2020

Changing VAT and GST Rates in MoneyWorks

There is currently talk in a number of countries of governments reducing the VAT or GST rates for at least a short time to give their economies a boost to help counter the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

If this happens in your locale, here’s what you need to do in MoneyWorks.

1. Go to your Tax table by choosing Show>Tax Rates

The Tax Rates list will be displayed.
MoneyWorks tax list

2. Double-click the affected tax code(s)

MoneyWorks tax entry screen
The Tax Code window will be displayed.

There are two tax rates displayed along with a changeover date. Rate1 applies to transactions dated before the changeover date, and Rate2 applies to those after.

Let’s assume that the UK Government reduces the VAT rate to 15% on 1st August 2020. To achieve this in MoneyWorks:

3. Change the Rate 1 to the current rate (20%)

4. Set the changeover date to 1st August 2020

5. Set Rate 2 to the new rate (15%)

MoneyWorks tax entry screen

Transactions dated before 1st August will continue to have VAT applied at the 20% rate. Transaction dated on or after this date will have VAT applied at the new rate of 15%. This means you can set up the new rates some time in advance of the actual changeover.

Oddly, downwards tax changes seem to always be temporary, so at some time the rate will return to normal. Let’s say the rate will return to 20% on 31st March 2021. At some point before 31st March, you would need to reset the rates. But you can only do this once you have entered and posted all the transactions dated prior to the first rate change (i.e. 1st August 2020).

6. In the Tax Code window, set Rate 1 to 15%, set the changeover date to 31st March 2021, and set Rate 2 to 20%.

MoneyWorks tax entry screen

Of course doubtless there will be special forms that you need to complete, but from a MoneyWorks perspective, that is all you need to do.

Posted in Tips | Comments Off on Changing VAT and GST Rates in MoneyWorks

Newsletter March 2020

Midway through preparing this newsletter the New Zealand government announced that we will be going into lockdown for at least four weeks. This will have no affect on your MoneyWorks, which should just keep on working, and many of our staff have been practising on working from home for years. However as many MoneyWorks users around the world now also have to work from home, the remainder of this newsletter details how to access your MoneyWorks files from outside the office.

MoneyWorks support services over the lockdown period should remain unchanged. However there are restrictions on the number of simultaneous support calls that we will be able handle—these are on the New Zealand (0900-55-444) and Australia (1800-140-859) support lines. If you are having issues accessing these, please email support@cognito.co.nz with a detailed description of the issue, including screen shots where appropriate.

Kia kaha1
The MoneyWorks Team

1 Kia kaha is a Māori phrase meaning “be strong, keep going”. It seems apt in these difficult days.


Using MoneyWorks from your home

How to use MoneyWorks from home depends on what MoneyWorks product you have (and to some extent how your business operates). It doesn’t matter if the files are on a Windows computer at work and you have a Mac at home (or vice versa), as MoneyWorks works on both.

MoneyWorks Now

If you have an existing MoneyWorks Now account working from home is just a case of installing MoneyWorks Gold on your home computer and using your normal MoneyWorks Now log in. The first time you connect, click the Connect button, set the Connect Using popup to MoneyWorks Now, set the I have a MoneyWorks Now account check box and click Log In. Select the file that you wish to connect to, enter your user and password, and click OK.

Important: There is a strong chance that you may have forgotten your password if you have stored it in the Vault (for Windows) or keychain (for Mac) on your work computer and never accessed it again. If you are in this position, you should check your Windows Credentials or Mac keychain while you have access to your office computer. If you click the Forgot? link on the MoneyWorks Now login screen, you will be able to reset your password, but you will lose access to all existing MoneyWorks Now accounts and your administrator will need to grant you access again.

MoneyWorks Datacentre

MoneyWorks Datacentre is “internet ready”, allowing you to create your own “private cloud”. If your Datacentre is not already set up for this, you will need to get a static IP address from your internet service provider, and do some minor configuration of your router. For a more detailed explanation of this please see this article.

To access your Datacentre from a home computer, install MoneyWorks Gold onto that computer and click the Connect button. Make sure the Connect Using pop-up menu is set to “Manual Using IP Address” and key in the static IP address provided by your ISP. Check that the port is set to 6699 and click Log-in. You should see a list of files on your Datacentre, and can log into these in the normal manner.

MoneyWorks Gold/Express/Cashbook

These are single user systems, so you can transfer your MoneyWorks data file(s) from the office computer to your own and keep working. The simplest way is to copy the files onto a USB stick or similar Don’t forget that your files include your MoneyWorks Custom Plug-ins folder, which will be in the same folder as your MoneyWorks file. You will only have this folder if you have custom forms or reports. It is also important to copy the file(s) off the USB stick onto your home computer’s hard drive—USB sticks are unreliable and very slow.

A better way would be to keep them in a Dropbox (or equivalent) folder that automatically synchs back to the office computer.

You will also need to record your MoneyWorks serial number from your office computer to use to activate the MoneyWorks on your home computer—this can be found by choosing Help>Enter Serial in MoneyWorks.

You then need to download and install the appropriate version of MoneyWorks (see below). When you first start this, you will be prompted for a serial number to activate the software. You should enter your recorded MoneyWorks serial number.

Downloading MoneyWorks

To download a copy of MoneyWorks, just go to the Try MoneyWorks page, fill out the form, and set the pop-up menu to the appropriate product (Gold, Express, Cashbook), and the download link will be emailed to you. Make sure to put your current accounting software as MoneyWorks to avoid a followup email.

Having downloaded and installed MoneyWorks, unless you are a MoneyWorks Now or Datacentre user, you will need to activate it with your serial number (it will prompt you for this when you first start).

End of Financial Year

Coronavirus or not, the end of the financial year is approaching for New Zealand and UK users, so it might be timely for them to review this resource topic: What should I do at the End of Financial Year?.


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Newsletter December 2019

It’s extraordinary to think that in just over a week it will be 2020–where did that decade go?

The good thing about the end of the year in this part of the world is that it is the start of the summer holidays. We might lack the Christmas snow, but the sun, warm weather and beaches more than compensate. Thank you for your support and ideas over 2019. The MoneyWorks Team wish you all a happy, safe holiday and a successful 2020.

In this newsletter:

Holiday Hours

The MoneyWorks main office will be closing for the holidays from 5:00pm December 23rd until 9:00am January 6th. Although there will be no phone support over this period, email support will still be available through the support@cognito.co.nz address. Normal administration services will resume on January 13th.

If emailing for support, please be sure to include details of the MoneyWorks version you are using (e.g. MoneyWorks Gold 8.1.9) along with the operating system version. Remember to outline the problem is and to include any error messages you may have received. Screenshots are also helpful.

For immediate help, try searching online with queries like “writing off invoices in MoneyWorks” or “closing a period in MoneyWorks”. You can also refer to, but sadly no longer update (see below), the MoneyWorks Forum

Daylite Plug-in Update

We’ve recently released an update for the MoneyWorks-Daylite plug-in. Daylite is the popular CRM system for macOS, and the plug-in allows the seamless transfer of customer data between Daylite and MoneyWorks, as well as sending Daylite estimates to MoneyWorks as Quotes. This update (version 1.5.4) addresses a number of issues with the plug-in, and provides better mapping of address data between the two systems. The plug-in is available from the MoneyWorks Add-on Store.

MoneyWorks Current Version

The current version of MoneyWorks Datacentre is 8.1.9r1, which was released earlier this week. For users of MoneyWorks Gold, Express or Cashbook the current version is 8.1.9. We strongly recommend that users update to this version. For a list of changes/enhancements please see the MoneyWorks 8.1.9 Change Notes.

UK Users should note that 8.1.9 supports the generation of BACS files as part of the electronic payments step in creditor payments. See Electronic Payments for details of generating payment files.

Catalina Reminder

A reminder that MoneyWorks 8.1.8 is the minimum MoneyWorks version that will run reliably on macOS Catalina, the current version of the macOS.

MoneyWorks Community Forum Status

A number of you have written in wondering about the status of the MoneyWorks Community Forum. Despite increasing the security around logging in, the forum has again been heavily spammed and we have had to deactivate it. At present, having restored a backup, it is available as read only.

End of Financial Year

If the end of the year also marks the end of your fiscal year, it might be timely to review this resource topic: What should I do at the End of Financial Year?.

Tips du Jour

Just one tip this time around: make sure you have a good holiday break and come back refreshed and eager to face a new year (and, in fact, decade).


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Newsletter October 2019

In this newsletter:

macOS 10.15 – Catalina

Later this week Apple are expected to release Catalina, the next update to macOS. The newly released MoneyWorks 8.1.8 includes changes for Catalina compatibility, and you should update to that if you are contemplating using Catalina. In particular if you want to host MoneyWorks Datacentre on a Mac running Catalina you must have MoneyWorks 8.1.8, and you must give Datacentre full disk access.

MoneyWorks 8.1.8r1

The current version of MoneyWorks is 8.1.8r1, which was released earlier this week. We strongly recommend users to update to this. For a list of changes/enhancements please the MoneyWorks 8.1.8 Change Notes

Update on Making Tax Digital – UK

HMRC have announced some changes in their Making Tax Digital (MTD) requirements, which have been incorporated into the 8.1.8 release. Although these are not mandatory, they will be at some point in the future. UK users should therefore update to MoneyWorks 8.1.8 before the end of this year.

Consolidation and Intercompany Module

We’ve significantly expanded the capabilities of the MoneyWorks Consolidation and Intercompany module (available on the MoneyWorks Add-on Store). This module allows the exchange of data between MoneyWorks entities on a single Datacentre, or on multiple on-line Datacentres, or on MoneyWorks Now. In practical terms it allows you to:

  • prepare consolidated reports (trial balance, profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow) across multiple entities
  • automatically adjust reports for intercompany eliminations, as shown in the following four company consolidated report;
  • Four Company Consolidated PL

  • prepare consolidation journals across multiple entities;
  • electronically invoice other entities for inter-company charging;
  • send purchase orders to other entities as sales orders;
  • facilitate cross-company reporting, or the creation of other cross-company transactions.

If you are using an older version of the Consolidation Module you can get a free upgrade (with proof of purchase) by emailing info@cognito.co.nz. Note that the new module requires MoneyWorks 8.1.8 or later. Full documentation on the module is available for download from here.

Upcoming Training Courses

Next scheduled training courses:
    Sydney: October 22nd and 23rd;
    Christchurch: November 12th and 13th;

For more details, or to book your place, see cognito.co.nz/support/training/

In addition to these formal courses, we offer short, targeted on-line training. For example, if you want to find out more about how job costing can work for you, what scripts can do, how to change an invoice layout, or are unsure of how multi-currency works, then a time can be arranged to show you. For details please contact admin@cognito.co.nz

Tips du Jour

Quick Date Entry

In MoneyWorks, a quick way to type a date that falls in the current month is to just type the day number. When you tab out, MoneyWorks will fill in the month and year for you. In v8.1.8 this works on all platforms and locales (we discovered that it wasn’t working as expected on Windows in locales with US date formats).

You can also use a scroll wheel on your mouse to nudge the date up or down by a day while you are in a date field.

And, on the subject of dates, remember that you can right-click in the transaction date field and choose “Remember Value” so that future transactions get the same date as the previous one entered, or “Entered Today”, so that future transactions always default to today’s date.

Form Signing for Roles

MoneyWorks 8.1.8 allows you to sign a report or form for a Role (as opposed to a specific users). This makes the form or report usable by any users who have that Role. This is now the recommended way to handle form and report signing if you have a large number of users connecting to your MoneyWorks Datacentre server. For more about Roles see this section of the MoneyWorks manual.

Got a MoneyWorks Tip to share?

Please send it into us at admin@cognito.co.nz


Posted in News | Comments Off on Newsletter October 2019

Newsletter March 2019

Whew … quarter of the way through 2019 already.

In this newsletter:

Making Tax Digital – UK

MoneyWorks HMRC Connect Window

Making Tax Digital (or MTD) is the UK Government initiative to make VAT processing easier by allowing accounting packages to directly file the VAT return with HMRC. MTD is starting on April 1st 2019, meaning that the first quarterly return that needs to be filed using MTD is in July (i.e. only VAT periods that start on or after 1st April need to be filed using MTD).

MoneyWorks 8.1.6 will support MTD, but we are unable to release it until it has been vetted by HMRC. They have been “inundated” by the response (who would have thought?) — we have been in the queue since early Feb. However we now have a meeting scheduled with them for early April. The draft documentation for the MoneyWorks implementation can be downloaded from here.

MoneyWorks IRD Connect Window

Filing GST Electronically – NZ

The IRD in NZ has also been rolling out online filing of GST, although, unlike the UK, it is not compulsory. MoneyWorks 8.1.6 will support this. Basically, once you have finalised your GST for the period, you can connect to the IRD directly from MoneyWorks and file the new or amended GST return at the click of a button.

Taxable Payments Report – Australia

The ATO has extended the requirement for the Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR) to include businesses providing:

  • building and construction services
  • cleaning services
  • courier services
  • road freight services
  • information technology (IT) services
  • security, investigation or surveillance services

For details of how to generate this from MoneyWorks see this section of the manual.

Upcoming Training Courses

Next scheduled training courses:
    Auckland: April 9th and 10th;
    Auckland: June 11th and 12th;
    Brisbane: July 17th and 18th.

For more details, or to book your place, see cognito.co.nz/support/training/

In addition to these formal courses, we offer short, targeted on-line training. For example, if you want to find out more about how job costing can work for you, what scripts can do, how to change an invoice layout, or are unsure of how multi-currency works, then a time can be arranged to show you. For details please contact admin@cognito.co.nz

Tips du Jour

Reordering transaction lines

To move the lines of an (unposted) transaction, simply position the cursor over the detail line to move, hold down the shift and control keys (Windows) or the option key (Mac), then drag the detail line up or down to its new position

Moving lines in a transaction

Also note how the line we are moving in the above image has a product code of *. It is a convention in MoneyWorks that any product code that starts with an asterisk is deemed to be a comment and the quantity and pricing information is excluded when the invoice is printed.

End of Financial Year

With the end of the financial year coming up for many users, a reminder about this forum topic: What should I do at the End of Financial Year?.

Taking Screen Shots:

Although you can (and often do) take a photo of your computer screen when you want to send us a screenshot, it is much faster and easier to use the built-in keyboard shortcuts:

On Windows: Please see this article from Microsoft.

On Mac: To send a screen image to the clipboard, hold down the Shift + Control + Command keys and press 4. The cursor will change into a cross hair. Draw a rectangle over the part of the screen to copy it, or press the spacebar and click on a window. You can then paste the resultant image into an email. Further details are available in this article from Apple.

Please don’t scale your screenshot to be so small that we can’t read it, as you’ll just be asked to send a larger version. Apple Mail, for example, will usually default to Image Size: Small. You should change this to Actual Size:

Got a MoneyWorks Tip to share?

Please send it into us at admin@cognito.co.nz


Posted in News | Comments Off on Newsletter March 2019