MoneyWorks

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
• macOS Big Sur Glitches
• Holiday Support

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

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
• macOS Big Sur and Apple Silicon
• Changing VAT and GST Rates
• Fiji VMS Accreditation
• Getting MoneyWorks for your Accountant
• Daylite and FileMaker Plug-ins
• MoneyWorks 8.2.2
• End of Financial Year in Australia

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?.

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
• MoneyWorks Datacentre
• Gold/Express/Cashbook
• Downloading MoneyWorks

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?.

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
• Daylite Plug-in Update
• MoneyWorks Current Version
• Catalina Reminder
• MoneyWorks Community Forum Status
• End of Financial Year
• Tips du Jour

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).

In this newsletter:

• macOS 10.15 – Catalina
• MoneyWorks 8.1.8
• Update on Making Tax Digital – UK
• Consolidation and Intercompany Module
• Upcoming Training Courses
• Tips du Jour

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;



• 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

Whew … quarter of the way through 2019 already.

In this newsletter:

• Making Tax Digital – UK
• Filing GST Electronically – NZ
• Taxable Payments Report – Australia
• Upcoming Training Courses
• Tips du Jour

Making Tax Digital – UK

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.

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

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

It may be a bit of a cliché, but 2018 seems to have vanished in the blink of an eye. It seems only a few weeks ago that we were battening down for winter, and now the summer holidays are almost here (at least in this part of the world). Thank you for your support and ideas over 2018, and the MoneyWorks Team wish you all a happy and safe holiday, and a successful 2019.

In this newsletter:

• Holiday Hours
• Making Tax Digital – UK
• Accounting for Prescribed Goods – Singapore
• Using Jobs for Funds Tracking
• Upcoming Training Courses
• MoneyWorks 8.1.5
• Mojave/High Sierra
• Tips du Jour

Holiday Hours

The MoneyWorks main office will be closing for the holidays from 5:00pm December 21st until 9:00am January 7th. 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 14th.

If emailing for support, please be sure to include details of the MoneyWorks version you are using (e.g. MoneyWorks Gold 8.1.4), and the operating system version that you are using. Outline what the problem is, and, if you are getting an error message of some sort, tell us exactly what it says. Brevity might be the soul of wit, but it will significantly hinder any help we can provide.

Another support resource that you can (and should) be using is the MoneyWorks Community Forum (accessible under Help>Community in MoneyWorks), where you can ask and answer questions about MoneyWorks. Google also knows a lot about MoneyWorks (it is getting smarter!), so queries like “writing off invoices in MoneyWorks” or “closing a period in MoneyWorks” will give a lot of useful information.

Making Tax Digital – UK

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, obviating the current requirement to rekey the numbers into the HMRC website. This is slated for introduction starting April 1st 2019. We expect to have an update to MoneyWorks 8 available for MTD before April.

Accounting for Prescribed Goods – Singapore

From January 1st, new requirements for the GST handling on “prescribed goods” are being introduced in Singapore. MoneyWorks 8.1.4 has been approved by the IRAS as being compliant for this new system (older versions are not, and should not be used). For information on prescribed goods please see the IRAS website. Details on how to configure MoneyWorks to handle prescribed goods are outlined in the MoneyWorks Manual. If you need assistance with this, please contact Ledgerworks, the MoneyWorks distributors in Singapore, at support@ledgerworks.asia

Using Jobs for Funds Tracking

It is not uncommon for not for profits (such as sporting clubs, schools, charities) to get some sort of grant from a parent or government body, and need to monitor or report on how the funds were allocated.

Tracking and reporting on this is easy if you use “Job Tagging” in MoneyWorks (and even Cashbook supports this). Basically just tag the line of affected transactions with a code for each grant that you need to manage. Then use the Job Allocation report, which is new in MoneyWorks 8.1.5, to view a summary of the job and its “profitability”. You can also use this technique for tracking events such as the pony club “One Day Event”, or the Bowling Club Fundraiser, and determine exactly how much was raised (and spent) on the event.

For more details see Tracking Grants and Events in MoneyWorks.

Upcoming Training Courses

What better way to start the year than with a MoneyWorks training course — after all, you don’t know what you don’t know! The first courses are 2019 are scheduled for Auckland on February 20th and 21st. 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

MoneyWorks 8.1.5

The current version of MoneyWorks is 8.1.5, which was released earlier this month. If you are using an earlier version please update, as this not only adds some new features, but also addresses a number of issues discovered in previous versions. For a list of changes please see the change notes.

Mojave/High Sierra Compatibility

Just a reminder that MoneyWorks 7 and earlier are not compatible with the new file system in MacOS High Sierra and Mojave. If you want to use these new OSes you must upgrade to MoneyWorks 8. To upgrade, go to our upgrade page and enter your existing MoneyWorks serial number (which you can find under Help>Enter Serial).

Tips du Jour

Multiple enquiry windows

Did you know that you can have multiple account enquiry windows open at once? To open a new enquiry window, simply hold down the Option key (on the Mac) or the Shift key (on Windows) and choose Account Enquiry from the Enquiries menu (or the Reports menu, if you are using Cashbook). This applies to all the enquiry windows, not just accounts.

Write-off

At the end of the fiscal year, which is approaching for many users, it is often necessary to write off bad debts (i.e. invoices that you have issued that are not going to get paid). The first step in the process is to ensure that you have a “Bad debts” expense account to use. Then, simply highlight the invoice(s) to write-off in the Receivables list, and choose Adjustments>Write-off from the Command menu. For more information on end of year procedures, please see this forum topic: What should I do at the End of Financial Year?.

Got a MoneyWorks Tip to share?

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

In this newsletter:

• Mojave Compatibility
• Accountech.live – Melbourne
• Upcoming Training Courses
• MoneyWorks 8.1.4r1
• Tips du Jour

Mojave Compatibility

Mojave, the new version of the MacOS, has just been released.

Our testing has not turned up any incompatibilities with MoneyWorks 8 on Mojave. We would still advise, as ever, to wait for a point update of Mojave before installing rather than being a guinea pig with a mission critical system. Note that MoneyWorks 8 does not support the new Dark Mode.

Mojave also further restricts the ability of applications to communicate with each other. This means that when you first ask MoneyWorks to send an email via Apple Mail, you will get a permission request.

You should click OK. The very first time an email is created in Apple Mail at the request of another application, the attachment will fail to attach. Apple Mail has suffered from this bug for many years. The workaround is just to close the message and send again from MoneyWorks. It should work fine after that first failure.

If you click Don’t Allow in the above dialog, MoneyWorks will not be able to create messages in Mail for you. If you inadvertently do that, you can grant the permission later by going to System Preferences ➝ Security & Privacy ➝ Privacy ➝ Automation and clicking the checkbox next to Mail for MoneyWorks.

Note that, if you are automating other apps from MoneyWorks (or indeed, from anywhere else), you may need to go through a similar process.

Accountech.live – Melbourne

Accountech.live is a special expo for accounting professionals being held in Melbourne (Australia) on November 13-14, and MoneyWorks will be there showing its unique extensibility and cloud features. So if you are in Victoria and know of “open-minded accountants, bookkeepers & advisors in practice who are passionate about delivering exceptional value to their clients and bringing about positive change for a digital future” (to quote the organisers), make sure to tell them to visit the MoneyWorks stand at the show. Full details are available at accountech.live, and we know it will appeal to accountants as they have free admission!

Upcoming Training Courses

We currently have training courses scheduled as follows:

• Sydney (October 22/23)
• Auckland (November 21/22)

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

Customised 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

MoneyWorks 8.1.4r1

The current version of MoneyWorks is 8.1.4r1, which was released on 24th August. If you are using an earlier version, please update as this addresses a number of issues discovered in previous versions.

Tips du Jour

Hiding old Codes

Over time, the products and services that you provide will change, and you don’t want your choices lists or drop down list cluttered with items that are no longer used. To hide these, simply change the code so that it starts with a tilde ~ character, for example from BA100 to ~BA100. All the historic data pertaining to the item will still be there, but the item will no longer be available for selection. The same philosophy applies to customer and supplier codes, and to general ledger codes.

Note that Datacentre users must be in Single User Mode to be able to change a code in this manner. This is because changing a code may also involve updating a large number of related transactions to reflect the change. This means that you (a) must be the only user of the system, and (b) must hold down the Option key (Mac) or the Ctrl key (Windows) when you double-click the item to modify it.

Combining GST/VAT reports

When you make a mistake and finalise your GST/VAT report too early, as in the query below, it’s not the end of the world:

“Silly me … I finalised my GST report without double checking 🙁 and realised that some of the transactions hadn’t been posted, so I posted them, then finalised again – and now don’t know what to do to get back – is there anything I can do?”

MoneyWorks lets you combine GST reports, and report the combined results in the appropriate GST/VAT guide, thus picking up the information from both the finalisations done above. For details of how to do this see Printing a GST Report in the MoneyWorks manual.

Note that this feature is also useful if you are having to pay GST/VAT in more than one jurisdiction and the tax cycles do not mesh (for example, most New Zealand businesses are required to report GST every two months, but in Australia it is quarterly). In this scenario you would finalise the GST every month, but then combine the last two for the New Zealand GST, and the last three for Australia.

Got a MoneyWorks Tip to share?

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