System setup: Options

Here you can change many settings which will apply throughout Arbor Finance, affecting its appearance and how the system behaves: for example the style of income and expenditure transaction screens, the threshold for warnings such as budget overspends, or the expected interval between bank account reconciliations.

On the System menu, you access the options via the System setup area. You can then configure a range of options by selecting the appropriate sub-tab:

• Display
• Records
• Transactions
• VAT
• Period end

To set display options

1. From the System menu choose System setup and click the Options tab. By default, the Display sub-tab is selected.

1. Configure the display options as required (editable items are shown in green type):
   • Reconciliation - this determines whether unprinted cheques are shown in the bank reconciliation screens (only applies if you use cheque printing facilities in Arbor Finance)
     • Exclude unprinted cheques
     • Include unprinted cheques
   • Additional analysis levels - this determines whether the Funding stream and Cost centre fields are displayed in transactions screens
     • Hide additional analysis levels
     • Display additional analysis levels
   • Virement type - this determines whether virements must be balanced (recommended) or not 
     • Open virement
     • Balanced virement
       • Without virement report
       • With virement report
   • Budget Overspend - this will warn or stop you if you are spending more that your Budget or Budget/analysis Budget 
     • Warn will warn you of the overspend but allow you to continue
     • Stop will not allow you to continue if you are overspending your budget.
   • There are several places this will occur which will be related to spending your budget e.g. expenditure, receiving goods etc.

Note: the overspend functionality will only look at your spent total and will not include commitments.

2. When you have finished click Save.

To set Records Options

1. From the System  menu choose System setup and click the Options tab. Click the Records Option

2. Configure the display options as required (editable items are shown in green type):
   • Send email on BACS changes -  select on if you want an email sent to an email address if a change is made to and BACS record in the contact area. You will need to enter the email address when this is switched on.
   • Creditor reference in contacts -  select on if you want to make sure all contacts have a creditor reference field filled in when creating a new contact. This will check when uploading new contacts. The Creditor reference field may be used for payments when paying a supplier centrally. 
3. When you have finished click Save.

To set transaction options

1. From the System menu choose System Setup and click the Options tab.
2. Click the Transactions sub-tab.

3. Configure the transaction options as required (editable items are shown in green type):
   • Purchase orders - this determines whether the system prompts for a postage and packaging line (see New orders).
   • Payment description - this determines what is recorded in the payment description area
     • Order number - this uses the order number as the reference (Payment for order 1234567)
     • User order number - this uses the user defined order number for the reference. If no user order number is set then the order number is used
   • Secure orders - this determines the level of editing permitted to outstanding orders that are currently held in the system (see Amending and processing orders)
     • Allow only limited editing. Please note: if this option is selected, once the order is printed, the following actions are prevented:
       • editing the Quantity field
       • adding new lines
       • duplicating existing lines
     • Allow full editing of orders
   • Payments printing - this enables printing of cheques or payment authorisations (the user must choose which)
     • On
       • Cheques/BACS - This will print cheques and export BACS
       • Payment Authorisation - This will print a payment authorisation form which can be signed off before proceeding with the payment.
     • Off
   • Express orders - you can enter default text to populate the Description field when creating an Express order (particularly useful if these are always attached to a handwritten requisition sheet)
     • Enter a Default description for express orders.
   • Expenditure transactions - this determines whether invoice numbers are required for all expenditure transactions (see Expenditure transactions)
     • Invoice number NOT required
     • Invoice number required
   • Income, Expenditure and Credit note transactions - select whether the addition of details should be compulsory or not.
   • Income transactions - select if selecting a Budget is compulsory or not for income transactions. This covers Income, Income correction, and View/Post Income transactions.
   • Link analysis and budget codes  -  select if you want analysis codes linked to budget codes. To view the current linked analysis and budget codes, see Reporting > Records > Budgets > Linked analysis and budget records  
     • Stop on error will prevent a transaction being posted unless the linked budget and analysis combination is used
     • Warn on error will warn the user if the right budget and analysis combination is not used
     • No warn/stop on error will ignore any mismatches between budget and analysis codes
   • Auto-Reconciliation - Select to turn on/off the auto-reconciliation feature, when turned on choose the bank accounts that will auto-reconcile will work with.
   • Mandatory Item Description on PO - Select to make the 'Item Description' field on New Purchase Orders to be off or on 
   • Don't allow same day BACs transactions - Select to force BACs payments to be paid at least 1 day later than the current date.

4. When you have finished click Save.

To set VAT options

1. From the System menu choose System setup and click the Options tab.
2. Click the VAT sub-tab.

3. Configure the VAT options as required (editable items are shown in green type):
   • Tolerance checking - this determines whether the system checks the amount of VAT when a transaction posting is validated (see Amending and processing orders), and what action it takes if a VAT field exceeds the calculated VAT.
     • Off
     • On
       If this is selected, choose what RM Finance should do if an error is detected:
       • Stop on error
       • Warn on error
   • VAT marking - this determines whether transactions that have been included in VAT reports are marked to ensure that they will not appear on any subsequent VAT claims, even in the same date range; this is to prevent accidental double claims.
     • Do not mark transactions
     • Mark claimed transactions
   • VAT debtor default code - in the year end process, this defines which VAT code is applied to any outstanding transaction where no VAT code has been set ; typically the standard VAT rate is used.
     • Choose the required VAT rate code from the drop-down list.
   • Income default VAT code - this determines the default income VAT code on school income
   • Expenditure default VAT code - this determines the default VAT code when raising a new order.
4. When you have finished click Save.

To set period end options

1. From the System menu choose System setup and click the Options tab.
2. Click the Period end sub-tab.

3. Configure the period end options as required (editable items are shown in green type):
   • Period end reporting - this determines whether, during the year end process, the user is prompted to print the 'Transactions not yet printed' report
     • Do not print transactions
     • Print transactions
4. When you have finished click Save.

To set payroll options (only seen if Budgeting is enabled)

1. From the System menu choose System setup and click the Options tab.
2. Click the Budgeting sub-tab.

3. Configure the payroll options as required:
   • Create transactions from payroll - this determines whether, during the month end process, the user is able to post the payroll transactions from the imported payroll
     • Single transactions for each staff salary will make one post with the Salary, NI and Pension all combined, per contract.
     • Multiple transactions will allow a posting for Salary, NI and Pension, per contract.
4. When you have finished click Save.