The Tag/Object Register
For clarity, the term "Object" has been used in this description.
Objects allow you to classify your account postings in various ways. You can assign up to 30 Objects to each posting (with 20 being a more practical limit), so each posting can be classified in several ways. For example, you can assign different Objects to a posting that represent geographical area, type of business, salesperson and/or type of Item. If your business has several offices or branches, you could also use Objects to analyse the performance of each office or branch.
You can assign default Objects to Customers, Items and Persons, and to individual Invoices and Nominal Ledger entries. When you assign an Object to a Customer, for example, that Object will be assigned automatically to all Invoices raised in the name of that Customer and to all Transactions generated by those Invoices. This offers excellent reporting possibilities, for example allowing you to report on sales per Object. In general, Objects are tools to improve the internal cost accounting capabilities in your business.
You can use Objects as selection criteria in many reports. If, for example, you have several profit centres in your business, and use Objects to separate income and expenditure for each one, you can produce separate profit and loss statements for each profit centre.
You can use Object Types to group similar Objects together. When assigning Objects to an account posting, you will not be able to assign more than one Object belonging to the same Object Type. For example, if you are using Objects to represent branches or offices, these Objects should belong to the same Object Type. This will prevent you making postings with more than one branch signifier. Use the Tag/Object Types setting in the Nominal Ledger to define your Object Types.
! | You control the definition and use of Objects and Object Types entirely. They are your own tools for your cost accounting. |
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Objects can span several years. This is a consequence of Standard ERP's continuous database, in which the end of year is simply a user-defined reporting interval. Object balances are thus automatically transferred from one financial year to the next. This gives you the ability to keep track of the budget and results of an Object (e.g. a building project) for several years.
You can close an Object, to prevent further use, by ticking the Closed check box. You can re-open the Object at any time.
If you need to print a list of the Objects that you have entered in the Tag/Object register, produce a System Documentation report (from the System module) with the Tags/Objects option selected.
Do try out the Objects, Object Types and the different reports. This is an interesting way to get an insight into the status of the company - and there may be money to gain!
Defining, Inspecting and Changing Objects
To open the Tag/Object register, first ensure you are in the Nominal Ledger or the System module. Then, if you are using Windows or Mac OS X, click the [Registers] button in the Navigation Centre and double-click 'Tags/Objects' in the resulting list. If you are using iOS or Android, tap the [Registers] button in the Navigation Centre and then tap 'Tags/Objects' in the 'Registers' list. The 'Tags/Objects: Browse' window will be opened, showing the Objects that you have already entered.
To enter a new Object, select 'New' from the Create menu (Windows/Mac OS X) or from the + menu (iOS/Android). You can also use the Ctrl-N (Windows) or ⌘-N (Mac OS X) keyboard shortcuts. Alternatively, highlight an Object similar to the one you want to enter, and select 'Duplicate' from the same menu. A record window entitled 'Tag/Object: New' will be opened, empty if you selected 'New' or containing a duplicate of the highlighted Object.
If you want to look at the details of an existing Object, open the 'Tags/Objects: Browse' window and search for the Object that you need. Then, double-click (Windows/Mac OS X) or tap (iOS/Android) the Object in the list to open the Object record in a record window entitled 'Tag/Object: Inspect'.
Complete the Object record as appropriate and as described below, then save it by clicking the [Save] button (Windows/Mac OS X) or by tapping √ (iOS/Android) and close the window by clicking the close box or by tapping <. Then, close the browse window using the close box or < again.
- Tag/Object
- The unique code of the Object.
- You can use up to twenty characters in an Object Code, but it is recommended that you use as few characters as possible, with a minimum of two. When assigning Objects to account postings, you will be able to use a maximum of 60 characters (including the commas that you should use to separate the Objects). If your Object Codes contain many characters, this will restrict the number of Objects you can use in a particular positing. If you use two-character Object Codes, you will be able to assign a maximum of 20 Objects to an Account posting.
After you have saved an Object record, you cannot change its Object Code simply by typing into the field. If you need to change an Object Code, use the Conversions - Master and Conversions - Objects settings in the System module. These settings will change the Object Code both here and in every other record where the Object has been used.
- If you are told "Prefix required" when you try to save an Object, the reason will be that you have assigned the Object to an Object Type, and the Object Code does not have the Start String that you have specified in the Object Type. If you are told "Incorrect Length", this will because the Object Code does not have the number of characters that you have specified in the Length field in the Object Type.
- Name
- The name or description of the Object.
- Tag/Object Type
- Paste Special
Tag/Object Types setting, Nominal Ledger
- Use this field to assign each Object to an Object Type. As mentioned above, you should use Object Types to group similar Objects together. When assigning Objects to an account posting, you will not be able to assign more than one Object belonging to the same Object Type.
- Hier. Tags/Objects
- Paste Special
Object register, Nominal Ledger/System module
- This field allows you to assign a number of sub-Objects to an Object. Using this field will mean that instead of having to remember to assign several Objects to each Transaction, you only need assign one Object and the others will be assigned automatically. This makes assigning Objects easier and faster and reduces the risk of making mistakes.
- In a top-level Object, enter the string or sequence of Objects in the Hier. Tags/Objects field, separated by commas. For example, you might define an Object that you will assign to a member of staff (in their Person record). In the Hier. Tags/Objects field in this Object, you could enter Objects for the department and the office for which that Person works.
- If you use a top-level Object in a row in a Nominal Ledger Transaction, any Objects listed in that Object's Hier. Tags/Objects field will be brought in to that row automatically. If you use a top-level Object in a sub-system record (i.e. in a record such as an Invoice or Purchase Invoice that will cause a Nominal Ledger Transaction to be generated automatically), the hierarchical Objects will not be visible, but they will be brought in to the resulting Nominal Ledger Transaction.
- Closed
- Tick this box if you want to close the Object for further Transactions. You will no longer be able to use it, and it will not appear in the 'Paste Special' selection window. You will be able to re-open the Object later if necessary.
Please refer to the
Objects in Standard ERP page for more details about using Objects including illustrated examples.
Deleting an Object
You can delete an Object from the Tag/Object register, providing you have not used it in any Transactions. Follow these steps:
- Open the Tag/Object register as described above.
- In the 'Tags/Objects: Browse' window, find the Object you want to remove and open it by double-clicking (Windows/Mac OS X) or tapping (iOS/Android). This opens the 'Tag/Object: Inspect' window.
- Select 'Delete' from the Record menu (which has a 'cog' icon if you are using iOS or Android).
- The Object will be deleted and the window will now show the preceding Object.
- Close the window using the close box (Windows/Mac OS X) or by tapping < (iOS/Android).
! | You cannot undo the deletion of an Object. Used Objects cannot be deleted. |
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When you use the 'Delete' command, you will usually not be asked if you are sure you want to go ahead with the deletion. If you would like such a warning to appear, select the Prompt When Deleting option in the Local Machine setting in the User Settings module. In a client-server system, you will need to choose this option separately on each client machine.
You can prevent certain users from deleting records using Access Groups (by denying access to the 'Delete Records' and/or 'Deleting Records from Shared Registers' Actions).
You cannot delete an Object if you have used it in a Transaction. If you want to prevent such an Object from being used in the future, open it in a record window and tick the Closed box.
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