RSMUS.comWhen it comes to a financial management platform as comprehensive and capable as Sage Intacct, it’s hard to appreciate just how much it can do. Even seasoned users may be overlooking or undervaluing some of the financial features it brings to the table. With that in mind, we asked our in-house experts to draw on their deep experience with Sage Intacct and highlight some tips and tricks to help you save time, do more, and take accounting to the next level:
Create Custom Fields
If you need to create a field that moves seamlessly from OE or purchasing to AR or AP, Sage Intacct makes that easy. Just create a custom field on the OE or purchasing transaction, then create a duplicate field in AR or AP. One converted to an invoice, the field value will automatically flow to the correct part of AR or AP so that accountants don’t have to move the information manually.
Make Preference Pages for Each User
Providing every user with the same information forces them to scroll through multiple pages to find what they actually need. Sage Intacct allows you to streamline information delivery by creating preference pages for each user that customize the information they see, highlighting what’s important and excluding what isn’t.
Use the Favorites Tab
Accountants will use some features in Sage Intacct on a daily basis on others a lot less often. One way to streamline workflows is to bookmark common and important tasks in the favorites tab so that users can access them immediately rather than navigating through Sage Intacct to find them. Setting up workflows this way saves time and makes people more productive. It also allows users to create their own organic workflows that work how they want instead of how the system requires.
Take Advantage of Color Coding
Sage Intacct does a lot to make multi-entity accounting easier to comprehend and conduct. Still, anytime there’s a bunch of numbers on one page there’s a risk of mix up. Keep things clear by color coding each entity in the drop-down menus. That way, accountants don’t accidentally slide from one entity (coded red) into another (coded blue).
Preserve the Schedule
When posting depreciation in error using Fixed Assets or PEA, remember to change the status of the schedule back to the original state before deleting the entry in the journal. This tip will preserve the schedule so it may be reposted in the correct period or with the updated posting amount.
Try Inter-Entity Transactions
This unique feature in Sage Intacct works on a cash-basis method and applies when cash is moved and does not support the accrual feature. At the entity level, this feature does not split the dimension value at the time of payment. At the top level, however, you can split the AP bill across different dimensions to preserve the dimension values.
Rely on Smart Rules
Smart rules allow accountants to specify what data, criteria, or authorization a transaction must have before it can proceed. Then, smart rules will either block or prompt a warning notification about transactions that don’t follow the rules so that accountants can spot fraud or fix mistakes before they have actual financial consequences.
Utilize the Audit Log
Perfect accounting requires transparency and accountability. The audit log feature in Sage Intacct records every time data gets accessed, edited, or created so there’s no doubt who did what. Having this record helps to resolve issues without having to first investigate who and what caused them. It’s also especially helpful in the event of an official audit.
Lean on the Help Center
The help center in Sage Intacct comes with more than a typical tutorial and FAQ section. It has comprehensive training modules to help users master Sage Intacct faster. Take some time to explore all that the help center has to offer, and make it the first point of reference whenever issues arise.
Partner With RSM
Our last recommendation is to partner with RSM for help implementing, optimizing, and utilizing Sage Intacct to the fullest. Contact us to make a great accounting solution even better.
