17 Reasons to upgrade to Pastel Partner Version 17
Sage Pastel Partner Version 17 has many great new features. This article briefly explains the benefits you the user will get when upgrading to Sage Pastel Version 17.
1. Scheduled Invoices
If you process identical invoices monthly for the same customers, or you have different invoicing dates for batches of customers with the same invoices, then Scheduled Invoicing is the module for you.
You can link customers to a specific invoice and select a specific date, be it weekly, monthly or annually to invoice these customers. This is only available in Sage Pastel Partner V17.
2. My Customers’ Zone
Take your business to the cloud with My Customers’ Zone, and allow your customers to view their invoices and statements any time, from anywhere in the world on line.
Combined with Sage Pay, customers can also pay their invoices online. All that is required is an internet connection, a browser and login details.
Further to this, you can customise your branding on the invoices and stake your claim in the world of online trading.
3. Bank Feeds
Import your bank statement daily with a simple click of a button. Request a Bank Feed, and moments later the batch will be imported into your cash book. No mess. No fuss.
4. Sage Pay for Bank Manager
If you make use of Sage Pay, you will have automatic access to Sage Pastel Bank Manager, allowing you to effortlessly import your Sage Pay statements into Bank Manager and easily reconcile your cash books.
5. Mobility
We have made some enhancements to Sage Mobility to give your sales team in the field the edge!
Users are now able to search for customers and inventory on their smart devices using the Mobile app.
Quotations and Invoices can be processed and updated from the smart device.
Once generated, the document can be emailed to the customer from the smart device.
Users can also change the passwords from their smart device after the device has been registered on your system.
6. A fresh new upgrade experience via the Auto Update feature
Network went down during an update download? You can now resume downloads that may have been interrupted by forces outside your control. So say bye-bye to broken downloads and hello to a new pain free update download experience
You can now setup which users can download and install updates, or allow users to only receive a notification that a new build update is available for download as well as the option to receive important product related news messages.
7. Easily create cash books from the Edit General Ledger Accounts screen.
Creating a cash book has never been easier. Simply create a new balance sheet general ledger account, assign it to the Bank Financial Category and click Save. Multi-currency customers can select an alternative currency for the cash book. Click on the Yes button and your cash book is created and ready for processing.
8. Date and Timestamp on the backup
The days of overwriting a backup are gone. All backups will have a date and time stamp in the backup name. We have also improved the restore screen to allow you to choose the backup to restore.
9. Password protect your backups
Backups are a very sensitive part of your business. You can an encrypted password for your backup. To restore a backup, the user will have to supply the password to decrypt the backup file and allow the restore process to take place.
This is set up under Setup | Company Parameters on the Company tab.
10. New Icons
Out with the old and in with the new. Our icons have undergone a revamp and have been updated
to a more modern style. Not sure which icon represents which function? Hover your mouse over
the icon for a description.
11. Favourites option
A Favourites option has been added to the menu bar where you can add your favourite or most
used options in Pastel for easy access. The order of options in the menu can be customised for
ease of access.
12. Forms Assistant
Create professional looking documents and statements without having to open the Forms Designer. Use the Forms Assistant to enhance the look and feel of your printed or e-mailed documents and statements. All this in a few easy steps:
Choose a colour template
Insert your company logo
Finalise your selection
13. User Access Report
The User Access report displays the different menu access, processing options and Sage Intelligence access that has been allocated to each user. The letter Y next to a field indicates the user has access.
14. Live Chat (South African customers only)
You can click on the Live Chat icon or access Live Chat from the Help menu to contact our support or client services team for assistance. The Live Chat to support is only available for customers who have a Business Care License or are on the Advantage package. All other Live Chat links will be directed to the sales team.
15. Online Help
When you press F1 to open the help file, the system will check for an internet connection. If you have an internet connection and you have a Business Care License or are on the Advantage package, you will be directed to the online help files. These files are updated on a regular basis and links to our social media pages are available.
16. View Open Batches
When viewing open batches, you always select the open batch under the user and would then click on the Jump To button to open the specific document. You can now double click on the open batch item under the user column and you will be taken directly to the document.
This does not apply to Point of Sale.
17. Sage Pastel Intelligence Reporting – Report Utility
The Report Utility will automatically detect which Sage accounting or business management solution you are running and show all the available free reports for your solution. You can then select the required reports to be automatically imported into a “New Reports” folder in the Sage Intelligence Report Manager for immediate use. Once you have installed the Report Utility, a shortcut will appear on your desktop, allowing you instant access to our regularly updated library of free, additional reports.
