Abss accounting software

With effect from 1 Jan 2023, IRAS had notified that the GST tax rate will be revised from 7% to 8%. Also, from 1 Jan 2024, the GST tax rate will be revised from 8% to 9%.

Due to the above GST rate increases, changes and updates would be required to be done in the ABSS software.

Relinking of GST and Tax Code Accounts

The new imported list of new GST tax code rates is required to be linked to the correct GST input and GST output tax accounts. This appropriate account the be linked would be dependent on the account which the user(s) had been using during the reporting of 7% GST transactions

Configuration of system reports for GST tax rates

All system reports such as sales register, general ledger and trade debtors and creditors account will have to reflect both the old GST rate 7% and the new rate being 8% or 9%.

This would be dependant on the period selected when the reports are being generated be it prior or post GST change period.

Update and Configuration of GST Tax code table

All new GST tax codes will need to be configured in excel format, mapped to the correct GST input and output tax account before they are being imported to the ABSS software. After which, test transactions from our end are entered to confirm compliance before completion of the GST update configuration.

Guide to amend customer and supplier tax code defaults

As customer and supplier profiles in ABSS Accounting software have a default tax code which is setup during addition of the customer info in the system, these default settings need to be amended when the new GST tax codes take effect.

Compliance to GST E-tax guide

All new GST tax codes configured and imported into ABSS Accounting software are in line with the GST E tax guide. Kindly refer to IRAS website for details.

Configuration of form templates for new GST rates

If your accompanying invoice, quotation, Delivery order, Purchase order that is customised and being printed out from ABSS Accounting Software, these templates need to be amended and customised to take into account the new tax code rates of 8 and 9% respectively.

What are abss software data files?

ABSS software data files are additional company databases added to a 12 digit serial number. For one single ABSS serial number you are able to purchase and add up to maximum of 100 data files.

Below are the recommendations on managing ABSS software data files in ABSS

Maintain an excel sheet to manage the ABSS data files

The purpose of an excel sheet is to manage the status of each data files and ensure all data files that are being purchased are accounted for.

You can create columns in your excel sheet with the following columns

1)Date of which the data file is activated

2) Name of Company

3) Data Files Balance

4) Quantity Records of purchased data files

Manage security settings to prevent misuse

Your company has to ensure that the 12 digit serial number that is being used to activate your company data file is not misused by unauthorized personnel.

Go to setup> preferences > security >User IDs> block the company information tab, this will prevent unauthorized users of the data file from misusing your 12 digit ABSS software serial number.

Taking Over and managing ABSS company data files for accountants

In the view point of an accounting firm, there are instances that customers engage accountants and these customers provide your firm access to their ABSS data files.

These files contain customers company records and transactions. In such instances, your accounting firm will need to take note of the below:

1. The 12 digit serial number of the customer data file
2. The software version of the customer

If the customer software version is lower that the version that your firm is currently on, the customer has to carry out a software upgrade or vice versa.

There are instances when the customer decides to transfer ownership of the data file to your firm. This is normally the case if your customer decides not to upgrade the software serial number to the latest version and if the customer decides to let your firm fully manage the outsourced accounting function. This software data transfer ownership will utilize 1 company database on your existing software and an authorization letter will be required to be signed by the customer.

Xero Verify

Xero verify is a security app to add a second layer of security to your xero account. It assists to prevent others from accessing your financial data and is somewhat similar to a one time pin. Xero verify is designed as the app that users login to xero using push notifications, users of this app are then able to use push notifications to authenticate yourself if you have an internet connection. If you don’t have internet access you can use a code generated by the app when you login to xero software.

Xero Accounting

The Xero accounting app is an amazing app that allows the company to allocate users to manage modules such as invoicing and quotations, bills and receipts. There is also a user dashboard where users can have an overview of the company performance such as bank balances, overdue and unpaid bills and invoices, profit for the month and total cash in and out for the current month.

Xero Projects

The Xero projects app provides the user an overview of the project such as project deadline, estimated project value, amount invoiced and uninvoiced. Users can also add a task, time, expense and create a new quote and invoice.

Xero Expenses

With Xero expenses, your employees claims processes will be paperless, no more hardcopy receipts will be required. Users will be allowed and able to submit their expense and mileage claims via the app. This is done by using their mobile device and taking a photo of the receipt for the claim and submitting it to high authority for approval.

Hubdoc

Hubdoc allows the users to streamline document collection and data entry with its integration with Xero. Hubdoc supports a variety of document types such as invoice, statement, receipt etc. These documents can be in the form of JPG, PNG, PDF etc. Information from the document types will be extracted by Hubdoc and can be synchronised to Xero.

The above 5 mobile apps are applicable should the user intend to access xero accounting and it’s add on application on their mobile phone on the move. For other accounting software solutions such as ABSS Accounting software, users are able to access the mobile app RD client so as to view their transactions online.

Going Digital

For a business, going paperless and digital is a process which companies utilize and adopt digital technologies such as cloud accounting or other forms of technology to improve business process flows and streamline business activity. Digitalization has become more important of late, this is due to the Covid19 pandemic where companies adopt remote working into their business processes and workflows.

Softcopy documents can be uploaded to the software

Xero accounting software has an inbuilt inbox to upload softcopy files in various formats such as PDF and Microsoft word document. Users are able to send over documents to the inbox using a unique email @xerofiles.com that is provided by Xero.

The softcopy documents which can be in the form of project drawings, contract agreements and other types can be attached to the invoice, quotation, bills and purchase order transactions. This ability to upload these important documents will facilitate paperless usage within the organization.

In traditional arrangements, companies are unable to upload softcopy documents to their accounting software transactions and will need to reply on document filing and indexing to locate documents related to each accounting transaction.

E-Invoicing capabilities

A company using Xero is able to register their UEN on the E-invoicing network and will be provided a Peppol ID. InvoiceNow which is a term for e-invoicing allows businesses to send and receive e-invoices directly from both parties, from a supplier and to a customer provided both are registered on the InvoiceNow network.

With this arrangement, no hardcopy invoice will be required to be printed out and emailed to customers. Benefits include automation of processes when incoming invoices from another accounting software such as ABSS accounting software are delivered to Xero. This will reduce the time spent on recording bills from hardcopy supplier invoices. Similiarly, invoices send by InvoiceNow using Xero will appear in customers accounting software records and this will result in faster payment of invoices.

InvoiceNow reduces the data entry errors from traditional supplier invoice recording as E-invoices do not require the employee doing the recording to manually record in the supplier invoice amount and details, this will be fully automated.

Integration with other applications such as bank feeds

Bank feeds in Xero allow bank transactions in UOB, OCBC, DBS and HSBC bank to direct feed in to Xero accounting software. During this process, the bank statement of the respective banks will be converted to a digital format without the employee having the need to refer to a hardcopy bank statement.

With this digital format of bank statement bring fed directly into xero, this allow the bank reconciliation to be done more easily and quickly.

Definition of fixed assets

Fixed assets are defined as long terms assets that are usually used and not sold within a year and used by a company for the purpose of generating income. Some examples of fixed assets include motor vehicles, office equipment such as photocopy machines and furniture and fittings such as office furniture.

Ability to produce useful fixed asset reports for management

Xero fixed asset register is a report which lists all the categories of fixed assets owned by your company and the total amounts of each category of fixed assets. Each category of fixed asset for example motor vehicle is made up of many individual motor vehicles within that category, the same goes for other categories of fixed assets. It also lists the total purchases of each category of fixed asset during the year and the total depreciation charge for the year for each individual asset and each category of fixed assets. If assets are sold during the year, the report will also reflect this deduction.

Xero fixed asset reconciliation report is a report which compares the fixed asset dollar value as per financial statements for example the balance sheet versus the fixed asset value in the fixed asset register. There are instances when the dollar value of the balance sheet and the fixed asset register reflects differences and this reconciliation reports will pick out the differences for analysis.

Automatic calculation of depreciation

Xero allows the user to allocate a depreciation policy to the individual asset, for example straight line depreciation method or reducing balance depreciation method. The user will be able to select the depreciation period for the assets and run the depreciation. If an error is made in the depreciation period, the user can rollback the depreciation and run it the second time.

Integration of fixed asset module in to full set of accounts

Xero fixed asset module is fully integrated to the full set of accounts in the software. This allows users to add in the fixed assets opening balance details, purchases and disposals of fixed assets and depreciation processing. The fixed asset transactions managed through the fixed assets modules will be recorded to the Xero accounting software and appear in the balance sheet and general ledger reports.

In conclusion, managing fixed assets in Xero is a breeze with their fixed asset module. In comparison, ABSS accounting software manages fixed assets through the purchases module and the record journal entry modules.

Data Storage Location

Cloud storage stores your accounting data on the cloud and normally replicates the data in several locations online, cloud storage providers normally provide and implement multiple layers of security. This data online can be accessed 24/7 on any machine so long there is internet connectivity.

Terminal server storage stores your accounting data in the server which is located in your office, data Centre or your home. It will be up to the end user to implement the levels of security based on their existing needs. The levels of security can be in the form of anti virus software or firewalls.

Maintenance of Platform or Equipment

Cloud platform does not require any maintenance for the end user. However, security, stability and accessibility of the data hosted on the cloud is dependent on the cloud hosting provider and the stability of the internet connection.

Terminal server equipment maintenance costs is usually dependent on the specifications of the hardware being used and normally by default, warranty of the hardware is usually 2 to 3 years depending on the type of equipment. Further repairs of the equipment after the warranty date will be on a per item replacement basis.

Cloud accounting platforms normally service thousands of customers while terminal server equipment serves normally one exclusive customer/client.

Upfront Cost

Cloud accounting platforms do not require very high upfront costs. However, you are required to pay subscription monthly charges change yearly or after a few years depending on the cloud accounting software provider. Normally add on functionality such as multiple currencies and job tracking functions also result in higher monthly subscription cost.

Terminal server purchase comes which higher upfront costs which can cost a couple of thousand dollars. However terminal servers serve a variety of functions other than just running an accounting software such as ABSS Accounting software. For example running other applications such a image drawing or editing applications, file, photo and image storage.

Able to Synchronize accounting information

During covid 19 period, work from home as a default had been implemented on various occasions. On these occasions, some colleagues were in office and some non essential employees were working from home. The importance of being able to synchronize accounting information amongst employees is crucial during this period and cloud or remote access accounting software such as ABSS accounting software manages this aspect well. If the software is unable to synchronize accounting information to one main database when one is working from home and another is working from office, this will result in inefficiency as both parties got to be in office for accounting records to be updated. This would not be possible during certain periods of COVID19.

Flexibility in employment of accounting staff

When the economy is not performing well, some companies will choose to outsource their accounting function instead of managing this function in house. This is because due to lower transaction volumes, it may not justify employing a full time account staff. Using cloud or remote access accounting software, your company can choose to outsource the accounting function to an external firm or freelancer. Cloud or remote access accounting software allows an outsourced accountant to perform her job from her firm or a freelancer from her own home, this allows the company flexibility in their employment or outsource of the accounting function.

Allow Users to respond to COVID 19 Work from Home Protocols

Work from Home orders and instructions are normally announced at short notice, this causes disruption to the company operations as employees readjust to the changes in workflows. Usage of Cloud or remote access accounting software allows employees to simply ” pack and go back home to work” . This is because employees are able to readjust to changes in workflows more easily when they are able to access their work from home. They avoid inconveniences such as bringing home an office computer with their software only installed on that particular machine or bringing home files as most cloud and remote access accounting software allows softcopy work documents to be upload to the cloud and to be accessed from home.

Budget 2021 had announced that the GST hike for Singapore would likely happen between year 2022 to 2025 and this will very much depend on the economic outlook. It is predicted that the GST increase will very likely be from 7% to 9% or 10%. The GST increase will result in some predictable changes in ABSS Accounting software.

Changes to GST Form F5

GST form F5 is a return which a GST registered company need to declare the sales of products and services to end users and purchases from their GST registered suppliers. It indicates the GST to be claimed for the relevant accounting periods. Some important format changes will most likely be made to the GST form F5.

Additional tax code percentage to be added to interface and listing

The new GST Tax code reflecting the GST increase for example 9% will need to be added to the tax code list in the ABSS Accounting software. The old tax code of 7% will also need to be retained in the software as the old tax code is tagged to prior transactions before the date of GST increase.

Changes to customised form templates

Some ABSS users who are using the customized form templates functionality in the software will need to arrange for their consultant to amend their invoice, quotation, PO and SOA customized formats so as to cater to the new GST rate changes.

User of Remote Access Tools for Technical Support

We use remote tools to provide you a better support experience using teamviewer and wetransfer. We own the teamviewer licence, allowing us to provide uninterrupted support that you require. Teamviewer software allows our support department to provide support to your company without being on-site at your location, this allows faster response and troubleshooting to done in the shortest available time.

Wetransfer allows us to send you large documents and vice versa, these documents could be in the form of softcopy database files.

We offer all 3 modes of support namely, phone, email and remote access support as part of our maintenance support program.

Qualified support staff

Our support staff have more than 5 years of ABSS and MYOB and Xero hands on and technical experience. All of them have accounting background and are versed in accounting concepts. Be prepared for a friendly experience when you get in touch with us.

We are able to support all versions of your ABSS Accounting software with our in house software installer programs that we archive on our server.

Strong customer track record and Reference

Most of our customers are repeat recurring customers who have used are services more than 3 times. From our experience, the first time a customer deals with a supplier the customer is just trying them out, a second time repeat customer onwards is considered a satisfied customer and a true purchase.

Some of our customers include Science Centre, Real Estate Developer’s Association of Singapore and many other small and medium sized businesses. The mentioned customers have used our services for more than 5 years.

One of ABSS Top Partners

Andre Corporate is an ABSS gold partner and manages a large support clientele. Top partners are awarded based on their sales volume of ABSS Software.

Our competitive advantage over other ABSS partners is that we handles all ABSS product sales and services in house, all the way from sales, delivery and support with our competitive advantages mentioned above. Some other top partners in the market focus on only the sales of products and subcontract the rest of their services to other companies as they are unable to handle the large number of after sales support queries and do not have the support expertise which we have build up with years of experience.