Total Office Manager Archives

Comprehensive List of Technical Support FAQs

Support Department FAQs for Total Office Manager

Now that you have been through the user manual, you should have a good level of understanding on how to use Total Office Manager. After you have used the program for a while, you will likely have accounting related issues that need to be investigated and fixed. This section covers some common support issues and problems.

This is a comprehensive list of questions and answers that are (mostly) not related to IT. We have left out all the detailed step-by-step instructions that you should no longer find necessary. These Total Office Manager FAQs cover over 90% of the technical questions that our support department addresses every day.

The Most FAQs of all the FAQs

We have included a large list of questions and answers in this 52 page FAQ PDF. You might be wondering what the most asked questions of all are.

Here is a high-level summary of them:

Questions related to why the Accounts Receivable Aging, Accounts Payable Aging, and inventory reports do not match the amounts shown on the balance sheet. These reports often don’t match and that’s normal. They get their information from different sources.
Questions related to why sales tax liabilities reports, and payroll liabilities reports do not match the amounts shown on the balance sheet. This is most often related to users not always using the Pay Sales Tax Liabilities form and the Pay Payroll Liabilities form, to pay those liabilities.
Questions related to account balances on the income statement and balance sheet. Examples: Why is the bank balance wrong? Why are the credit card liabilities incorrect? Why is the inventory account so far off?
Questions related to why quantities on hand for certain inventory items are not correct, how did they get messed up, and how to fix them. These questions are often accompanied by other questions related to why the job costing reports are “wrong” or incomplete. Inventory questions

Summing up all the FAQ Into One Sentence

The vast majority of the questions clients ask us are related to accounting methods and reports. If we had to sum up all the FAQ into one sentence, it would be this:
The most common support questions Aptora answers are related to where do the numbers shown on various reports and forms come from, what do they mean, how do we know they are correct, and how can we fix them?

Master These Subjects and Win

If you can master these subjects, you will be able to solve almost any problem and answer almost any question your company will ever have. That’s true with any accounting software program you might use.

How to Find Other Answers

Total Office Manager ® shares many of the same accounting functionality and traits as QuickBooks Enterprise Edition®. Try searching the internet as if you were a QuickBooks user. You will find plenty of information that can easily be applied to Total Office Manager.

Please click here to download a 52 page PDF.

https://www.aptora.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FAQs-Aptora-Support-Dept.pdf

What is an In-Progress Invoice and What Does the Selection Do?

An invoice can be marked as In-Progress. What does that mean or do?

Explaining In Progress Invoices

In-Progress Invoices are just like regular invoice in every way except they are never considered to be Past Due. They will show up on all related reports (like A/R reports) and they will always appear to be “current”; not matter how old they are. In-Progress Invoices can later be marked as Posted and even later remarked as In-Progress.

Accessing the In-Progress Invoice

This feature belongs to the Invoice so you will see this option on the Invoice List or Invoice Form.

How to Use an In-Progress Invoice

In-Progress Invoices are helpful for managing on-going jobs that may span multiple months. There may be a time where it is helpful to start a new invoice and add to it as a job progresses. This allows you to recognize COGS, expenses, and income as the job progresses (I.E.: progress billing). Once the job is complete, the invoice may be marked “Posted” and processed as usual.

Step-By-Step Instructions to Create an In-Progress Invoice

To mark an Invoice as “In-Progress”, simply right click on the invoice (from the invoice list or the actual invoice form).

Help Topics Related to In-Progress Invoices

Invoice and Sales Related Forms Explained

What records and transactions can I import into Total Office Manager?

Available Records and Transaction Types to Import into Total Office Manager (TOM)

Here is a complete list of the various records and transaction that you can import into Total Office Manager (aka: TOM) from Aptora. They may be other record types add since this help topic was last updated. Please feel free too contact us.

Records and Transactions

All of these data types, records, and transactions can be imported into Total Office Manager. These are in alphabetical order. Other file import help topics include details in field names, field lengths, data types, and more.

Please Note: There is an order to how certain data must be imported. Some records depend on the existence of other records. For example, you must import your Chart of Accounts (COA) before you can import inventory item or bills.

Adjusting Journal Entries (also includes Beginning Balances)

Appointment Types
Bills (vendor A/P)
Budgets
Chart of Accounts (parent)

Chart of Accounts (children)
Contact Logs (aka: Customer Log)
Credit Card Charges and Credits
Credits (vendor)
Customer Contacts (our Contacts tab)

Customer Document Links (not the documents or files)
Customer Types
Customer:Jobs (same as “Jobs” listed below)
Customers (aka: Customer List)

Customer Log (aka: Contact Log)

Customers: Updating Customers
Departments (parent or top level)
Departments (children)
Employee Types
Employees
Equipment (customer)
Equipment Manufacturers
Equipment Types
Fixed Assets (aka: Company assets)
Flat Rate Plus Desktop Data
Groups Item
Industry Codes (NAISC and SIC)
Inventory Adjustment – Non-Serialized Items
Item Alias (aka: Vendor part numbers)

Item Bins (aka: Item locations)
Item Categories

Item Categories (children)

Item Groups (aka: Kits)
Item Receipts
Items (aka: Invoice Items)

Inventory Qty (to adjust item on-hand counts)
Job Types

Jobs (we call these Customer:Jobs)
Marketing Types (parent or top level)
Marketing Types (children)

Payroll Service: ADP (Automatic Data Processing)

Payroll Service: Other (not listed)

Payroll Service: Paychex

Payroll Service: Paycor

Payroll Service: Paylocity (Webpay)

Payroll Service: Sure Payroll

Sales Tax Items

Serialized Inventory
Service Agreements
Ship Via
Tax Codes
Timesheets

Unit of Measure

Vendor Log (aka: Contact Log)
Vendor Types
Vendors
Warehouses
Work Order Types
Work Orders

Work/Ship Methods
Zip Codes

Help Topics Related to Importing

Importing Data Into Total Office Manager

What is the Employee Alias field used for? (found on the Employee form)

Employee Alias Field

The Employee Alias is located on the Employee Set up form. It appears at the top of the Schedule Board. The Employee Alias field may be added to our automatic email and text reminders. It is also found in certain reports and Custom Data Views (CDV).

Ten Character Limit and Must be Unique

It is limited to ten (10) characters and must contain letters and numbers. It was created to standardize the length of an employee’s name, so that it could reliably fit in certain areas of the software. If there ends up being more than one employee with the same first name, you can append the first letter of their last initial.

Possible Uses for Employee Alias

The Employee Alias might be a nick name the person goes by rather than the name that is printed on their paycheck. It may also be used when you do not wish to reveal the true name of an employee (Example: When sending email or text reminders).

Work Orders FAQs (for repeating and multi-day)

FAQs Related to Multi-Day Work Orders and Repeating Work Orders

Q: What is the difference between multi-day and repeating work orders?

A: Long ago, you could only assign one technician to a work order. You could turn on duplicate work order numbers and add a technician to the “duplicate”. These work orders were really independent records. Two pieces of paper with the same number. In 2017, we introduced repeating and multi-day work orders. For more information on usage, please review Repeating and Multi-Day Work Orders.

Repeating work orders are essentially a series of work orders you can create on a schedule. It can be for one or more persons. It is the same as duplicating but there is one parent work order that ties them all together. These work orders do not share information. Much like the event on a google calendar you set to repeat. It is the single sheet of paper with a marked flag showing it belongs to a series. Use these work orders to schedule quarterly trainings for employees, non-billable work orders for time tracking, some use for large commercial jobs which need a signature for each visit and the ability to email the daily work or invoice. When it is a repeating work order, each work order in the series will appear on the work order list with a separate work order number. When you invoice, each of these work orders will appear in the Assign Work Orders form. If your job last 10 days, ten work orders appear.

Multi-day work orders share everything except the scheduling fields. There are four scheduling fields for a work order. Assigned To, Start Date, Start Time, and Duration. When all four are present, the work order is considered scheduled. When you create a multi-day work order, it MUST have two lines of scheduling. This can be one tech with two lines or two technicians with the same date and time. Multi-day work orders are good for when you only need one work order on the list but multiple people or trips to complete that one sheet of paper. It is the carbon copy of work orders. When you look at the work order list, there is one work order. When you look at the history forms, schedule boards/calendars, and work orders in mobile, you see the multiple work orders. When you click the work order drop downs on various forms, you see one work order. When you open the Assign Work Orders form, that ten day project for nine techs only shows one work order.

Accounting and Chart of Accounts FAQs

Frequently Asked Accounting Software Related Questions

Q: Can I change the expense account on a bill/check after it has been posted?

A: Yes. As long as you have permissions to modify the transaction (edit), you can make changes to the transaction once it has been entered. Some transactions will become locked to protect the financial integrity.

For example, a bill that has been paid will not allow you to change the account or amount. However, if you have been given permissions, you can be allowed to modify the account selection on the expenses tab once paid or reconciled. To verify this permission setting, please have your database administrator review your security permission under Company | User List/Security for Banking | Cleared Transaction (Accounts).

Q: Can I change the accounts affected on an invoice/sale/credit after it has been posted?

A: Yes. Total Office Manager does allow users to modify the accounts affected on sales transaction on a case by case basis. Under Edit | Preferences | Sales/Invoices/Estimates | Company Preferences, there is a preference to Allow Item Account Selection. Once enabled, users may modify their sales form preferences to display the Income, Expense/COGS, and/or Asset account column(s). Once the column is displayed, any user with permissions to edit the transaction may change the accounts to affect for the transaction.
NOTE: It is not advised to leave this preference enabled. Please disable once the accounting changes have been made. This will help to prevent changes to previously closed reporting periods.

Q: What is a control account and why should I care?

A: Control accounts help to keep your financial reports and their subsidiary ledgers in balance. In short, it is a summary account. There are nine (9) main control accounts you want to make sure are properly managed. These accounts are used to report your financial position with the Internal Revenue Service and various state Department of Revenues.

Bank Related – All accounts affecting cash and managed through your local banks. All transactions processed through checking accounts, money markets, savings accounts, etc. would be recorded here. This includes petty cash and point of sale cash drawers. This includes recording of debit card activity tied to a bank account. These accounts are reconciled monthly with your statements supplied by your financial institutions.
Accounts Receivable – This account holds all the outstanding balances owed to you from your customers. This account is reconciled against the AR Aging Summary and AR Aging Details reports. For any given period, the balances are to match. If they do not, there is likely a discrepancy within the payment application dates as compared to the general journal balance.
Undeposited Funds – This account is used to hold funds received but are not yet included in a deposit. Think of it as the money or checks received in the paper clip sitting on the desk with the paper deposit slip to take to bank at lunch. This account is also used to hold funds processed through credit card processors and batched into a deposit once the settlement report is received.
Accounts Payable – This account holds all the outstanding balances you owe to your vendors. This account is reconciled against the AP Aging Summary and AP Aging Details reports. For any given period, the balances are to match. If they do not, there is likely a discrepancy within the vendor application dates as compared to the general journal balance. This account does not include the outstanding amounts owed to your credit card merchants.
Credit Card Related – All accounts affecting lines of credit provided from credit card merchants are managed through credit cards. This includes fleet cards for gasoline, wholesale memberships, any account where you are allowed to charge it and pay against the statement later. These accounts are reconciled monthly with your statements supplied by your credit card merchants.
Sales Tax Payable – This account is the liability account used to record all the outstanding balances owed to the various sales tax venues. This account is reconciled against the Sales Tax Liability and Sales Tax Detail reports.
Retained Earnings – This account records the company’s profit since inception. This account is controlled by the change in revenues and expenses for each fiscal year.
Inventory Related – These accounts are the asset COGS accounts used to record all the activity affecting inventory. Inventory includes tracking of stocked (inventory and serialized) and non-stocked (non-inventory) items. These accounts are reconciled against the Inventory Valuation, Inventory History, and Item Reservation reports.
Payroll Related – These accounts are the liability and/or expense accounts used to record all the activity affecting payroll. These accounts are reconciled against the Payroll Summary, Payroll Liability Balances, and Payroll Item Detailed History reports.

Banking FAQs

Q: Is there a list of checks which are compatible with Total Office Manager?

A: Yes. Checks may be orders from Dynamic Systems if you do not currently have compatible pre-printed check stock. Typically, styles compatible with most laser printers are also compatible with Total Office Manager.

Q: How do I handle recording debit card transactions?

A: All bank debit card activity would be handled in the same manner as a check or deposit. When a debit card is used, a check would be written to record the bank debit to the account. If a refund is issued to the debit card, a deposit would be entered to record the bank credit to the account.

What is the Purpose of Undeposited Funds

What are Undeposited Funds?

Question: What is the purpose of selecting Group With Other Undeposited Funds on Sales and Payment Receipts?

The Undeposited Funds account indicates what money has been received by your company but has not yet been deposited into your Bank account. This line item also appears on your balance sheet. This account is typically setup as an Other/Current Asset account and is used when you are ready to prepare your Bank Deposits in Total Office Manager.

It is recommended that any Customer Payment, regardless of the method of Payment (i.e Check, Cash, Credit Card, etc.) is deposited to the Group With Other Undeposited Funds on the Receive Payments and/or Sales Receipts forms. This will allow you to pick and choose which Customer Payments are included in your batch Deposits to your Bank Account.

Even if the Customer pays by Credit Card and you are using the Credit Card processing feature in Total Office Manager, it is recommended that you still group these Payments with the other Undeposited Funds. The reason behind this is quite simple. Some Credit Card Companies charge a fee per Credit Card payment that is processed. Although the Customer may have paid you $100.00, the Credit Card merchant may charge you a 2% processing fee. Subsequently, only $98.00 of the Customer Payment is then deposited to your Bank account. By grouping with other Undeposited Funds, you will be able to account for the processing fee when you enter the Deposit.

Question: Are Undeposited Funds Considered Cash?

Yes. Cash is a Current Asset and so undeposited funds. Undeposited funds are cash, checks, coins, and equivalents that you have not yet deposited into your bank account.

Question: What is the Payment Method “Group With Other Undeposited Funds”?

Topics Related to Undeposited Funds

Undeposited Funds FAQ

Image of QuickBooks compared to Total Office Manager

Why Are My Payroll Item Liability Balances Incorrect on the Pay Payroll Liabilities Form?

Question:

I need to adjust the amounts that are showing due for my Payroll Liability amounts. How do I reconcile the amount shown on the Pay Payroll Liabilities form with what is actually owed?

Solution:

Before making a Payroll Liability Adjustment, it is first recommended that you speak with your qualified accounting professional to determine whether the adjustment needs to affect your Payroll Liability amounts and/or Payroll Liability Chart of Account balances. You will need to explain to them the reason for making this adjustment for them to adequately inform you of what will need to be done.

Payroll Item Adjustment Only

If you need to only affect the amounts that are shown as due on the Pay Payroll Liabilities form, you will need to do the following:

Open the Pay Payroll Liabilities form (Employees | Pay Payroll Liabilities).
Verify the amounts that are displayed are the correct amounts. If not, you will need to determine which Payroll Item balances need to be adjusted. Please make note of the amounts that are displayed and the amount that needs to be adjusted.
Open the Payroll Liability Adjustment form (Employees | Adjust Payroll Liabilities).
Right click within the form window and select the option for New Payroll Liability Adjustment.
Enter the Effective Date that you wish for the Liability Adjustment to become effective. This is the date that will determine when the adjustment will reflect in the Payroll Liability amounts due.
Determine if the adjustment is a Company wide adjustment or an adjustment that is for a particular Employee.
Select the Payroll Item that is to be adjusted. If you have more than one Payroll Item to adjust, you can enter them all on the same adjustment providing the entire adjustment is for the Company and/or the same Employee and the Effective Date for each adjustment is the same.
Enter the amount of the adjustment. If you are needing to raise the amount that is reported on the Pay Payroll Liabilities form, enter your amount in the Increase column. If you are needing to reduce the amount that is reported on the Payroll Liabilities form, enter your amount in the Decrease column.
Enter a memo that explains the reason for the Liability Adjustment. This will be an internal memo that you can reference in the future.
Check the box in the lower left corner of the form to ‘Do Not Affect Accounts’. By checking this box, you are only adjusting the balance of the Payroll Items balance that is reported on the Pay Payroll Liabilities form. You are not affecting the amounts that are reported on your financial reports for the Chart of Accounts that are associated with the Payroll Items themselves.

Optional:

If you do not have the preference enabled to not require vendor selection when selecting liability accounts, you will need to manually enter a Journal Entry to properly reflect your changes to the Payroll Item balances in the Vendor Balance that is associated with the Payroll Item.

Open the Journal Entry form (Banking | Make Journal Entry).
Select your main Payroll Liability account on the first line under the Account column (this account needs to be of type Other Current Liability or Long Term Liability).
Enter the amount to increase (Credit) or decrease (Debit) the Vendor Balance.
Select the Vendor Name in the Name column. Select the same account on the second line. Because there is no other Vendor to affect, you will need to select your Company Name as the Vendor in the Name column on the second line entry.
NOTE: If you are adjusting the balance for more than one Vendor, you would repeat for each Vendor until all Vendor Balances have been adjusted. See screen shots below.

Payroll Item & Chart of Account Adjustment

If you need to affect accounts for the Payroll Liability Adjustment, follow steps #1 – 9. You will then need to select an adjustment account to affect. If you are unsure of which account, you will need to speak with your qualified accountant for clarity. By selecting the adjustment account, you will not need to manually enter a Journal Entry to affect your Vendor balance.

Schedule Board Will Not Open and Program Freezes (hangs)

Q: When trying to open the Schedule Boards, it does not open and the entire program hangs or freezes. What need to be done to fix this.

A: The (new) Schedule Board relies on a group of files to open and operate. These files sometimes become “unregistered” due to circumstances that seem to be out of Aptora’s control.

To correct this issue, please follow these steps:

Open command prompt (CMD) from the start menu. Right click and choose the option called “Run as administrator”.
Enter (or copy/paste) the following command: cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Aptora\TOM Enterprise\Interop
When the directory changes, enter the following: install.bat
Please verify you can open the Schedule Board. If you cannot, please contact our helpdesk 913-322-4666.

How to Open the Command Prompt? https://www.howtogeek.com/235101/10-ways-to-open-the-command-prompt-in-windows-10/

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