Academies Configuration
To add or edit an academy's basic configuration, select:
Settings > System Settings > Academies Configuration
The following form will be displayed:
Each field is explained below:
Name
The name of the academy: This will be shown at the top of most input and enquiry forms, and as part of report titles. It is also linked to the licence (Reports Key), so ensure it is correct. If the academy name is changed for any reason the Reports Key will need to be re-issued.
Type
Either Sage 50 or Consolidation. If ‘Consolidation’ is selected the ‘Sage 50’ section of the form is disabled.
Reports Key
This is essential and is required before the reports can operate. It is linked to the academy name and the expiry date of the annual licence. This will be issued to you on an annual basis by Dayta Designs Ltd.
Requisitions Key
Only required if Requisitions is required. It is linked to the academy name, but not the licence expiry date – this is controlled by the Reports Key. The implication of this is that academy reports must be licenced to enable requisitions.
Version
It is important that this is the same as the version of Sage currently used by the customer. Failure to update this when updating Sage will lead to Requisitions failing to post orders to Sage. The version of Sage being used can be established by opening Sage and selecting Help > About. It is the first two digits of the full Sage Version Number.
Login
A valid Sage user login, preferably with Full Access, for use solely by Academy Reports and Purchase Requisitions.
Password
The password for the above Sage user.
Sage Data Path
The path to the Sage data for the selected academy, including the ‘accdata’ element at the end. This can be obtained from Help > About in Sage, or from the Folder list when selecting a company when logging into Sage.
Ideally this should be in UNC format, i.e. \\serverName rather than a mapped drive. The reason for this is that it is possible for different users to have different mappings to the same shared folder – this will cause problems. It also avoids misinterpreting the location of the Sage data.
ODBC Name
The name of the ODBC data source pointing to the Sage data. This must be the same on all users’ PCs. Again, to avoid potential confusion, it is recommended that the ODBC name should be the same as the ‘Company.nnn’ location of the Sage data.
Last Sage No
The last Sage transaction number for the previous financial year. The easiest way to establish this is to click the ‘Get Last Sage Trans No’ button at the foot of the form, BUT this only works if the academy selected is the same as the academy the user is currently logged into.
Show negative numbers with brackets?
If checked this will format negative numbers on reports with brackets (but not enquiry forms). This is system-wide for the selected academy.
Use Academy Reports Budgets in place of Sage?
Instead of entering budgets in Sage, it is possible to record budgets directly in Academy Reports. This has several advantages: firstly, budgets can be imported from Excel and secondly, budgets can be input/imported for the following financial year, making completion of the EFA Budget Forecast considerably easier.
Use Academy Funds in place of Sage?
Sage has the ability to be set up to allow each transaction to be allocated to a 'fund', for example 'Restricted - GAG' or 'Unrestricted'. Unfortunately, this requires every transaction to be entered with a fund reference, leading to errors and omissions. Instead of using Sage's funds, it is recommended that you let Academy Reports handle funds; this is accomplished by assigning each income and expense nominal account to a fund. A little effort is needed when setting up, but it will save work in the long run.
Use Sage Departments to define subsidiary schools?
If a single Sage company is being used for a multi-academy and the Sage departments have been used to distinguish between schools, checking this option will allow the user to ‘allocate’ individual Sage departments to particular schools. This will have the consequence that reporting can be by individual school or overall multi-academy trust. The default split of Sage departments to schools is by allocating ranges of departments to schools, but this can be overridden allowing any department to be allocated to a particular school.
If this option is checked the ‘Schools’ button becomes activated.