Entering Records into the System: General Information

In the following sections, you will find an overview of the MYOB Advanced forms. You will learn about each type of forms and which forms are used to enter records into MYOB Advanced. You will learn about navigating to forms, as well as creating, copying, and viewing records on the forms.

Learning Objectives

In this chapter, you will learn how to do the following:

• Navigate to a form to enter a record
• Create a new record on a form
• Copy an existing record and use the copy to create a new record on the same form

Applicable Scenarios

You enter a record in any of the following cases:

• You need to create a record from scratch (such as an AR invoice, a GL transaction, a customer, an employee, or a stock item).
• You need to create a record by using a template or copying an existing record.

Records in MYOB Advanced

Types of Forms in MYOB Advanced

MYOB Advanced functionality is based on forms. Forms are webpages in MYOB Advanced that you use to configure the system, enter and process records, create reports, and export and import data in various formats. You access forms through workspaces, search results, and direct links to the applicable webpages (such as those in documentation).

The main types of MYOB Advanced forms are listed below:

• Data entry forms: Data entry forms are the primary means by which users enter data to track day-to-day activities. You use a data entry form to create a new record—which may be a transaction, a document, or a profile—in the system and to view or edit the settings of the record. An example of a data entry form is the Invoices and Memos (AR301000) form.

  When you save the data that you have entered on a data entry form, a new record is created in the system or an existing record is modified or deleted, depending on the changes you have made on the form.

• Maintenance forms: Maintenance forms are generally used by system administrators and other department-specific specialists to create system records that ease the process of correctly entering records on data entry forms and help companies implement their policies. These records include posting classes (and other types of classes), statement cycles, overdue charges, carriers, ship via codes, and ledgers. Maintenance forms are generally listed under the Preferences and Profiles categories in workspaces. Examples of maintenance forms are the Credit Terms (CS206500), Customer Classes (AR201000), and Reason Codes (CS211000) forms.
• Lists of records: Each of these forms contains a list of transactions, documents, profiles, or classes. When you click the name of a data entry or maintenance form in a workspace or on the Search form, the system initially opens the list of records that have been created by using the form. From this list, you can open the needed record on the corresponding form, or you can open the corresponding form to create a new record. An example of a list of records is the Invoices and Memos (AR3010PL) form.
  Tip: In Help topics and training courses, you may encounter the terms substitute form and list as entry point to describe lists of records; these terms are used in descriptions of the technical implementation of a list of records.
• Mass processing forms: You use a mass processing form to process—that is, to cause the system to mass-change the statuses or other settings of the records, or to create or manipulate records in another way—records of particular types, such as invoices or payments. With these forms, which are generally listed under the Processes category in workspaces, you can process all listed records or only those you select. A mass processing form usually has selection criteria you can use to list the needed records. Examples of mass processing forms are the Release AR Documents (AR501000), Process Orders (SO501000), and Recalculate Customer Balances (AR509900) forms.
• Preferences forms: You use a preferences form to specify the general settings for a particular workflow (such as the processing of sales orders and other related documents) that can be performed by using transactions or profiles or the general settings of particular functionality (such as general ledger, inventory, customer management, or currency management). These forms are listed under the Preferences category in workspaces. Some examples of preferences forms are the Accounts Receivable Preferences (AR101000), Inventory Preferences (IN101000), and Sales Orders Preferences (SO101000) forms.
• Inquiry forms: Inquiry forms are developed using C# and delivered with MYOB Advanced. On an inquiry form, you specify any needed selection criteria and view a list of records that meet the criteria. These forms (which are listed under the Inquiries category in workspaces) give you visibility into data that has been entered into the system. Examples of inquiry forms are the Account by Period (GL402000), Customer Details (AR402000), and Inventory Summary (IN401000) forms.
• Generic inquiry forms: Generic inquiry forms include predefined generic inquiries, which are delivered with MYOB Advanced, and custom generic inquiries that a technical specialist responsible for the customization of MYOB Advanced in your company develops. Generic inquiry forms are based on queries that collect data from the MYOB Advanced database and displays the results in the UI. For details, see Managing Generic Inquiries.
• Report forms: You use a report form to specify the parameters of a report and then run the report. You can then print the generated report, export it to a file, or send it by email. Report forms are listed under the Reports category in workspaces. Examples of report forms are the AR Balance by GL Account (AR632000), Sales Order Details by Customer (SO611000), and Purchase Order Summary (PO610500) forms.

Basic Parts of an MYOB Advanced Form

An MYOB Advanced form has basic parts that help you enter data into the system, search for needed information, and share information with other users. The availability of a particular part may vary by form or based on the access rights of your user account.

The following screenshot shows the basic parts of a form (in this example, a data entry form), which are described in the next several sections.

1. Form title bar
2. Form toolbar
3. Summary area
4. Tabs
5. Details area
6. Row (line or detail)

Form Title Bar

The form title bar is located at the top of the form. The form title bar displays the title of the form and includes a variety of buttons and menu commands, some of which you can use to manage information related to the record or the form. These buttons and menu commands may vary by form and by the access rights of your user account.

Form Toolbar

The form toolbar of a form contains standard buttons that you can use to save or cancel changes you have made to the record, or to add or delete a record. Depending on the particular form, the form toolbar may contain navigation buttons (buttons to go to different records created on the form). For the list of standard buttons, see Form Toolbar and More Menu.

The form toolbar may include form-specific buttons and commands in addition to standard buttons. The form-specific commands can be shown as buttons on the form toolbar, as commands on the More menu, or in both places. For details, see The Form Toolbar and the More Menu in Learning About the MYOB Advanced UI: General Information.

On the More menu, if you use some commands more often than others, you may want to designate these commands as favorites. For details, see the Favorite Commands on the More Menu section in Managing Favorites: General Information.

Summary or Selection Area

The Summary area of a form displays general information that pertains to the form. On a preferences form, the area contains the most general settings for the functional area of the product. The Summary area of a form used to enter records contains basic information about the selected record, such as date, identifier or reference number, status, customer, and description. The elements in the Summary area may vary by form and by the access rights of your user account.

Most inquiry and processing forms have a Selection area instead of a Summary area. In the Selection area, you can use selection criteria to narrow the range of elements listed in the table shown in the Details area of the form.

Tabs

The tabs of a form are used for organizing information and providing easier navigation to needed information. Most data entry forms in MYOB Advanced have more than one tab.

Details Area

The Details area of a form, which may consist of tabs, displays the details or other essential data of the record you are viewing. Depending on the form and the tab of the form (if applicable), the Details area may display one of the following:

• A table with the rows (sometimes referred to as lines or details) of the record, as in the lower half of the Journal Transactions (GL301000) form or on the Details tab of the Sales Orders (SO301000) form
• A number of UI elements with their settings, as on the General tab of the Customers (AR303000) form or on the Details tab of the Contacts (CR302000) form
• A rich text editor that includes a text area and formatting toolbar, as on the Details tab of a Cases (CR306000) form

Row

The Details area of the form may consist of a table or of multiple tabs, some of which contain tables. For example, on the Sales Orders (SO301000) form, the Details tab contains rows that correspond to each line of the sales order, and the Taxes tab contains rows for each of the individual taxes applied to the sales order lines. Each row of a table in the Details area is a detail of the selected record, or a detail related to the record in some regard.

Navigation to a Form for Creating Records

You can create a new record in any of the following ways:

• From a workspace: Record creation forms are generally listed under the Transactions and Profiles categories in workspaces. If you click the link with the name of the form, the system opens the list of records created by this form. If you instead click the New button right of the link with the name of the form, the system opens the corresponding form, where you can create a new record. For details, see Learning About the MYOB Advanced UI: Process Activity.
• From the corresponding list of records: Lists of records are generally listed under the Transactions and Profiles categories in workspaces. If you click the link with the name of the record creation form, the system opens the list of records created by this form. In the table, you can then click a link to a particular record, and the system opens the corresponding form.
• From the Search form: Forms for record creation are generally listed under the Transactions and Profiles categories on the Menu Items tab of the Search form. If you click the link with the name of the form, the system opens the list of records created by using the form. If you instead click the New button right of the link with the name of the form, the system opens the corresponding form, where you can create a new record. For details, see Searching in MYOB Advanced: Process Activity.
• By clicking a link of a form ID of a form that is mentioned in a Help topic: When forms are mentioned in a Help topic, you may see a form ID enclosed within parentheses, such as (SO301000). You can click the form ID to open a data entry form to create a new record.

Entry of the Settings of a Record

In MYOB Advanced, you can enter the needed settings of a record in the following ways:

• By manually entering all relevant settings: Starting with a blank record creation form except for the elements filled in with default settings, you fill in all necessary elements of the record.
• By using the Copy and Paste menu commands: You can copy and paste a record of the same type (that is, created on the same form) and change or enter additional settings as needed.
• By using a template or class: You select a previously created template or class for the new record, and the system fills in some settings of the record based on the settings of the template or class. You then enter or edit any needed settings.
• By using a specific command: Some data entry forms provide a specific command on the More menu of the form to copy the existing record to a new one. For example, the Copy Order command on the More menu of the Sales Orders (SO301000) form can be used to copy the selected order.

If you create a record by copying another record or use a template or class, you can create records much more easily because you need to fill in or change fewer settings. For applicable forms, you can find the copying and pasting commands and a list of templates in the Clipboard () menu on the form toolbar. For details, see To Copy a Record's Contents to a New Record and To Create a Record by Using a Template.

For more information, see Copy-and-Paste Options and Record Templates.