MYOB Exo Business - Amazon S3 › wh1.theweb...latest version of MYOB Exo Business and we will advise if this applies to you. Where this is not the case, upgrading EBS Products is

MYOB Exo Business Versions and Upgrade Process

Up to and including version

2017.1

EXOBIZ Services Page 1 of 21

Upgrades Overview

Why are there upgrades?

MYOB release software upgrades for MYOB EXO Business on a regular basis with new versions often including new and enhanced features based on feedback from clients and business partners. MYOB also monitor the Microsoft roadmap and use upgrades to maintain compatibility with products such as Microsoft Office and Microsoft SQL. Upgrades allow the software to remain current and to continue to develop as client requirements change and evolve over time.

Aren’t upgrades automatic?

Many clients may expect an automatic upgrade process however this is not the case with MYOB EXO. Due to the ability to customise many functions in various ways upgrading is a manual process that requires testing to ensure functions continue to work as expected. This is where EXOBIZ as your MYOB EXO Platinum partner help you establish a testing environment so you can check your day to day functions and customisations before upgrading your LIVE database.

Why is testing required?

Upgrades can seem like a complicated process, especially when there are customisations and/or integrations in place. Businesses usually have many dependencies on MYOB EXO Business for their ordering, sales etc that would halt if these processes were impeded in any way. It is for this reason that we have a tried and tested process to ensure that your business can continue operations smoothly. This process involves a TEST upgrade and end user testing to identify any issues before upgrading in LIVE, if any. See the image below which depicts a typical upgrade process.

What is the cost to upgrade?

Many clients believe that upgrades are free which in essence is partly correct. The Annual License Fee (ALF) paid for licencing entitles clients to the latest version of MYOB EXO Business automatically however there is a cost for the consulting time spent to complete the upgrade process as mentioned above. This time can vary depending on the complexity of the client including the number and size of


company databases and the internet connection where the server is located. In many cases an upgrade in TEST will take approximately four hours to complete for a single database and then a further two to three hours to complete in LIVE after testing has been completed.

Is more training required?

Some clients will choose to have training in new functionality either before or after the upgrade process however it is not required. This depends on the new features that become available and if they are of use to the business or not. Training is ideal to teach staff how the new features work and see how they align to the business processes prior to upgrading however it is not essential.

Can an upgrade be completed along with a new server upgrade?

Yes, most clients who upgrade to a new server will upgrade MYOB EXO Business as part of the process. Once the server is provisioned and the software is installed they will perform end to end testing on the new server with upgraded databases before they go live.

Do EBS Products get upgraded also?

Clients who use EBS Products often have specific customisations and particular use of the products to meet their business workflow requirements. As such, care must be taken in upgrading EBS Products such as EBS Symphony, EBS CRM, EBS POS etc. Where EBS Products are in use, excluding EBS Reports, our development team will contact you directly to discuss your use of the product and the new version to determine if it should be upgraded.

This process is completed as part of the provisioning of the test upgrade of MYOB Exo Business. Note that there are instances where some EBS products will need to be upgraded for compatibility with the latest version of MYOB Exo Business and we will advise if this applies to you. Where this is not the case, upgrading EBS Products is not mandatory and can be completed outside the MYOB Exo Business upgrade process if you wish. Upgrades to EBS Products, regardles of when they are performed, require thorough testing before commencing a live upgrade.


Should you upgrade?

Ideally you should upgrade annually so that you don’t fall too far behind in versions. You can review the version history and key features listed in the next section of this document to see what features may be useful for your business processes.

Firstly, find out what version of MYOB EXO you are using by following the steps below. Then find your current version in the table provided on page 3 and review the key features of the releases following the version you are currently using. The versions listed in the table are hyperlinked so you can easily find your way around this document. There are also hyperlinks to full release notes listed in the version history table and throughout the document.

If you are ready to upgrade, email [email protected] authorising us to provision a TEST environment for you on the latest version.

1. Find Current Version Number

a. Log into MYOB EXO Business or a MYOB EXO module b. Click on Help and then About. The version number will be listed in the top left section of the

window displayed.

mailto:[email protected]


2. Version and Release History

You can view videos from MYOB’s YouTube channel showing the highlighted features for 2015 and 2016 releases.

New Features released in 2015 New Features released in 2016

Version Number Release Month and Year Hyperlink to release notes

2017.1 July 2017 Link

2016.3 November 2016 Link

2016.2.1 September 2016 See v 2016.2 below

2016.2 June 2016 Link

2016.1 March 2016 Link

2015.5 and 2015.5.1 December 2015 – January 2016 Link

2015.4 October 2015 Link

2015.3 July 2015 Link

2015.2 May 2015 Link

2015.1.3 March 2015 Link

2015.1.2 January 2015 Link

2015.1 December 2014 Link

v8.810 – see release notes July 2014

Link Up to v8.720 – see release notes April 2014

Up to v8.620 – see release notes July 2013

Up to v8.520 – see release notes March 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzmYFC4_F6M&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ4R25WlY28&feature=youtu.be

http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wh1.thewebconsole.com/wh/6566/images/MYOB-EXO-Business-Release-Notes-2017-1.pdf

http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wh1.thewebconsole.com/wh/6566/images/2016-3-MYOB-EXO-Business-Release-Notes.pdf

http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wh1.thewebconsole.com/wh/6566/images/2016-2-1-MYOB-EXO-Business-Release-Notes.pdf









http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wh1.thewebconsole.com/wh/6566/images/MYOB-EXO-Business-8-x-Version-History.pdf


Version Releases and Key Features

1. 2017.1

This release contains several enhancements to Exo Business user interfaces, improving system usability and adding new functionality. The Exo Clarity report builder has received a significant upgrade and the new Menu Favourites control lets end users customise their menus without the need for partner assistance or access to the Exo Business Configurator.

Menu Favourites

A new Menu Favourites control is available at the left of the major Exo Business modules. Clicking on the control of pressing CTRL+SPACE opens a pane containing commonly and recently used menu options.

The Menu Favourites pane allows end users to customise their menu options without requiring access to the Exo Business Configurator. After upgrading to Exo Business 2017.1, the system monitors the menu options each user selects and updates the Menu Favourites pane accordingly. A separate list of recently and commonly used menu items is saved for each user. The list can be customised per user. Watch this video for more information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoykpQXol-s


Clarity Preview

The Preview tab when viewing clarity documents now new features to make the report preview feature much more user friendly.

The Parameter selections are now displayed on the left side allowing changes to the selection within the preview screen. The selections are displayed per the available parameters for each individual report.

The Preview now has thumbnails displayed on the left showing the pages within the document. A Right click menu is now also available on the Preview tab allowing zoom, scroll, print and find and hide/show thumbnails. A text search box can also be made available above the thumbnails when setup in the report design.


New features are also available in the Advanced Components of Clarity report builder. This includes:

PaintBox which allows placement of a canvas area on the report that can be drawn on programmatically using the Calc tab

TableGrid which allows report components to be organised in a table layout and

Google Map which allows addition of an image that displays data from Google Maps. Future releases will allow further functionality to this new feature such as adding map markers.

The Design tab now also has a zoom control.

Design Layers is another new Clarity feature; it allows multiple layers on reports, each with their own content. This can be useful for adding watermarks, headers and footers etc.

There are also other new design features in Exo Clarity which you can view from the full release notes here or watch the video at this link.

Stop Credit Receipting Options

Several windows relating to Debtor accounts have been updated to have the Stop Credit flag set. The Debtor Adjustment window now highlights when a debtor is on Stop Credit and includes a checkbox to update the Stop Credit status.

The Integrated Cashbook window now highlights Stop Credit Debtors in red and includes a right click menu option to update the Stop Credit status.

http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wh1.thewebconsole.com/wh/6566/images/MYOB-EXO-Business-Release-Notes-2017-1.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmqClCUk2as&feature=youtu.be


Job Costing

Exo Job Costing now supports the Prompt for date on login profile setting allowing you to pre-set the system date on login. The date you select will be the default for all new Job Costing transactions. (If the setting is disabled, the Windows system date is used.)

When the Enforce stock period locks in Job Costing profile setting is enabled, a new dialog has been added to handle transactions that could run contrary to existing period controls:

This dialog appears when cancelling, writing off, moving or changing the quantity of a transaction line in a locked period. The default date is taken from the Windows system date or the pre-set system date (if Prompt for date on login is enabled). Any dates that fall inside a locked period will be greyed out.

A new profile setting is available to control access to the write off function for job lines. The user-level setting Allow job transaction line write offs is ticked by default, preserving the behaviour from previous versions. You can untick the setting to deny access to write offs. The Write-off line option will be removed from right-click menus in Exo Job Costing.

Extra Fields Display Name

In previous versions, the display names of Extra Fields were automatically changed to sentence case at runtime, i.e. in Exo Business Config, the name appeared as it was entered, but when the field appeared on a window, its name would be rendered in sentence case. However, sentence case is not suitable for names like “pH Level” etc.

Sentence case is no longer enforced for display names. Display name now appear on interfaces as they are entered in Exo Business Config. When an Extra Field is saved, a message is displayed asking the user if they want to convert the name to sentence case, but this is optional:

Note that after an upgrade all extra fields will convert as they were in the earlier version however you can edit it them following the upgrade to display correctly as required.

General new features - see release notes for more detail

The Account Type column on the Accounts tab of the Contacts window now displays -for the type (1 = Debtor, 2 = Creditor, 3 = Non-Account).

A new Seq No column is now available on the Opportunities tab of the Debtor Account Details, Creditor Account Details and Contacts windows.

The payment method on the Creditors Payment Processor now defaults to Direct Credit instead of Cheque.

When editing currency exchange rates in Exo Business Config, if the user makes changes and clicks the Re-evaluate button without saving, the changes are now saved automatically before the re-evaluation is performed.

Google maps is now used for all geolocation functions throughout the system. The function still operates the same as it did previously.


The Invoice Search function for Creditors has been enhanced to match the functionality that exists for Debtor invoice searches. Enhancements include the ability to search by account name and fixes existing issues.

A Documents tab is now available on the General Ledger Account Details window.

Debtors and Creditors can now be excluded from the ABN verification check via a checkbox on the Details 1 tab. Note that the system will still check if the ABN is valid or not however the ABN will not be matched against the name.

The Exo Fixed Assets module now validates postings against the financial year. Users are prevented from posting in a new financial year until a Year End Rollover has been performed in Fixed Assets.

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2. 2016.3

This release delivers over twenty of the most requested enhancements registered and voted for on the Exo Business ideas portal together with a new look and feel user interface. Below are some of the highlighted features.

Theme and Window Function

The most obvious change in 2016.3 is the rebranding of the whole suite of products with MYOB'S new logo and colouring. The icons have been removed from the menus at the top providing more room within the main workflow screen.

Additionally, the new Windows Aero theme provides a more modern interface which also supports Aero Flip and Peek features, including ALT+TAB, CTRL+TAB and WINDOWS+TAB, to access open windows easily. A Window menu is now available from the top menu allowing users to see the open windows within the program and select a window to bring to the front. The interface has also been updated to resize proportionally to the window size.


Business Alerts

Updates to Exo Business Alerts now allow for a wider range of events including new event categories for master records including: Save Debtor Save Creditor Save Non-Account Save Contact Save Stock Item Save GL Account Save Serviceable Unit

There are also new parameters that can be used when creating alerts. A list of these parameters can be found in the release notes here. The Business Alerts screen has also been redesigned to group events into sections including Transactions, Accounts and Job Costing.

ABN Verification

Australian companies can now verify Australian Business Number (ABN) numbers entered against Debtor and Creditor accounts using an online MYOB service. This feature can be customised using a profile to determine the account types which can be verified. The options are:



None (does not verify ABNs) Debtors only Creditors only Debtors and Creditors (default setting)


The number of Extra Fields available for a table has been increased from 24 to 38 for most tables. Tables that are only accessed by the Exo API have been increased to 100. When using the '?' wildcard searching for stock the Stock Search window will always open. This previously did not happen if the code was matched exactly. To avoid this, do not use the '?' wildcard in front of the stock code. The Integrated Cashbook now supports more than 200 rows (200 rows was the limit in previous versions). By default, 200 rows are populated in the screen however you can add more by pressing the down arrow on the last row. The Options column now also contains an Edit button for Expense and Income transactions where GST details for the line can be edited. The GL Report Writer now has more options available in the setup options for percentage based columns. Geo Location update window has been reorganised to make it more compact and has features that allow you to ensure that fine-tuned addresses are matched to geolocation data. A new profile allows the ability to configure a session idle timeout based on minutes the session has been inactive. The timeout minutes can be specified e.g. 15 minutes and if a session is inactive for that time and exceeds the specified value a warning message will appear. The user than has 60 seconds to cancel. If they do not cancel they will be logged out and any unsaved changes will be lost.

The NZ GST Return function can now include provisional tax information and options.

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3. 2016.2.1

This release resolved issues including:

New PO grid sizing constraints and auto narrative

Issues relating to serial numbers in Job Costing and Inwards Goods Receipts

Forecast-based Purchase Orders

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4. 2016.2

This release focused on addressing items requested by users and business partners.

New Purchase Order Grid

A new grid has been applied to the Purchase Order screen allowing customisation of the grid including the addition of extra fields, hiding columns and copy and paste functions.



Stock Search Templates available from sales orders and debtor invoices are now also available from purchase orders. This allows you to apply filters to the stock search to find stock items easier.

The ATO requires that all addresses are submitted within a specific format. Address Validation is now available for creditors accounts included in Taxable Payments Annual Report (TPAR). This can be setup in the System configuration. TPAR can now also be submitted to the ATO electronically, however address validation as summarised above should be used. Once submitted you can check the progress of the submission via the SBR Manager window.

The NZ GST Return can now be submitted to the IRD electronically, and submissions can also be tracked from the SBR Manager window.

The Print to File window from Clarity Reports has been updated to make it easier to produce XLS data files with properly aligned rows and columns.

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5. 2016.1

This release focused on addressing user and partner requests. Many of these changes are subtle but valuable and are across the whole suite rather than specific to a particular module.

Updates to Non Accounts

Non-Accounts now have an Active flag that functions the same as the Active flag on Debtors and Creditors.

A new user-level profile also can restrict or enable to ability to convert Non-Accounts to Debtors or Creditors. If the user is restricted via the profile then the Convert to Debtor and Convert to Creditor buttons are disabled.

Composite Business Alerts

Business Alert rules can now reference other rules. The Active checkbox on rules has been replaced with a dropdown menu contacting Active, Inactive and Sub Rule. A Composite (list) type is now available in the Rule Type dropdown. These new functions allow you to layer rules as required.

POS Deposit on Sales Orders

When using the shopping cart functionality, deposits can be applied against sales orders. If any of the lines are marked as Order then a new Deposit column will be displayed where you can indicate ‘Yes’ against a Payment line. This records the payment as a deposit.


Works Orders now support the Documents tab with the same functionality as used across other windows. Line ordering is now available on Subscriptions with new arrow buttons allowing the lines to be reordered.

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6. 2015.5 and 2015.5.1

In this release MYOB has added support for Office 2016 and Windows 10.

Business Alerts

An Invert Rule option is now available on Business Alerts which when ticked means that the alert will be triggered when the inverse of the rule conditions is met. This effectively places a NOT operation in front of the conditions. The @FREIGHTFREE parameter has also been introduced. See release notes for more information on its use.

GL Search Templates

The ability to setup search templates for GL accounts and subaccounts is now available from the GL Account Search window.

Bank Feeds in Bank Reconciliation

Interaction between the bank feeds and bank reconciliation function has been added. Transactions that have been matched in Bank Feeds will be highlighted on the reconciliation window indicating that they can be reconciled straight away. See more information in the release notes.


Company Search Templates can now be used in EXO CRM.

A Documents tab is now available on the Inwards Goods Receipt and Inwards Goods Costing windows. The feature has the same function as other Documents tabs throughout the system.

Job Costing updates in this feature include workflow constraints on Job Statuses when invoicing and crediting jobs. A prompt is shown asking if the user would like to update the status of the Job when crediting and invoicing.


It is now also possible to select multiple lines and attach them to an existing kit on a job. The option Marked Lines > Attach to Kit has been added to the right click menu.

When a credit note is generated from a job, the system can now ask the user if the credited lines should be written off automatically. This is dependent on a new profile.

By default, when posting balance sheet transactions, the branch is set to the default balance sheet branch, as configured in the Business Essentials > General Ledger section of EXO Business Configurator. A new Retain the transaction branch on balance sheet GL transactions profile setting allows the transaction branch detail to be transferred on balance sheet GL transactions when posting to GL, rather than setting all balance sheet entries to the default branch for balance sheet.

Note: Enabling this setting means that the trial balance by branch will not balance.

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7. 2015.4

The main focus of this release is the introduction of Bank Feeds. There is a sign up process involved with MYOB and your financial institution in order to enable bank feeds. Configuration steps involved include enabling the feature, adding GL accounts to bank accounts and creating rules for various common transactions. Example images of bank feeds setup are below however please contact us for assistance with this feature.



Extra fields now available on Works Orders.

The Creditors Payment Processor now has a sort order available allowing you to sort by Account Number, Account Name or Alpha Code.

The Document Manager now has a drag and drop feature available. This can be used on all Documents tabs throughout the system.

The Purchase Order screen and Creditors Invoice Entry screen now also have a Documents tab that uses the same function as other Document tabs.

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8. 2015.3

This release had a number of behind-the-scenes technical performance improvements.


Extra Fields can now be added to custom tables via the EXO Configurator.

Business Alerts can now be used to send notifications to a mobile device using Exo OnTheGo app.


User-defined Display Names can now be configured for a range of labels in Serviceable Units.

Company Search Templates have been added that when used return a list of company accounts.

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9. 2015.2

This release had a number of behind the scenes technical performance improvements.

New features have been added to the exo:// URL protocol. To use these new features, you must replace the exoprotocolhandler.exe file with the version of the file supplied with this release. This must be done on all PCs that use the exo:// protocol. New commands, improvements to searching, performance improvements, update logging and changes to object locks are all available in this release. See the release notes for more information.

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10. 2015.1.3

This release focused on enhancements to Job Costing.

Editing Job Invoices

Invoices generated by EXO Job Costing can now be edited including editing individual lines, deleting lines and adding new lines. They are edited in the same way as debtor invoices, right click on the invoice on the Transactions tab of the Debtor Account Details screens and select Edit Job Invoice.

Editing invoices is controlled by the existing user-level profile. Invoices cannot be edited if:

The invoice contains serialised stock items

The invoice contains batch-tracked items

The invoice has already been posted to the General Ledger

The invoice is from a prior period



After making any edits to the invoice on a completed job, the system opens a window giving the option to change the job out of the “Completed” status:

You can also credit a job invoice by right clicking on it and selecting Generate Credit for Job Invoice.

The release also reintroduces the ability to Un-Write Off job lines from the Costs and Invoice tabs. Selecting this option generates new stock transactions to reverse the write off transactions and return the stock to WIP.

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11. 2015.1.2

As of this release, all EXO CRM Advantage features are now available in EXO CRM, and a separate EXO CRM Advantage licence is no longer required. EXO CRM Advantage is no longer a separate product.

EXO CRM

The following features, previously only available in EXO CRM Advantage, are now available from the EXO CRM module:

Users can set up pricing and discounting details from within EXO CRM. This includes access to the Discounts/Prices tab on the Debtor Account Details window and access to the Price Change Scheduler, Price Update Utility and Setup Price Policies functions.

Users can create a Sales Order directly from EXO CRM, without first having to save it as a quote.

Users can edit Sales Orders from within EXO CRM, provided they have the status “Not Processed”, “Quotation”, “Standing Order” or “Layby”.

Users can access the Generate POs button on the Sales Order window to create “back-to-back” Purchase Orders (but cannot create Purchase Orders in any other way).

Users can create and edit stock items from within EXO CRM, including One-Off Stock items.

Users can create and edit Bills of Materials in EXO CRM.

Serial number and batch number searching and tracking functionality is available in EXO CRM. This includes access to the Setup Stock Serial Numbers, Serial Number Tracking and Setup Stock Batch Code functions.

EXO OnTheGo

As of this release, each core Finance, Job Costing and CRM user licence will entitle the client to one licence to EXO OnTheGo at no additional charge. For example, a client with 5 Finance users and 10 CRM users will have 15 EXO OnTheGo licences.

The EXO Business Configurator now displays the total number of available EXO OnTheGo licences (free and purchased) in the Staff section.


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12. 2015.1

This release focused on enhancements to Sales Orders and the Analysis tabs on Debtors, Creditors, Stock and General Ledger masters.

SQL Server2012 Service Pack 2 and SQL Server 2014 are now supported.

Sales Orders Updates

Sales Orders can now be associated with activities, history notes, transactions and documents which are displayed on new tabs on the Sales Orders window.

A new Picking Slip option is available on the Supply Details tab of the Sales Orders window.

If this option is ticked, a picking slip will be printed when the order is supplied (this option is similar to the existing Picking slip option on the Quick Supply Order window).

Bin Codes are now displayed in the bottom of the window for the highlighted stock item.

You can also add, view and edit line narratives on the Supply Details tab when supplying an individual sales order.

Bulk Sales Order Supply

This release contains a variety of improvements that make the Sales Order batch supply process more robust.

The following additional checks have been added to the batch supply process:

Check for object locks on each order.

Check that the order can be processed (only orders set to “Not Processed” or “Partly Processed” will be processed in the batch).

Check that the order will not exceed the Debtor’s credit limit.


Check that the order isn’t on hold.

If any of these conditions are met, the order is skipped. For other conditions that mean that the order cannot be supplied, e.g. if the order’s account is on stop credit or if the order will result in negative stock, the order will open and the user will need to manually skip the order.

To improve its robustness, the batch supply process checks each order as it is loaded, so that, for example, if an order is opened and supplied by another user while the batch is processing, this will be detected and the order will be skipped in the batch.

Once the process is complete, a summary window is displayed, listing all orders that were not processed and the reasons why:

Search Templates

Search templates are pre-defined SQL filters that can be applied to stock and company record searches in the EXO Business system. Search templates can take in parameters such as a Debtor account number, so that they can return results specific to one record.

You can create and edit search templates using the EXO Business Configurator, in the new Business Admin > Search Templates section:

See the release notes for more information about creating search templates and the available options for this feature.



Stock Search Enhancements

Several enhancements have been made to the Stock Search window, in addition to the introduction of search templates (above).

The window now supports multi-select; users can tick the checkboxes next to multiple stock items, and when Select & Close is clicked, all selected stock items will be added as lines to the parent document (Sales Order, Debtor Invoice, etc.) Ticking the checkbox in the column header selects all displayed stock items.

A new Sel Qty column lets users enter a quantity for each stock item before adding them (entering a quantity automatically ticks the item’s check box if it isn’t already ticked). When a stock item’s check box is ticked, the Sel Qty amount defaults to the items suggested quantity, as calculated by the selected search template. (The quantity defaults to 1 if the template does not define a suggested quantity.)

Right-clicking on the grid header and selecting Save column settings now saves the grid layout separately for each search template; you can have a different layout for each search template and swap between them.

Updated Analysis Tabs

The graphs on the Analysis tabs of the Debtors, Creditors, Stock and General Ledger windows have been replaced with dashboard widgets that can now be customised with whatever layout of widget

required. Grid, Pivot and Report widgets placed on the new Analysis dashboard tabs can use the relevant parameters (Current Debtor Account, Current Stock Code, etc.) to show the current record.


A new Email button is available on the Sales Order screen.

Extra Fields are now available on Non Accounts.

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