New Features and Functionality
Softline Pastel’s continuous investment in Research & Development provides customers with the latest and most up-to-date software. This new release incorporates customer feedback and suggestions and will allow your business to take advantage of the enhanced features and functionality that Pastel Evolution Version 3.11 offers.
Accounting
New Modules
Pastel Evolution Manufacturing
Manufacturing is an extension to the Bill of Materials module. It separates the manufacturing process into time periods, so that at the start of the process the system transfers the raw materials into Work In Progress. Once the process is complete, manufactured items are transferred to Finished Goods. During this process, the following can be done:
A full audit trail of each manufacturing process can be viewed.
Stock can be drawn at the beginning of the manufacturing process, and unused stock reversed once the process is complete.
A bill of materials can be changed without affecting an ongoing manufacturing process that uses that same Bill of Materials.
One or more components in an existing process can be replaced if needed, and manufacturing continued with the new components.
By-products, in addition to your main manufactured item, can be created.
Additional features include forward planning with the material requirements feature.
Lot Tracking
A new add-on module, Lot Tracking allows you to track several units of a stock item using the same lot or batch number, for items that can expire, such as food, medicines or ink cartridges. Lots can also be assigned to distributors and/or resellers, to automatically track sales’ origins.
Lot Tracking differs from Serial Tracking, which, for example, lets you track individual items.
Additional features include:
Expiry dates and user-defined status that allows for further control of stock items.
Determining what can be purchased or sold by Lot Status. Stock items that have expired could, for instance, not be sold.
Items can also be tracked simultaneously by Lot Number and by serial Number.
Resolve
Sales Force Automation
Pastel Evolution Sales Force Automation allows you to track sales opportunities for existing customers and prospective customers.
Sales personnel can update the status of opportunities through customisable sales cycle workflow steps. They can continually update the estimated possibility of making a successful sale.
Information can also be captured about competitors, so that you can recognise and track patterns about sales lost to competitors.
You can use this information to give sales personnel, and managers an overview of the current sales pipeline, and to produce sales forecast reports. These reports show actual values weighted by the probability of closing the sale.
Integration with Evolution’s existing functionality such as Inventory and Accounts Receivable simplifies initial setup and day-to-day operations, which are traditionally cumbersome in non-integrated solutions. For example, in the integrated Evolution Resolve environment, you only need maintain a single customer and supplier database.
Inventory
Increased Price List Functionality
There is now an unlimited number of price lists. Additionally, the Multi-Currency add-on module allows you to create foreign price lists and link foreign customers to a price list in their own currency.
Negative Quantities and Financial Lines on Invoices
Negative quantities (for returns) can now be processed when doing invoices. An invoice line can now also be processed to a General Ledger account instead of a stock item. You can use this for postage, delivery and other non-stock values.
Project Codes and Sales Rep per Invoice Line
Sales rep codes and/or cost codes can now be allocated to each individual invoice line, instead of the invoice as a whole.
Customising Grid Columns in Processing Tables
Columns in data entry tables can now be customised in the same way as for record maintenance. This allows you to hide columns that are not being used, and applies to Inventory documents, Order Entry documents, Purchase Order documents, Job Costing transactions, General Ledger Journal batches and Cashbook Batches.
Global Price Change Improvements
Global price changes can now also be processed to, optionally, round new selling prices either up or down.
Increased Length of Group Codes
The group codes length has been increased from 4 to 20 characters.
Decimal Places
The number of decimals to use for cost prices, selling prices and quantities can now be set separately.
General Ledger
Posting to a General Ledger Account in a Foreign Cashbook
General Ledger transactions with foreign values can be posted in the cashbook.
Added Reporting Categories for General Ledger Accounts
Report categories, separate from the standard financial categories, can now be created and used to create custom reports.
Comparative Budget Report
A new Comparative report for Monthly Budgets compares monthly and yearly budgets over the same period ranges.
Recurring Batch Entries Enhancements
For recurring batches, there is an option to prompt for a global change when opening the batch.
Foreign Amounts In Bank Reconciliation
An option is available in the Bank Reconciliation to view foreign currency values if the Multi-Currency add-on module is being used. The system displays the exchange rate and the foreign value.
Additional Dropdown Look-up Fields on Cashbook
The “Look-up Field” feature is now enabled for the Account and Account Name drop down combos for GL, AR and AP look-ups.
Accounts Receivable and Payable
Increased Characters for Postal Codes
This has been increased to 15 characters.
Multiple Delivery Addresses per Customer and Supplier
More than one Delivery Address can now be added for each Customer/Supplier, and a default sales representative for each address. You choose a default address for sales and purchases, which you can change per document.
Detailed Age Analysis
An Age Analysis can now be printed in detailed format, to, for instance, include transactions.
Customer Enquiries
The customer enquiry facility now shows quotes for the customer in a new tab.
People – Additional Contacts
Additional contacts can now be added to a supplier’s “Peoples” tab. This allows you to link more than one contact per supplier.
Job Costing
Purge Jobs
Completed jobs can now be purged.
Job Templates
Narrations on a Job Template can now be included.
Price Lists
A price can now be selected from within a Job Card.
General Product Features
Financial History
General Ledger history storage has been increased from 3 years to 5 years. This means that an additional 24 periods can be set up when installing the new version.
Project Codes
The number of characters in the Project Code has increased from 6 to 20 characters.
Report Builder Enhancements
The new version of Report Builder now includes an Undo button as well as a page break feature. The preview screen also now only shows the first record in the table to speed up the preview display.
Payroll
Batch Processing
Batch processing enables faster Payroll data capture. Repeating batches can be created for even faster processing, and batches can also be imported. In batch mode, a transaction per employee per batch line can also be entered. While batch lines ready for data input only, can be created without having to enter the batch to, for example, request a batch of normal hour transactions for all weekly employees.
Payslip Messages
Messages can now be displayed on payslips, to show either a personal message per employee or a global message for all employees, or both.
UIF Report
The UIF report displays status as well as reasons on the report. It is compulsory, when doing monthly returns, to notify the Commissioner of the reason of non-contribution to UIF.
Cost to Company Report
This report displays the Total Cost to Company for employees. It enables the Payroll Administrator to keep track of total cost on salary expenditure, with a total break down of salary components and total package value.
BCEA Leave Periods per Employee
BCEA leave periods enable more accurate calculations of leave pay in lieu of leave per employee, especially for employees who earn a fluctuating income.
Prospective Employee
“Dummy” employees can be captured to plan salary structuring before appointment.
Standard Transactions
The system contains standard transactions, so there is no need to contact the Payroll Support Team to set up payroll transactions.
Enhanced Leave Functionality
Leave can be tracked with reports and you are able to enter the start and end date of leave taken. In addition, you can also create additional leave types to keep track of, for example, compassionate leave