With 2023 coming to a close, year-end tasks are also swiftly approaching. Get a jump on 2024 by reviewing the recommended year-end procedures! As always, look no further than our Knowledge Base and Help topics to guide you through the process.
Knowledge Base Article R10429, “Year-End Overviews for Tabs3 Software Products,” includes links to KB articles that provide checklists and frequently asked questions. The types of questions found in each year-end article are outlined below:
Tabs3 Billing – R11693
- Retaining Previous Year’s Information
- Next Year’s Entries
- GL Integration
Tabs3 Trust Accounting – R10433
- Bank Account Reconciliation
- Reports
- 1099s, including E-file
- GL Integration
Tabs3 Accounts Payable – R11278
- Checks
- Void Posted Checks
- Reports
- 1099s, including E-file
- Deleting Vendors
- GL Integration
Tabs3 General Ledger – R11600
- Advancing the Year
- Reports
Lists of basic year-end procedures are also available in Help for each Tabs3 Software application. Simply enter the keyword “year-end” on the Index tab to display the year-end procedures Help topic.
Our office will be closed at 3:30 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, December 6th for our annual Holiday Party.
Here are some helpful Support resources that are available 24/7:
Have you recently purchased a license for ODBC, or are thinking about it? Data files for the Tabs3 Software are ODBC capable. ODBC capability allows you to retrieve information from the Tabs3 Software data files using applications such as MSQuery, Crystal Reports, Microsoft Excel, etc.; however, you cannot write information to the Tabs3 Software data files via an ODBC driver. Writing directly to the data files will corrupt the data. The ODBC driver is written by FairCom Corporation, the manufacturer of the c-tree file storage method used by the Tabs3 Software. An ODBC driver license for the software can be purchased from the consultant from which you purchased the software license or from our Sales Department.
Knowledge Base Article R10017, “Working with ODBC,” provides setup information for the ODBC driver, as well as troubleshooting to get you started. If you’re working with Platinum SQL ODBC drivers, check out R11397, “Working with Platinum SQL ODBC Drivers,” instead.
Our Knowledge Base can be accessed at support.Tabs3.com. You can also access our Knowledge Base in the Quick Launch by searching for and selecting “Knowledge Base.”
Our office will be closed on Monday, December 25th, and Monday, January 1st, in recognition of Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Here are some helpful Support resources that are available 24/7:
Tax time is stressful for everyone, but especially for businesses. Tabs3 Software has partnered with Nelco® to provide Tabs3 E-file, a complete solution to filing your 1099-MISC, 1099-NEC, and 1096 forms. You don’t need to deal with the forms, envelopes and postage, or configuring your printer at your office; instead, simply upload your data to the Tabs3 E-file portal and they can be electronically filed, printed and mailed, or emailed on your behalf, saving you time and manpower every year.
To transmit Form 1099-Misc and Form 1099-NEC to the Tabs3 E-file portal
- From the Accounts Payable Quick Launch, search for and select “Tabs3 1099 E-file.”
- Optionally enter a Minimum YTD Amount other than 600.
- In the Trust Transactions section, optionally select Merge transactions where Firm is the payer and/or Include transactions where Trust Account is the payer. (Note: Tabs3 E-file can also be started from Tabs3 Trust Accounting, with similar options.)
- Click Transmit.
- Log in with your Tabs3 E-file account information.
- In the Forms in Progress section, select the desired options and click Next.
- Verify your information is correct and click Next.
- Enter your payment information and click the Pay & Submit button.
Prefer not to use the Tabs3 E-file portal? No problem!
Tabs3 Accounts Payable (AP) and Tabs3 Trust Accounting (Trust) allow you to view 1099 information on reports, print Form 1099-MISC or Form 1099-NEC for filing, or create a 1099 Disk File which can be used to electronically file with the IRS. Using both AP and Trust together allows you to create a combined file by merging your Trust data into AP to run one set of 1099 forms or create a single electronic file.
Continuous 1099 Forms can be ordered directly from the IRS. However, for laser printer forms, we recommend ordering 1099 forms from Nelco. These forms are guaranteed to be 100% compatible with AP and Trust. Likewise, you can order W-2 Wage and Tax Statement laser forms from Nelco. Now is a good time to take inventory of your 1099 forms, AP checks, and Trust checks so you can order them all at the same time! Nelco has over 50 years of experience in the business forms industry. Order today by calling 1-800-266-4669 or visiting nelcosolutions.com/Tabs3.
Just getting started with Tabs3 Connect, or simply want additional information? There are several resources to provide you with all of the tools you need to know about Tabs3 Connect!
Quick Guide
At only eleven pages, the Tabs3 Connect Quick Guide is a quick but essential read when you want to know how to use Tabs3 Connect. The Tabs3 Connect Quick Guide provides information on getting started, logging in to Tabs3 Connect, the difference between the full site and phone site, accessing and entering data, and logging out. The Tabs3 Connect Quick Guide can be accessed via Knowledge Base Article R11500, “Tabs3 Connect Quick Guide.”
Knowledge Base
In addition to the Tabs3 Connect Quick Guide, the Knowledge Base also provides the following articles about Tabs3 Connect:
- R11480, “All About Tabs3 Connect,” provides an overview of Tabs3 Connect features as well as information on how to access it.
- R11613, “Tabs3 Connect FAQ,” provides answers to frequently asked questions.
- R11762, “Troubleshooting Tabs3 Connect,” provides troubleshooting information for Tabs3 Connect.
For more information on Tabs3 Connect, contact your Tabs3 Software consultant, call Support at (402) 419-2210, or visit Knowledge Base Article R11480, “All About Tabs3 Connect.”
Performing routine maintenance tasks can be easier using the Lock Out All Users feature. This feature allows any manager to lock all other users out of all Tabs3 Software applications. With the additional option to set a timer for the duration of the lockout, using the Lock Out feature means that you can perform server maintenance tasks or run integrity checks without interruption.
Watch this two-minute video here:
Training Videos can be accessed at Tabs3.com/videos. You can also access the videos in the Quick Launch by searching for and selecting “Training Videos.”
Drill-down capabilities provide the ability to quickly access data while previewing many reports. When you mouse over a drill-down field on a report while viewing it in a Preview window, the field will be highlighted in yellow. Clicking the field will open the appropriate data entry window for that field, allowing you to edit the record. After saving the change and closing the data entry window, you will be returned to the Preview window. Click the Refresh button (or press F5) to update the report to reflect the change you just made.
For a complete list of reports with drill-down capabilities, refer to Knowledge Base Article R10646, “Drill-Down Features in the Software.”
We will start assessing clients a finance charge on unpaid work at the end of the year. How can we configure this?
In order to apply a finance charge, you must first enable finance charges in Customization, and then configure the clients.
To enable finance charge in Customization
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Customization.”
- On the Rates tab, in the Finance Charge section:
- Select the Assess Finance Charge check box.
- Select the Subject to Finance Charge check box if you will also be charging a finance charge on any unpaid finance charge (compounding).
- In the Rate 1 – Rate 5 fields, enter the desired annual percentage rate(s).
- Press Ctrl+S.
To configure clients to be assessed a finance charge
- In the Quick Launch, search for and select “Change Client Options.”
- On the Client tab, enter the range of clients that you want to assess a finance charge. Alternatively, click the Multiple button to enter multiple Client IDs or multiple client ranges.
- On the Billing tab, click the Select button, select Assess Finance Charge, Finance Charge Rate, Finance Charge Days, and Apply Payment to Finance Charge, and click OK.
- Select the Assess Finance Charge check box.
- Select the appropriate Finance Charge Rate, Finance Charge Days, and Apply Payment to Finance Charge options.
- Click OK.
Note: Alternatively, you can configure clients individually on the Billing Options tab of Client Information.
For more information, check out Knowledge Base Article R10850, “All About Tabs3 Finance Charges.”
We have a field that always needs to be filled in when a new matter is added in PracticeMaster. Is there a way to force users to populate the field before saving?
PracticeMaster allows you to make individual fields required in order to save a record. This is done though File Maintenance.
To make a field required
- In the PracticeMaster Quick Launch, search for and select “File Maintenance.”
- Select the file (e.g., Client) you want to edit and click OK.
- On the Field tab, select the field you want to require from the list of Field IDs. (Note: Boolean, Money, Number, and Virtual fields cannot be required.)
- Select the Required check box and click Done. Click Yes when prompted to continue.
- Close the File Maintenance window.
Keep the following in mind when making a field required:
- Existing records that do not have a value in the required field will receive errors 175 and 177 the next time a Data File Integrity Check is run in PracticeMaster.
- Records added via Outlook Synchronization or the File Import Utility that do not have a value in the required field will be rejected during the synchronization/import process.
- Records modified via Outlook Synchronization or the File Import Utility that do not have a value in the required field will be updated during the synchronization/import process, but will receive an error in the relevant log.