Accounting procedures are always of paramount importance, but during times of economic uncertainty, financial health becomes an even greater focus for both private and public sector organizations.
It is vital to record the value of assets accurately, and with so many variables at play, a purpose-built assets infrastructure accounting module is the best way to ensure every detail is tracked and reported in one place at a component-based level.
Univerus Assets is continually improving its accounting module to give customers the best user experience possible. The Accounting Beta software release has been made available to a selection of customers to test the enhanced functionality deliverables.
What will be included in the update?
1. Ability to configure the application to calculate depreciation from time of commission daily and or monthly (note this is applicable to the whole application not specific to asset classes)
Previously, the system was only able to carry out this calculation on a monthly basis – this remains as the default setting, but it can be changed to daily by Univerus on request.
2. Regionalization added to configuration
Depreciation methods and accounting legislation will differ by country/region, so the system has been updated to allow users to select their country, state, or province in configuration settings.
3. Assets can now be attributed with a negative value
Previously, the lowest figure that could be associated with an asset was zero – now it is possible for them to be impaired with a negative dollar value.
4. ‘Preview and Post’ function
The revaluation process now features a ‘Preview and Post’ function that allows any revaluation calculated to be approved or rejected prior to being written into the database.
5. Valuation history
When a revaluation is posted, previous valuation(s) will be saved to the new ‘valuation history’ section – valuations are fully reportable on screen and in Power BI*.
*Extended Power BI reporting will be available March 2023 as part of Phase 2.
6. Password-protected locking function for revaluations
Previous years’ revaluations can be locked, with changes limited to certain users via password protection – with this configuration set, an approved user ID and password must be entered in order to access the revaluation option.
7. Summary tab
A new summary tab has been added to allow users to view the full financial status of an asset.
8. Updated delete button
The delete button no longer removes an asset from the system – the system will instead set the asset’s status to ‘deleted’ so that it can still be viewed and included in reporting.
9. Import tool improvements
The system’s import mechanism has been upgraded to prevent ghost assets being created.
How are the changes being implemented?
Accounting Beta system upgrades are being conducted via three simple steps:
Step 1
Customer provides a backup of their current database.
Step 2
Database backup is converted into the Accounting Beta version.
Step 3
Customers can keep the system set to monthly valuations or have it changed to daily following an initial review.
Once the system upgrades have been ‘test driven’ by Beta users and sign-off is received from Univerus QA, they will be made available as part of a general release in Assets v4.25 (due November 2022).
In addition, the extended Power BI reporting upgrade coming in March 2023 will introduce historical data per asset (including valuations), PPE focused reporting, and enhanced financial year-end reporting.
The Univerus team will continue to provide progress updates throughout the testing phase. In the meantime, catch up on July’s Preventative Maintenance webinar to see Carl Stevens (Head of R&D at Univerus ANZ) run through the accounting update in a bit more detail.
