My print preview of a document looks fine,
but the actual printed document doesn't match the preview.
What can I do to fix this?
When trying to access eLearning, the articulate viewer appears, but no audio or video appears.
Instead, a "Done" message appears in the lower left corner of the browser.
What's the problem and how do I fix it?
When creating a document, we get the message "To generate this document
first define the numbering series in the administration module".
Why are we getting this message?
A customer wants a refund of his credit balance.
Do I have to set him up as a vendor?
Somehow, my SAP main menu moved off the main window –
either I can't see it or I can't grab the title bar to move it back into place.
How do I reset it?
Whenever I press F1 or hit the "?" in the menubar to find out more about a subject,
I get an error that says "cannot display the web page".
I know that my internet connection is working.
Is this feature working or am I doing something incorrectly?
Is it possible to disable the SAP splash screen that's displayed when each user logs in?
Are there any resources that outline how to setup SAP Business One in a Citrix environment?
FAQ Solutions
Is it possible to change an item's costing method
after transactions have been posted?
Yes, but very specific requirements must be met:
- The item's In-Stock quantity, in all Warehouses, must be zero.
- No open stock relevant documents must exist. Open stock documents include:
- Open deliveries, which are not copied to Returns or Invoices.
- Open Sales Return documents, which are not based on Delivery documents.
- Goods Receipt PO not copied to a Goods Return or Invoice.
- Open Goods Return, which is not based on a Goods Receipt PO.
Notes:
- A Goods Return/Sales Return, is considered open if it is not copied to a Credit Note.
- A Delivery/Goods Receipt PO is considered open if it is not copied to an Invoice or Return/Goods Return, respectively.
- The Inventory Valuation Method function does not take open Invoices, Credit Notes or Production Orders into consideration.
- This means that Invoices, which have not been copied to Credit Memos or payments are not considered
by the system as open stock documents because the main stock relevant process had been closed with the creation of the Invoice.
- For BOM items the system does not look for the status of Production Orders, but into the OnHand (In Stock) quantity of the items.
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I'm trying to obtain a Trial Balance for a fiscal year.
I can't get Opening Balances for the Balance Sheet accounts,
and the P&L accounts show an opening balance when they should not.
What’s going on?
The problem is probably not in the report, but in the fact that the
prior fiscal year has not been closed.
At this point in the closing process, if you want 'correct' trial balances
for Balance Sheet accounts and P&L Accounts you have to print the TB differently for each.
For Balance Sheet accounts, choose the Opening Balances from Start of Company Activity.
For the P&L Accounts, choose Opening Balances from the Start of Fiscal Year.
Of course, you must adjust your Retained Earnings based on the prior year profit/loss numbers.
Until you close the prior year and have posted the retained earnings numbers,
you have no other recourse.
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Is there a way to automate exporting SAP Business One SQL data
to Excel spreadsheets?
There are a number of ways to accomplish this goal,
all of which clearly fall into the 'technical' realm.
These are not techniques that a typical user should attempt.
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is Microsoft's flagship mechanism
to perform any number of integration-related tasks.
However, a simpler method might be to use SQL Ad Hoc Distributed Queries.
The following resource provides directions for this alternative:
Server Export Data to Excel
Once the spreadsheet and query have been setup, the job could be scheduled
to run periodically using the SQL Server Agent service.
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After moving our SAP Business One SQL databases from one disk location to another,
we get unusual red-bar errors when updating customer credit limits and other fields.
How do we correct this problem?
The error message may appear similar to the one shown below:
An error occurred in the Microsoft .NET Framework while trying to load assembly ...
the assembly may not be trusted with PERMISSION_SET = EXTERNAL_ACCESS or UN
In researching this issue, the following article identified the source of the problem.
The SQL functions Detach, Move, and Attach modified the database owner
from sa to a lower-authorized domain administrator account used during the maintenance.
http://carlop-dev.blogspot.com/2007/06/if-you-detach-and-then-attach-again.html
The following SQL administrative commands resolved the problem,
by reseting the authorizations to the proper level:
ALTER DATABASE <database> SET TRUSTWORTHY ON;
EXEC sp_changedbowner 'sa'
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I was confirming my AP checks when my session ended abnormally.
After logging back in, I cannot access the checks I confirmed
and they show in the check register as ‘unconfirmed’.
When I try to print checks, I get a message that someone else is using the function
and I cannot see my checks anywhere but in the Check Register.
There is no one else logged in to the Banking functions.
How do I finish my checks?
This is a standard protection mechanism in SAP Business One to protect multiple user's work
from colliding with each other.
Once you have ensured that the lockout is not the result of multiple users,
use the following procedure to unlock the status:
- Login to SAP Business One using a SuperUser account.
Note: This procedure cannot normally be performed by a standard user.
- Go to Administration > Setup > Banking > House Bank Accounts.
- Scroll to the right to view the column Lock Checks Printing.
- If the box for this option is locked for the checking account you are using, then uncheck it.
Note: This lock is automatically set by the system to protect the check functions;
it cannot be manually turned on, even by the SuperUser.
- Return to your checking function and complete your tasks.
(Note 910588 is the basis for this FAQ.)
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How do I configure my PC for a "full dump" in the event SAP Business One terminates?
In rare instances, SAP Business One might terminate and generate a "DMP" file.
The information in the small DMP file might be inadequate for SAP to diagnose the issue,
and they may ask you to configure your PC for the "full dump" option.
You should not do this unless specifically directed to do so by an ACUMEN consultant.
Setting this option is simple: just create a specially-named empty file in a certain directory:
- Open the "%temp%" folder in the SAP Business One client workstation:
- click the Start button,
- click Run,
- type %temp% in the box, and
- click OK.
- Create a file named "b1_enable_full_dump" (use exactly this name):
- right-click in the explorer window that opened,
- click New -> Text Document,
- type b1_enable_full_dump exactly as written and do NOT use a ".txt" suffix, and
- exit back to the desktop.
If the problem occurs again, a large file will be created, rather than the tiny one.
In that case, you'll need to compress it and email it to the
SAPhelp@ACUMENcorp.com.
If your problem was a random fluke, you might be unable to reproduce the error.
However, if it does occur again, sufficient information will be generated to diagnose the problem.
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How do I fix Excel security problems for XLReporter?
XLReporter requires access to certain Excel functions to work properly.
The following steps may be required on a one-time basis after installing or upgrading
SAP Business One, or after installing new versions of Microsoft Office.
This procedure will likely be required on each client workstation.
- Open Microsoft Excel.
- Click the Office Button in the upper left corner.
- At the bottom of the menu, click on the Excel Options button.
- Select Trust Center in the left side of the window.
- Click the Trust Center Settings button in the right panel.
- Click on Macro Settings in the left panel.
- On the right side under Macro Settings,
select Disable all macros except digitally signed macros.
- Further below, under Developer Macro Settings,
select Trust access to the VBA project object model.
- Click OK twice to return to Excel.
- Exit Excel, close XLReporter, and restart.
Top
When I run the G/L for a specific warehouse, I can see the account balance.
But if I run the "Inventory in Warehouse (Detailed) Report", the balance is different.
Why would there be a difference?
First of all, I think you have succumbed to an easy problem... thinking that the
Inventory In Warehouse (Detailed) Report will give you a true inventory valuation.
It doesn't.
This report gives you the ability to value your inventory using one of three options:
(a) last purchase price, (b) last evaluated price,
or (c) a selected price list.
Note that "Item Cost" is NOT one of the options.
The last purchase price might be close, but it's not equal to your
true Moving Average cost.
(I wish they had given this report a different name, although I'm not exactly sure what it should be.)
If you want to balance to actual cost, you should use the Inventory Audit Report.
Choose the selected warehouse, leave the dates blank, and choose the
Summarize by Accounts and Display OB ... with no Transactions options.
This report will give you the valuation by account number,
and you can click on the gold triangle to see the detailed postings.
The total should equal the G/L balance, excluding any manual Journal Entries
that you've posted to the account.
Top
When printing a report generated in Print Layout Designer (PLD),
parts of the report are printed in inverse or incorrect colors on some printers.
How can we fix this?
As a word of caution, do not use the highlight or background
color attributes in PLD fields unless you absolutely need them for special effects.
These attributes should normally be left unchecked.
(Otherwise, the printer will actually try to print the background and highlight fields,
which is wasted effort if you're using white paper stock.)
With some printers, setting the background and highlight fields to 255,255,255 (white)
does not always work as expected.
Top
When signing on, the "Choose Company" screen comes up,
but no databases are listed as choices.
What now?
When no databases appear in the list, either
(a) your connection to the SAP server has been disrupted, or
(b) the server itself is not available.
Generally, you should check your own connection first:
- In the initial login screen, click on "Change Company".
- On the Choose Company screen, click on "Change Server".
- Next to "Current Server", make sure you've got the correct version of SQL selected
and the correct name of the SAP server entered.
- Click "Refresh".
This will attempt to re-establish a connection with the server and
display all available databases.
In most cases, the above procedure will solve the problem.
If it does not, then the next step is to ensure that the SAP server is, in fact, running ok:
- Ask other users if they are also experiencing connection problems.
- Physically check the server and attempt to login to SAP Business One from the server screen.
- Alternatively, try to access the SAP server using "My Network Places" from your desktop
to see if it responds.
- If the server appears to be running properly, then contact your system administrator
to report that you have a connection problem from your desktop system.
- If the server does not respond, or if all users are having the same problem,
then either attempt a reboot of the server or contact your system administrator.
Note:
If you reboot the server, first make sure that all users are logged out of
SAP and all other applications hosted on the server!
Top
In some Print Layout Design (PLD) reports, the printed report
appears in reverse colors (black background, white text) on some printers.
How can we fix this?
As a word of caution, do not use the highlight and background
color attributes in PLD fields unless you absolutely need them for special effects.
These attributes should normally be left unchecked.
Setting the background and highlight fields to white (255,255,255)
does not always work with some printers.
Unchecking the highlight and background colors in all fields in all sections of the report
will likely solve the problem.
Top
I need to change the item description in marketing documents
(e.g., Sales Order, Invoice) for certain items.
However, when I TAB out of the description field,
SAP displays an empty list if items to select.
What's wrong?
After customizing the item description, you must use CTRL-TAB to exit the field.
Here's why:
Throughout the system, SAP Business One provide an easy-to-use lookup function for table-driven fields,
such as items, customers, and vendors.
You can do the lookup either from the "code" field (item code, business partner code),
or from the "description" field (item description, business partner name).
When you type a value and then TAB out of the field, the system will search the relevant table
for a record that matches the value that you typed.
If an exact match is found, then that record is retrieved.
If an exact match is not found, the system will give you a list of all records
that partially match the data that you typed, allowing you to choose the correct entry.
When you customize an item description field and TAB out, the system does the same thing.
Of course, no item is found with that exact description, so the system displays an empty list of items.
Simply use the special keystroke CTRL-TAB to tell SAP that you're leaving this field
and that it should not attempt a lookup on this modified field.
Top
Can I set a default warehouse for a user?
Yes, you can create any number of 'default' values for users,
including a default warehouse.
Each user can be associated with one of these default combinations, which takes affect
when the user logs into SAP Business One.
Here's how to create these default sets and assign them to users:
- Go to Administration > Setup > General > Users.
- Select the user for whom you wish to assign defaults values.
- Next to the "Defaults" line, click on the "Choose from list" icon.
- Click "New".
- At the top, type in a code and a description to give a name to this set of defaults.
The same set of defaults can be used for multiple users.
- Click the "Defaults" tab.
- Set the warehouse.
- Set any other default values that you want to associate with this 'default' definition.
- Click "Add" to add the new definition.
Once the defaults have been created, you can assign it to other users.
Simply open each user and select the default combination that you created.
The next time the user logs into the database, those default values will be used.
Keep in mind that the user default warehouse will not override two situations:
- The item has a different default warehouse
on the Inventory Data tab of the Item Master.
- The user default specifies a warehouse that is not setup for the item
on the Inventory Data tab of the Item Master.
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How can I take screen snapshots of SAP Business One?
Screen snapshots of an SAP Business One session can be very useful,
both for diagnosing potential problems, as well as for training purposes.
The easiest way to capture screens is by using the keyboard PrntScrn key
and saving the images in Microsoft Word.
The document can then be printed or emailed, as needed.
Here's how to do it:
- Open Microsoft Word with a new, empty document.
- In SAP Business One, navigate to the point where
you want to capture the screen image.
- Press the PrntScrn key on the keyboard.
- Press ALT-TAB to switch over to the Word document.
- Press CTRL-V (or click Edit->Paste) to put the image into the document.
- Press ENTER a couple times to add blank lines
below the image.
- Repeat steps 2 - 6 as many times as needed to capture all screens.
- Save the Word document.
Top
At times, my SAP Business One screen gets 'garbled'
with leftovers from windows dragged through the area.
Also, sometimes I cannot toggle to other underlying application screens when
SAP Business One is the active window, and I have to click the 'minimize' button.
Is there a way to improve this behavior?
SAP Business One is a fairly 'hefty' application that manages many windows and processes.
Depending on your system configuration (e.g., CPU speed, memory, video card),
you may need to rebalance how Windows manages the graphics interface.
Try changing the following settings in Windows:
- Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties.
- Click on the Settings button in the "Performance" section,
and select the Visual Effects tab.
- Your default setting is probably the first choice, "Let Windows choose...".
Take note of your current settings, in case you wish to restore them later.
- Choose "Adjust for best performance" and click "OK".
The appearance of your screen will change slightly, depending on your previous screen settings.
Open a fresh copy of SAP and see if this has improved the screen painting behavior.
If this helps, then you may wish to use a 'custom' setting,
re-enabling the appearance options one-by-one
until you find a combination that gives the best balance of performance and appearance
on your machine.
Top
My print preview of a document looks fine,
but the actual printed document doesn't match the preview.
What can I do to fix this?
In Print Layout Designer, open the Print Layout for the document in question.
Select "Print Layout Designer" on the tool bar, and choose "Display Document Properties" from the task list.
Go to the Format tab.
Put a tick mark in the "Preview Printing Layout" box.
This should resolve the issue in your document.
Top
When trying to access eLearning, the articulate viewer appears, but no audio or video appears.
Instead, a "Done" message appears in the lower left corner of the browser.
What's the problem and how do I fix it?
This is likely to be a problem with the latest version of Adobe's FLASH player.
Version 10 has incompatibilities with previous Flash presentation files.
You will need to uninstall Flash 10 and install Flash 9:
- First, let's verify which version of Flash you have installed.
- In your browser, click on Tools > Manage Add-ons.
- Locate the ActiveX control entry titled "Shockwave Flash Object".
- Scroll to the right to view the file associated with the player.
If it's named "Flash10a.ocx", then you've got version 10, and we need to replace it
with a previous version.
- To uninstall Flash, use this link to download the uninstall utility and save it to your desktop:
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_14157&sliceId=1
- Close all Internet Explorer screens, then run the downloaded uninstall utility.
- Use this link to download Flash 9 and save it on your desktop:
http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/installers/archive/fp9_archive.zip
- Open the archive, and execute the following program:
flashplayer9r124_winax.exe
- Repeat step 1 above, and verify that "Flash9f.ocx" is now the active Flash add-on.
- Retest the SAP eLearning, and the video/audio should play properly with this version of the Flash player.
- If all works ok, you can delete the files you saved to your desktop.
Top
When creating a document, we get the message "To generate this document
first define the numbering series in the administration module".
Why are we getting this message?
The user might not have authorization for the document.
Check the following:
- In Administration > System Initialization > General Authorizations,
check the module that is experiencing the issue to make sure the user has access to the functionality.
- Check Administration > System Initialization > Document Numbering.
Highlight the document and double-click in the grey box to the left of the document name.
This will open up another screen.
Note the Group Number for that document.
- Go to Administration > System Initialization > General Authorizations
> Administration > System Initialization > Series.
Make sure the user has authorization for the group number (that you noted in the Document Numbering screen)
in the list of series groups.
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A customer wants a refund of his credit balance.
Do I have to set him up as a vendor?
No.
in SAP Business One, it is easy to refund a customer's overpayment or credit balance, by using Outgoing Payments.
- Go to Banking > Outgoing Payments > Outgoing Payments.
- In the Outgoing Payment screen, to the right of the 'Code' field,
you have a choice between 'Vendor', 'Customer' or 'Account'.
Choose 'Customer' and enter the customer's Business Partner code.
- The customer's invoices/credits will display and you may choose them.
Proceed as you would under normal circumstances.
If you have written a manual check already, you may enter the Payment Means,
or you can print the check using the check printing function.
If you have created a manual check, then click on the Payment Means icon (golden money bags on toolbar).
Select the bank account you are paying from, check the manual box, enter the check number and the amount of the check.
Click OK and then ADD to add the outgoing payment.
The system will create the appropriate journal entry, and will post the payment to the customer's account.
The JE will debit the customer's AR account and credit the cash account in general.
Notes:
- If the credit balance is created by copying from the original invoice,
then the balance of the credit memo will display as the amount of the original invoice less the credit memo.
- If there is an invoice and a credit on the account which are not related,
then both will show and you can choose both.
- If you need to adjust the amount you are paying to the customer,
enter the exact amount you are paying in the Payment Means section.
- You may not be able to adjust the discount on the invoice since it is being 'paid' by a credit memo.
The system will write off a small difference in discount to the write off account.
