How-to help for common Sage Fixed Assets issues

6 minute read time.

This blog post contains steps, as well as links to applicable Sage KB articles, for three of the most common reasons why Sage Fixed Assets customers have contacted us for help recently: changing critical deprecation fields, installing a client, and performing a custom import. 

Change Critical Deprecation Fields

To change a critical field (any field in the lower, Book Information portion of the asset’s detail view):

  1. Type in the new/desired value.
  2. Click the Save button, or Tab out of the field.
  3. When changing critical fields (Property Type, Placed-in Service date, Acquired Value, Depreciation Method, Estimated Life, etc.) of an asset that has already been depreciated, Sage Fixed Assets needs to know how to continue with the calculations.

    Sage Fixed Assets will prompt with two questions:
    1. The first Question: Is to ensure you want to make the change.

      Critical Depreciation Change 

      You are making a critical depreciation change. Changing assets will affect the existing depreciation information. Are you sure you want to continue? 
      • Select Yes to continue with the change process or select No to cancel the process and return to Asset Detail
    2. The second question: Is asking when the change will be applied to the asset.

      Critical Depreciation Change 

      Select the date on which the critical depreciation change takes effect.
      • Placed-in-Service Date: Current depreciation, Period Close and Beginning depreciation will be reset to zero.
        The next time depreciation is ran, the calculation will be as if the asset was a brand new asset.
      • Beginning Date: Current depreciation will be reset to the Beginning depreciation amounts. Period Close will be reset to zero.
        The next time depreciation is ran the calculation will be from the Beginning date of the asset. This option will be available only if the was a Beginning Date in the asset prior to making the change.
      • Period Close Date: Current and Beginning depreciation will be reset to the Period Close Amount.
        The next time depreciation is ran, the calculation will be from the Beginning date of the asset. This option will be available only if the was a Beginning Date in the asset prior to making the change.
      • Current Thru Date: Beginning depreciation will be set to the Current depreciation amounts. Period Close where the Period Close date is prior to the current Thru date will be reset to zero.
        The next time depreciation is ran, the calculation will be from the Beginning date of the asset.
  4. Click OK to accept the change.

    NOTE: If anything except Placed-in-Service Date is selected and the depreciation method is currently SL, SF or SH and the changes make the asset under depreciated as related to the new values, the asset will not fully depreciate over the life of the asset. In this case, it is recommended to also change the Depreciation Method to RV.

            NOTE: Details of critical changes can be manually documented in the Notes Tab for future reference. Assets with notes will show up in Asset List view with an icon.

For assistance in identifying under depreciated asset: Use the Depreciation Adjustment Report (Reports, Standard Reports, Depreciation Adjustment) to find all under/over depreciated assets.

For additional information, please visit our How do I change critical depreciation fields? Sage Knowledgebase article.


Install a client

Note:  This solution requires advanced knowledge of your network. Contact your system administrator for assistance. Modifying Windows security incorrectly can severely affect system operations. Sage is not responsible for operation issues caused by incorrectly modifying your Windows security. Always create a backup of your data before proceeding with advanced solution


From the Workstation the Sage Fixed Asset client is to be installed, in Windows Explorer:

  1. Browse out to the FASServ or SFAServ directory on the server where the Sage Fixed Assets Sever Components were installed.
    Note: The full UNC path or mapped network drive to the shared directory of the server installation could be used.
  2. Open the Network Client folder for Network or Premier Client folder for Premier, run the Setup.exe (As Administrator)
    Note: for 2017.0 and higher, all three product clients (Depreciation, Tracking and Planning) will be installed onto the users workstation.
  3. Follow through windows installer wizard prompts to complete the client installation.

For additional information, including possible causes (error messages) and related resources, check out our How to install a client Sage Knowledgebase article.


Create new assets within a single company using Custom Import

Warning: Custom Import requires other Depreciation users to be out of the company.

Note: Sample import file is included with the software to assist in creating a spreadsheet. This can be located at the following file location: C:\Program Files (x86) or Program Files\Sage Fixed Assets\Depreciation\Sample Import.xls. For additional resources, please see Appendix D Custom Import Helper section of Depreciation user's guide found in Depreciation Help menu.

The Custom Import process can be accessed through Sage Fixed Assets by going to File, Company Utilities, Custom Import.

IMPORT FILE MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

  1. Save file from Excel Office 2007 or 2010, using the default *.xlsx format or Comma Separated Values (.CSV).
  2. Format all columns to General Text and for date columns, set to Custom and enter: MM/DD/YYYY.
  3. Import file must include 5 critical fields:
    1. Property Type
    2. Place in Service Date
    3. Acquisition Value - Format will be a number with a decimal point, no commas, and no dollar signs.
    4. Estimated Life - Format sample: 0506 for 5 years and 6 months and 1000 for 10 years.
    5. Depreciation Method: Format sample:
      • MF200 needs to be in two separate columns MF the Depreciation Method in one, 200 the Declining Balance Percentage in another.
      • SL and other methods that do not involve percentage can be setup in one column.

HOW TO IMPORT ENDING ACCUMULATION:

  • Requires 3 separate fields on the import file, Begin Thru Date, Begin YTD, Begin Accum:
    1. Beginning Thru Date - Ending date for the accumulation.
      • Example: If importing ending Accum for 12/2004, the column needs to have "12/31/2004".
    2. Beginning YTD - This column is Year-to-Date calculation.
      • Example: If importing ending Accum for 12/2004, the column needs to have year to date calculation, i.e. .- The amount of depreciation calculated from 1/2004 - 12/2004.
    3. Beginning Accum - Ending depreciation accumulation as of 12/31/2004.

NOTE: Beginning YTD is not required. If there is a Beginning Thru Date there must be a Beginning Accum amount to go with it.

HOW TO FIX OR AVOID COMMON ERRORS:

  1. Unknown Depreciation Method - Separate depreciation method and depreciation percent into two columns.
  2. Critical Fields Missing - Ensure the map contains the above list critical fields for each books being imported. List of the 5 Critical Fields are listed above.
  3. Invalid Life Format - Check the estimated life format and/or check rules to verify if life is valid for its use.
  4. Beginning Accumulation must not be zero - If there is a Beginning Thru date, there must be an amount in the Beginning accumulation field. Clear out beginning date or insert an accumulation amount into Begin Accum field.
  5. Beginning Accumulation must not exceed depreciable basis - Beginning accumulation must not exceed acquisition cost of the asset. In the case where the asset being imported has a Section 179 amount or is using a Section 168(k) Allowance depreciation method, both of which lower the depreciable basis, the beginning accumulation cannot include those amounts.
  6. Unable to convert column X to a number - When importing the Acquisition value of an asset, the column must contain only a number with a decimal point: no commas, no dollar signs.
  7. Unable to convert column X to a date - Format the Date columns as a Date format: MM/DD/YYYY
  8. BEG through date must be the end of the periods - If using monthly cycle, it must be the end of the month. If using a different cycle, go to File, Edit Company, check the calendar for the ending period.

Note: Please see Appendix D Custom Import Helper section of Sage Fixed Assets User's Guide found in Sage Fixed Assets Help menu for more information on the import process.

Note: You can ignore the warnings on the exception report.

Additional information and related resources for this can be found in our How to do a custom import Sage Knowledgebase article.

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