Add a new CRAS to your LBI server

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Crystal Reports Application Server can be horizontally scaled to assist with LBI performance.  To do this, you will add new CRAS servers in the configuration manager, and then configure LBI to utilize the new servers.  It is not recommended that you scale out to more than 3 servers, as you will start to notice diminishing returns after 3 and can actually end up with a performance degradation.

First, Open the CRAS configuration tool and click the “plus” sign at the top to add a new server.  Follow the steps in the wizard.

 

The default port for the original CRAS is 1566.  Choose a new port for your new server (such as 1567).  Also, give the server a new name and display name (or take the defaults).

Set the server and database configurations to mirror the current server.

Edit  [LBIHOME]\ReportingServices\Reporting Services.ear\erswar-x.x.x.x.war\WEB-INF\lib\clientSDKOptions.xml in a text editor.  Add your two new servers.  Increment the id and specify the port(s) that you specified when you added the servers.

Finally, remove the default application server in ERS System Settings.  In LBI, navigate to Tools > Reporting Services System Administration > System Settings.  Blank out the “Default Report Application Server” value and click “Save”.  Restart WebSphere.

To verify that the new CRAS servers are being utilized, open the task manager to “Details” and run a few reports.  All of the cras server CPU and memory values should start changing.  You can also stop the main server and make sure you are still able to run reports.

How to Remove Windows Integrated Authentication Prompt in ADFS

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If you use AD FS for authentication with Infor Lawson, and users are being presented with an Integrated Windows Authentication prompt when logging into applications such as MS Add-ins or Lawson Security Administrator, follow these quick steps to resolve the issue.

Here is an example of the screen that may pop up when users are logging into MS Add-ins or LSA:

First, take a look at your Authentication Methods in the AD FS Management console on the AD FS server.

Make sure that the only authentication methods selected are “Forms Authentication” in both boxes, Extranet and Intranet.

Restart your Active Directory Federation Services Windows service.

Now the Integrated Windows Authentication prompt is gone!

Setting up Recurring General Ledger Entries

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Recurring Journal entries while part of the General Ledger have their own System Code – RJ. This allows you to know at a glance where the JE started.  Because it is part of the GL, you can delete it if you need to.

Recurring Journal entries are great for those entries that need to be entered over and over again. In this example we have Pre-Paid Insurance.

This is a perfect example – moves funds each period from the Pre-paid account to the actual expense account – automatically!  Well, you do have to run a job to do it, but you don’t have to keep track of it on a spreadsheet.

The most confusing part is the Valid Period tab.  For this example, the amount to move is done every period from June of 2020 through May of 2021.

If you want to have a quarterly recurring JE, then you would set up this tab like seen below:

And similarly you can set up a recurring entry for every other month or every six months, or whatever periods you want to move the funds.

 

How To Choose A Contract Management System

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The heavy burden of contract management and the risk posed by human management have led many companies to introduce contract management systems. Contract management systems promise managers time savings, long-term cost reductions, increased verifiability, future stability and risk reduction. Sources: 2

 

In response to this increased demand, a variety of contract management systems have come onto the market. These solutions provide contract lifecycle management software that can be integrated into other systems such as accounting, utility and resource planning systems to take full advantage of contract lifecycle management. They also provide services that help differentiate them from the competition and ensure that the core needs of contract managers are met. Sources: 0, 2

 

With contract lifecycle software, users can reduce supplier risk and increase contract visibility. Sources: 0  Contract management software helps eliminate depreciation and inefficiencies by providing centralized, organized access to your company contracts. Contract management systems enable companies to create new contracts, track the status of existing contracts and ensure that employees, suppliers and customers meet the specified requirements. This guide will help buyers to find the best contract management solution for their needs. Sources: 4, 10

 

Contract management software gives your group the tools it needs to share contracts with employees, place and manage orders, analyze key terms, review contracts, streamline processes and results, and track key deadlines. Contract management software gives lawyers more time for strategic, high-quality work by enabling them to update contracts more frequently. Sources: 10

 

Contract management software is the most effective and cost-effective way to streamline the contract management and add value to your office. Complete contract management solutions offer comprehensive features that provide you with everything you need to get your job done. They cover all aspects of the contract lifecycle and eliminate the need for other legal technologies. Sources: 7, 10

 

In addition to duplicating functions, contract management software can serve as a digital filing cabinet for organizing contracts. You can also set up notifications in the software to alert parties to upcoming deadlines throughout the contract life cycle. Sources: 6

It is important to consider the needs of your organization when studying the characteristics and benefits of contract management tools. Many solutions allow contracts to be shared between internal and external partners, but if you have security or accessibility concerns, you should look at how contracts are passed on to external partners. If you are looking for the best contract management solution for your business, you should consider what the full performance of the solution must be for your business. Sources: 5, 6

 

Finding the right contract management solution has become an easy way to reduce operating costs, increase productivity and keep a step ahead of customers’ expectations. The best contract management solutions for your business are obvious and should be at the top of your list. For enterprise contract management, a solution that is easy to implement, easy to use, and accessible to everyone is something you should be looking for. Sources: 3, 9

 

Before you use a search engine to search for a contract management system, you must first research your ranks. Just as you need to know your desired storage size, computing power, and operating system before you start browsing laptops, you also need to determine the needs of your end users before looking for contract management systems. Sources: 1

 

Remember that the benefits of a contract management system can not be maximized if it is isolated from other business processes and systems within the organization. Contract management systems are an option for determining and linking contracts, projects, invoices and other documents and email correspondence. They can also be integrated with other solutions of the organization such as ERP, NAV, SAP, MS Outlook, etc. Sources: 8

 

For example, it is possible to view not only current contracts, but also links to specific vendor correspondence, invoices that are generated in the course of implementation, how much revenue they generate for the organization and how much the organization intends to raise. Sources: 8

 

Companies often use contract management software in the supply chain to process supplier and distribution transactions with suppliers, conclude contracts, and keep inventories and retail operations running smoothly. Sales teams often integrate contract management systems into their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms to manage sales contracts, renewal negotiations, manufacturing contracts, car leasing, etc. Sources: 2

Companies could also consider a contract management system with a modular suite that allows them to select different modules as needed. For example, an organization with an agreement involving multiple internal and external parties would like to consider a solution that would allow it to write conditions for different stakeholders, automate approval processes, send automated notifications, track milestones, enforce contractual obligations, and integrate with an external ERP or CRM solution. Sources: 4

Contract management software facilitates the creation, signature and distribution of legal documents. It helps your team organize contracts in a centralized location, reducing the time it takes to send documents to partners during negotiations. Contract management providers also recognize the advantages and opportunities that data analysis can offer to accelerate decision-making processes across the entire company. Sources: 4, 6

Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) is a software system that manages and organizes your contract process from start to finish. Attention to this phase is explained by the inclusion of the term life cycle in the CLM name: a CLM system is designed for the entire life cycle of your contract, from conception to archive. Investing in a ClM system means you don’t have to worry that part of the contract process will fall through the cracks if you’re in the bidding phase, inactive during negotiations, ready to sign, or need to review data from existing contracts. Sources: 11

Cited Sources

 

Security Server Exception – No record found for given key PDLSET1 in PRODLINE

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This error message “No record found for given key PDLSET1 in PRODLINE” can rear its ugly head in multiple ways.  The most common way is when you log into Lawson Security Administrator and see the message below.

After you click Ok on both messages, you will see that the data sources are not visible.

In this case, the best way to resolve the issue is to stop and start the Lawson services in the proper order (or reboot the Lawson server).  First, stop all the IBM services and the lawson.insight service.  Make sure everything comes down.  Check the task manager to make sure no java processes are running, and no “laxxxx” processes are running.

Next, bring up the services in the following order:

  • insight environment
  • IBM Cell Manager
  • IBM Node Manager
  • IBM Application Server

If you see this error message when trying to build RM Queries or Updates in IP Designer, but you are not seeing it in LSA, then you can stop and start the pf services on the Lawson server.  Open a command line utility and set the Lawson environment variables (or log into a LID session).  Run these commands in this order:

  • stoppfem
  • stoppfrmi
  • startpfrmi
  • startpfem

Activities or Projects can have multiple types of Budgets

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Activities have multiple budget types available.

They can be Life Only Budgets – just to make sure that you have not gone over the total budgeted amount for the project.  This works well when:

  1. The project spans multiple years to be completed such as a new building
  2. You are managing your project budget in a different system and just want to know if you have exceeded the total budget for a project.

They can be Annual and Period budgets – these automatically interact.  If you make a change at the period level, it will be reflected in the annual view and if a change is made to the Annual budget, it will be reflected in the Period Budgets.

There are multiple ways to create budgets:

  1. You can spread a total budget amount over multiple years or just a single Fiscal Year. You can create spread codes that allow you to determine how to spread the amounts – periodically, Quarterly, every other month, etc.
  2. You can use a Compute Statement to create the budget
  3. You can create a budget based on Last year’s Budget or Actuals
  4. You can create a budget for both or either amounts or units.

You can budget at multiple levels

  • Activity Group – least detailed – all activities in this group will be included in the budgeted amounts
  • Activity Only – this is for a specific activity and would be for all account categories
  • Activity and Summary Account Category – If you use summary account categories in your structure, you can create a higher level budget for things like CapEx and Opex instead of creating a detailed budget for each type of cost.
  • Activity and Account Category – this is the most detail level budget for each activity for each type of expense or revenue item.

Budget Edits – will not allow transactions to post to an activity if it will exceed the budgeted amount plus any tolerance specified.  A good way of getting around causing the budget edits to prevent transactions is to add a large tolerance, like 99%  – basically doubling the budget before edits will prevent new transactions.

Budget Edits for the General Ledger

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You can build a budget by Company – accounting unit and Account.  You can edit a budget in a number of ways.

What does it mean to edit a budget?

You create a budget at the detail level but you are only concerned that the budget for the accounting unit (cost center) stays under budget for the fiscal year.  Not each individual account.  Things change throughout the year and managers are responsible for moving budget dollars from one account to another as things change.

Using budget edits at the accounting unit level allows your personnel to enter transactions and not getting over budget messages when the entire budget for the accounting unit hasn’t been breached yet.

What you need to make this work:

  • On GL10 you need to indicate that your budget edit is summarized. This is on the Budget tab.
  • On FB11 – create budget groups that indicate the accounting unit and the group of accounts that you want the budget associated with. Some users do only their expense accounts, some do edits by summary account.  This is very flexible and can even include more than one accounting unit if a department has more than one.
  • Build the budget edits. This can be done one at a time on FB11 or for all edit groups using FB111.  Keep in mind that the company- accounting unit – account combinations can only belong to a single budget edit.

That’s all there is to setting them up.  Now you have control over how you receive over budget messages throughout your system.