2024.1 release notes
The MYOB Greentree 2024.1 release improves emailing, the query designer, job purchase orders and account group maintenance, as well as making some options more inclusive and gender-neutral.
To improve security, Greentree now uses more modern Microsoft Excel file formats. The eModules password settings are also more strict.
We've also addressed a range of issues identified in previous versions.
New features
Ensuring email addresses are correct
To make emailing a smoother experience with fewer errors, we’ve improved how Greentree validates that email addresses are correct. This applies to all fields where users enter an email, including invoice recipients, email pay slips, etc., as well as on the Add to Email Queue form.
You can enable this improved validation on the Email tab of the General System Preferences form. The new Address validation field has three options:
None – Greentree won’t validate email addresses. This option means users can enter anything into email address fields, just like in versions before 2024.1.
Warning – If users enter an email address with the incorrect format, they get a warning but can still save the record.
Error – If users enter an email address with the incorrect format, they can’t save the record.
If you choose Warning or Error, you can define the correct format by using the new Regular expression field.
Query Designer improvements
These improvements make the query designer better for everything from monthly reporting to data analysis.
Custom elements for data views
Custom elements give you more insight into your data, saving you the time and effort you’d previously spend working on data in other software like Microsoft Excel.
On the View Builder form, we’ve added a new Custom Elements section to the panel on the right. Click Add and choose which type of custom element you want to create: Constant, Calculation or Conditional.
After creating a custom element, you can drag and drop it into position in the Data View tab. The custom element will be included as an extra column when you run a query using that data view.
To remove a custom element, drag it back out of the Data View tab.
A constant is a piece of text that doesn’t change regardless of what data is in the query.
Go to the View Builder form.
In the Custom Elements section, click Add and choose Constant.
Enter a Name. This is used for the column heading when the constant is added to a query.
Enter a Value. This is what appears in each row of the column.
For example, in the following query preview, the Example name column was adding using a constant.
You create calculations using default data elements.
You can do simple calculations like, for example, subtracting a number from an element.
Or you can do more complex calculations using multiple elements. For example, if you want to analyse sales data, you could calculate the profit for each sale by subtracting the cost from the revenue.
The following steps give an example of a calculation that subtracts a percentage from a unit price.
Go to the View Builder form (System > Utilities > Query Designer > View Builder).
In the Custom Elements section, click Add and choose Calculation.
In the Calculation window, enter a Name. This is used for the column heading when the calculation is added to a query.
Drag an element from the Data Elements panel and drop it on the R1 row.
Click the plus icon to add another row.
In the R2 row, drag and drop a second element.
To subtract the first row from the second row, drag R1 to the number field in the second row.
A conditional displays different values based on certain conditions. For example, if you wanted to analyse sales data, you could create a conditional that labels data as “Q1 Sales” if it falls between certain dates.
In the Conditional window, enter a Name. This is used for the column heading when the conditional is added to a query.
The Type field lets you choose what sort of information you want to appear in the conditional column of a query:
String is a piece of text. E.g., Q1 Sales.
Decimal is a number. E.g., 100.
In the Then field, enter what appears when the condition is met. In the Else field, enter what appears when the condition isn’t met.
Clicking the When field opens the Filter window. This is where you define the condition. Drag elements from the Data elements panel and drop them in the empty field, then start defining the condition.
For more options when defining a condition, click the AND dropdown.
Running and scheduling multiple queries
An extract is a new way to run multiple queries and data views at the same time.
On the new Extract Configuration form, you can define and run extracts. You can even schedule an extract to run later – for example, at the end of the month when you’d normally do your reporting. If you have multiple companies, you can run an extract for each of them simultaneously.
Importing and exporting extracts lets you use them on different Greentree systems without having to define them again for each system. Importing an extract automatically imports all the views and queries related to the original extract configuration.
Go to the Extract Configuration form (System > Utilities > Query Designer > Extract Management).
Give the extract a Code and a Name.
On the Views tab, enter the views and queries you want to include when you run the extract.
Go to the Run Extracts tab.
Complete the Output File Definition section:
Save Path – Enter the location on your computer where you want the extract files to be saved.
File Mask – This field lets you select variables that will be used to name extract files. Click the three dots icon to open a window with a list of variables.
File Type – Select a file type to use for the extract file.
Limit output to first – If you want to run a test of your extract, select the checkbox and enter a number in the field. That way, your extract will only output a small number of results, which is faster than outputting all of the data.
In the Companies section, select at least one company to run the extract for. If you select multiple companies, an extract file will be created for each one.
Save your changes.
After you’ve defined an extract, you can either run it straight away or schedule it to run automatically later.
Go to the Run Extracts tab of the Extract Configuration form (System > Utilities > Query Designer > Extract Management).
In the Name or Code field, select the extract you want to run.
If you want to run the extract:
straight away, click Run Now.
later, click Schedule. The Add to Task/Print Queue window opens, where you can choose when to run the extract.
While the extract task is running, the ‘Limit query designer to current company only’ option on the General System Preferences form is automatically enabled. When the task completes, it will be restored to its original setting. Users who run a manual query during the time that the task is running will only get results for their current company.
When the extract finishes running, you’ll get a notification.
You can export extracts from one Greentree system and then import them into another system.
We do not recommend exporting or importing extracts if the data views include UDFs or trees. Unless the UDFs in the target system are identical to the UDFs from the source system, you will get a 1090 error when importing.
You shouldn’t include trees in an extract that you want to export or import, as this isn’t supported in 2024.1.
To avoid the error, you can import the extract, then add the necessary trees and UDFs from the target system into the data views – before running or previewing the output data.
In the Greentree system that has the extract you want, go to the Extract Configuration form (System > Utilities > Query Designer > Extract Management).
In the Code or Name field, select the extract you need.
On the form toolbar, click the export icon to save the extract to your computer.
In the Greentree system you’re importing to, go to the Extract Configuration form.
On the form toolbar, click the import icon and select the extract you copied.
Repairing job purchase orders
In version 2023.3, we resolved an issue with job purchase orders. If you changed a purchase order job line to a different job, the purchase order wouldn't appear on the Transactions > Purchase Orders subtab of the Job Maintenance form. This prevented the issue for new transactions.
In version 2024.1, we've added a system script that lets you repair jobs previously affected by the problem: Repair collections of Purchase Orders on a Job. You can find this script on the System Scripts form, in the Purchase Orders section of the Standard Scripts.
Account Group Maintenance improvements
We've updated the Account Group Maintenance form to make it easier to use and to resolve issues and errors that could occur. We've made two main changes.
Saving and deleting is more consistent
We've removed the Delete and Update buttons at the bottom of the form. Now:
To apply your changes, click the Save icon on the form toolbar.
To delete tree branches in the Existing panel, you can either select a branch and click the Delete icon on the toolbar, or right-click and choose Delete Item.
Adding new branches is simpler
When you add a new branch to the Existing panel, a new, simpler Add GL Account Security window opens. In this window, you can add basic details (code, description, parent). After clicking OK, you can add the remaining details in the main Account Group Maintenance form.
Modern file formats for improved security
To protect the data in your company’s Microsoft Excel files, you can now use more modern, secure file formats to output reports and clever tables.
On the Main tab of the General System Preferences form, selecting the Use XLSX format for Excel output checkbox. This means the XLSX file format (instead of the older, less secure XML format) will be used for all reports, extracts from tables, Explorer, STP lodgement preview and review, and WebView online enquiries.
Update your FREE add-ins
As part of this change, we’ve also updated FREE add-ins to use the more modern XLAM format instead of the older XLA format. You or your MYOB Partner need to do some manual steps to finalise these changes.
eModules password security improvements
You can no longer request password and email changes from eModule login pages.
We've also removed the Allow auto emailing of forgotten passwords settings from the Main tab of the eModule Control and eHR Module Control forms.
On the eModule Control and eHR Module Control forms, the Administrator email address fields is now optional.
If an administrator email address has been entered, users can email the administrator by clicking a link on the eModule login pages.
Deleting attachments on read-only records
You can now delete attachments on read-only records. To enable this, select the Can delete on read only field on the Privileges tab of the CRM Preferences or Workflow Preferences forms.
More inclusive language for personal titles
We’ve added a gender-neutral personal title: Mx. Previously, most personal titles for employees or contacts were gendered, for example, Mrs and Mr.
Also, you can now use any title for any gender.
If you need to add new personal titles, you can use the new Personal Title Maintenance form in the System > System Setup menu.
Other improvements
In workflow desktops, we’ve improved the performance of Finance Totals panels.
(Australia only) On the Protected Earnings tab of the HR Module Control form, we’ve added a new line with an effective date of 01/01/2024 and an amount of $514.50.
You can now enter an SMS of any length on the Send SMS form. Previously, there was a 160-character limit.
We’ve updated Greentree’s end user licence agreement.
Approvals and alerts (A&A) rules can now determine when a rule task has been added, changed, or removed. This allows changes to A&A rules to be controlled by an A&A rule, preventing unintentional changes, for example.
A new system script lets you check that sales order line item statuses are correct and consistent with sales order headers. The script is called Check and update order line and header status.