Summary

Document syncing is the process of pulling documents into SARA/Sage Network from an external source. These documents can be configured to pull to 1 of 5 locations and typically require the following:

A consistent naming convention
A consistent method of sending documents

Configuration

Summary -

There are 2 places documents can be configured:

(Admin > Settings & Utilities > Site Options > (Options))
(Admin > Master Files > Company)

The configuration on Site Options is the default, overwritten by anything set up on the company level. You will want to use site options if the configuration is going to apply to all companies and use the company option for any companies that may require a different document solution from the one configured on site options OR if using a live API connection.

Site Options -

When configuring a document sync on Site Options, you will follow the following steps:

Navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Site Options > (Options))
Scroll down to the “Upload Documents to Cloud” flag
Check the flag
- This will show a purple “Documents” button
Select the purple “Documents” button
- Note: You may need to scroll up to see the pop-up window after selecting this button
Select “Add new record”
Select the document type from the drop-down menu
Select the purple “Access Credentials” button
Select “Add new record”
Add a generic description in the “Description” field
Select a credential type from the “Credential Type” drop-down menu
Follow the remaining steps highlighted in the credential type hyperlink above
- And don’t forget to select “Save” at the top of the page when done

Company (Not using a live API connection) -

When configuring a document sync on the company level, you will follow the following steps:

Navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Site Options > (Options))
Scroll down to the “Upload Documents to Cloud” flag
Check the flag
Save up top
Navigate to (Admin > Master Files > Company)
Select “Edit” on the desired company
Select the purple “Mail Settings” button
Select “Add new record”
Select the document type from the drop-down menu
Select the purple “Access Credentials:” button
Select “Add new record”
Add a generic description
Select a credential type from the “Credential Type” drop-down menu
- Follow the remaining steps highlighted in the credential type hyperlink above

Company (Using a live API connection) -

When configuring a live API document sync on the company level, you will follow the following steps:

(NOTE: The sync must be configured before this can be completed, this can only pull invoice level documents, and this is only currently available for the following ERPs: P21, Intacct, NetSuite, and Quickbooks Online.)

Navigate to (Admin > Master Files > Company)
Select “Edit” on the desired company
Select the drop-down menu beside the “Online Invoice PDF” option
Select the sync’s access credentials
Save

Types of Document Support

Summary -

There are a total of 5 locations that documents can be inserted into from an external source. Each of these can be seen inside the SARA/Sage Network client and some can be seen within the self-service portal as well.

Invoices -

These are the most common documents we pull and can be seen with the icon on any page that an invoice record can be found (such as (Inquiries > By User > Invoices), (Accounts > Account Overview), and (Inquiries > By Account > Invoices))

Notes:

A icon indicates that no document is currently available for that invoice

Invoice Internal/External -

These documents are available for all invoices and can be accessed with the icon on any page that an invoice record can be found (such as (Inquiries > By User > Invoices), (Accounts > Account Overview), and (Inquiries > By Account > Invoices)) and by selecting the corresponding internal/external subfolder within it.

Notes:

Internal documents cannot be accessed by customers on the self-service portal while external ones can

Customer Internal/External -

These documents are available for any customer record and can be accessed with the “DOCUMENTS” link shown after a customer has been selected or with the purple “Cust Docs” button when creating an activity and by selecting the corresponding internal/external subfolder within them.

Notes:

Internal documents cannot be accessed by customers on the self-service portal while external ones can

Document Sync Methods

Summary -

Documents can be synced in, in a variety of ways. The most COMMON methods are File Location, Email SARA Upload, and API Documents however each has their own nuances. In this section we will cover the basic information on each of these methods, how to complete their configurations (assuming you’ve been following the configuration steps detailed above), basic troubleshooting techniques for each method, and any additional nuances that may be encountered.

File Location -

Summary:

These documents are pulled in with the ERP sync (This works exclusively with PREMISE based syncs, we cannot access these documents with a cloud sync) using a physical file location on a machine that the machine the sync runs on has access to.

Configuration:

(Continuing from the steps listed under configuration)

Select "File Location" from the credential type drop-down
Select "Save"
Check the "Select" checkbox
Select the purple "Select" button
Enter into the "Base Path" field, the directory to the documents from the machine the sync runs on
- Example: if the directory is C:\LockstepDocs from machine 1 but the sync runs on machine 2 and needs to go to machine1:\C:\LockstepDocs, you will need to insert machine1:\C:\LockstepDocs into the base path field.
IF the directory contains specific folders that result in various directories for each document, you can then utilize the "Dynamic Path" field
- Example: If the directory for the sync machine is C:\Documents\LockstepPDFs\[TheCustID] this means that the directory is not the same for every customer/invoice. You would then put C:\Documents\LockstepPDFs\ into the "Base Path" field and then @CustID in the "Dynamic Path" field.
- Note: You can have more than one variable separated by a \ in the Dynamic Path AND all variables seen under the variables section of this document are available to use.
Enter a "Dynamic Name" using the information gathered from the Naming Conventions section of this document

Notes:

If you see a document sync configuration with NO access credentials set, it is defaulting to file location

Troubleshooting:

There are 2 main things to check when troubleshooting file location documents

Is the file in the folder?
Is the file able to be searched/opened?

To check the location the sync is using, navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Logs) then either (Invoice Documents) or (Customer Documents) depending on the document type.

From here the best place to check documents that haven't synced in is the "NotComplete" view and the "LogMessage" field which will display a message that at the end shows the expected file location of the document (as well as the name, but this will be covered more in depth in the next section)

Armed with this knowledge we will need to work with the customer since we cannot access their sync machine to test the two questions above, but can either request they do the following OR we can do so on a screen-share:

Log into the machine the sync runs on
Open a file explorer window ()
Navigate to the directory they have configured in our client (The file location we found in the logs)
Use the "Search" to search for the document specified
If it finds the document, check that we can open it
- If the answer is yes, check the troubleshooting in the naming section
If it DOESN'T find the document, check to see if it can be seen in the folder WITHOUT using the search
- If the answer is YES, then this is likely a permissions issue with the folder and you can modify them by going back a directory (so a folder before the current folder), right clicking on the folder, Selecting "Properties", and selecting the "Security" tab. From here you should be able to check the permissions of the users and to ENSURE that this isn't an issue, you can "Edit", add "Everyone" and give full control.
- If the answer is NO, then the document isn't where it needs to be and we cannot find it. Have them enter the file into this folder and re-run the sync (You may need to re-flag them before the sync runs, follow the steps here)

Altrec Doc Link -

Summary:

This has been deprecated by Epicor and was previously used as a storage for E10, but they have since moved past it and as such, shouldn't be configured on any new accounts.

FTP -

Summary:

FTP functions very similarly to File Location in that it is an external storage location where documents are stored. However UNLIKE file location, it is cloud based and therefore can be used with cloud/online syncs and not just premise based syncs.

Configuration:

(Continuing from the steps listed under configuration)

Select "FTP" from the credential type drop-down
Enter an endpoint URL (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Enter an endpoint Username (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Enter an endpoint Password (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Select "Save"
Check the "Select" checkbox
Select the purple "Select" button
Enter into the "Base Path" field, the directory to the documents
IF the directory contains specific folders that result in various directories for each document, you can then utilize the "Dynamic Path" field
- Example: If the directory is C:\Documents\LockstepPDFs\[TheCustID] this means that the directory is not the same for every customer/invoice. You would then put C:\Documents\LockstepPDFs\ into the "Base Path" field and then @CustID in the "Dynamic Path" field.
- Note: You can have more than one variable separated by a \ in the Dynamic Path AND all variables seen under the variables section of this document are available to use.
Enter a "Dynamic Name" using the information gathered from the Naming Conventions section of this document

Troubleshooting:

There are 3 main things to check when troubleshooting file location documents

Is the file in the FTP location?
Are the username and password correct?
Is there an issue with the document?

To check the location the sync is using, navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Logs) then either (Invoice Documents) or (Customer Documents) depending on the document type.

Armed with this knowledge we will need to work with the customer since we cannot access their storage location to test the 3 questions above, but can either request they do the following OR we can do so on a screen-share:

Have the user log into the FTP site using the credentials we have configured
- If they are unable to, this means we may have an incorrect username or password. If they are able, then this shouldn't be the issue
Navigate to the directory they have configured in our client (The location we found in the logs)
Find the document, check that we can open it
- If the answer is yes, check the troubleshooting in the naming section

Rackspace -

Summary:

Rackspace is a 3rd party storage provider that we integrate with.

Configuration:

(Continuing from the steps listed under configuration)

Select "Rackspace" from the credential type drop-down
Enter a Username (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Enter a Password (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Select "Save"
Check the "Select" checkbox
Select the purple "Select" button
Enter into the "Base Path" field, the directory to the documents (Provided by the customer)
Enter a "Dynamic Name" using the information gathered from the Naming Conventions section of this document

Troubleshooting:

There are 3 main things to check when troubleshooting file location documents

Is the file in Rackspace?
Are the username and password correct?
Is there an issue with the document?

We will need to work with the customer since we cannot access their storage location to test the 3 questions above, but can either request they do the following OR we can do so on a screen-share:

Have the user log into Rackspace using the credentials we have configured
- If they are unable to, this means we may have an incorrect username or password. If they are able, then this shouldn't be the issue
Navigate to the folder they have configured in our client
Find the document, check that we can open it
- If the answer is yes, check the troubleshooting in the naming section

Ssh FTP -

Summary:

Configuration:

(Continuing from the steps listed under configuration)

Select "FTP" from the credential type drop-down
Enter an endpoint URL (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Enter an endpoint Username (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Enter an endpoint Password (To be provided or entered by the customer)
Select "Save"
Check the "Select" checkbox
Select the purple "Select" button
Enter into the "Base Path" field, the directory to the documents
IF the directory contains specific folders that result in various directories for each document, you can then utilize the "Dynamic Path" field
- Example: If the directory is C:\Documents\LockstepPDFs\[TheCustID] this means that the directory is not the same for every customer/invoice. You would then put C:\Documents\LockstepPDFs\ into the "Base Path" field and then @CustID in the "Dynamic Path" field.
- Note: You can have more than one variable separated by a \ in the Dynamic Path AND all variables seen under the variables section of this document are available to use.
Enter a "Dynamic Name" using the information gathered from the Naming Conventions section of this document

Troubleshooting:

There are 3 main things to check when troubleshooting file location documents

Is the file in the FTP location?
Are the username and password correct?
Is there an issue with the document?

To check the location the sync is using, navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Logs) then either (Invoice Documents) or (Customer Documents) depending on the document type.

Have the user log into the FTP site using the credentials we have configured
- If they are unable to, this means we may have an incorrect username or password. If they are able, then this shouldn't be the issue
Navigate to the directory they have configured in our client (The location we found in the logs)
Find the document, check that we can open it
- If the answer is yes, check the troubleshooting in the naming section

SQL Doc Access -

Summary:

One option we have for those using SQL views to pull in their data, is also using a SQL view to pull in their documents. To accomplish this, the customer will need to create another SQL view on their database that links the appropriate invoice keys to a blob column that exists within SQL.

Configuration:

(Continuing from the steps listed under configuration)

Select "SQL Doc Access" from the credential type drop-down

Troubleshooting:

Column type in SQL for blob type, create a view that links the blob column to the invoice ERP key and we can then extract it from SQL.

Manual SARA Upload -

NOTE: This is no longer supported and should not be configured on new accounts, it is included in this section as we have not fully deleted from the client in the event an existing customer still utilizes it but as these documents are not available on the Self-service portal, it has been deprecated.

Additionally, this functions the same as email SARA upload which is expanded further below.

Print from SARA-

Summary:

In some cases customers either don’t have pre-existing documents they wish to use OR don’t wish to import them into our system, but rather re-create them using our report manager (which will not be included in this section). In these cases, we use "Print from ATC" to use reports created by us instead.

Configuration:

(Continuing from the steps listed under configuration)

Select "Print from ATC" from the credential type drop-down
Select "Save"
Check the "Select" checkbox
Select the purple "Select" button
OPTIONAL: Check the "ReUpload On Update" box
- This ensures if any changes are made to the invoice, we automatically re-run the report to reflect these changes
Select "Save"
Scroll up to the "Options" section of the page and set the "Default Invoice" form from the drop-down
OPTIONAL: Select the "Main" tab and set the "Invoice Form" on each company if multiple are needed by company

Troubleshooting:

In the event of there being an issue with docs printed from our system there is only 2 things that can be checked:

Can you modify the report?
Can you run it for preview?

The first thing you need to do is ensure you have the report manager installed (steps to be linked here once I locate good documentation on this) and configured to the appropriate account. You will then launch it by navigating to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Report Manager) and then selecting the report having an issue and verify if you can open it without issue, if so then move on to the next step and if not then escalate to Engineering with this information and any errors received.

If the report can be opened navigate to (Inquiries > By User > Invoices), select the checkbox by any invoice, select "Reports" and select a report to generate for PREVIEW. Success or fail, escalate this up to engineering with the information.

Email SARA Upload -

Summary:

This is the most common method of document support as customers are able to simply email in their documents from any source to pull in.

Note: Once configured, the customer will email their customer key (found on an admin user using the person icon in the top right, selecting "Settings" and the "Account" tab. It is the "License Key" field) @my.anytimecollect.com. (Example a9b56524-a79d-4b8e-be29-fb9613a3a3e4@my.anytimecollect.com)

Configuration:

(Continuing from the steps listed under configuration)

Select "Email ATC Upload" from the credential type drop-down
Select "Save"
Check the "Select" checkbox
Select the purple "Select" button
Enter a "Dynamic Name" using the information gathered from the Naming Conventions section of this document

Troubleshooting:

If the documents aren't coming in, there are a number of things to check with emailed in documents

What is the feature code set to in acct maint?
When was the document sent in?
Does the document have a form tag split?
How large was the email sent in?

Question 1 -

If the feature code is set to 0, move onto question 2. If it is set to 2, then request the email that was sent in with the documents from the customer and move onto questions 3 & 4.

Question 2 -

How long ago was the document sent in? If the customer is on feature code 0, then they may just be being impatient and if it's under 24 hours there's a chance that it is stuck in the queue. Otherwise, request the email that was sent in with the documents from the customer.

Question 3&4 -

At this point we should request the email sent from the customer to troubleshoot. Once received we can verify the following

What is the size of the email (We have a max of 30 MB)
Does the document have a form tag split (If you open the document, you can do a ctrl+f to find "%%", if it does highlight it and it should show you the form tag split)

If it's under the max size and whether it has a form tag split or not, consult the naming convention section for the final troubleshooting tips before escalating up to engineering.

API Documents -

Summary:

For some ERPs (listed below) we are able to configure a live connection to the ERP where we will connect and get the documents directly from it.

Supported ERPs:

Intacct
P21
Netsuite
Quickbooks Online

Configuration:

Use the steps under configuration if using a LIVE connection ONLY. In the event we wish to pull in the documents with the sync and have them stored into blob storage (This would prevent any issues with documents we already pulled if the live API connection were to stop working), you can do the following:

Navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Site Options > (Options))
Check the "Upload Documents to Cloud" flag
Select the purple "Documents" button that appears after the flag is selected
Select "Add new record"
Select the sync's access credentials from the "Access Credentials" drop-down
Select "Save"
Don't forget to save at the top as well

Troubleshooting:

If there is an issue with an API connection, there are 3 things we need to check:

Is the document accessible in the ERP system?
Is the sync running?
Does the API have permissions to the documents?

First thing's first, have the customer verify that the document is accessible in their ERP system to verify that we would also be able to pull it. If the answer is yes, move onto question 2 and if the answer is no then they need to ensure the document is there and works.

Secondly, check and verify the sync is working. Navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Logs > (All)) and verify that the most recent syncs are running without issue. If the answer is no, then the documents can't pull and we will need to troubleshoot the sync using another guide. If the answer is yes, move onto step 3.

Lastly, verify that we have permissions to the documents. This varies by sync and a guide will need to be added for each, but the customer SHOULD have an idea of how to check this if we push them to review and confirm our connection has access to documents.

If all of these come back successfully, escalate to engineering with that information.

Naming conventions

Summary -

The most difficult part of initially configuring document support is getting a consistent naming convention for the documents, however it is very important or else we may end up not pulling in the document as it doesn't match what is expected.

Variables/Snippet Codes -

Summary:

We offer an array of variables that can be used to populate the document name. Rather than hardcoding the invoice number into the field and only being able to select one invoice, we instead pass variables to populate the name with various invoice and customer information.

More information on each of these found below.

Troubleshooting -

Often with several versions of document support, we encounter issues with the name of the document not matching what we are expecting and then not pulling as expected. In these cases, here are some troubleshooting steps to test.

First step is to get the document we're expecting to be in the system
Navigate to (Admin > Settings & Utilities > Logs > (Customer or Invoice logs))
Locate the "LogMessage" field
At the end of the message will display the name anticipated, verify the document matches
If it does and still hasn't pulled with all the previous troubleshooting, escalate to CS Engineering

Available Variables and their Definitions:

When email in, if using hard code underscore, example INV_@TranNo_ this needs to be INV[_]@TranNo[_], the square bracket escapes the underscore forcing it to be a character, otherwise it is treated as a single character wild card. The percent sign can also be escaped in the same manner and represents a multi-character wildcard if not enclosed in brackets, i.e. INV[%]@TranNo[%] treats the % as part of the string in the file name.

***NEW***

@InvShortYear - 2 digit year of invoice transaction date

@ReqTranUDF01 - @ReqTranUDF10 - UDF required to make document file names unique

Note:

TranID = entire invoice column in SARA client
TranNo = only data up to first dash within invoice column in SARA client (some cases it may be the same)

Examples:

Example Data: @Comp= SOA;@CustID = Abbott;@TranID = “0000001235-IN”

Base Path: \\UNC_Path_Name

Dynamic Path: @Comp\@CustID

Dynamic Invoice Name: Invoice\@TranID.pdf

The location of invoice number 0000001235-IN needs to be located in the following path

Invoice: \\UNC_Path_Name\SOA\Abbott\Invoice\”0000001235-IN.pdf”

Another example using the TranUDF10 to store project numbers:

With the following folder structure:

\\... \ Company Folders \ Customer Folders \ Project Folders \AR Invoice\0000001040-IN.pdf

Example of actual folders:

\\...\SOA\ALGAR\GMP2\AR Invoice\0000001040-IN.pdf

Sage 100 paperless office example using module code in InvoiceUDF02:

@NoDashCust_@NoSlashTranUDF02_@TranNo@ERPTranType_@InvYear@InvMMPAD@InvDDPAD_000.pdf