March 8, 1999
Distributed August 31, 1999
Revised January 14, 2000
Updated November 2, 2000

John Dudeck, SIM USA. E-Mail:  jdudeck@simcsg.sim.org
Steve Jay, SIM International Systems, E-Mail: steve_jay@csi.com

Welcome to the "Year 2000 Procedures" for working with SIM's Business Package accounting software. Although the Business Package was not originally programmed with the Year 2000 in mind, the problems are not serious, and these procedures should help you get past the turn of the millennium in a simple and straightforward manner.

There are basically two parts to the Year 2000 SIM Business Package workaround.

1. The ROLLOVER

To use the Business Package across the millennium boundary, it is necessary to complete all activities and reporting through December 31, 1999, then run a special procedure called ROLLOVER. After you run this procedure you will not be able to do further reporting for the 1999 part of the fiscal year with correct results, so be sure all reporting is finished before continuing into the year 2000.

What ROLLOVER does is to compute the balance of each account as of 31-Dec-99 and create a special entry in the Year to Date Transaction file dated 00-Jan-00. These entries "roll" the account balances over so that reports will work correctly in the new century.

The Rollover routine also changes all the accounting period dates for the periods that were in 1999 to 00-Jan-00.

Due to the way foreign currency accounts (type VM) work, it is necessary to transfer account balances to a non-VM suspense account before running ROLLOVER, and then transfer them back after.

2. The Y2KYEND

At the end of the fiscal year that ends in the year 2000, the year end closing procedure must be done by a special routine called Y2KYEND. You cannot use the normal year end procedure that is in the Business Package in 2000. After 2000, then the regular year end closing will again work correctly.

Y2KYEND reverses the effects of ROLLOVER on the year-to-date file and on the accounting periods, and then does a year-end closing, taking into proper account the dates when calculating prior year balances for each period.

3. Just a Warning about Dates

There are a few places where the year is displayed with a blank space in place of the leading zero on reports and on the screen. For example "01-Jan-00" is displayed "01-Jan- 0". This minor "cosmetic" problem will continue to occur through the year 2009.

When requesting reports during the 1999 part of the 1999-2000 fiscal year there is a warning message saying that dates are not within the fiscal year.  This message should be ignored.

There is a problem with printing the correct current balance of an account in Journal Inquiry. The option  3. Print Balance does not give correct results during the year 2000. However option  4. Print Transaction Detail gives the correct ending balance.

Remember that you should not request a date span that covers the 1999 portion of the fiscal year. "You must let the 1999 data alone" during the rest of the fiscal year. Once you have run ROLLOVER you cannot get correct account balances for the periods that were rolled over. The balances are still there in the new year so that reporting is correct.  Of course after the 1999-2000 fiscal year is complete, these problems will not recur.

No special installation is required.  The programs may be run from floppy disk, or copied to any directory on your hard drive.

1. Copy to your Hard Disk

Simply copy over the files you need to your hard drive.  If you received the programs in a self-extracting zip file ( busy2k.exe), copy this file to a directory on your hard drive such as the BUSPKG directory, and then to extract the programs go to a DOS prompt or the Windows Run prompt and type the name of the file:

 Busy2k <Enter>             (see Video)

This will copy the following files to the directory on your hard disk:

Files Description Rollov30.dbr, Rollov31.dbr, Rollov40.dbr Rollover Routine (DBL versions 4.30, 4.31 and 4.4x) Runrol30.bat, Runrol31.bat, Runrol40.bat Batch file to run the appropriate Rollover routine Runy2k30.bat, Runy2k31.bat, Runy2k40.bat Batch file to run the appropriate Year 2000 year-end routine Source.zip Program source files in the unlikely event that recompilation is needed Y2000.txt, Y2000.doc Addendum.txt These instructions Y2kyen30.dbr, Y2kyen31.dbr, Y2kyen40.dbr Year End Routine (DBL versions 4.30, 4.31 and 4.4x)

2. Determine Your Version of DBL

The Business Package uses the DBL programming language run time system, of which several versions are in use. Separate versions of the procedures are provided for the different versions of DBL. You must select the correct version for your site before you run them.

How to find out your Version of DBL:

• Go to a DOS prompt (Start | Programs | MS-Dos Prompt).
• Change directory to the location of the DBL directory (i.e. C:\DBL or D:\DBL   See Video ).
• Determine your version by typing the command:  DBL and press <Enter> twice. The version number will be displayed.

Three versions of the routines are provided, for use with DBL versions  4.30, 4.31, and 4.40. (Note: the version for 4.30 will work with 4.21, and the version for 4.40 will work with 4.41. If you have any other version of DBL, please contact John Dudeck, at jdudeck@simcsg.sim.org ).

3. Edit the Batch Files

It is assumed that your Business Package data files are located in the "standard" location on drive C: of your system. If this is not the case, you will need to edit the two DOS Batch files for running the programs,  RUNROLxx.BAT and RUNY2Kxx.BAT (where xx is 30, 31, or 40 according to your version of DBL).   Edit these files to adjust the 'set' commands with the locations of the Business Package files on your system. (See Video).

Most users of the Business Package have fiscal years that run from October to September. These procedures will work correctly for any fiscal calendar, but to avoid confusion we will discuss a January to December calendar separately from other calendars.

A.  Standard Fiscal Year (Oct to Sept) and all fiscal calendars not beginning in January

1. All posting and all reports for the period ending 31-Dec-99 must be completed before running ROLLOVER.
2. Transfer all VM account balances to a suspense account using a transaction date of 31-Dec-99. The account balances as of December 31, 1999 must be zero for all VM accounts.
3. Make sure the accounting periods are correct, i.e. if you have modified the dates, restore them to the true starting and ending dates for the 1999-2000 fiscal year.
4. Run the ROLLOVER program, using the RunRolxx.bat batch file,  before posting activity for 1-Jan-00 and following.   If you have multiple companies, ROLLOVER can be run separately for each company, or it can be run for all companies in one operation.
5. Transfer the account balances back to the VM accounts using a transaction date of 1-Jan-00.
6. When all posting and reports are complete for the 1999-2000 fiscal year, use the Y2KYEND program to perform the year end closing. Do not use the regular general ledger year end program in 2000.  The procedure for using Y2KYEND is identical to the regular year end routine (see the manual).

Or

B.  If your fiscal calendar goes from January to December

1. At the end of the 1999 fiscal year use the regular general ledger year-end routine.
2. Transfer all VM account balances to a suspense account using a transaction date of 31-Dec-99. The account balances as of December 31, 1999 must be zero for all VM accounts.
3. Set the accounting period dates for the year 2000.
4. Run the ROLLOVER program, using the RunRolxx.bat batch file, before posting activity for 1-Jan-00 and following. If you have multiple companies, ROLLOVER can be run separately for each company, or it can be run for all companies in one operation.
5. Transfer the account balances back to the VM accounts using a transaction date of 1-Jan-00.
6. When all posting and reports are complete for the 2000 fiscal year, use the Y2KYEND program to perform the year end closing. Do not use the regular general ledger year end program at the end of 2000. The procedure for using Y2KYEND is identical to the regular year end routine (see the manual).  To run the Y2KYEND routine use the Runy2kxx.bat batch file.

1. First find out your Version of DBL  (See Determine Your Version of DBL above).
2. To run the ROLLOVER program in DOS type the appropriate Batch-file command for your version of DBL:
   
   runrol30 <Enter>
     or
   runrol31 <Enter>
     or
   runrol40 <Enter>
   
   If you have Windows 95, 98 or NT it will be easier to create a shortcut on your desktop for the runrolxx.bat file.  (See Video)  To do this perform the following steps:
• In Windows Explorer locate the RUNROL40.bat file that you edited.
• Right-hand click the mouse on the RUNROL40.bat file and choose the COPY option.
• Close Windows Explorer and on an empty part of the Windows 98 desktop click the right-hand button of the mouse.
• Choose the PASTE SHORTCUT option, and a shortcut icon will be created to run the RUNROL40.bat file.
  
  If you have problems running this new shortcut, right-click the shortcut icon, go to the Memory tab, and change the Initial Environment setting to 1024 or 2048.  (See Video).
   
3. You will first be asked to log into the Business Package. Type in the company number and your user ID. If you do not have a security level of 9, you will not be allowed to run the program.
4. The program then explains its purpose and asks if you are sure you want to run the program. Press 'y' and <Enter>.
5. It then asks if you want to run the program for this company only, or for all companies. To run it for this company press <Enter>. To run it for all  companies on the system, press 'a' and <Enter>.
6. The program will perform the rollover procedure, and exit back to DOS when finished.  (See Video).

1. First find out your Version of DBL  (See Determine Your Version of DBL above).
2. To run the Y2KYEND program in DOS type the appropriate Batch-file command for your version of DBL:
   
   runy2k30 <Enter>
     or
   runy2k31 <Enter>
     or
   runy2k40 <Enter>
   
   If you have Windows 95, 98 or NT it will be easier to create a shortcut on your desktop for the runy2kxx.bat file.  (See Video).
   
   If you have problems running this new shortcut, right-click the shortcut icon, go to the Memory tab, and change the Initial Environment setting to 1024 or 2048.  (See Video).
    
3. You will first be prompted to log into the Business Package. Type in the company number and your user ID. If you do not have a security level of 9, you will not be allowed to run the program.
4. The program displays details on the procedure and asks if you are sure you want to run the program. Press 'y' and <Enter>.
5. It then displays the closing date that will be used for the year end closing procedure. If the date is correct press 'y' and <Enter>.
6. You will then be prompted to enter the account number into which to put the Retained Earnings. Enter the account  number. You will be asked if there is Any Change. Press <Enter>.
7. You will then be prompted to select the printer for printing the list of Deleted Closed Accounts. Select the desired printer and press <Enter>.
8. The program will perform the year end closing procedure, and exit back to DOS when finished.  (See Video).
9. Before you can post the post-closing distributions of retained earnings you must change the starting and ending period dates for the 1999 periods back to 01-Jan-00. This is becuse the Year-End Closing routine changed the dates to the "real" dates for the fiscal year. But this has the effect of preventing the entering of transaction dates in the year 2000, due to the known behavior of the software in the year 2000.