What's new in Zetadocs Expenses August 2020 update

Performance and reliability improvements

This article describes the new features and other improvements in the August 2020 update of the Zetadocs Expenses service.

Changes in this update

Feature enhancements

Improve display time for the status screen

We have improved the display time for the status screen, used by finance processors to manage approved reports.  The improvement is most noticeable on larger systems where it significantly improves usability for this screen.

Reduce sign in time for heavy users

We have improved the startup process for the client app, reducing the time it takes to download the expense data from the server after initial sign in.  The improvement means the app is ready for use more quickly, and is particularly noticeable for users with large numbers of expenses.

We recommend that users do not sign out when closing the client app where possible.  This reduces the time to start the app and gives the best user experience.  Users who need to switch between multiple user accounts can avoid signing out by using a separate Microsoft Edge profile or a different browser for each user account.

Sales tax reclaim for Canadian Business Central systems

The Extension for Business Central now supports sales tax reclaim for the three Canadian provinces where only the federal tax portion can be reclaimed.  This overcomes an issue in the current version of Business Central affecting sales tax rates which have the Expense/Capitalize option set, and is described further in this technote.

This change affects systems using the Extension for Business Central, and requires the extension to be upgraded to the version in this update or a later version.

Quick access to settings help pages

We have added a help link to the settings pages in the Zetadocs Expenses admin site.  This displays detailed information about the features and options available to help configure the system.

Preview features

The following enhancements are enabled on selected accounts only.  This allows channel partners and other users to understand the feature and to give feedback on its implementation before general release.  Please contact Equisys if you wish to use any of these preview features.

Export customization with Business Central

You can now customize the export process by writing a custom extension in Business Central.  Resellers and advanced users can enhance the standard functionality simply, modifying the purchase invoice or journal entries which are created when exporting reports. 

Custom extensions are developed using standard Microsoft development tools, and can use a range of events and helper functions included in the rich Application Programming Interface (API).

This feature requires the Zetadocs Expenses Plus edition, and is supported on Business Central systems using the Extension for Business Central.  It requires the extension to be upgraded to the version in this update or a later version.

Improvements for company payment cards

We have made a series of improvements to payment cards to improve usability.  These include new options to view payment transactions in the client when creating new expenses, and a new workflow so card and cash expenses are more similar for the submitter.

We have also added new card settings to give processors more control of the reconciliation process, so the process is more intuitive for the finance processor and cardholder.

Quality and performance improvements

This update includes a number of quality and performance improvements, including the following:

Improve reliability of the email-in service

We have made improvements to the email-in service to correct an intermittent issue which required us to make the email-in service unavailable on two occasions in the last month. 

The issue caused the sales tax rate on expenses to be set incorrectly in some circumstances, and prevented users from viewing or submitting any affected expenses until they had been corrected by Equisys.

Improve protection for the OData reporting service

We have improved the security of the OData reporting service, adding an additional security layer to check all expense data before returning it to the caller.  This protects against faults elsewhere in the system resulting in incorrect data being supplied, and now matches the security behavior used with the client app.

Use of Business Central tax liable fields

We have improved the way that the purchase invoice tax fields are set when exporting reports to Business Central.  If the Zetadocs Expenses account is configured to reclaim sales tax then the Business Central extension now sets the Tax Liable field in the purchase invoice header record, rather than setting it on individual purchase invoice lines as before. 

This makes the export behavior simpler to understand.  It also matches the behavior of the Business Central client more closely which reduces the risk of compatibility issues with future versions of Business Central or custom extensions.

This change affects systems using the Extension for Business Central, and requires the extension to be upgraded to the version in this update or a later version.

Additional upgrade steps

Extension for Business Central

Customers using the extension with a Business Central public cloud system should update this from Microsoft AppSource.  Updates are typically published on AppSource within ten working days of release for systems using the current version of Business Central.  Updates for older versions of Business Central may also be available, depending on the Microsoft support and update policy at the time of release.  You can check whether the update is available for your system by comparing the AppSource version number with the version number listed above.

Customers using the extension with a Business Central on-premises system can download the extension from the Equisys software updates page.

To upgrade from an older version of the extension please contact your Business Central reseller, or contact Equisys for further assistance if required.

This release is compatible with previous versions of the Extension for Business Central.

Connector for NAV

Customers using the Connector for NAV with a Business Central or NAV on-premises system can download the connector from the Equisys software updates page.

To upgrade from an older version of the connector, follow the instructions in this technote.  Please contact Equisys for further assistance if required.

This release is compatible with previous versions of the connector (versions 3.3.18178 and later).

Reporting Template

There is no update to the PowerBI reporting template with this release.

Mobile apps

Installed mobile apps will be updated automatically on mobile devices where this is enabled.