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Set Up User Defined Fields - Setup Tab

Access this tab with Administrative user rights using Organization>Set Up User Defined Fields. This requires exclusive access to the organization and system databases.

Use this tab to set up fields based on A/R invoices, A/R invoices detail, charge codes, customers, employees, {segment codes}, purchase orders, and vendors. To set up transaction document and transaction line records, use this tab along with the Transaction Sources tab.

Note: User defined fields can have an effect on performance, especially while posting, loading documents, running reports, and filtering. Carefully consider creating user defined fields, because the more you create, the longer the processing times throughout the system.

User defined fields can be grouped into three general categories: Master, Transaction Document, and Transaction Line/Detail records.

Master records include user defined fields for maintenance or setup-type data, which is generally entered within the Maintain or Activities menus. If a master level field is created, a User Defined Fields tab will be added to the form in the system. You can connect the user defined field type of Charge Codes, Customers, and Vendors to certain Transaction Document and Transaction Line level records.
Transaction Document records include user defined fields for transaction entry documents. If a document level field is created, a User Defined Fields tab is added to the Transaction Entry form. You can connect the user defined field type of Transaction Document to certain Transaction Line level records.
Transaction Line/Detail records include user defined fields for transaction line items. If a transaction line level field is created, new columns are added to the existing transaction entry table. You cannot connect this type with any other field.

Note: You can create up to 100 user defined fields with the Vendors, Customers, Segment Codes, Charge Codes, Employees, and Purchase Orders (Master) record types. Additionally, you can create up to 20 fields with the Transaction Document record type, and another 20 fields with the Transaction Line/Detail record type.

If you own the MIP Advance system and get the message that you do not have exclusive access, be sure to review the System>Manage Concurrent Users and System>Manage Services forms; sending emails to the users accessing the system and explaining the need for exclusive access, remind them to save their changes and log out of the system quickly. Afterwards, if you still need to establish exclusive system access, open System>Manage Services. Click the Set Maintenance Mode button and set the organization and system databases offline. This will set the system into maintenance mode and prevent others from logging on to the system but it will also kick the logged on user's out of their databases; thus losing any unsaved work. Once the User Defined Field is created, you will need to clear these check boxes on the Set Maintenance Mode form and place the organization and system databases back online.

Type: Select one of the following record types in which to apply user defined fields:

A/R Invoices: Adds user defined fields to the Activities>Accounts Receivable>Review/Modify Invoices>User Defined Fields tab. The Accounts Receivable module must be installed.
A/R Invoices Detail: Adds user defined fields to the Activities>Accounts Receivable>Review/Modify Invoices table. The Accounts Receivable module must be installed.
Assets: Adds user defined fields to the Maintain>Fixed Assets>Assets>User Defined Fields tab. The Fixed Assets module must be installed.
Charge Codes: Adds user defined fields to the Maintain>Accounts Receivable>Charge Codes>User Defined Fields tab. The Accounts Receivable module must be installed.
Customers: Adds user defined fields to the Maintain>Accounts Receivable>Customers>User Defined Fields tab. The Accounts Receivable module must be installed.
Employees: Adds user defined fields to the Maintain>Payroll>Employee Information>User Defined Fields tab. The Payroll module must be installed.
{Segment Codes}: Adds user defined fields to the Maintain>Chart of Accounts Codes>User Defined Fields tab. These fields can be assigned for all segments and segment types.
Purchase Orders: Adds user defined fields to the Activities>Purchase Orders>Create/Modify Purchase Orders>User Defined Fields tab. The Purchase Orders module must be installed.
Transaction Documents: Adds the User Defined Fields tab to any of the forms listed on the Transaction Sources tab. Select the appropriate form using the Transaction Sources tab.
Transaction Lines: Adds user defined fields as columns to any of the forms listed on the Transaction Sources tab. Select the appropriate forms using the Transaction Sources tab.
Vendors: Adds user defined fields to the Maintain>Accounts Payable>Vendors>User Defined Fields tab. The Accounts Payable module must be installed.

Field Name: Enter a name for the user defined field. This name is associated with the actual data, not the Display Name in the system. Note that we recommend limiting your field name to strictly alphabetic (A through Z) or numeric characters (0 through 9). You cannot add spaces, but you can change the Display Name for the field.

Description: Enter a description for the field. The description is not available as a column on reports.

Field Characteristics: The following is a list of characteristics that can be assigned to the user defined field:

Display Name: Enter or edit the name of the field. It appears on the designated form in the system and on reports.
Required: Select this check box to require the user to enter a value for the user defined field.
Field Type: Select a type to use for the user defined field, and then the system display its description. We recommend using a string instead of a number when setting up numeric codes. When the system compresses data, numeric fields are totaled.

Consider the following when selecting a Field Type for a user defined field: The String, Editable Drop-Down List, and Non-Editable Drop-Down List field types are only available (in the Items by Page group box and the Filter tab) on selected reports. The Date and Yes/No field types are only available in the Content and Filter tabs of selected reports. The Number and Currency field types are only available (in the Report Body group box and the Filter tab) on selected reports.

Field Type	Description
Currency	Enter a currency amount in the organization's functional currency, e.g., $0,000.00. User defined fields with a Field Type of Currency will be formatted in the organization's functional currency.
Date	Enter a short date (mm/dd/yy)
Editable Drop-Down List	Enter new data.
Non-Editable Drop-Down List	Select from a drop-down list, which must be set up in the User Defined Fields Setup Table (below).
Number	Enter a number with or without decimals.
String	Enter text.
Yes/No	Select or clear a check box.

Shared List Type: Select an existing non-editable drop-down list to share with the user defined field. For example, if you have a Customer Type UDF, Customers appear in this list, and so on for every possible Type—A/R Invoices, A/R Invoices Detail, Charge Codes, Customers, Employees, {Segment Codes}, Purchase Orders, Transaction Documents, Transaction Lines, and Vendors. This eliminates the need to create new non-editable drop-down lists for every UDF you add, and share what was originally created for another UDF.
Shared List Field Name: If an existing type was selected for re-use in the Shared List Type box, the system displays all existing Field Names for that Shared List Type. This allows you to specify an existing shared list. For example, if you selected Purchase Orders as the Shared List Type, and you had existing purchase order fields of "Authorized By" and "Date," those two fields would be available in this drop-down list.
Length: Enter a number between 1 and 255 which represents the maximum number of characters allowed in the field. This box is only available if Editable Drop-Down List, Non-Editable Drop-Down List, or String was selected as the field type.
Decimal Places: Enter the number of decimal places (up to five) for the field. This box is only available if Number was selected as the field type.
Default: Enter a value to be used as the default when the user defined field is displayed in the system (such as 03/17/15 for date, 1,234.56 for currency, or 1,234.5 for number). When you add a default value to a user defined field, this value displays on new entries, not existing ones. This box is not available for the Non-Editable Drop-Down List Field Type.

User Defined Fields Setup Table: Enter codes and their values for user defined fields that have a Field Type of Non-Editable Drop-Down List.

Code: The code you want to create for the user defined field. It displays in the drop-down list of the field. Once a code has been used in the system, you cannot remove it. However, you can mark it as Discontinued.
Description: A description of the code.
Default: This check box indicates which code to use as the default code.
Status: The status of the code: Active (A), Inactive (I), or Discontinued (D).

To print data entered on this form, use Reports>Lists>User Defined Fields List.
If you create two user defined fields with a type of Number and a transaction source of BD, and assign one or both of them a default value, when the budget worksheet (containing one of the UDFs) is transferred (Activities>Budget Worksheet), the system also includes the default value of the second UDF.
If you have a Transaction Document or Transaction Line type user defined field, and the document is reversed or voided, the Number field type receives the opposite sign of the original amount. Consider this when assigning the Number field type to user defined fields.
If you want data from a user defined field name to flow to another user defined field (a master level record, transaction document level record, and/or transaction line/detail level record), ensure that a UDF with the same name is created at each level. This UDF must also have the same number of decimal places and the same field type, such as string to string, date to date, and number to number. Then, you can use Organization>Set Up UDF Default Sources to "connect" the UDF, so that the UDF flows through each level.
User defined fields are automatically applied to accounts payable (APV) and general ledger (VCK) void checks (Activities>Check Writing>Void Checks/Vouchers/Invoices).
We recommend that you use Number field types for tracking items such as Units; and String, Editable Drop-Down List, or Non-Editable Drop-Down List field types for tracking items such as Contract Numbers.
The functional currency was determined by the Administrator when the organization was created (File>New Organization>Functional Currency panel).