Prior to installing the most current Spire version and converting data, below is a synopsis of what to expect and plan for, when updating from different older major versions, and for features that might require additional learning or need updated business processes. Specific areas of the database may need to be optimized prior to conversion, and other areas may need to be verified or re-created after conversion. Some updates are more significant, with database changes where prior planning and decisions are necessary, or where the software functions differently than before. Other updates are less significant and do not require as much planning, or where new features do not meaningfully affect workflow. Updates are rated as Minor, Moderate or Significant.
Current Spire Version: 3.11.11
Upgrading from Version 3.10
Changes to current version: Significant
- Sales Tax configuration for Inventory items and Levies has changed. Instead of enabling arbitrary taxable statuses, you now set which taxes are exempt. Default Customer and Vendor taxes in Company Settings are used in conversion to determine where exemptions exist. After conversion, you should audit the sales tax exceptions for some inventory items to ensure the expected taxable statuses remain. Product code setup for sales tax exceptions could also be planned for if needed.
- Price levels now support named codes, instead of simple numeric codes. You may wish to plan for giving price levels suitable codes and descriptions for better context in use; if you use the Unit Price drop-down on Sales Order details, the length of the code value will affect how wide the Unit Price column must be to display all information. Also, if you use units of measure in addition to the stocking unit and set specific pricing by unit, the display has changed. These prices are now added and maintained as separate records from those calculated from the stock unit prices.
- Procedures for maintaining inventory price levels has changed, particularly in the area of larger-scale updates. A new import layout for Inventory Sell Levels is useful for updating prices or adding future prices with effective dates.
- For System Admin users, the underlying default for the User Setting to ‘Modify GL Transaction by Default’ is now to have these settings disabled for all modules. New Admin users will have this setting disabled. This might mean that when version 3.11 is implemented, these options for only System Admin users will be disabled, if you have never modified these before. You should audit how these user settings are configured, if you want to have Post and Review GL by default.
- Active Payroll employees must have the new Dental Benefits setting configured before T4 statements can be generated for the 2023 tax year.
Upgrading from Version 3.9
Changes to current version: Minor
All of the above and:
- The company Bank EFT configuration is migrated from Company Settings to the General Ledger Bank Account defined in Special Accounts, for the Consolidated Division if divisions used. You need to determine how to handle EFT format configurations for other divisions associated with this bank account, and if any other EFT formats should be created for other bank accounts or currencies.
- The Account Reconciliation Opening Balance is no longer editable. Ensure any saved reconciliations have the correct value prior to conversion, so that future reconciliations will be able to calculate the Variance correctly and remain reconciled to the bank balance.
Within User Settings for General Ledger, you can Modify Last Statement Balance for a GL Account, if you need to make a correction to the opening balance (3.10.6).
- Microsoft Visual C++ V17 (2022) Runtime is installed, which will likely prompt you to reboot the server when the installation is complete.
- The Export screen from within Report Preview has been changed from the Crystal Reports export types, and legacy File Types were removed that could not allow remembering the save location. Currently supported types are now PDF, Excel, CSV and RTF formats.
Upgrading from Version 3.8
Changes to current version: Moderate
All of the above and:
- SMTP Email configuration is migrated from Company Settings to a new SMTP Backend setup in the Integrations area of Spire Server Administration, which is the recommended place for SMTP configuration. New company databases no longer allow email server setup within Company or User Settings. Multiple SMTP configurations are supported, which could be assigned to various companies.
- All non-Administration users will need to be given permission to Send Email in User Settings.
- A new Keyword “SupportBatchEmail” needs to be added in Crystal Reports that will used for Emailing from a batch.
- Employee Payroll Schedules for 52/53 weekly and 26/27 biweekly pay periods have improved. Verify that converted schedules are correct, and re-create them as required.
- A change to displaying overdue and uncompleted Communication Notes not assigned to any user means that a potentially large volume of old notes may appear in the Due Today window when logging in. To correct this, from the Communications module, multi-select groups of old notes and click the Mark Completed button to set these as completed. You may be able to mark a few hundred or more at a time, depending on server speed. (3.9.1)
Upgrading from Version 3.7 and older
Changes to current version: Significant
All of the above and:
- Database re-organization tasks occur, which can take some time on large databases. During this time, the Spire server will not be accessible.
- Contact Type labels within Company Settings are migrated to central Contact Types list in Company Settings. Ensure all Contact Type labels are appropriate in every area, rather than Contact #1, etc. It is more time consuming to make these changes after data migration as compared to before.
- Spire Desktop did not auto-populate the hostname in this version. The first time you start Spire Desktop after the upgrade install, you may need to manually enter the hostname in order to initiate the Desktop upgrade and start using the current version.