We have heard about the new Acumatica 2017 R2 release, but I am looking forward to test driving it myself soon. You can look at a picture of a car, but when you sit in it and drive it, then you really know what it is all about.

Based on what I saw at the Acumatica 2017 R2 launch event in Boston, there are several things I am excited about.

1)  Dashboards

One thing I love about working with Acumatica is that when we give product feedback, I know they are listening. We made the suggestion, “It would be great to have some of the dashboards that we have in the demo be available upon implementation. Then we could immediately provide those dashboards to the client, without having to actually create them.” Sure enough, they listened and in the 2017 R2 release they delivered dashboards for each of the major modules.

2)  Choice of User Interface

This release has a new user interface, but I like that you can literally toggle between the classic interface that you are used to and the new interface. It is nice to have that choice. It is great when you see that Acumatica is trying to increase the usability of the product and give the users choices.

3)  Embedded Manufacturing

Acumatica announced that JAAS Advanced Manufacturing Software (JAMS) is going to be part of Acumatica as opposed to an outside ISV product. It’s going to be directly OEM’d by Acumatica. The fact that it is now part of the manufacturing edition, makes it easier for customers to use it. Acumatica people will be supporting on it, and training on it, so it just becomes part of the family. I think it is a great addition to the Acumatica offerings.

4)  Project Accounting

There were a number of improvements in all of the modules, especially Project Accounting. It is now simplified and more user-friendly.

For example, if you need a high level of control or flexibility for cost allocations, you still have it, but if you don’t need it, you are no longer required to use it. So, they’ve made it more usable by making it capable of working in simpler project situations, but yet still preserving the ability to go into more complicated projects and use sophisticated allocation models if needed.

You can now create a pro forma project invoice that can be reviewed with a client before posting it. In cases where you need to present the invoice to the client and then possibly make some adjustments, with this pro forma invoice, you don’t have to commit to project costs, or in this case the project revenues, and then later have to make adjustments to pad those out. Now you can present the invoice to the client and if there is an adjustment that needs to be made, it can be made.

They also took out some of the steps required to process the invoice and post it to the general ledger. They have streamlined that so that fewer steps are required.

5)  REST API 2.0

Acumatica has made the system more programmer-friendly and flexible in terms of interfacing with other systems. It is called REST API 2.0 standards.  You get much easier access to the interface layer. Previously, before the 2.0 standard, you needed to understand the structure itself before you could really make any headway in terms of being able to connect to that web application.

These are the five points that stood out in my mind after the Acumatica 2017 R2 launch. Acumatica outlined the benefits of the new release in more detail here.

My team and I are looking forward to taking Acumatica 2017 R2 out for a spin and sharing it with our customers.

If you are interested in evaluating Acumatica Cloud ERP, contact CAL Business Solutions. 860-485-0910 x4 or sales@calszone.com.

By George Mackiewicz, Acumatica and Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner, www.calszone.com/acumatica