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Isolating a Period in CATS
Isolating a period creates a separate folder of data that preserves the state of the data as of the date of isolation. This allows users to review the accounting, traffic, and invoice information as it was on a specific date. Isolated areas are also essential for closing the accounting year and providing accurate end of month numbers.
A few tips about isolations:
- Typically, isolations are done on a month-end basis. However, you can choose to create periods only for each quarter or even on a weekly basis.
- CATS has room for 18 accounting periods. These periods correspond with the columns on accounting reports.
- Isolations should be done after all traffic data has been entered into the system, but isolating a period should be done as close to the first day of the next month (or period) as possible to get the most accurate traffic data.
How to Isolate a Period
To isolate a period, go to Maintenance > General Maintenance > Account Update > Isolate a Period.
The current list of periods available to isolate is displayed on the right. Select the period to isolate and ensure that, for new isolations, the setup is as shown in the image below.
- Scope of Isolation - Complete
- Create New Iolation
- Overwrite Auxiliary Files - Yes
- Acct/Recalc,Ck Contracts - Yes
- Reindex - No
Then choose F2=Save/Continue to continue.
If there are any pending (unposted) invoices for the current or previous periods, CATS will display a list.
Select HTML > Open in Browser to print the list of invoices or Exit to proceed. []
CATS will ask you if you wish to continue. Select Yes to continue with the isolation process or No to leave the process and either delete or post the invoices.
You will need to choose where to print the isolation progress report. Pick an output to continue.
If you choose Yes, CATS will ask when you want to begin the isolation. Select Start Now to begin the isolation procedure.
As files are copied to the isolation, the progress will be displayed in the upper-right corner of the screen.
When CATS has finished with the isolation, you will see a notification in the top-right of the screen that declares the isolation is finished. To close this message and return to the isolated area, click the mouse or press any keyboard key.
You will now be in the isolated area. You can identify if you are in an isolated area by looking at the message in the top-right of the screen, which identifies the name of the area you are in.
Re-Isolation
Occasionally, you may need to re-isolate a period you have previously captured in an isolation. CATS allows you to do so, with a limited scope.
Updating an Existing Isolation
To pull newly entered transactions with dates from a previous month into an existing isolated area, you must first determine what type of information you wish to capture. Begin the isolation process as described above, but you will need to change the Scope of the isolation.
Options for Scope of the Re-isolation:
- Transaction File Only - Only copy accounting ledger items.
- Futures Trades Only - Only copy futures trades.
- Don't Overwrite Futures - Copy all but futures trades.
- Start With Locations (No copying) - Everything but location information.
- Inventory Transactions - Copy only invoices.
Depending on what you choose, CATS will copy certain files into the isolated area.