User:AS Borenstein

NewViews is accounting software that is developed and distributed by Q.W.Page Associates Inc., a privately held company based in Markham, Ontario, Canada. NewViews is noted for its integrated, non-modular approach, which enables the total financial cycle to be updated instantly as each transaction is added. It also provides an environment that allows users to customize nearly every aspect of a set of books, providing greater reporting flexibility for those who feel constrained by the traditional accounting models used in many small business accounting products. This flexibility comes with a trade-off, however, as NewViews is perceived to have a long learning curve, and to require an investment of time and effort to create a customized accounting solution. In a software review published in InfoWorld, NewViews was compared to "going to a tailor and handing him a bolt of cloth and a pair of scissors. The result will suit you perfectly, but at a greater cost of time and effort than if it was ready-made."

History
NewViews was first launched in Canada in September 1985 at the Toronto International Software Show. In November 1986, shortly after its U.S. launch, NewViews was awarded PC Magazine’s Award for Technical Excellence at Comdex in Las Vegas. The award was presented with the following citation:

“Nothing is as boring as accounting software – unless it’s done right. And NewViews is a totally fresh approach to accounting. Its authors took the best from the fertile field of personal computing and adopted features from word processors, spreadsheets, and database programs to create a thoroughly modern approach to the traditional problems of accounting.”

NewViews was considered a radical departure from other accounting software programs. It was described by some as revolutionary, by others as making the dry business of accounting exciting and fun. It dispensed with separate modules (e.g. accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, etc.) and organized accounting documents into an integrated hierarchical structure that was updated in real-time. It also allowed users to view and edit accounting documents in much the same way they could view and edit data on a spreadsheet.

After a lengthy delay, the multi-user version of NewViews (NewViews 2) was released for Microsoft Windows in 2005.

General Structure and Approach
The current NewViews interface is modeled on Windows Explorer. Accounting data in a set of books is organized in a tree or hierarchical structure called the NewViews Database Explorer. The Database Explorer is used to navigate between four main levels of detail: reports, accounts, transactions and distributions.

NewViews does not rely on accounting modules, as is typical of other accounting software programs. Instead, reporting structure is controlled by the way accounts are totalled on reports (referred to as report arithmetic). An account can total to another account on the same report, or to an account on any other report. The ability to total an account on one report to an account on another report is the foundation of integration in NewViews. For example, the change to retained earnings on the income statement can be totalled to the retained earnings on the balance sheet to reflect this relationship. Total amounts from subsidiary ledgers and schedules can also be totalled directly to controlling accounts on financial statements or other subsidiary reports. In this way, NewViews can be set up to accommodate standard subsidiary ledgers (e.g. accounts payable, accounts receivable, inventory, etc.) as well as highly customized reports that are specific to user needs (e.g. reports required for fund accounting in not-for-profit agencies).

Transactions can be added through journals, or directly to account ledgers. When transactions are added directly to account ledger, corresponding journal entry is created automatically. Account totals are updated instantaneously as each transaction is entered, modified or deleted. As each account total is updated, the change ripples forward through the report arithmetic. In this way, the entire set of books is updated in real-time. Historical data for all accounts are retained indefinitely, and can be viewed on a yearly, monthly, quarterly, biweekly, weekly or daily basis.

All changes to a set of books are recorded in an audit trail that is stored within the database; it can be viewed by users with access rights but cannot be modified.

NewViews Does Not Close the Books
Historically, accounting systems separate accounts into two categories: perpetual (i.e. accounts on the balance sheet and supporting schedules) and periodic (i.e. accounts on the income statement and supporting schedules). Typically, periodic accounts are set to zero at the end of the fiscal year, and a balancing entry is posted to a perpetual account on the balance sheet. The rationale behind this activity is to reflect the net results of operations (profit and loss) on the balance sheet for the fiscal year.

In contrast, 'NewViews tracks transaction activity for each account in real-time. An account's ledger balance can be set as perpetual, periodic or opening in order to retain their history and the books are never closed. Users can set specific date ranges on the History View of reports in order to obtain snapshots of the accounting activity for any given period.

Payroll
The ability to process Canadian and United States payroll is fully integrated into NewViews, and both can be used in the same set of books at the same time. NewViews payroll supports an unlimited number of employees, and unlimited earnings and deduction categories. Payroll transactions (paychecks/time-cards) and item details of each transaction are treated as standard debits and credits. Direct deposit and electronic filing have been available since release 2.06 December 2005.

Multi-user
Multi-user communication is through TCP/IP, therefore no proprietary server hardware or software is required. Any computer can function as a NewViews server or workstation as long as it has access to a local area network and/or the internet. A server is simply the NewViews program configered to run as a server and offer access to one or more sets of books. Both workstation and server functionality are included with each NewViews license. Any number of users can work in the same set of books simultaneously; accounts and reports are updated in real-time, even when the books are being accessed remotely.

NewViews and Not-for-Profit Organizations
The flexibile setup that characterizes NewViews enables not-for-profit organizations to create the highly customized reports required for fund accounting. Donald Bogue of the Social Development Center wrote "Accounting for governmental and nonprofit organizations represents one of the biggest unsolved problems of microcomputer applications. Almost all of the accounting software that has been written is oriented toward profit-making enterprises. Instead of such an orientation, nonprofit organizations need what is sometimes called "fund accounting". The organization receives its revenue from grants and/or government budgetary awards received at comparatively infrequent intervals. These awards much be accounted for, with separate reports to each source of funding. With NewViews, agreed upon reporting can be planned and programmed before the first transaction is made, with the capability of products reports at any time, even on very short notice."