Q - What is Xact Link for ACT?
A - Xact Link for ACT (Works with MYOB Accounting products) is an add-on for the popular ACT contact management system; the Link is developed by Xact Software Solutions.

Q - What does the link do?
A - The link connects ACT with your MYOB accounting product, by doing so it provides the ability to create MYOB Accounting Customer Records from ACT in addition to exposing some of MYOB accounting software functions to ACT.

Q - What is the goal behind linking ACT with MYOB accounting products?
A- The concept is to enable sales and other 'customer facing' staff to be more efficient in their job by having access to accounting information and being able to create invoices etc. Access to information such as 30, 60, 90 day receivables that would be otherwise inaccessible to them. In doing so, 'front-office' staff are able to access information directly within ACT!, from the customers record, leaving accounting staff free to do their work unhindered by front office enquries. Because sales staff have this information available they are much more likely to check customer account status before extending further credit.

Q - What features does the link provide?
A - The link adds the following features to ACT:

• Create MYOB Accounting customer records from ACT
• Link any existing contact record in ACT to an MYOB accounting customer card
• View the Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices and Aged receivables for MYOB accounting customers in ACT.
• Create MYOB accounting Quotes, Sales Orders and invoices from within ACT
• Update the details of Customer Cards in your MYOB accounting product from within ACT
• Import / Export customer and contact records from / to MYOB & ACT

Q - How does the link work?
A - Once installed the Link adds a new Tab to the ACT contact detail screen, it also adds a new Menu item under the ACT Tools menu.

Compatibility:

Q - Which versions of ACT is the link compatible with?
A -The Link is compatible with the following version of ACT:

• ACT 9
• ACT 10
• ACT 11
• ACT 2010 *New

Q - Is the link compatible with both the standard and the premium versions of ACT?
A - Yes the link is compatible with both the premium and the standard versions of ACT

Q - Does the link work with ACT premium for Web?
A - The link can be installed under ACT premium for Web but it will only work within the Desktop interface

Q - Which versions of the MYOB accounting products software are compatible with the Link?
A - The link is compatible with the following versions of the MYOB accounting products:

• MYOB Accounting 17,18, 18.5
• MYOB Accounting Plus 17,18, 18.5
• MYOB Premier 11 , 12, 12.5
• MYOB Premier Enterprise 5,6, 6.5

Q - Is the link compatible with windows vista and 64 bit operating systems?
A - Yes the link is compatible with windows vista and 64 bit operating systems, however some versions of ACT may not be.

Q - is the link compatible with the Australian version of MYOB accounting products?
A - the link is compatible with both the New Zealand and the Australian versions of the MYOB accounting products.

Prerequisites

Q - What are the prerequisites for running the link?
A - The following is a list of software and software components that need to be in place before you can successfully install and use the link:

• A supported version of ACT is installed and working with no issues
• A supported version of MYOB accounting software is installed and working with no issues
• Both installation of ACT and the MYOB software have the latest patches applied
• Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1 (optional but highly recommended)
• A supported version of the MYOB ODBC Write Back Drivers is installed.

Q - What are the MYOB ODBC Write back drivers?
A - the MYOB ODBC write back drivers are software components which allow 3rd party applications (e.g. the Link) to connect to MYOB accounting products.

Q - Are the MYOB ODBC drivers installed by default?
A - If you are running the 2008 line of the MYOB accounting products (Accounting 18, Accounting plus 18, Premier 12, Premier Enterprise 6) then you should have the Write back drivers installed already. For the 2007 line of MYOB products you may need to install these drivers separately.

Q - I don't have the drivers installed, where can download them from?
A - If you don't have these drivers installed already then feel free to contact us or your MYOB product consultant and we will provide you with a link to download the correct drivers for your MYOB accounting product.

Installation:

Q- How do I install the link?
A - Installation is simple; all you need to do is to un-zip the software package and run the Setup.exe file, simply follow the installation instructions and make sure that the link is installed to the right directory.

Q - Can I have ACT running while installing the link?
A - it is strongly recommended that neither ACT nor your MYOB accounting software are running when installing the link.

Q - Where should the link be installed?
A - The installation directory is the Plugins sub directory which can be found under the ACT for windows or ACT for Web Folders. The default path for these folders is:

• C:\Program Files\ACT\ACT For Windows\Plugins\
• C:\Program Files\ACT\ACT For Web\Plugins\

Q - Do I need to be an administrator when installing the link?
A - Yes you need to be logged on as an administrator when installing the link

Q - Can I install the link without having ACT on my machine?
A - Since the link is an integrated Add-on for ACT you must have a compatible version of ACT installed and running in order to use the link.

Configuration

Q - I have installed the link, how do I configure it to work with my MYOB accounting software?
A - Provided the installation was complete and your system meets the prerequisites the link will prompt you to configure its settings the first time you start up ACT.

You can also access the configuration screen from ACT by going through Tools >> Xact Link for Act (Xact Link M)

Q - What do I need to fill in the configuration screen to get the link to work?
A - You need to supply the following:

• A valid logon and password for your MYOB software
• The path to your MYOB company data file
• The path to your MYOB product executable (.exe)

Q - How do I setup the Xact Link to Link an ACT contact record with my MYOB company data file?
A- Using the ACT! Card ID field (which is accessible through the Link's configuration screen) you can assign a contact field which will hold the link information between ACT and your MYOB accounting product.

Q - Can I assign any field to hold this information?
A - Yes, however it is very important that you choose a field that is not used to enter data at all or create a new field to hold the link information between ACT and your MYOB product data file.

Troubleshooting:

Q - I configured the link and I tested the connection, I can see the Link's Tab but nothing seems to be working, what is wrong?
A - After configuring the link you need to restart ACT for the changes to apply.

Q - I am using the link to connect to a data file over a network and the link seems to be very slow.
A - When running MYOB over a network, make sure that you have setup your firewall and anti-virus software to allow MYOB to communicate un-hindered, also ensure that you are accessing your data file through a mapped network drive.

Note when running a peer-peer network with more than 3-4 connections expect performance to be slow, this is unfortunately due to the nature of Peer- Peer networks and is out of anyone's control.

Q - I am using windows vista and I get an error message whenever I try to start ACT after installing the link.
A - If running under windows Vista, make sure to start ACT as an administrator.

Q - I have setup the link and it seems to be configured properly but whenever I try to use it I get an error message.
A - this is possibly due to assigning an ID field that already contains data, make sure to assign an ID field that is used for nothing but the link, this field should be hidden from the contact detail view.

Q - I am connecting to the MYOB data file over a network and I get the error message "Error [40000] [MYOB ODBC] unable to determine if the import was finished"
A - This issue can be related to the permissions your user account has against the data file, check your network security permissions and ensure you have sufficient access rights when connecting to a data file over a network

Q - I am connecting to the MYOB data file and getting the following Error: message "Error [HZ080] [MYOB ODBC] RDA Error: Resource Not Available - the MYOB Application is not Responding"
A - This error is usually an indicator of low system resources, it occurs when the 3rd party application attempts to connect to a MYOB Data file and the connection attempt times out. It is recommended that you.

Q - I have changed the contact layout in ACT and now all of my tabs are duplicates / cannot be accessed.
A - This seems to be an issue that occurs from time to time in ACT, the workaround is to restart ACT.

Q - When switching between ACT Databases during the same session, some of the link features become disabled.
A - This seems to be an issue with the way ACT handles some of its plugins, the workaround is to restart ACT.

Contact and support:

Q - I have a question that is not answered here, how can I contact you?
A - You can get our contact details through our website www.Xactsoftware.co.nz or you can E-mail us at support@Xactsoftware.co.nz , for sales you can email sales@Xactsoftware.co.nz

Q - Do you offer any support packages?
A - We do support on case by case basis, all support requests are subject to Xact software's terms of service, you are welcome to contact us if you wish to obtain a copy of our Terms of Trade document.