All About GLS Clients

Last reviewed: 06/02/2003
Article ID: R10837

The information in this article applies to:

Summary

This article discusses GLS clients and provides procedures for dealing with some common situations that may arise regarding GLS clients.

About GLS Clients

Each set of data in GLS is referred to as a client. By storing each client's data files in separate subfolders on the hard disk, GLS allows you to configure up to 9,999 sets of data. When adding a new client, you also have the option of duplicating another client's chart of accounts, departments, journal names, balances, journal entries and recurring entries.

Archiving GLS Clients

GLS stores up to two years' worth of journal entries and three years' worth of account balances for each GLS client. Creating an archive GLS client at the end of each year makes it easy for you to retain and access data for previous years.

Archiving consists of saving the previous fiscal year's financial data for a GLS client by creating a new GLS client and transferring the information from your current client to the new client. This technique is useful since the previous year's journal entries are deleted when closing out the year. Archiving is optional, and must be done after most year-end procedures have been completed, but before closing out the year.

To Archive a GLS Client

Use the following procedure to archive a GLS client at the end of the year.

  1. From the GLS menu, select Reports | GLS Client List.
  2. Select the Print option and click OK to print a GLS Client List for reference purposes.
  3. Select Utilities | Edit GLS Client.
  4. Click the drop-down button in the Client Number field to open the GLS Client Lookup window.
  5. Select an unused GLS client number. Unused client numbers can be identified by the word * Unused * in the Client Name column.

    6. If no unused client number is available, click Limits, add 1 to the highlighted value in the New Limit field, and click OK. (For example, if the New Limit field has a value of 2, enter 3 in the field and click OK.) Then, click the drop-down button and select the new unused client number in the Client Number field.

  6. Enter the Client Name for the archived client. Consider including the year in the name. As an example, "Burns & Jensen, P.C. - 2002".
  7. Specify a new directory name by typing it in the GLS Data Path field. (Note:  Since the directory does not yet exist, you cannot use the drop-down button to browse and specify the new path.) For example, if your GLS program folder is C:\STI, you could enter a path of "C:\STI\2002GL\". If the GLS Data Path for the client you are archiving is blank, you could enter "2002GL\" to create a directory named 2000GL under the current directory. Do not enter a backslash as the first character of your data path, since this will create your new GLS data folder under the root folder of the drive where GLS is installed. When specifying a new folder, the message "Path is not found. Do you want to create it?" will appear. Click Yes.

    8. Caution:  DO NOT use the same GLS Data Path as your existing client.

  8. Enter the remaining information in the window based on the information shown for your existing client on the GLS Client List printed in step 2.
  9. Select File | Save to save the new client.
  10. You will be asked if you want to "Copy an existing client's Chart of Accounts?". Click Yes. The Copy Client Data Files dialog box will be displayed.
  11. Click the drop-down button in the Client # to Use field to open the GLS Client Lookup window. Double-click the existing client number to be archived (not the new client number).
  12. Select the Copy old client's account balances check box and the Copy old client's journal entries check box. Optionally, select the Copy old client's recurring entries check box.
  13. Click OK to complete the creation of the archive client.

Creating an Archived GLS Client from a Backup

If you run the Month-End/Year-End Closeout program to close the year before you create an archived GLS client, you lose the opportunity to create an archived client. Following the archiving procedure described above after closing the year will simply result in a duplicate of your current GLS client, from which the second prior year's journal entries have already been deleted.

If you made a backup immediately before closing the year, however, you may still be able to create an archived client based on the backed up data. The procedures involved in creating a new archived GLS client using the data contained in a backup will vary depending on whether the backup being restored was made inside the GLS program or externally.

If the Backup Was Made Inside GLS

If the year-end backup was made using the built-in backup program in GLS, and it was the most recent backup made in the system, you can restore the backup, create an archive GLS client, and then restore your current GLS client's data.

However, if the most recent internal backup was made for a different GLS client, or if you have made additional internal backups since the year-end backup, the year-end backup may no longer be available for use in creating an archived client. In that case, you may be unable to create an archive GLS client. For additional information about how the internal backup program works, see STI Article R10278, "Troubleshooting the Built-In Backup Program".

If the year-end backup is the most recent internal backup, and it was made for the correct GLS client, use the following steps to create an archive GLS client based on the backup:

  1. Print these instructions and use them as a checklist, marking off each of the steps listed below as you complete it.
  2. From the GLS menu, select Help | About GLS. Write down the Program Directory, which is indicated in the middle section of the About GLS window. You may need to refer to this information later in this procedure. _____________________________________
  3. Click OK to close the About GLS window.
  4. Next, you will save your current GLS client's data before proceeding by simply renaming the archive file. Using Windows Explorer, open the "Backup" folder under the GLS program folder, and rename G5BACK.ARQ to G5BACK.TMP.
  5. From the GLS menu, select Utilities | Select Different Client. Make sure the client to be archived is the current client. If it is not, click the drop-down button in the New Client field and select the correct GLS client from the GLS Client Lookup window, then click OK.
  6. Make a new temporary backup inside GLS. To do this, select File | Back Up Data Files from the GLS menu and click OK.
  7. Click OK when the backup has completed. Then, using Windows Explorer, go back to the "Backup" subfolder and rename G5BACK.ARQ (the backup you just made) to G5BACK.NEW. Because there cannot be two files of the same name in the same directory, renaming the new backup allows you to then rename the year-end backup to the correct file name so that it can be restored.
  8. Rename G5BACK.TMP (the year-end backup from step #4) to G5BACK.ARQ.
  9. From the GLS menu, select File | Restore Data Files.
  10. Verify that the date and time shown for the last backup match those of the year-end backup you want to restore, and click OK.
  11. After the restore process has completed, select Utilities | Edit GLS Client.
  12. Use the steps listed in the Archiving GLS Clients section above to make an archive client based on the data in the year-end backup you just restored. Once you have completed that procedure, return here to complete the remaining steps.
  13. Switch back to Windows Explorer, and in the "Backup" subfolder under the program folder, rename G5BACK.ARQ to G5BACK.TMP. This allows you to retain a copy of the year-end data for future reference. If you prefer not to keep a copy of the year-end data, you can delete the G5BACK.ARQ file.
  14. Rename G5BACK.NEW to G5BACK.ARQ so that the current data can be restored.
  15. From the GLS menu, select File | Restore Data Files, and click OK to restore your current GLS data.

You now have your original GLS client with the current data, and a new archive client based on year-end data.

If the Backup Was Made Externally

If the year-end GLS data was backed up outside the program, you can restore the data files from the year-end backup to a new folder, and then create a new GLS client using a data path that points to the same folder.

  1. Print these instructions and use them as a checklist. Mark off each of the steps listed below as you complete it.
  2. Select Reports | GLS Client List.
  3. Select the Print option and click OK to print a GLS Client List for reference purposes.
  4. Using Windows Explorer, create a new folder under the GLS program folder. Give it a name that will make it easily identifiable as an archive client (e.g., "GL2002").
  5. Restore all files that begin with G5 (i.e., G5*.*) from the external year-end backup for the current client to the folder created in the previous step.
  6. In the same folder, rename G5LOG.DTA to G5LOG.TMP. When you create a new GLS client later in this procedure, a new G5LOG.DTA file will be created; you do not want the file from the backup to be overwritten.
  7. Next, you will create your archive GLS client. From the GLS menu, select Utilities | Edit GLS Client.
  8. Click the drop-down button in the Client Number field to open the GLS Client Lookup window.
  9. Select an unused GLS client number. Unused client numbers can be identified by the word * Unused * in the Client Name column.

    10. If no unused client number is available, click Limits, add 1 to the highlighted value in the New Limit field, and click OK. (For example, if the New Limit field has a value of 2, enter 3 in the field and click OK.) Then, click the drop-down button in the Client Number field and select the new unused client number.

  10. Enter the Client Name for the archive client. Consider including the year in the name. As an example, "Burns & Jensen, P.C. - 2002".
  11. In the GLS Data Path field, enter the path to the archive folder you created in step 4, and press Tab.
  12. You will see a warning that GLS data already exists in the specified path. Click OK.

    Note:  This creates a new G5LOG.DTA file in the specified path, which is why you had to rename G5LOG.DTA earlier in this procedure.


  13. Enter the remaining information in the window based on the information shown for your existing client on the GLS Client List printed in step 3.
  14. Select File | Save to save the new client.
  15. In Windows Explorer, go back to the folder containing the data for the newly created archive client, and rename G5LOG.DTA to G5LOG.OLD. If you prefer, you may opt to delete this newly created G5LOG.DTA file instead.
  16. Rename G5LOG.TMP (the log file from your year-end backup) to G5LOG.DTA.

You now have your original GLS client with the current data, and a new archive client based on year-end data.

Creating a New Client Number 1 in GLS

GLS Client 1 stores certain GLS configuration options that affect all clients. For this and other reasons, GLS Client 1 can never be deleted. If, for some reason, it becomes desirable to start a new GLS Client 1 with the current chart of accounts but without journal entries or account balances, use the following procedure to do so.

Note:  Normally, this procedure should not be necessary. If you are not certain that you need to start with new data for GLS Client 1, do not follow this procedure.

  1. Print these instructions and use them as a checklist. Mark off each of the steps listed below as you complete it.
  2. From the GLS menu, select Help | About GLS. Write down the Program Directory, which is indicated in the middle section of the About GLS window. You may need to refer to this information later in this procedure. _____________________________________
  3. Click OK to close the About GLS window.
  4. If you want to retain the current data for GLS Client 1 before proceeding, select Utilities | Select Different Client.

    Note:  If you do not want to retain the current data for GLS Client 1, you can skip to step 7.

  5. Make sure the Current Client is Client 1. If it is not, click the drop-down button in the New Client field, select Client 1 from the GLS Client Lookup window, and click OK.
  6. Select Utilities | Data File Integrity Check and click OK twice to start the process. Resolve any errors found by the integrity check before proceeding.
  7. Select File | Back Up Data Files, and click OK to back up your data. Click OK when the backup has completed.
  8. Use Windows Explorer to browse to the "Backup" subfolder under the GLS program folder (e.g., C:\STI\BACKUP), and rename G5BACK.ARQ to G5BACK.OLD. This will prevent GLS from overwriting the backup of current GLS Client 1 data the next time an internal backup is made in GLS.
  9. The next step is to make a copy of the desired chart of accounts for the new GLS Client 1. From the GLS menu, select Utilities | Edit GLS Client.
  10. Click the drop-down button in the Client Number field to open the GLS Client Lookup window.
  11. Select an unused GLS client number. Unused client numbers can be identified by the word * Unused * in the Client Name column.

    12. If no unused client number is available, click Limits, add 1 to the highlighted value in the New Limit field, and click OK. (For example, if the New Limit field has a value of 2, enter 3 in the field and click OK.) Then, click the drop-down button in the Client Number field and select the new unused client number.

  12. Enter the Client Name for the new client, such as "Temporary Client".
  13. In the GLS Data Path field, specify the path to the folder where you want the new, blank chart of accounts to be stored, followed by a backslash (e.g., "BJP\"). This is also the folder where data for GLS Client 1 will be stored once this procedure is complete.
  14. Select File | Save to save the temporary GLS client.
  15. You will be asked if you want to "Copy an existing client's Chart of Accounts?". Click Yes. The Copy Client Data Files dialog box will be displayed.
  16. Click the drop-down button in the Client # to Use field to open the GLS Client Lookup window. Double-click the existing GLS client whose chart of accounts you want to copy (e.g., Client 1; not the new GLS client that you are creating).
  17. Make sure ALL check boxes are cleared, since you do not want any data other than the chart of accounts in the new GLS Client 1.
  18. Click OK to complete the creation of the temporary client. A chart of accounts with no other GLS data will be created in the folder specified as the GLS Data Path.
  19. Optionally, follow the steps listed in the Archiving GLS Clients section of this article to create a new archive GLS client based on the existing GLS Client 1. This will allow you to access the data that currently exists for GLS Client 1 later on, if desired. If you prefer, you can skip this step.
  20. From the GLS menu, select Utilities | Edit GLS Client.
  21. Next, you need to configure GLS Client 1 to use the new data path containing only the chart of accounts. In the Client Number field, enter 1 and press the Tab key.
  22. In the Client Name field, enter a new name for GLS Client 1.
  23. In the GLS Data Path field, enter the path to the new folder that you specified as the GLS Data Path for the temporary client in step 13, and press the Tab key.
  24. You will see a warning that GLS data already exists in the specified path. Click OK.
  25. Select File | Save to save the changes to GLS Client 1.
  26. Finally, delete the temporary client created in step 18. Click the drop-down button in the Client Number field to open the GLS Client Lookup window.
  27. Double-click the temporary client.
  28. Select Edit | Delete and click Yes to confirm deletion of the temporary client.

You now have a clean set of data for GLS Client 1, with only a chart of accounts and no journal entries or account balances.

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