UniLink WriteUp*Plus to
Creative Solutions Accounting
Conversion Guide
The UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard and the Utilities / Data Conversion / UniLink /
WriteUp*Plus command in Creative Solutions Accounting™ (CSA) are provided to convert your
client data from UniLink WriteUp*Plus Version 7.x into the Write-Up Solution® (WSW) bundle
of modules within CSA. This conversion guide explains the steps to convert your data, to identify
the fields that will not be converted, and to document exceptions that you may encounter during
the conversion process. The last section of this document explains the steps you should take to
verify that the converted data is correct.
Please review this document in its entirety prior to starting the conversion of client data.
You may refer to this document for all information about this conversion.
Conversion program overview
The overall objective of the UniLink WriteUp*Plus to CSA conversion utility is to provide a
comprehensive conversion of your UniLink data to CSA. However, due to differences in
processing calculations and data structures between UniLink and CSA, some UniLink data cannot
be converted. Therefore, you should not expect to exactly duplicate results from UniLink
using the converted data without adding or modifying the appropriate data in CSA. The
specific items that cannot be converted and conversion exceptions are listed in the section of
this document entitled “Conversion notes and exceptions.”
Installing the UniLink to CSA conversion wizard
You must install the UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard prior to running the UniLink to CSA
Conversion Export Program. Follow the steps below to install the UniLink to CSA Conversion
Wizard.
1. Insert the most current version of the Creative Solutions Accounting CD (version 2003.1.0 or
higher) into your CD drive.
2. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar and then choose Run.
3. In the Run dialog, enter d:\UNI2CSA\SETUP (where d represents the letter of your CD
drive).
For example, if E is the letter of your CD drive, you would enter E:\UNI2CSA\SETUP.
4. If you had a prior version of the UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard installed, the program
will display a message asking if you want to completely remove UniLink to CSA Conversion
Wizard and all of its components. Click Yes. The program will display a message prompt
informing you when the program has been uninstalled. Click OK.
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5. The UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard setup will begin. Respond to the prompts as they are
displayed on the screen.
Notes
The conversion program can be installed only on the local machine. You must install the
conversion program on each machine from which you will be running the conversion
program.
After converting all of your accounting client data, you can remove the Accounting
Conversion program from your computer by double-clicking the Add/Remove Programs
icon in the Windows Control Panel dialog. (To access the Control Panel, click Start on
the Windows taskbar, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.)
Installing the Access 2000 runtime program
If Access 2000 is installed on the workstation on which you installed the conversion wizard, skip
to the section below entitled “Processing steps required for each client prior to running the
conversion wizard.”
If Access 2000 is not installed on the workstation on which you installed the conversion wizard,
you must install the Access 2000 runtime program by completing the following steps:
1. Insert the most current version of the Creative Solutions Accounting CD (version 2003.1.0 or
higher) into your CD drive.
2. Click the Start button on the Windows Taskbar and then choose Run.
3. In the Run dialog, enter d:\ACCESSRT\SETUP (where d represents the letter of your CD
drive).
4. Follow the prompts as they are displayed on the screen while the Access 2000 runtime
installation program is running.
Processing steps required for each client prior to
running the conversion wizard
If you are converting UniLink Payroll* Plus or UniLink Payroll* 32 for a client, you must
convert the payroll data before you convert the GL data for that client.
If you process After-the-Fact Payroll in UniLink WriteUp*Plus, you can convert employee
current-period, current-quarter, and year-to-date earnings for W-2 processing. For this reason,
you should convert the data after you finish the payroll processing for a quarter or at yearend. For more information on the conversion of payroll amounts, please refer to the section of
this document entitled “Items transferred during conversion of data from UniLink
WriteUp*Plus.”
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GL configuration/account ranges in UniLink WriteUp*Plus must be completed to ensure the
account types are converted correctly.
The last name fields for the 1099 vendors in UniLink WriteUp*Plus must be unique to
convert correctly. If the last name fields are the same, you should add the first name to the
last name field.
Creating the UniLink WriteUp*Plus export files
After installing the UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard, use the following steps to create the
UniLink WriteUp*Plus export files. The export file layout is a specially formatted file that CSA
can use to import your data. The conversion program does not change your original data in any
way.
1. Double-click the UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard shortcut icon on the desktop.
Alternatively (if you did not choose to install the shortcut), click the Start button on the
Windows Taskbar, choose Programs / UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard, and then click the
UniLink to CSA Conversion Wizard icon. Click the Next button to continue.
2. Enter the path to the UniLink WriteUp*Plus client data you wish to convert to CSA. For
example, if UniLink Version 7 is on drive C, you would type: c:\UL7\data in the UniLink
Data Path field. Click the Next button to continue.
3. Enter the five-character identifier you wish to use for the client ID. This is used when adding
a new client in UniLink. If the client ID is less than 5 characters, enter zeros for placeholders.
Click the Next button to continue.
4. The conversion wizard accesses the main client file in UniLink WriteUp*Plus and retrieves
the account mask information. Click the Next button to begin the conversion process.
Importing the converted files into CSA
Use the following steps to import the UniLink WriteUp*Plus client’s export data into CSA.
1. Start the CSA program by clicking the desktop icon for Creative Solutions Accounting.
2. Create a new client in CSA by choosing File / New Client. (For more information on creating
a new client, choose Help / CSA Help Topics and then; in the Index tab of the Help dialog,
search on New Client [File menu].)
Note: When you add a new client to CSA, you must enter the current period-end date, current
fiscal year-end, and current payroll-end date exactly as they appear in UniLink
WriteUp*Plus. If you are converting general ledger and payroll information, you must use
both the General Ledger Solution™ and Payroll Compliance Solution™ modules when adding
the client.
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3. Choose Utilities / Data Conversions / UniLink / WriteUp*Plus.
4. In the Location of Files to Import field, enter or browse to the location of the UniLink
WriteUp*Plus data files that you wish to import into CSA. This should be the same folder you
entered in Step 3 of the section above entitled “Creating the UniLink WriteUp*Plus export
files.”
5. Enter the company ID in the Client to Import field, or select it from the F4 drop-down list.
6. If you wish to convert the employee earnings totals, mark the Convert Employee Earnings
checkbox.
7. Click the Import button.
8. Once the data has been imported, you should make the necessary changes or corrections to
the converted data as specified in the sections of this document entitled “Items transferred
during conversion of data from UniLink WriteUp*Plus” and “Conversion notes and
exceptions.”
Items transferred during conversion of data from
UniLink WriteUp*Plus
The following tables are provided to identify the fields in UniLink WriteUp*Plus that are
converted to CSA. The tables are organized by dialogs in UniLink WriteUp*Plus and CSA and
denote the necessary CSA menu navigation.
General ledger account information
UniLink-WriteUp*Plus
Field Name
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA Field Name
Comments and additional information
Setup / Chart of
Accounts
Account #
Acct#
See “Conversion notes and exceptions”
for more information on the conversion of
the account numbers
Account Range
Type
See “Conversion notes and exceptions”
for more information on the conversion of
the account type.
Description
Description
Current Year Balances
Debit or Credit
Balance
Prior Year Balances
Debit or Credit
The conversion program converts up to 3
years of prior balances to CSA.
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UniLink-WriteUp*Plus
Field Name
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA Field Name
Comments and additional information
Budget Amounts
Budget
The conversion program converts the
current year budget amounts to CSA.
See “Conversion notes and exceptions”
for more information on the conversion of
current year budget amounts.
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA Field Name
Comments and additional information
GL transactions
UniLink-Write-Up*Plus
Field Name
Tasks / Transaction
Entry
Ref.
Reference
Date
Transaction Date
Account
Account Number
Description
Description
Debit / Credit
Amount
See “Conversion notes and exceptions”
for more information on posting
converted transactions.
See “Conversion notes and exceptions”
for more information on the Chart of
Accounts mask.
Employee information
UniLink-Write-Up*Plus
Field Name
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA tab
CSA Field Name
Comments and additional information
Setup / Employees
General tab
Employee Code
ID
Last Name
First
First Name
Last
Address 1
Street
City 1
City
State 1
State
CSA allows 20 characters to be entered
for the employee last name. The last
name field in UniLink WriteUp*Plus is 30
characters. Only the first 20 characters
are converted to CSA.
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UniLink-Write-Up*Plus
Field Name
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA tab
CSA Field Name
Zip 1
Zip
Social Security Number
SSN/EIN
Comments and additional information
Setup / Employees
Tax Withholding and
Deduction tab \
State W/H Properties
button
W2 Box [16] State #1
State
Setup / Employees
Tax Withholding and
Deduction tab \
Local W/H Properties
button
W2 Box [19] Local #1
Locality
Employee earnings balances
Current-period balances are simply the month to date earnings for each employee as of the last
payroll date in the UniLink WriteUp*Plus system.
UniLink Write-Up*Plus
Field Name
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA tab
CSA Field Name
Comments and additional information
Setup / Employees
Earnings tab
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year to Date
Regular Earnings
Wages
Amounts in the UniLink Regular
Earnings fields are converted to hourly
wages in CSA. If you have employees
that are salaried, you should change the
pay code in CSA after the conversion
has been completed.
Setup / Employees
Tax Withholdings and
Deductions tab
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year to Date
FICA
FICA-SS
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year to Date
Medicare
FICA-Med
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UniLink Write-Up*Plus
Field Name
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA tab
CSA Field Name
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year to Date
Federal Withholding
Federal W/H
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year to Date
State Withholding
State W/H
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year to Date
Local Withholding
Local W/H
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year To Date
Earned Income Credit
EIC
Current Period
Current Quarter
Year to Date
(user defined)
Other Deductions
See “Conversion notes and exceptions”
for more information on other earnings
and deductions.
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA tab
CSA Field Name
Comments and additional information
Comments and additional information
If you were using multiple local
withholding jurisdictions, all local
withholding amounts are added together
and converted to the Local W/H field in
CSA. You will need to manually separate
these amounts into the proper local
authorities after the conversion has been
completed.
Vendor information
UniLink-Write-Up*Plus
Field Name
Setup / Vendors
General tab
Employee Code
Vendor ID
Last Name
Name
First Name
Address 1
Street
City 1
City
State 1
State
The Name field in UniLink WriteUp*Plus
field is 50 (first and last combined)
characters long. In CSA, the Name field
is 15 characters long. Only the first 15
characters of the last name field are
converted.
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UniLink-Write-Up*Plus
Field Name
CSA Menu Navigation
CSA tab
CSA Field Name
Zip 1
Zip
Social Security Number
SSN
Telephone
Phone
Comments and additional information
Items not transferred during conversion of data from
UniLink WriteUp*Plus
Although most data from UniLink WriteUp*Plus is converted, some data cannot be converted
due to differences in program features and data structures between UniLink WriteUp*Plus and
CSA. If an item below is denoted with an asterisk (*), it is further explained in the section of this
document entitled “Conversion notes and exceptions.” The following items, which cannot be
converted, are organized by screen in UniLink WriteUp*Plus.
General client information
Company ID, name, address, contact name, phone number, federal ID number, State ID number,
State unemployment ID number, and fiscal year end. This information should be entered while
setting up the client in CSA.
Chart of Accounts information
Number of periods, current period, starting period, number of history and budget years, account
ranges, capital account numbers, sub-account code, and descriptions will not be converted.
Current earnings account
UniLink uses the special capital account (Current Earnings Account) for memo accounts. If the
program were to convert this item to CSA with a balance, it would cause the Chart of Accounts to
be out of balance. To address this problem, the current earnings account(s) and the balance(s) are
not converted.
Budget amounts
Prior-year and future-year budget amounts cannot be converted from UniLink WriteUp*Plus.
Only the current-year budget amounts are converted.
GL history amounts
UniLink allows up to 99 years of history to be entered. The conversion program will convert up
to 3 prior year balances to CSA.
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Payroll transactions / prior employee earnings balances
Although each payroll transaction is converted to each period’s GL transactions screen, these
transactions are not converted to the payroll checkbook. Therefore, no payroll transactions are
converted for payroll purposes from UniLink WriteUp*Plus to CSA. However current-period,
current-quarter, and year-to-date earnings are converted to enable you to process W-2s and
current-quarter payroll reports.
Earnings for quarters other than the current quarter in the current fiscal year end cannot be
converted. Likewise, earnings for prior years cannot be converted.
Company payroll information
User-defined payroll code descriptions (other earnings and deductions), payroll report options,
payroll forms, state codes and descriptions, local codes and descriptions, workers compensation
information, reporting information and payroll reports cannot be converted.
Departments
Department names cannot be converted. You must set up the departments in CSA after the data
has been converted. The department number in the Chart of Accounts mask will be converted for
each account.
Journal entry information
Journal codes, titles, sort sequences, item and detail formats cannot be converted. Automatic
adjusting entry information such as payroll adjustments information, employer payroll adjustment
information, gross profit adjustments information, and all other setup information for automatic
adjusting entries cannot be converted.
Financial statements
Report formats, report details, user-defined statements, lead schedules, and notes for trial
balances cannot be converted.
Employee information
Address 2 information, pay period, exemption status for FWT/FUTA/FICA, etc., hire date,
birthday, termination date, last pay raise, job description, employee notes, and health insurance
code cannot be converted. The general ledger account numbers for earnings, deductions and
withholding items cannot be converted.
Large account balances
Accounts with debit balances over $999,999,999. 99, and credit balances below -$99,999,999.99
cannot be converted.
Vendor information
Year-to-date amount paid, 1099 type, 1099 box number cannot be converted.
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Conversion notes and exceptions
The following section details all known conversion exceptions between data from UniLink
WriteUp*Plus and the converted data in CSA. Conversion exceptions may include differences in
field lengths between UniLink WriteUp*Plus and CSA, required parsing of information from one
field in UniLink WriteUp*Plus to multiple fields in CSA, manipulation of UniLink WriteUp*Plus
data to conform with CSA requirements, and so on.
Adjustments to prior-year balances
If you need to make an adjustment for a prior-year account balance in CSA after the client’s data
has been converted and imported into CSA, choose Setup / Chart of Accounts and enter the
correct balance directly into the appropriate column for the prior year.
Important! If your client’s prior-year data has been converted and imported from another
accounting software product, do not attempt to enter any adjustments to prior-year balances in the
Tasks / Transaction Entry window in CSA. Doing so will remove the historical balance
information and will result in incorrect account balances in CSA.
CSA combining accounts
UniLink WriteUp*Plus departments are functionally similar to CSA departments, with one
significant difference. CSA allows you to define “combining” accounts, which link individual
department accounts and combine their amounts for reporting purposes. You cannot post any
transactions to the account and you do not need to enter balances. These accounts are simply used
to combine general balances for accounts to which transactions have already been posted. For
more information about setting up and using combining accounts, start the CSA program and
search on Combining accounts setup in the Index tab of the CSA Help Topics dialog.
Chart of Accounts mask
The Chart of Accounts mask in CSA is similar in structure to the general ledger account mask in
UniLink WriteUp*Plus. However, there are a few differences that must be taken into account
before converting your client data.
CSA requires that department numbers precede the core account number. If the conversion
program encounters an account mask in which the core account digits precede the department
digits, it will rearrange the digits such that the departments come first.
For example, if a UniLink WriteUp*Plus client’s account mask is GGG-DD (where G represents
the core account number and D represents the department), it will be converted as DDGGG in
CSA. If the Chart of Accounts mask is GGG-DD-SS in UniLink WriteUp*Plus, the program will
convert it to DDGGG.SS.
It should be noted that only the account numbers are converted. The program does not convert the
actual mask. The Chart of Accounts mask should be specified in the General Ledger tab of the
File / Company Properties dialog in CSA for each new client before you import the converted
data. You can renumber any account number in CSA after the data has been converted.
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Clients using processing periods other than annual, quarterly, monthly, or
13-period
CSA allows you to process data for clients using Annual, Quarterly, Monthly, 13 periods, or
weekly periods. UniLink WriteUp*Plus allows you to process data for clients using semi-annual
periods. If you convert a client that is a two-period processor, the balances are converted to the
2nd and 4th quarter balance fields in CSA. You will need to add this client to CSA as a quarterly
processor and only use the 2nd and 4th quarters for processing.
Employee other earnings and deductions
UniLink allows you to create up to 99 “other earnings and withholdings” for items such as 401(k)
contributions, uniforms, meals, etc. Although CSA allows the same type of deductions, the
specific deductions in UniLink cannot be converted to the proper deduction field in CSA.
Therefore, the first 10 “OED” type deductions in UniLink will be placed in the Other Deductions
field in CSA.
If you are not processing the current year W-2s in CSA, simply add the deduction in CSA and
post the amounts to the correct deduction going forward. If you are processing the W-2s in CSA
for the current year, you will need to add the proper deduction codes in CSA and then break out
the individual deduction amounts in the Other Deductions field and manually enter them into
their proper deduction field in CSA.
Transactions
Transactions in UniLink will be converted to CSA based on the transaction date, not the GL
period for which transaction was entered. The YTD balances that are converted will be correct;
however, the month-to-date balances may be out of balance.
Memo accounts and transactions
UniLink allows you to use memo accounts to post transactions and other items to accounts
without affecting the general ledger. Because CSA does not currently support this feature, any
account marked as a memo account will not be converted. However, the program will convert the
transactions posted to these memo accounts. After the data has been converted, you may delete
the transaction.
Inactive employees
Employees with a pay period of Inactive are converted to CSA.
General ledger account types
CSA requires that each general ledger account have an associated account type for financial
statement formatting purposes. The allowable account types are A (Assets), L (Liabilities and
Equity), R (Revenue), and E (Expense). The conversion program uses the account ranges in the
GL Configuration to determine the account type for each account. All ranges must be completed.
You can change any account type after the client data has been converted to CSA.
Bank reconciliation
If you are converting a UniLink client and will be using the Bank Reconciliation features within
CSA, all transactions will be converted into CSA as cleared transactions for the Bank
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Reconciliation. Therefore, if there are any transactions still outstanding at the time of conversion,
you will need to enter them in the Initial Open Items dialog that is accessible from the Edit menu
or from the F3 context menu when the Tasks / Bank Reconciliation window is active.
Converted transaction descriptions and reference numbers
If you did not enter a description for any transaction in UniLink WriteUp*Plus, the conversion
program uses the text Converted Transaction for the description in CSA. If you did not enter a
reference number in UniLink, the program uses CNVRT for the reference during the conversion.
Descriptions and reference numbers are required when importing transactions into CSA.
General ledger history amounts
If you used the history saving option in UniLink to save only the income statement amounts, your
prior-year Chart of Accounts will be out of balance. It is recommended that you balance the
amounts to the Retained Earnings account.
Verifying your converted data
Although the conversion utility has been designed to convert your data as accurately as possible,
there are some instances in which the conversion program may not convert all data correctly due
to data corruption or other anomalies within the UniLink WriteUp*Plus data. You should follow
the steps below to verify that your UniLink WriteUp*Plus data has been converted correctly.
1. Start Creative Solutions Accounting and open the new client that you just created.
2. Make all necessary changes as noted in the section of this document entitled “Conversion
notes and exceptions,” including the posting of transactions in each period of the current year.
3. In UniLink WriteUp*Plus, print the Current Period General Ledger and Trial Balance Report.
4. In CSA, print the General Ledger Report and the Trial Balance Report.
5. Compare the reports. If the information contained on the UniLink WriteUp*Plus reports does
not match the CSA reports, you will need to determine which transaction(s) are invalid or
missing and manually enter those transactions into CSA. If you cannot determine the cause of
the discrepancy using the General Ledger Report and the Trial Balance Report, you may wish
to generate other reports that are available in both programs.
6. In UniLink WriteUp*Plus, print the Quarterly Wage Report and the Tax Summary report.
7. In CSA, print the Payroll Tax Summary Report.
8. Compare the amounts on the UniLink WriteUp*Plus and CSA payroll reports and note any
discrepancies. You can make manual changes to any payroll amount in the CSA program.
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9. Make the necessary adjustments to the current earnings account(s). For details, see the section
above entitled “Current earnings account.”
10. Recalculate and then re-post all transactions in the current year to update the Chart of
Accounts to include the current-year transactions.
If problems are encountered
If you encounter any problems during the conversion of client data from UniLink WriteUp*Plus
to your Creative Solutions Accounting software and you are unable to reconcile the data using the
various reports and tools in CSA, contact CSI Product Support.
Support
Online Help
For step-by-step procedures, refer to the online help. To learn how to use online help, choose
Help / CSA Help Topics, click the Index tab, and search on “online help.”
Website
If you have questions or need assistance, you can visit our website at CreativeSolutions.com 24
hours a day for the latest information on current issues and processing tips. To take advantage of
this convenient means of accessing information, point to On the Web on the CSA Help menu,
and then choose Product Support and Service.
Product Support
To speak with a Product Support Representative, please call the CSI HelpLine at 800-968-0600,
press 3 for accounting support, and then listen to the options available before pressing the number
for Creative Solutions Accounting. Normal weekday support is available from 9:00 AM to 8:00
PM Eastern Time.
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