gptip42day - Launch FRx from within GP

Wanna launch FRx from within GP?  Go Reports>Financial>FRx.  If the path isn't already set, the FRx Setup window opens to allow you to specify the path to the FRx.exe file.  Enter or browse to the path and click OK.

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Now FRx will launch from within GP.  You might even want to set a shortcut on your Home Page or in the Navigation Pane so you don't have to navigate through the menus to launch it.

No tip 42day

But Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Best wishes to you, your families and friends.  Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving Day or not, let's all take this opportunity to give thanks for the blessings we have.

Interview on DynamicsWorld

Amongst other things, DynamicsWorld profiles Dynamics MVPs on their website.  I'm honored to have been asked to do an online interview for them.  Follow this link to learn how I got into this crazy business and who my GP inspiration is - http://www.dynamicsworld.co.uk/Interview-Frank-Hamelly.php

gptip42day - Upgrading to SQL 2008

I try to stay away from the technical stuff in this blog and keep it oriented toward daily transaction processing and reporting but in my opinion this is worthy of mention, especially if you do a lot of SSRS reporting.

One of my frustrations with SSRS in 2005 and previous versions of SQL is adding a subtotal to a column of data.  One would think it would be a simple matter of inserting a formula in the column, much like entering a formula in an Excel spreadsheet, but it's not nearly that easy.  You have to enter a significant amount of code to enter a subtotal in a report.

However, SQL 2008 provides more flexibility in grouping, totals and subtotals using the 'Tablix' data region, which replaces the previous Table, Matrix and List elements in prior versions of SSRS.

Going into the details is beyond the scope of this blog but I encourage you to have a look at the Tablix feature in 2008 if you use SSRS.  It makes entering subtotals a piece of cake.

softwareadvice.com

Ever been curious about the differences between GP, Axapta (AX) , Navision (NAV) and Solomon (SL)?  Houston Neal of http://www.softwareadvice.com/manufacturing/ offers a concise overview here - http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/manufacturing/understanding-the-difference-between-gp-nav-sl-ax-1111709/.

gptip42day - FRx Account Sets

If you use a lot of the same formulae in your FRx row formats, you might want to take a look at using Account Sets.  These can make setting up your row formats quicker and easier.  Here's how they work . . .

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Here is the GL Account Links row definition window using the standard row formula method.  This is all well and good if you'll only use this forrmula in one report.  However, if you'll use this formual in multiple row formats, then it makes sense to save it as an Account Set.  To do so, just click on the Account Sets 'Save As' button.  The 'Save As Account Set' window opens.

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Give the Account Set a name and a description and click 'OK.  The GL Account Links window opens.  Note that the individual account ranges are replaced with your new Account Set name.

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That's all there is to it!  Now when you create a new row format in which you need the same accounts on a particular row, just pull the Account Set into the Account Links window instead of typing all those individual accounts in again.

gptip42day - The GP Blogs

I'm a proponent of the saying 'Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day.  Teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime'.  My goal as a GP consultant is to teach my clients to fish, not hand them the fish.  However, lucky for me that some of my clients don't like to even bait the hook, let alone throw the line in the water, else I wouldn't be able to make a living doing this thing I enjoy so much.

So, today's tip is about fishing.  Here's one of my favorite fishing holes - https://community.dynamics.com/content/gpblogs.aspx?GroupID=24.  This link will take you to a bevy of GP related blogs and other GP resources. 

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If you have access to CustomerSource or PartnerSource, click on the link above to go directly to this page.  If you're a customer and don't have access to CustomerSource, you need to get it.  Contact your GP Partner and they will help set you up.  There is so much relevant reference material on this site it would be a shame not to leverage it.

Good luck.  Catch a big one!

gptip42day - The Quick Journal

The Quick Journal is an excellent tool for posting recurring journal entries where the accounts stay the same from period-to-period but the amounts change.  A good example of this is a Monthly Vacation Accrual. 

As opposed to standard journal entries, Quick Journals do not use batches but can be saved to be used multiple times.  To create a Quick Journal, go

Transactions>Financial>Quick Journal

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Enter a new Journal ID.  When you tab off this field, GP asks if you want to add the journal.  Click 'Add'.  The Quick Journal Setup window opens

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where you add a Description, Source Document, and the Offset Account (the account that will receive the total of the debits/credits - in this example, the Vacation Accrual liability account).

Then, add the rest of the accounts in the Accounts scrolling window. 

If you want users to be able to override the Offset Account when entering transactions, check the 'Allow Override' box.  If you don't want them to be able to override this account, leave the box unchecked.

Checking the 'Breakdown Allocation' box allows the printing of distributions for allocation accounts on the Quick Journal Edit List and Quick Journal Posting Journal.

After you have all the details of the Quick Journal entered, click 'Save'.  The Quick Journal will now be available for recurring use until it is deleted.

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gptip42day - The GP MVB

Which button would you vote to be the Most Valuable Button in the GP application? My vote would be for this one -

That's right - the ubiquitous Help button.  The amount of information available in the GP Help files is amazing.  This button takes you to context-sensitive Help, providing not only an overview of the window or transaction you're working in and how to process the relevant transaction,  it also provides a detailed description of the purpose of nearly every button and field on every window in the application. 

And if that's not enough, the Help button introduces you to the world of Printable Manuals - detailed manuals that provide step-by-step instruction on practically every action you can take in GP.  These manuals are presented in pdf format and can be easily printed for future reference or just a good late-night read.

I strongly encourage you to use this button frequently.  Make it your best friend and it, in turn, will make you a GP expert!

gptip42day - General Journal Posting SmartList

As we're nearing the end of the Fiscal Year for many companies, one of the reports external auditors ask for is a listing of all general journal entries posted for the year, who posted them and when they were posted, primarily to see if entries were posted during non-business hours.  Unfortunately, if you're using GP9 or a previous version, the options for this type of report are rather limited unless you're using GP's Audit Trails or a 3rd party audit tool.  This is because the GL tables in these versions don't contain a date/time stamp field.  This shortcoming is corrected in GP10.

So, how do we satisfy the audit requirements?  Use the Account Transactions SmartList, filter for Financial Transactions, and add the following Columns -

-  User Who Posted

-  Originating Posted Date

-  Reference

The 'User Who Posted' field, of course, lists the user ID who posted the transaction.  The 'Originating Posted Date' reflects the system date on the user's workstation on the date the transaction was posted.  This isn't quite as good as a date/time stamp because if a user really wants to game the system, they can change the system date on their PC or the GP user date before posting the transaction, thereby reflecting a bogus posting date.

The 'Reference' field reflects the general journal description, which is usually meaningful in describing why an entry was made.  (By the way, use the Note fields to provide detailed support for your journal entries!)

Although this solution isn't ideal, in most cases auditors will sign off on it, if for no other reason than it's about as good as it gets in terms of JE audit trails without the aforementioned audit trail tools.