GP2themax - Helping users get the 'max' from Dynamics GP

Is it possible to enter a Fixed Asset with $0 Acquisition Cost and Accumulated Depreciation?

2012-01-14T10:25:00.001-05:00

A client needed to enter an Audit Adjustment as an 'Asset' in the FA module with zero cost but including depreciation so the FA subledger would tie to the GL. Here's how we did it:

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Enter $0.00 in the Acquisition Cost field in the Asset General window.

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Then, in the Asset Book window change the Depreciated to Date field to the appropriate date, change the Cost Basis equal to the amount of LTD Depreciation you need, then change the LTD Depreciation field to the amount of accumulated depreciation to match the Cost Basis. Make sure that after you've done all this that the Remaining Years, Days is all zeroes or the asset will continue to be depreciated until the end of its life.

Convergence 2012 Early Registration Ends in 17 Days

2012-01-08T22:20:00.000-05:00

If you plan on attending Convergence 2012 in Houston, TX this year, register now at discounted rates! Click on the image below to register.

What are YOU interested in seeing a post on?

2011-12-14T11:48:00.001-05:00

Typically, the blog posts I make are related to an issue that a client is currently experiencing and the resolution we arrived at. Sometimes, it's something cool I learned along the way by reading other blogs that I follow. However, the main reason I publish a blog is to provide YOU, the users who are kind enough to read my ramblings, insight into how to do things better, faster, easier in Dynamics GP.

To that end, I'd like to know what you would like to see a post on. Do you have a particularly sticky issue that you haven't been able to find an answer to? If so, leave a comment on this post and we'll see what we can do.

Thanks! Frank

Quick and Dirty way to see Window Resources

2011-12-02T06:43:00.000-05:00

Need to see the tables and fields related to a particular window in GP? Here's how - open the window, select Tools>>Integrate>Table Import. The Select a Table window opens and displays all the tables assoicated with the window (this works only in GP10 and later versions).

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if you need to see the fields in a specific table, double click on the table name in the Select a Table window. The Table Import Definition window opens. Enter Test or some other value in the Definition ID field. Note that the fields appear in the scrolling window. Make sure you delete the definition when you close the window.

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Happy Thanksgiving and a Turkey Day Tip

2011-11-24T09:30:00.001-05:00

Looking for a particular 3rd party product to augment Dynamics GP, CRM, or any other Dynamics product? ISV Central provides a great searchable compilation of products for your reference and research. Visit ISV Central by clicking on their logo below.

Wishing you all a safe and healthy Thanksgiving holiday!

Add Logical Argument Field to SmartList via SmartList Builder

2011-11-23T11:31:00.000-05:00

I'm no SQL guru but I needed to add a column in SLB that evaluates the results in another column in the SmartList (basically an IF, THEN, ELSE statement) and ran across this great tip on Devon Southall's Dynamics GP Builders & Reporting blog.

Thought I'd share it with you . . .

http://gpbuilders.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/if-then-else-in-calculated-field-in-smartlist-builder-try-case/

Thanks Devon!

It's Year End Already???!!!

2011-11-23T08:41:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe but it's time to start thinking about closing the year again. In that spirit, you may find some of my previous Year End Close articles helpful. Click on the calendar image to jump to the articles.

Good luck!

MSDynamicsWorld Decisions Fall 2011 Coming up in 14 Days!

2011-11-21T16:30:00.001-05:00

Don't forget to register for Decisions Fall 2011 to gain new insights into Dynamics GP. Remember, this is one conference that is FREE! Click on the logo below to register and attend this conference from the comfort of your own desk.

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I'll be participating in the Microsoft Dynamics GP MVP Roundtable with fellow MVPs Mariano Gomez, Mark Polino, and Jivtesh Singh. Join us for a fun and exciting discussion about all the things you always wanted to know about GP but were afraid to ask.

GP10 SP2 User Login Hangs at Homepage Rendering

2011-11-16T17:51:00.000-05:00

Had a client run into this situation. Upon logging in to a brand new client install of GP 10, her login would hang during rendering of the Homepage. I tried turning off all the Homepage elements, thinking it was probably Metrics or Outlook making it hang. That didn't help. I even disabled Reminders from the System Preferences menu. That didn't resolve the issue either. And to make the mystery even more mysterious, this issue only happened in one company. She could login to a different company with no issue. Hmmmmm . . .

So, on to Google we went. What I found led me to look at the records in SY01404 (Custom Reminders Setup in DYNAMICS db) and lo and behold - there was a corrupt record in that table for the company the user was having trouble logging into. I cleared that record from the table, and voila . . . login issue corrected.

Living and learning!!

Things Learned at GPUG Summit 2011

2011-11-13T10:52:00.001-05:00

We had a great time at Summit 2011 in Las Vegas last week. In addition to the awesome learning experience at Summit, my much better half Sheila and I took some time to drive out to the Grand Canyon, tour Hoover Dam, walk up and down the Vegas Strip a couple of times and even visit the Pawn Stars Shop!

I taught a couple of classes and provided a couple more presentations. One of the reasons I like doing these things is because I always learn something new about GP that I've never seen before. This particular tidbit of knowledge is courtesy of Kristen Tennant of WEL Companies in Wisconsin who attended my Beyond the Basics - Financials class.

I've known for quite some time how useful the Navigation Lists that became available in GP 10 are. What I didn't realize is that these lists can be customized in very much the same manner as you create SmartList Favorites. Here's how you do it:

1. Open the Navigation List you want to customize

2. Click on the list name and select 'Save As'

3. In the Save As box, give the list a new name like 'My Account Transactions'

4. Click OK

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Now you have a new Navigation List called My Account Transactions that you can customize.

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When you click on Customize, the List View Customization window opens where you can add or remove Columns, modify the Action Pane associated with your list, modify list Sharing settings and more.

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For example, click on the blue arrow next to Columns to open the Columns Details window:

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And if none of these options suit your list needs, you can always use Navigation List Builder to create a custom list from scratch. Navigation List Builder works very similarly to SmartList Builder and is available as an option under the SmartList Builder menu.

Thank you so much Kristen for this very useful tip!!

Translations in Integration Manager

2011-11-02T08:37:00.001-04:00

Let's say you need to do an integration from a third party system to integrate purchase orders and that the Vendor ID in the other system is in a different format from your GP Vendor ID. Integration Manager provides a translation tool to convert the Vendor ID during the integration process. In the POP Transaction integration, open the Destination Mapping window and select the Vendor ID field. In the pane on the left, change the Translation Option from No to Yes, then click on the ellipsis button to open the Properties (Local) window.

When you click the ellipsis button, the following prompt appears:

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Answering 'Yes' will cause the values in the source file to be populated in the 'From' column in the Translation table so you don't have to manually enter the 'From' values. Choose 'Yes'.

Enter a Description for the translation and choose the appropriate Options. Select the Translation tab and enter your translations.

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After entering all your 'To' values, click 'Apply' and 'OK'. When you run the integration, the Vendor ID will be automatically translated to the values you specified in the translation table.

Can I attach multiple documents to a Note?

2011-10-30T09:30:00.002-04:00

Yes. When you attach your documents, make sure you check the 'Display as Icon' box in the Insert Object window.

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Otherwise, when you attempt to attach the second document, it will superimpose over the first document in the OLE Container.

GPUG Summit is fast approaching

2011-10-29T09:09:00.000-04:00

GPUG Summit 2011 runs from November 7th through the 11th this year at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and promises to be the best Summit ever.

Yours truly is teaching a couple of classes and doing a couple other presentations:

Classes

'Beyond the Basics - Financials'

'Beyond the Basics - Distribution'

Sessions

'13 Classic Underused Features in GP'

'Using Job Costing as Project Accounting Lite'

I hope to see some of you there and have the opportunity to meet face-to-face more of the wonderful members of the Dynamics GP community that I only know via online interaction.

There's still time to register so if you haven't yet and you don't want to miss one of the premier Dynamics GP learning and networking events of the year, click on the Summit logo above to sign up!

Dynamics GP 2010 Installation & Configuration

2011-10-28T08:02:00.003-04:00

After many years of intending to take this exam, I finally did it this week. And wonder of wonders - I passed first time! LOL

Actually, it wasn't that bad. The Install & Config exam is 75 questions and covers 8 separate areas of knowledge from Preparing the GP Environment to Optimizing Performance to Configuring Reporting. I used the Install & Config E-Learning from Microsoft and it did a pretty good job of preparing me for the exam. Save your money on the practice tests available on the web, however. The questions contained in the $79 practice tests are the very same practice questions found in the E-Learning material and bear very little resemblance to the actual test questions.

Now I have one more logo to put on my business card:

Professional Services Tools Library

2011-10-28T07:48:00.000-04:00

Did you know that PSTL is now a standard part of Dynamics GP 2010? This previously optional set of tools from Microsoft now comes as part of the GP 2010 installation media. While many of the tools still carry a cost, there are 14 tools that come FREE, meaning you don't have to have the PSTL registration keys to activate them. See the checked items below - these are the freebies:

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Many of these tools were available free before but you had to install them individually as .cnk files. Now they're all available in one spot. For a detailed description of what each of these tools do, refer to the PSTL .pdf document that comes with the installation of PSTL.

That Pesky Print Dialog Box

2011-10-26T08:10:00.002-04:00

Want to get rid of it? Here's how -

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Go to Administration>>Setup>>Named Printers. Click on the 'Machine ID' link. In the Named Printer Options box, check the 'Do Not Display System Print Dialog'.

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That's it! The Print Dialog box now will not appear when you print your documents.

Place an Auto Hold on SO Generated POs

2011-10-25T08:21:00.000-04:00

Would you like to have a hold automatically applied to purchase orders generated directly from sales orders? Need to prevent your sales or customer service people from changing the vendor on those POs? Here's how you do it -

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Go to Purchasing>>Setup>>PO Processing and place a check next to 'Place Purchase Orders Created from Sales Order Processing on Hold'. All POs created from this process will be placed on Hold as soon as they're created.

Congratulations to Mark Polino and Siva Venkataraman - MVPs for Another Year!

2011-10-05T08:59:00.000-04:00

There are no two individuals who are more deserving of this award than these guys. I'm proud and honored to call them my friends and to occupy the same space in the MVP world with them.

Congratulations Mark and Siva! You add immeasurably to the Dynamics GP community.

Taking you to the Fourth Dimension . . .

2011-09-06T13:26:00.003-04:00

Here's a little trick I ran across a couple weeks ago. I have a client that needed more dimensions on certain accounts. They'd been using the first two User Defined Fields (UDF) in the account card but needed more, and needed to be able to pull this data into SmartList. Unfortunately, the canned SmartLists expose only the first two UDFs. So, here's how we resolved the issue.

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First, you need to use SmartList Builder to use this solution. That's because UDF #3 and #4 for some strange reason are not exposed in the canned SmartLists even though they are stored in the same table as UDF #1 and #2 - GL00100. Go figure.

Next, replicate the appropriate canned SmartList using SmartList Builder and expose UDF #3 and #4 in your new SmartList. (UDF #3 and #4 are identified in GL00100 as USRDEFS1 and USRDEFS2).

Finally, change the UDF labels in the General Ledger Setup window (Financial>>Setup>>General Ledger) and enter the appropriate field values for all UDF's in your account cards.

Now you can run your SmartList and sort and filter on all four UDFs instead of just two.

What's New in GP 2010 PO Returns? Replace Returned Goods!!

2011-08-15T05:37:00.002-04:00

You can process returns against both Purchase Order Processing receipts and Inventory receipts. Items that have been received on a shipment or shipment/invoice receipt are available to be returned as a Return or a Return w/Credit document type. Items that have been transferred to another site, added to inventory through an inventory adjustment or variance, or returned by a customer are available to be returned in Purchase Order Processing as an Inventory or Inventory w/Credit document type. New to GP 2010, Replace Returned Goods automatically updates the PO that the items were received on originally to allow the items to be re-received.

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Anyone hate the new Knowledgebase search on PartnerSource?

2011-08-04T15:26:00.000-04:00

Sometimes improvements just don't work out. For those of you who, like myself, prefer the old KB search interface over the new one, instead of navigating through Support>>Knowledgebase, navigate through Deployment>>Knowledgebase. It will take you to the old search window.

Cheers!

International Financial Reporting Standards - Are You Ready?

2011-07-28T18:36:00.003-04:00

Major accounting changes are coming to the U.S. as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) converge in the next several years. And the impact should concern more than just accountants. A change of this magnitude will impact analysis models, accounting software, and training. Companies of all sizes, but especially publicly-held companies who will see the changes first, need to understand that using a different accounting method can create different financial results and, potentially, increased tax liabilities.

There are two projects going on simultaneously. The first one is the move to IFRS. The second is a draft of a new statement presentation format. The change in statement presentation format will probably happen sooner than the change to IFRS, but both of these changes demand attention because they will affect everything we do in analyzing financial statements.

And if you are a Microsoft Dynamics GP customer, it will also be important to understand whether your version can support the coming IFRS requirements.

The New Statement Presentation Format

The presentation format of the financial statement will include the following changes:

The balance sheet, income statement, and cash flows each will be divided into five sections: business, discontinued operations, financing, income taxes, and equity.
A fourth statement will reconcile the statements of comprehensive income and cash flows.
The business section of each statement will be further divided into operating and investing assets and liabilities, income, and cash flows.

Where accounts are placed will be based on where management believes they should fall. The operating section will have anything that's integral to the company's business. The investing section will include investments considered fundamental to business activities. So if you're a manufacturer, for instance, the operating section should have your labor costs, your cost of goods sold, your inventories receivable. If the company believes that its accounts receivables are investments, however, it very well could appear in the investment section.

The Balance Sheet will not list total assets and liabilities. Instead, assets and liabilities will be broken out into financing and business assets and liabilities. Business numbers will be further broken out as operating and investing assets and liabilities. Rather than equalizing assets with liabilities plus equity, assets will be netted against liabilities to come up with equity.
The Income Statement will disaggregate information far more than the traditional income statement today with considerably more detail on the statement of comprehensive income. Most of the work on this change in format was based on input from equity analysts and rating agencies.
In the reconciliation of the statements of comprehensive income and cash flows, cash flow is going to be actual cash. When looking at this, it will give actual cash balance, actually what's happening with cash, what is in accrual, and what is a ‘fair value' change. The new format will challenge financial analysts who are more familiar with GAAP statements. Because of its disaggregation, the new financial statement format requires a lot of searching and adding things up to get what is available by just looking at GAAP statement. Under the new format, current assets and liabilities are in the operating segment, the investing segment, the financing segment, the tax segment, and the discontinued operations segment. But because there will still be interest in current cash requirements, current liabilities, and how current assets pair up with those, there will have to be some arithmetic to figure out a company's total assets and total liabilities.

The Convergence of GAAP and IFRS

Besides the format differences in presenting financial information in IFRS, there will be an underlying difference in philosophy that will give management greater discretion in preparing statements. IFRS is described as being ‘principles-based'. So far, neither extensive application guidelines nor comprehensive, industry-specific guidelines exist, and there are not as many rules to follow as exist under GAAP.

With the complexity of modern financial instruments, however, there is a concern about judgment. Management will need to include explanations of their judgments and analytics in footnotes, which could increase notes three- or fourfold over GAAP statements.

Other changes include the following:

Under GAAP, extraordinary items can be shown on the income statement. Under IFRS, that doesn't exist. Those items have to be apportioned to whatever business line they are appropriate in.
LIFO accounting for inventory will not be allowed. Only FIFO or weighted-average cost will be used. There's going to be a major impact on companies with large deferred tax liabilities that have been created by LIFO accounting and how they manage the treatment of those liabilities. According to Mary Ann Lawrence, senior VP of Commercial Credit Risk Review at KeyBank, United Technologies has estimated that if it can't use LIFO accounting, it will have a $4 billion tax liability for the first year. The impact is significant.
Under GAAP, fixed assets are recorded at historical cost. Under IFRS, fixed assets can be revalued. There's a lot of concern about fair valuation of fixed assets. It creates another noncash element that has to be backed out to determine if the company is actually earning money or increasing income due to the valuation of its fixed assets.
Research and development are expensed under GAAP. Under IFRS, research costs are expensed but development costs are capitalized. As an example, companies in the pharmaceutical industry may see large swings in profitability because of the capitalization of their development costs.
Under IFRS, goodwill and inventory can be written down and then written back up again. All of these things introduce additional noise under the financial statement, especially when it comes to cash flow analysis.
Operating leases are not included in IFRS statements. Instead, you have what is called a 'right of use' of an asset. Renting a building will show up as a 'right to use your office facility.' This will allow companies to capitalize the present value of the future lease payment and show the liability on the other side as the present value of the lease payments.

Using a different accounting method will create different financial results. According to industry experts, when companies on IFRS are compared with those on GAAP, on average, the earnings are 6% to 8% higher under IFRS than under GAAP.

Who Will Be Affected - When and Why?

The move to IFRS is a joint project between IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) and FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board). The IASB has, for now, excluded nonprofits and private companies. They are working on a different set of accounting standards for them. FASB says it hasn't made the decision yet as to whether this change will apply to private companies or only to public companies.

One timeline, published by Deloitte LLP, has U.S. public companies partially converting to the new accounting standards by 2013. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved IFRS accounting for foreign companies listing on U.S. stock exchanges without having to reconcile to GAAP standards. EU countries, Canada, India, and Japan are ahead of the U.S. in adopting the IFRS standard. This has fueled the drive for convergence as the world's investors, businesses, and governments complain that different accounting systems are an economic cost that would prefer not to bear.

The primary factor driving the movement toward IFRS is that about 100 countries are on IFRS and only one is on U.S. GAAP - the U.S. Many of the people at FASB acknowledge that IFRS will most likely be the global accounting standard moving forward.

The convergence of GAAP and IFRS is likely to be costly and difficult. Analysis models, accounting software, and training will need to change to reflect the new standards. Given the impact this change could have on your organization, especially if you're publicly held, if you're not yet reviewing how the transition to IFRS from GAAP will affect your accounting and reporting system requirements, you need to be soon.

The good news is, if you're already running Dynamics GP 2010, you're covered for IFRS reporting. GP 2010 introduced ‘Reporting Ledgers' that enables recording transactions in compliance with IFRS rules. If your company has not yet upgraded to GP 2010, the transition to IFRS is one more compelling reason to do so.

Your Shore or Mine?

2011-07-18T22:27:00.004-04:00

is the title of an article published by an associate of mine, Dave Turbide, in the current edition of APICS Magazine. It's a very interesting piece that explains why 'on-shoring' of manufacturing back to the U.S. is being considered by more companies than ever. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Reconsidering the decision to outsource

Several years ago, it was almost fashionable to outsource to low-wage areas of the world to reduce costs. Business leaders developed the mind-set of “off shoring is always cheaper” and they scarcely looked beyond unit cost plus transportation.

Fast-forward to 2008 and 2009, and witness the costly and embarrassing problems surrounding the discovery of lead in children’s toys, contaminated baby formula, and toxic drywall. Also consider recent oil price shocks and the earthquake and tsunami that severely disrupted supplies of many critical electronic and automotive parts in 2011. The US dollar has been on a downward path, making imports increasingly more expensive – and, on top of all this, wages in China are skyrocketing. Is it any wonder that company decision makers are taking another look at the costs of off shoring . . .

Click this link to read the full article. Enjoy!

Sharpen the Axe - Enhance your GP Knowledge

2011-07-13T09:27:00.003-04:00

A few weeks back I ran a survey querying users as to what they thought were the primary reasons their organizations were not getting all the 'bang for the buck' out of their Dynamics GP system. The responses indicated overwhelmingly (67%) that users believe that lack of post-implementation training is what limits their ability to extract more value from GP. These findings support the anecdotal evidence I've observed over the years and I'm sure every GP consultant out there would concur - management typically does not fully appreciate the value of recurrent training of any sort, let alone that for their ERP system users.

Unfortunately, this places the onus on individual users to enhance their skills on their own. Fortunately, their are myriad resources available to those users who have the desire and motivation to engage in some self-learning exercises. To that end, the PowerPoint document below is an update to a presentation I gave at MSDynamicsWorld Decisions 2010 that is chock-full of learning resources for Dynamics GP. I hope you find it beneficial.

Please pardon the formatting errors. Not all formatting survives the upload to Google Docs :(

Extending Microsoft Dynamics GP Manufacturing: Six Add-Ons for Process and Industry Needs

2011-07-05T12:08:00.000-04:00

Microsoft Dynamics GP's Manufacturing module is best known for its discrete manufacturing capabilities and does an admirable job of meeting the requirements of discrete manufacturers in mid-market to enterprise-level organizations. Although I've seen it used in process manufacturing industries such as food, cosmetics, and life sciences, application in these industries is not in playing to the Manufacturing module's strengths . . .

Read the rest of my latest article at MSDynamicsWorld by clicking on the gears.

Jivtesh Singh our latest Dynamics GP MVP!!

2011-07-03T11:53:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Jivtesh. This is a very well deserved award that you have attained. I personally have benefited from your contributions to the forums many times.

And, congratulations also to Mariano Gomez for being awarded the MVP designation for the fourth year in a row. Way to go amigo!!

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook: LITE

2011-06-30T08:01:00.000-04:00

I just finished a pass through the Mr. Polino's latest work, mainly because, being the kind of person who likes to get to the bottom line quickly, I'm attracted to literary works that include the word LITE in the title. Well, this latest version of the Cookbook may be light in weight but it is chock full of all the best tips from the full version of the GP 2010 Cookbook.

From Personalizing GP to Organizing GP to Automating GP, this book, in an hour or less, will make you the envy of your GP peers with the new found skills you'll have acquired.

I highly recommend this book to every GP user, administrator and consultant. It should be on your desk now. And you can get it in either print or ebook format from Amazon or Packt Publishing.

Resize the left pane in SmartList

2011-06-29T14:33:00.003-04:00

The inability to re-size this pane has been a pain to me since the first time I saw SmartList. Well, here's a solution from Nicole Albertson of Microsoft, compliments of the GPUG Weekly News.

Click on this link, follow the instructions to Save, Unzip and install the code, set security to the modified SmartList window and bingo, bango, bongo, that annoying pane is cut down to size - Click Here.

And, if you're not a member of GPUG - you should be, so you can get these weekly tips firsthand.

Martinis & Manufacturing

2011-06-12T18:00:00.000-04:00

What do martinis and manufacturing have in common? Well, among other things, martinis are one of my better half's and my favorite drinks and manufacturing is one of my favorite verticals, in that I've spent the better part of my career working in and around manufacturing. There's one more thing they have in common - my friend Steve Chapman at Rose Business Solutions created a video a few years back entitled 'How to Make a Martini with Dynamics GP'. For a fun and informative look at manufacturing a martini (something I also know a little about) have a look at Steve's video by clicking on the image below.

Salut!

What's New in GP 2010 Manufacturing?

2011-06-07T10:16:00.000-04:00

If you're wondering, check out my article on MSDynamicsWorld here - http://msdynamicsworld.com/story/what%E2%80%99s-new-microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-manufacturing.

May is Packt Publishing's Dynamics Month

2011-05-28T18:06:00.001-04:00

If you're looking for a deal on Dynamics books, have a look at Packt's Dynamics Month promotion here- http://www.packtpub.com/article/exclusive-offer-microsoft-dynamics-books.

Packt offers titles from authors such as Mark Polino, MVP, Victoria Yudin, MVP and others so you're sure to find extremely valuable insight into the Dynamics product line with any of their books.

Happy reading!

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Reporting

2011-05-17T08:28:00.000-04:00

I just finished my first trip through this new book on GP 2010 reporting and all I can say is - incredible. This work, written by David Duncan and Christopher Liley of IBIS and reviewed by my dear friends Amy Walsh and Christine Belding, also of IBIS, provides an extremely well thought-out, well written, thorough look at the state of the art in reporting in GP 2010.

The book not only covers all the reporting options available in GP 2010 but also provides a framework for developing a cohesive reporting strategy for your organization.

From SmartList to Report Writer, from Excel Report Builder to Management Reporter, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Reporting provides an overview of all of the report types, plus technical instruction on how to use and get the most of each of the report development tools.

Whether you're a GP report developer or a GP user who's curious about the myriad reporting options now provided in the application, this book needs to be in your library. I highly recommend it.

You can purchase Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Reporting from PackT Publishing (http://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-reporting/book) or on Amazon.

Required Fields

2011-05-16T21:23:00.001-04:00

If you're having trouble with Required Fields not showing as Bold, Red, or Italicized, even after making the appropriate settings in User Preferences, check to make sure that "Show Required Fields" on the Help menu is checked.

Why do you think your company's utilization of GP is not optimal?

2011-05-12T10:51:00.000-04:00

We ran this survey over the last 3 weeks and here are the results:

It's interesting to note that fully two thirds of the responses (67%) indicate lack of training after implementation. This supports my personal observation over a decade of software implementations that most companies don't understand or appreciate the value of recurrent education for their employees. I truly believe that the difference between a good company and a great one is the investment made in employees.

So how do we address this issue? That's going to be the topic of a future blog post so stay tuned . . .

Free Post-Convergence 2011 Webinar - RESCHEDULED!

2011-05-05T09:38:00.002-04:00

Due to several requests from participants to reschedule this event, we've moved it to next week. So, if you weren't able to make the webinar this week, here's your chance! Don't miss the opportunity to gain insight from top-rated sessions of Convergence 2011. Click here to register for this informative webinar that will take you through the "how-to's" and save you time and money!

Join us on Wednesday, May 18, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST and be eligible to win a FREE one day guest pass to Microsoft Convergence Houston 2012! The webinar agenda includes:

● Microsoft ERP Roadmap Overview, by Ted Mauldin, Dynamics MCP

● Migrating from FRx to Management Reporter, by Frank Hamelly, Dynamics GP MVP

● Effectively administering Dynamics GP, by Mariano Gomez, Dynamics GP MVP

● Ask IntellPartners - Q&A

Hope to see you there!

How to do I recover the Administrator password in FRx?

2011-04-23T07:49:00.000-04:00

The answer to this question is - you don't. If you lose the password and can't remember it, you're stuck. A call to Microsoft is required to help. However, there is a work-around. If you have the FW company setup in FRx, login to the FW company as Administrator. The Admin password in the FW company is blank (unless you change it). Once in as Admin, you can make changes in your production companies also, not just the FW company.

Why do you think your company's utilization of GP is not optimal?

2011-04-14T12:10:00.001-04:00

Okay, now that we know a lot of you aren't getting all you could from your GP system, let's explore some of the reasons why. I just posted a new poll and would love to get your input as to why that's the case. If there's another reason that doesn't appear in the list, let me know and I'll add it to the choices.

Thanks!

Final poll results - How much of your ERP system do you actually use?

2011-04-13T20:52:00.007-04:00

The poll closed yesterday and between driving back from Convergence in Atlanta and getting ready for a client engagement today, I'm just now getting around to posting the results. The breakdown of the 23 responses is as follows:

As you can see, the average utilization is less than 50% of the capability of the respondents' GP systems. Why is that? I have some ideas. To get a peak at what those ideas are, please have a look at my recent article on the topic at MSDynamicsWorld - http://msdynamicsworld.com/story/don%E2%80%99t-let-your-microsoft-dynamics-erp-solution-fall-short-5-tips-successful-implementation.

Until next post!

Migrating from FRx to Management Reporter

2011-04-12T08:34:00.001-04:00

I sat in on this session yesterday at Convergence, presented by part of the Microsoft FRx/MR team. I personally have not yet had to migrate any clients from FRx to MR but I know the time is coming soon.

The good news is, if you follow the upgrade guide provided by Microsoft with the MR software (and additional documentation which can be found in the KBs on CustomerSource and PartnerSource) the upgrade looks like a relative piece of cake. Likewise, the Microsoft folks are reporting a very short ramp to get your people up to speed on Management Reporter. The similarities between it and FRx are strong, so it should be a pretty easy transition.

One disadvantage that exists right now in MR is that you can't email reports like you can in FRx. That capability may be included in future releases of MR, but that's going to be determined by the user community. The MS team reports that the focus group they use to provide input into the features that are included in the future hasn't indicated a strong desire for email capability within MR.

If you're using MR right now and or are planning to in the near future, you might want to check these links. The first is a link to the LinkedIn Management Reporter Users Group. The second link is to a You Tube video posted by Microsoft on the Management Reporter tool.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Microsoft-Management-Reporter-Users-2257759?gid=2257759&invID=21138617&sharedKey=iDuLSCJi&mboxItemID=1883954728&trk=giv&goback=.mml_inbox_none_DATE_1.mid_1883954728&report.success=eBQbyLhwu1GxRAgNxorcAobW_1C36Y9wtxhrZ-eXiSG3rR9yleaj2WUwi18nrN3FE_NM2KZjDoyMvr9ya_eyeWvvDofOrBO5EDUygqRKiSs_8r9ytemT2fyPkjkk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNbHBwLQCNU

Good luck!

DayOne At Convergence

2011-04-11T08:20:00.001-04:00

If you weren't at the Convergence Reception last night, here's what you missed. The weather was awesome, a perfect evening in Atlanta and the food, drink, & entertainment were first rate. Who ever said accountants and geeks were boring???

* click to enlarge

Off to the Monday activities!

Update on the poll results

2011-04-04T12:42:00.000-04:00

So far the tally is:

30-40%, 11 votes

50-60%, 3 votes

70-80%, 2 votes

Poll results

2011-03-31T08:39:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to post this note that something occurred overnight that affected the poll results. Somehow the results were cleared. The poll results prior to this error were:

30-40% 4 votes

70-80% 1 vote

I'll summarize the correct poll results when the poll ends in 12 days.

How much of your ERP system do you actually use?

2011-03-29T08:55:00.002-04:00

This may be a very subjective question as it can be a difficult metric to quantify but when you think of your current ERP system, whether it's GP or some other application, how much of the system actually gets used on a regular basis? Is it 30%? 50%? 70%?

In my experience, and this is just anecdotal, I'll bet it's not more than 30-40% in most cases. That means there could be another 60-70% of the application to leverage to do what you do more efficiently.

Over the past year or so, the focus at GP2themax has been to illuminate some of the functionality in GP that you may or may not have been aware of and provide some tips on how to use that functionality more effectively. However, at this point, I'd like us to take things to the next level and look globally at what other modules you own but may not be using at all. In some cases, these may not be full modules such as Project Accounting or Manufacturing but may be more like Field Level Security, EFT for Payables, National Accounts, etc., etc.

To kick this initiative off, over the next couple of weeks we're going to conduct a poll to determine just how much of your system you think your company actually uses and, perhaps, spark your thinking as to what module or functionality your company could benefit from by utilizing.

The poll is at the top right side of the blog.

It will be very interesting to see the results so get your friends and associates to vote too. Thank you.

13 Classic Under Used Features in Dynamics GP

2011-02-23T16:13:00.002-05:00

You won't want to miss this webinar presented by Mark Polino, CPA, MVP and yours truly, on March 17, 2011. Brought to you by our friends at

Click on the logo above for more info . . .

GPTip42day - How do I void a bank deposit after it's been reconciled?

2011-02-22T08:41:00.000-05:00

The short answer is - no can do. However, if you encounter a situation where a deposit was posted into the wrong period and subsequently reconciled, in Bank Transaction Entry, just create a decrease adjustment in the incorrect period and an increase adjustment in the correct period to get the deposit dollars posted in the right period. Then clear these adjustments against each other in the next reconciliation.

East Coast Dynamics merges with IntellPartners of Atlanta, GA USA

2011-02-10T20:03:00.000-05:00

I've recently reached an agreement to merge my company, East Coast Dynamics, with IntellPartners of Atlanta. For full information, please read the MSDynamicsWorld article here -
http://msdynamicsworld.com/story/accounting/veteran-microsoft-dynamics-consultants-unite-new-push-focus-erp-customers-beyond-so

Didn't make it to the GPUG meeting last week

2011-01-31T21:55:00.000-05:00

I was planning to attend the GPUG meeting in Atlanta last Wednesday and report on how it went but the Go Live gods had other plans for me. We're in the midst of Go Live support for a new implementation and I just wasn't able to break away. As soon as I attend my first GPUG meeting, I'll let you know all about it!

In the meantime, let me give GPUG another GPlug - www.gpug.com. Check them out!!

A new focus for awhile

2011-01-22T14:46:00.005-05:00

Over the last year or so, my focus has been providing bite-sized nuggets of info to help make using GP easier and more productive. I'd now like to take a turn to something that is near and dear to my heart - training. In my experience, most GP (or any software app for that matter) users are seriously under-trained in the finer points of the application. An ongoing program of training can do so much to unlock additional productivity and make a user's experience much more satisfying.

So, for the next few months, I want to encourage users to take advantage of the many, many opportunities that exist to get more out of GP and make their work-a-day lives easier.

And in this first installment, I want to introduce GPUG to users who don't know what it is or what they offer.

GPUG (the Great Plains User Group www.gpug.com) is an organization 100% dedicated to improving the Dynamics GP user experience. I recently joined GPUG and cannot believe how many different programs they offer to help the GP user improve their understanding of and proficiency in Dynamics GP. Not only that, but as a community of users, there are tons of ways to connect with other users and share experiences. GPUG has only been around since 2006 but has seen significant growth and reach since then, with 20 regional chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada.

As stated on their 'About Us' page, GPUG's mission is 'To engage every individual and company using Microsoft Dynamics GP in value-added networking and knowledge sharing and to be the single most important conduit for Microsoft to seek guidance on future development of Dynamics GP.'

To that end, I want to do what I can to help GPUG fulfill its mission. I'm going to go to my first GPUG regional meeting this week in Atlanta. I'll blog about the experience later this week. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out their website and see if GPUG would be a good fit for you.

Review of 'Microsoft Dynamics GP2010 Implementation'

2011-01-10T11:46:00.001-05:00

Having just reviewed Victoria Yudin's new book over the weekend I can say 'wow - what a treasure trove of information'. You can tell from the very beginning that the book was written by someone who knows implementing GP cold. A person could literally sit down with SQL Server and GP discs in one hand, this book in the other and install GP in an afternoon with the confidence that it has been installed properly. But much, much further than that, the book lays out step-by-step instructions on putting together a GP implementation team, project plan, infrastructure, SQL Server and GP configuration, data migration, user training etc., etc. Every base is covered, along with tips, tricks and traps.

If you're even considering implementing or re-implementing any version of Dynamics GP, this publication is a must have. You can get it here - https://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-implementation/book in print, ebook, or both.

This one will definitely be part of my GP toolkit. Bravo Victoria, bravo!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

2010-12-31T19:45:00.000-05:00

Wishing everyone a happy, safe and prosperous New Year!! May we all see great things happen for Dynamics GP in 2011. Hope to see you all at Convergence this year.

GPTip42day - Victoria Yudin's new book - Microsoft Dynamics GP2010 Implementation

2010-12-28T17:58:00.001-05:00

What a way to start the New Year! Our good friend and fellow MVP has a new book out called Microsoft Dynamics GP2010 Implementation. Victoria is extremely knowledgeable about Dynamics GP and has been a GP MVP for longer than I've even known what an MVP is. She has taken her vast knowledge about GP and used it to create a step-by-step guide to implementing GP2010. I'm going to read the book in the next couple of weeks and post a review here on the blog but I wanted to give you all advance notice that the book is available here - https://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-implementation/book.

I'm really looking forward to reading the guide and whether you're getting ready to implement GP2010 or just want to learn more about it, I'm sure this will be a must-have for your GP library.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to Everyone!

2010-12-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

May your holidays be safe, serene and restful and may your New Year bring you health, wealth and wisdom. My best to each and everyone!

GPTip42day - Should I remove Discontinued Items when closing the Inventory series?

2010-12-16T07:40:00.000-05:00

One of the options presented when performing year end close in the Inventory series is the removal of Discontinued Items.

Inventory>Routines>Year-End Close

* click image to enlarge

Should you choose this option? That depends. Making this selection will remove the items from your Item Master. It will also remove ALL TRANSACTION HISTORY from the Inventory tables for the items removed. While you could still have access to some item history from the SOP and POP tables, that history would be limited compared to what's available from the Inventory tables.

Consider carefully, before making the decision to check this box, whether giving up the historical data is a fair trade-off for cleaning up your Item Master.

GPTip42day - Reversing the effect of erroneous PO Receipts

2010-12-08T14:49:00.001-05:00

People must have their minds on the holidays right now. There seems to be a rash of forum posts where users are asking how they 'undo' a PO Receipt gone wrong. There are at least two answers to this question, depending on the GP version you're on. If you're on GP10 and prior, then the solution is to perform a Return Transaction to undo the bad receipt. Then, either add a new line to the PO, enter a Receipt without PO and notate the heck out of it to provide an audit trail back to the original PO, or enter a new PO, again with all the required notation.

However, if you're on GP2010, you're in luck! When performing your Return Transaction, click the little check box under the Currency ID field that says 'Replace Returned Goods'. Now when you post the transaction, the original PO quantity will be updated to reflect the quantity returned and now can be re-received. Cool huh? Works just like it always should have . . .

Purchasing>Transactions>Returns Transaction Entry

*click image to enlarge

GPTip42day - Why can't I see the Batch ID in SmartList after I post a GL batch?

2010-12-06T15:33:00.000-05:00

This little quirk has to do with GP allowing you to use the same Single Use (as opposed to Recurring) Batch ID multiple times. If GP stored the Batch ID (BACHNMBR) in the Open or History tables after the batch is posted, as it does in the Work table prior to posting, this could prevent use of the same Batch ID again. Some (like me) might say this is a good thing because it would provide a solid audit trail between the batch and its transactions. However, the current behavior does offer more flexibility in batch naming.

At any rate, if you need to see the Batch ID for a posted batch in a Financial Transactions SmartList, add the 'Originating Source' column to your SmartList. That is where the Batch ID is stored permanently.

GPTip42day - Year End Close

2010-11-18T10:08:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe we're already at that time of year again. If you need some assistance with Year End Close processes in GP, have a look at my series of posts here - http://gp2themax.blogspot.com/search/label/Year%20End%20Close.

GPTip42day - General Ledger enhancements in GP2010

2010-10-11T08:17:00.000-04:00

Exclude Inactive Accounts in Accounts Lookup

You can now exclude all inactive account records from the Accounts lookup window.

Clear recurring batch amounts

You can now clear the distribution amounts for all transactions on recurring batches after posting a batch. You can navigate through the distribution lines and enter new amounts for each period.

Combine multiple General Ledger Budgets into a single, Master Budget

You can combine multiple General Ledger budgets into a single, Master Budget, one budget at a time. The Master Budget can be completely new and have its own Budget ID, or it can be one of the original budgets. This feature is helpful when multiple departments in your organization create their own budgets, which must then be consolidated. The new Combine Budgets window simplifies this process.

Create budget transactions
You can now create a transaction directly against a budget. You can view a list of budget transactions, make adjustments, and then update the budget from the list.

Comply with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) requirements

GP2010 now includes features that meet compliance standards for IFRS. You can identify transactions for local GAAP, IFRS, or other accounting purposes, and you can define ledgers for each purpose. You can select one or more ledgers for financial reports and inquiries. Also, you can generate distributions automatically as part of the year-end closing or currency revaluation process.

GPTip42day - Emailing Documents in GP2010

2010-10-09T08:23:00.001-04:00

In GP2010, you can embed any of a number of documents into the body of an e-mail message or send documents as attachments.

You can send a single document, batches of documents, or send multiple documents using the Lists functionality in GP. When setting up e-mail functionality, you can select which documents can be sent and which customers and vendors should receive their documents via e-mail. If you are using Word templates for Microsoft Dynamics GP, you can send predefined or customized forms.

The following documents can be sent via e-mail from within GP –

* click image to enlarge

A document can be sent in HTML, XPS, PDF, or DOCX file format type. You can also combine multiple documents to be sent in a single e-mail.

GPTip42day - New Features in GP2010

2010-10-06T10:02:00.000-04:00

Over the next few days (weeks?) we're going to focus on some of the cool new features that GP2010 provides that weren't available in any previous versions of GP. There's a document available from Microsoft that lists all the new features, but for those who don't like reading long documents, we'll present the interesting stuff here in bite-size pieces and instructions on how to do the setup, if necessary.

Viewing Reminders as Cues or Text

You can specify to view predefined reminders and customized reminders as text or as Cues in the Home Page. A Cue is an icon that increases or decreases in height to indicate the number of records in a particular reminder category.

*click image to enlarge

To change from Text to Cues, or vice versa, on the Home Page, above the Reminders box, there's a pencil icon. Click the pencil to open the To Do Details window, then click on the blue arrow to the right of Reminders to open the Reminder Preferences window.

* click image to enlarge

Place check marks in the Display as Cues boxes as desired.

GPTip42day - Using the Miscellaneous field on SOP transactions to recapture Credit Card fees

2010-09-16T10:57:00.000-04:00

Business case - the user needed a way to invoice customer for fees the user incurred as a result of receiving a credit card payment from the customer, without including the fee as a line item on the invoice.

Solution - use the Miscellaneous field on the transaction (this works regardless of whether you're using Sales Order Transaction Entry, Invoice Entry, or Transaction Entry) to invoice the fee to the customer.

Sales>Sales Transaction Entry

* click on image to enlarge

In Posting Account Setup, Series = Sales, set the account on the Miscellaneous line to be a revenue account, or whatever account you find appropriate, so the distribution occurs automatically.

GPTip42day - Multiple Project WIP Accounts

2010-09-07T21:11:00.000-04:00

From the GP Forums comes the question - 'Can I setup multiple WIP accounts in Project Accounting?' The answer is Yes. Because the WIP account is specified in Cost Categories, you can setup multiple WIP accounts as long as you setup Cost Categories that are specific to the projects you want to track per each WIP account.

GPTip42day - Currency Setting in Account Detail Inquiry

2010-07-15T08:25:00.000-04:00

Today's tip shows that no matter how much you think you know about GP, there's always more to learn. Take a look at the screenshot below. What's missing from the window?

* click image to enlarge

Not sure? Take a look at the next screenshot.

* click image to enlarge

See it now? The Account Balance and the Total are missing from the 1st screenshot. If you were to encounter this issue, how would you fix it? Well, my first thought when I saw this was that it was a security setting or some other permissions issue. But no.

See the little Currency icon at the top right of the window? If the Currency toggle is set to anything other than Functional, then either the Account Balance, the Total, or both will be invisible.

Interesting huh? I haven't researched this but I'm guessing it has to do with the system's inability to calculate an account balance based on multiple exchange rates applied to the detailed transactions throughout the period.

GPTip42day - Leslie Vail shows how to get rid of that pesky 'Customer Experience' task

2010-07-09T09:11:00.000-04:00

Thanks Leslie - great stuff!!

http://dynamicsconfessions.blogspot.com/2010/07/goodbye-ceip-program.html

GPTip42day - MO Schedule Preferences

2010-06-30T08:29:00.001-04:00

I'm going to have to change the name of my tip to 'GPTip4themonth' if I don't get back on the ball here with the tip frequency.

This tip is for all my manufacturing friends out there. Having spent 20-some years in the manufacturing world, I thought I might be giving short shrift to my roots by seldom providing a tip on using GP Manufacturing, so here, I try to rectify that a bit.

In Manufacturing Setup, in the Scheduling Preferences window, one of the choices you need to make is whether to use Forward or Backward Infinite to schedule your manufacuring orders.

Manufacturing>Setup>MO Schedule Preferences

* click image to enlarge

What's the difference between the two methods? Forward Infinite uses an order release date that you provide and schedules MO activity forward from that date. Backward Infinite uses an MO due date that you provide and schedules MO activity and the planned MO release date backward from the due date. The Infinite part of the setting means GP assumes your capacity resources are infinite as opposed to finite. In a finite environment, the system would take into account resource constraints when planning MOs.

GPTip42day - Locking users out of GP

2010-06-19T12:18:00.000-04:00

I don't generally suggest or endorse products in this blog but when I run across something that really stands out in terms of 'bang for the buck', I like to share it.

Need to lock users out to perform upgrades or maintenance? Check out Rockton Software's Dynamics GP Toolbox. http://www.rocktonsoftware.com/products.aspx?p=12

For a very modest price, the Toolbox provides the ability to lock users out and much more.

GPTip42day - Checklists

2010-06-08T14:08:00.002-04:00

Here's a great little feature in GP that I rarely, if ever, see clients use.

Company Checklists can be used to create customized checklists of company routines. You can specify the frequency with which routines should be completed: daily, weekly, on payday, at the end of a period, month, quarter, fiscal year or calendar year, during setup, or at a frequency you choose. Using the Checklist, you can launch a GP window, a GP macro or an external task, such as SmartConnect or Integration Manager - really anything application that is an executable. Heck, with the right executable on your desktop, you could launch a Delta IV rocket.

When you run a routine from within the Checklist, the date, time, and User ID are captured and stored in the SY02500 table in the Company database so if you want to report on or expose the record to SharePoint to incorporate into a workflow, the data is there to do so.

In the screenshot below, I setup a few routines that might be followed in a typical Financial month-end close.

Financial>Routines>Checklist

* click image to enlarge

Checklists are provided in almost all GP modules, not just Financial, and could be used for ensuring processes are carried out at any time, not just period end.

I was going to provide instructions on how to set each type of routine up but it's so intuitive with GP Help, I decided to let you have some fun with it on your own.

GPTip42day - Should I be using Daily or Periodic Depreciation Period in Fixed Assets Book Setup?

2010-06-07T13:45:00.000-04:00

The answer depends on if you want depreciation calculated based on the number of days in each period or equally for each period of the year.

Financial>Setup>Fixed Assets>Book

* click image to enlarge

Depreciation Period

Select the depreciation period. A yearly depreciation rate is calculated for each asset at the beginning of each year.

Daily depreciation results in the yearly rate being allocated based on the number of days in a period. For companies using accounting periods of 4-week, 4-week, 5-week quarters, daily should be used. Periods that are longer will receive more depreciation.

Periodic depreciation results in the yearly rate being allocated equally for each period in the year.

GPTip42day - Taking the 'Pane' out of Grouping SmartLists

2010-06-06T18:03:00.001-04:00

I've never been a big fan of the Navigation Pane in GP9 and prior versions. I just don't like anything taking up my precious desktop space. However, I've found a great use for it.

As you probably know, there is no easy way (perhaps no way at all - I've tried but gave up) to group unrelated SmartLists. Here's the business case -

Client has many branches, with branch ID's ranging from 901 to 935. Each of these branches has 8-10 SmartList Favorites that are identical across branches except they are each defined to be specific to a branch ID. Most are Field Service SmartLists, with a couple Inventory Item SmartLists and a Project SmartList in the mix. Needless to say, multiplying 8-10 SmartList Favorites by 35 branches makes for one large list of Favorites to have to wade through for each branch to find their own.

The solution I came up with was to use the Navigation Pane Shortcuts. Using this tool, you can setup a folder or folders to contain the unrelated SL Favorites for each branch and group them all in the folder. This way, all each user has to do is open that Shortcut folder and voila! there are all their Favorites grouped in one spot.

All you have to do is right click on the Shortcuts Folder and select Add>Folder. Then rename the folder to suit your needs. Next, right click on your new folder and select Add>SmartList. The Add SmartList Favorite Shortcut window opens. You select the SmartList you want added to the folder and click Done.

* click image to enlarge

That's all there is to it.

* click image to enlarge

I'd love someone to tell me there's a way to do this in SmartList or SL Builder but until they do, I'll be recommending this method of SmartList grouping.

GPTip42day - Printing Customer Refund Checks

2010-06-06T10:34:00.001-04:00

If you have a customer or customers with credit balances on their accounts that need to be cleared, GP makes it easy to create Refund Checks to do so.

Sales>Transactions>Refund Checks

* click image to enlarge

1. Enter a Batch ID

2. Select All Currencies or Functional Currency

3. Enter the Document Date

4. Select to Create Refund for Specific Documents or Credit Balance Customers

5. Enter a specific customer or leave the Customer field blank. Leaving the field blank will create Refund Checks for all customers with a credit balance. In this case, we're creating a refund for Aaron Fitz only.

6. Check Integrate with EFT if you want to create EFT transactions.

7. Click Insert to enter the customer in the Customer ID window. The Edit Refund Checks window opens to allow you to edit the check amount. When happy with the check edits, click OK.

8. If the customer is also a vendor, the Vendor ID will appear in the Vendor ID field. If not, click on the customer to selecl it (a small black dot will appear next to the Customer ID) and click Create Vendor. A new Temporary vendor will be created.

* click image to enlarge

9. Click Save and close the Vendor Maintenance window.

10. Back in the Create Refund Checks window, click Process. A bunch of posting journals will be created and then the Print Payables Checks window opens.

* click image to enlarge

From this point, process the Refund Checks as you would any payables check batch.

This whole process ultimately results in the creation of a debit memo applied to the customer account and a payables check or EFT transction to the customer.

GPTip42day -How do I process an NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds) transaction?

2010-06-06T09:49:00.003-04:00

GP makes it easy to process NSF transactions. Go

Sales>Transactions>Posted Transactions

* click image to enlarge

Select the Customer, document type Payments, select the payment Number and click the NSF button. The Auto Post NSF Debit Charge window opens.

* click image to enlarge

Accept the next document Number or type your own number in. Accept the default NSF Charge (set in Receivables Setup) or enter your own amount. Click OK.

Close the Posted Transactions window. The resulting posting journals will indicate that the original cash receipt has been voided and that a debit memo has been created and posted to the customer's account in the amount of the NSF Fee you entered.

It's that easy.

GPTip42day - Item Cost on Linked SO/PO

2010-05-25T23:17:00.002-04:00

A common misconception is that the cost of an item on a Sales Order that is linked to and being fulfilled by a Purchase Order will reflect the cost of the item(s) received on that PO. This is not how GP works.

If you're using FIFO or LIFO Perpetual valuation method, the cost will always be based on the next available layer in the FIFO or LIFO stack unless the item is serial or lot controlled.

If you're using Average Perpetual, the cost will always be the Average Cost unless the item is serial or lot controlled..

If you're using Periodic (Standard) then the cost will always be the Standard Cost unless the item is serial or lot controlled.

Bottom line is, if you want the actual cost from a PO to flow to a Sales Order/Invoice, it must be a serial or lot-controlled item.

GPTip42day - Field Level Security

2010-05-24T22:57:00.005-04:00

Would you like to be able to hide certain window fields from specific users? It's easy and straightforward using Field Level Security (FLS). For instance, let's say you want to hide the Current Cost field in the Item Card from everyone but your cost accounting department. Here's how you do it with FLS:

Administration>Field Level Security

* click image to enlarge

1. Open the FLS window, click on Add

2. Enter a new Field Security ID

3. Enter a Description

4. Select the Product Name, in this case Microsoft Dynamics GP

5. Select the Form Name

6. Select the Field Name to be hidden

7. Select the Security Mode, in this case Hide Field

8. Click Save

9. Select the Users you want this Security ID to apply to, select the Field Security ID, then click Apply

Voila - the Current Cost field is hidden from those users to you selected to apply the Security ID to.

GPTip42day - SmartList with Cash Receipts and Invoices Applied

2010-05-18T21:06:00.002-04:00

Here's a tip from the forums compliments of our friend and my fellow MVP, Victoria Yudin.

Victoria offers a SQL view to form the basis of the aforementioned SmartList using SmartList Builder. You can take advantage of her work by clicking on this link - http://victoriayudin.com/2010/02/15/sql-view-with-ar-apply-detail/

Thanks Victoria. You're the best!

GPTip42day - Modifying the Miscellaneous Check format

2010-05-17T18:38:00.002-04:00

Well, I'll be you all thought I had dropped completely off the radar in the last month. I did, sort of - 2 new clients in 2 months can do that to a person.

However, it's time to get back in the grroove with the daily tips so today we're talking about the Miscellaneous Check. If you need to modify this form, make sure you're looking for Check with Stub on Top - CM.

* click image to enlarge

If you need to modify the graphical version of the check, look for Check with Stub on Top and Bottom - Graphical - CM. Regardless of the check format you want to modify, if it's a Miscellaneous Check format, you must select one of the formats that ends in - CM which indicates it's used in the Cash Management (Banking) module.

GPTip42day - Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook

2010-05-03T16:44:00.004-04:00

Okay folks, here is the best tip you'll get all year for wringing the most out of GP. Our friend and all-around GP expert, Mark Polino, has a new book coming out this summer. It's called the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook and is chock full of great tips to help you extract maximum value from GP. Don't let the '2010' designation in the title scare you away though. Most of the tips in this book also apply to GP 8.0 thru 10.0. Here's a sample of the book cover and a link to get your order in.

https://www.packtpub.com/microsoft-dynamics-gp-2010-cookbook/book

Happy Reading!

GPTip42day - Price not found in Price List

2010-04-23T19:03:00.001-04:00

Tired of getting this message when adding an item to a sales document? Open the Sales Order Processing Setup window and check the Prices Not Required in Price List checkbox. You can even password protect this option if you'd like.

Sales>Setup>Sales Order Processing

* click image to enlarge

GPTip42day - Transferring Multiple Sales Order to Invoices

2010-04-22T22:15:00.001-04:00

Use the Sales Multiple Orders to Invoices Transfer window to transfer orders and back orders to invoices. Instead of transferring one document at a time, you can transfer groups of documents with the same characteristics, such as Batch ID, Customer ID, or Requested Ship Date. A separate invoice is created for each order or back order. You also can specify how to handle item quantity shortages and kit quantity shortages. This window is available only if you’re using sales fulfillment workflow.

Sales>Transactions>Transfer Multiple Orders

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If the document exceeds the customer’s credit limit and you are using customer credit limit override workflow, you can submit the document for approval.

If you are using customer credit limit override workflow, orders that exceed the customer’s credit limit won’t be transferred if they aren’t approved. You can transfer orders that don’t need approval.

GPTip42day - Copying Sales Documents

2010-04-21T21:28:00.001-04:00

Can you make a copy of an existing sales document (quote, order, invoice, etc.)? You sure can!

Open the Sales Transaction Entry window, enter the next Document No., the Customer ID and the Currency ID, then select Actions>Copy. Select the document you want to copy, check the appropriate options and you're good to go.

GPTip42day - PO Returns Chunk File

2010-04-15T00:01:00.002-04:00

If you post a PO receipt then realize the receipt was incorrect and process a Return, standard GP behavior will still allow you to match an invoice to the original receipt - not a good thing. To prevent this, contact your GP Partner and ask them to get the PO Returns Chunk File for you.

After installation of the chunk file, when invoicing a receipt, the system will check the previous quantity invoiced and the quantity returned for the line item. The most that will be allowed to be invoiced will be according to the following formula:

Quantity Shipped – (Previous Quantity Invoiced + Qty Returned)

The system will not allow invoicing of more than this amount. In the Auto Invoice window, if the checkbox for the item is marked, or the Mark All checkbox is selected, the quantity defaulted will be the most that can be invoiced as a result of the above formula.

GPTip42day - Eliminate Inactive Accounts from Lookup

2010-04-14T21:04:00.000-04:00

If you have a lot of inactive accounts in your chart of accounts and tire of scrolling through them in account lookups to get to the account you want, here's a great tip from fellow MVP Leslie Vail for dealing with the issue.

To reduce the number of accounts displayed in subsidiary modules, use the overlooked feature of the Include in Lookup settings on the Account Maintenance screen. Simply unselect all of the modules (they are all selected by default) on any inactive account and the account will not appear in your lookups in the subsidiary modules.

Financial>Cards>Account

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Thanks Leslie!!

GPTip42day - Purchase Order Generator - what is it?

2010-04-13T21:30:00.002-04:00

I like to call PO Generator 'mini-MRP'. Although not nearly as robust as Material Requirements Planning and limited to planning only Buy type items, PO Generator can be very useful in maintaining desired stock levels of purchased items.

Purchasing>Transactions>Purchase Order Generator

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Key to determining how PO Gen plans suggested purchase orders are the settings in Item Resource Planning and Site Resource Planning.

Inventory>Cards>Item Resource Planning

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Inventory>Cards>Site Resource Planning

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The settings selected in these windows determine at what stock level PO Gen suggests purchase orders for the item/site combinations.

Essentially, PO Gen scans Available Quantity for the items and sites selected in the Generate Suggest Purchase Orders window, compares that quantity to the desired stocking level (Required Quantity) as set in the Resource Planning windows and suggests purchase orders where the Available Quantity is less than the Required Quantity. The suggested purchase quantity is based on values set in the Resource Planning windows. (For more information on how to determine these values, see Help files for Purchase Order Generator and Item Resource Planning).

When you run PO Gen, the Suggested Purchase Orders Preview window reflects suggested POs to replenish items per your order policies.

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From this window you can generate the purchase orders required to bring your stock back up to desired levels.

Note: This is a simplistic overview of PO Generator. Please refer to the Help files and/or Printable Manuals for a more detailed explanation of how to use this planning tool.

GPTip42day - Remaining PO Subtotal

2010-04-12T20:25:00.000-04:00

The value in this field on the PO Entry and PO Inquiry windows can be misleading. Intuition would lead one to believe that this value represents the value of the unreceived items on the purchase order. But au contrere . . . it actually represents the value of the uninvoiced items on the PO.

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The value is calculated as

(Quantity Ordered - Quantity Canceled - Quantity on Unposted Invoices - Quantity on Posted Invoices) * PO Unit Cost

GPTip42day - Can I post transactions to a year prior to the most recent closed year?

2010-04-07T21:08:00.001-04:00

The short answer is no - unless you want to spend some $$ and hire MBS Professional Services to open the year in question for you. There are those who've tried it on their own and they report it as a very ugly process, resulting in the need to fix a lot of transactions.

If you need to do it - hire the experts!

GPTip42day - Unit Accounts

2010-04-06T21:02:00.002-04:00

Unit Accounts are similar to posting accounts. Both are used in transaction entry. Historical information and budgets can be kept for both types of accounts. When you post to Unit Accounts, however, you post quantities rather than amounts. Unit Accounts don’t appear on financial statements.

You can use Unit Accounts to compare financial and nonfinancial information. You can also use them with posting accounts to calculate information such as sales per employee or use them with variable allocation accounts to allocate amounts such as rent expense to each department based on its square footage, headcount, etc.

To setup a Unit Account, go

Financial>Cards>Unit Account

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In this example, we've setup the square footage of the Consulting/Training department to use it in monthly utilities cost allocations. Note that the department covers 100,000 square feet and the amount doesn't change throughout the year. The 100,000 value was posted in Period 1 via the journal entry below.

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You use Transaction Entry just as you would a financial journal entry to post changes to Unit Accounts. However, when you enter a Unit Account in the Account field, the Debit and Credit fields change from currency amounts to unit amounts. If the values vary from period to period, such as headcount normally does, make subsequent entries to the account in the period(s) where the change occurs. Enter a debit to increase the account, a credit to decrease it.

GPTip42day - Can I transfer non-inventory items between Projects?

2010-04-05T22:47:00.002-04:00

Yes, you can but you need to make sure the Do not allow Non-Inventory Items box in Inventory Transfer Setup in PA Setup is unchecked.

Project>Setup>Inventory Transfer

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Then, perform your transfer transactions out of the incorrect project and into the correct project.

Project>Transactions>Inventory Transfer

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GPTip42day - How do I add a Fixed Asset but not depreciate it?

2010-04-05T20:55:00.001-04:00

Occasionally, you may want to add an asset and not depreciate it. This is very simple to accomplish -

Financial>Cards>Fixed Assets>Book

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This will prevent depreciation from running on any asset with this Depreciation Method.

GPTip42day - Reconcile Accounts Payable Account

2010-03-31T19:37:00.004-04:00

There are a number of causes for control accounts not tying to their sub ledgers, including manual journal entries to the control account, transaction posting to incorrect accounts (should have posted to AP but posted to a different account), posting to incorrect periods, voided documents posted to the incorrect period, incorrect settings in the AP Trial Balance report definition, etc., etc. (Make sure you're running the 'Historical Aged Trial Balance' and in the 'Exclude' section, that all boxes are checked EXCEPT for 'Credit Balance'.)

The task of reconciling used to be a hunt and peck process before GP10. If you’re using GP10, then you have the 'Reconcile to GL' tool available to you. This tool analyzes the transactions in the sub ledger (in this case, the AP Trial Balance) and compares those transactions to transactions in the GL. Where a definite match occurs, such is indicated on the Excel file produced by the Reconcile tool. Where a match doesn't exist, or the match is not 100% definite, those are indicated in the Excel file also.

However, if you're on GP9 or a prior version, then the task is more difficult. You'll need to analyze your AP account transactions to determine the source of the transactions and whether they hit the correct period. SmartList is a great tool for analyzing individual transactions. Once you have the offending transactions isolated, fix what you can. Any remaining difference will likely require a journal entry to bring the AP account into balance with the APTB. Once you're reconciled, go to the AP Account Card and uncheck the 'Allow Account Entry' box to prevent manual journal entries posting to the account. In fact, you should do this for all your control accounts.

I also suggest to my clients to reconcile the account more frequently than monthly. Biweekly or even weekly may make sense, depending on the transaction volume in your environment. It's a lot easier to find these little glitches and correct them when the volume of data to pore over is less.

Oh, one other thing, check out The Closer from http://www.reporting-central.com/. This is a 'Reconcile to GL' tool on steroids that works with any version of GP. If I were responsible for a GP environment, this would definitely be in the toolbox.

GPTip42day - Writing Off Damaged Inventory

2010-03-30T22:16:00.002-04:00

Prior to writing off Damaged (or In Service or In Use) inventory, you must transfer the quantity to write off to the On Hand Quantity Type.

Inventory>Transactions>Transfer Entry

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After entering the item number, quantity to transfer, and Site ID, click on the Quantity Type button which opens the Quantity Type Entry window. Select Damaged as the From Type and On Hand as the To Type, Click OK. (If the item is serial or lot controlled, the serial or lot selection window will open when you click OK).

Click Post. The quantity will be transferred to On Hand, from where you can perform Transaction Entry to adjust the quantity out of inventory.

GPTip42day - Print Separate Remittance for Payables Checks

2010-03-29T20:57:00.004-04:00

Did you know you can choose to print a separate remittance for your records when printing a check run? When processing the check run, check the Separate Remittance box in the Print Payables Checks window.

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Checking this box will produce a remittance for each check in the run like the one below.

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Note: Any zero dollar check or check with more than 12 document numbers listed on the stub will automatically produce a remittance.

GPTip42day - SA vs. DYNSA

2010-03-26T22:33:00.000-04:00

What are the primary differences between SA and DYNSA users in GP?

1. SA is the SQL database system administrator and has full access to all databases on the SQL Server, including non-GP databases. DYNSA is the GP database administrator and has access to all GP databases only.

2. SA and DYNSA are both granted Power User roles automatically in GP Security.

3. SA is required for certain tasks such as initial system installation, payroll updates, and to administer some 3rd party applications. Generally speaking though, DYNSA can perform most of the security and maintenance tasks in GP that SA can.

4. From a SQL database security perspective, DYNSA should be used by your GP administrator for day-to-day administrative duties. SA use should be reserved for SQL administrators where possible to reduce the possibility of tampering in non-GP databases.

GPTip42day - FRx - How do I setup my Balance Sheet to reflect current YTD balances before I've closed the previous fiscal year?

2010-03-25T19:59:00.002-04:00

This is a common issue when you leave the previous fiscal year open into the new fiscal year. Because the new BS balances haven't been rolled forward yet, the balance sheet is inaccurate. Here's how to resolve it.

1. In the Row Format, use 3 rows to calculate Retained Earnings. The first row reflects the prior year RE account balance. The second row reflects the total of all P&L accounts. Make these two rows non-printing. The third row is the total of the first two. Make this a printing row. In conjunction with what we're going to do in the Column Layout, Retained Earnings for the current year will be correct.

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2. In the Column Layout, use 3 columns to calculate the current year balances. The first column reflects the prior fiscal year account balances. The second column reflects current year activity. Make these two columns non-printing. The third column is the total of the first two. Make this a printing column.

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Voila. A current year balance sheet before the prior year is closed.

GPTip42day - Activity Tracking

2010-03-24T22:12:00.002-04:00

If you need to track certain user activities in GP such as master data creation or transaction posting activity, use Activity Tracking to do so.

Administration>Setup>System>Activity Tracking

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To turn on Activity Tracking, select the Activity Type, place a checkmark in the Activity, select User(s) and place a checkmark in the appropriate Company(s).

You can track multiple activities but beware that the Activity Tracking table can grow very large in a short period of time if many activities are tracked. Therefore, turn tracking on for only those activities that are essential and clear the table on a regular basis via Administration>Utilities>System>Activity Detail.

GPTip42day - Adjust Cost

2010-03-23T10:34:00.001-04:00

If you need to change the cost of an inventory item, here's how to do that.

Inventory>Utilities>Adjust Cost

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1. Select the Item Number

2. Select the Site

3. Select a Date Range, if desired

4. Identify the receipt(s) to be changed

5. Change the value in the Cost field to the desired cost

6. Click Process

When you close this window, a general posting journal will be printed if there are changes to Cost of Goods Sold. COGS changes can occur if a quantity of the receipt has already been sold or consumed.

A GLTRX batch is created that includes an entry to record the adjustment to Cost of Goods Sold (if appropriate) and an entry to adjust the GL inventory value of the item adjusted.

For more information on the Adjust Cost Utility, see the Help file by clicking on the Help button in the Adjust Cost window.

GPTip42day - Unit Cost in SOP Transactions

2010-03-22T22:30:00.001-04:00

Need to prevent the display of Unit Cost in the Sales Transaction Entry window?

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Go Sales>Setup>Sales Order Processing and uncheck the Display Item Unit Cost checkbox.

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GPTip42day - Revalue Inventory for Cost Variance

2010-03-20T09:37:00.001-04:00

When this box is checked in Item Class Setup, any variance between Shipment Receipt Cost and Invoice Receipt Cost will be posted to inventory and the Item Cost will be updated to reflect the Invoice Cost. This is fine if you still have the items in stock when the invoice is matched to the receipt. However, if there's a lag between the shipment receipt and posting of the vendor invoice, it's possible the item(s) could have been sold or otherwise consumed. If that's the case, the variance will still be posted to the inventory GL account but there will be no on-hand balance to adjust, creating a potential inventory reconciliation issue.

Inventory>Setup>Item Class

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The preferred option is to uncheck this box and allow any cost variances to flow to a 'PO-Invoice Variance' account in the P&L (or, alternatively the balance sheet). This will help maintain the integrity of your book inventory values.

GPTip42day - Transferring Inventory Items between Projects

2010-03-18T23:32:00.001-04:00

How do you transfer an inventory item from one project to another in Project Accounting? Use the Inventory Transfer transaction.

Project>Transactions>Inventory Transfer

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Use the Return Transaction Type to return the item to inventory from Project A, then use the Standard Transaction Type to transfer the item from inventory to Project B.

GPTip42day - Editing the GP Launch File

2010-03-17T22:39:00.003-04:00

When GP and any associated 3rd party applications are installed, a file is created called Dynamics.set, aka the Launch File. The Launch File contains instructions as to which products to initiate when starting GP and where the applications, forms, and reports dictionaries are stored.

Should you need to edit this file, for instance, to change the location of the reports dictionary to a shared directory, go

Administration>System>Edit Launch File

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From this window you can select the Launch File to be edited, the relevant Product (GP, Project Accounting, Fixed Assets, etc), and modify the path to the respective dictionaries. Click OK to save changes.

The Launch File can also be edited using a text editor such as Notepad by navigating to the Dynamics.set file on the workstation, making changes directly in the file, and saving those changes. When doing so, it's best practice to save a copy of the file prior to making changes in case you need to revert back to the original file settings.

GPTip42day - Mass Modify Chart of Accounts

2010-03-16T15:46:00.001-04:00

This feature is very helpful if you need to copy a certain range of accounts to create a new range. For example, let's say you need to setup a new department in you chart of accounts. Rather than setting each account up one-by-one, use Mass Modify to set them all up at once.

Financial>Cards>Mass Modify

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The first step in the process is to select the type of change you want to make. In this example, we choose Copy. Then we select the origin for the description - Existing Accounts. Next, enter the new department number in the Account Mask. You can choose to sort the accounts in the scrolling window by account or by main segment. You can also choose to display all accounts or just the selected range of accounts in this window. This is just a viewing preference and has no affect on the accounts to be copied.

Click Modify. All new accounts will be created with a department number of 15. If there are any existing accounts that fall in that range, you will be warned that duplicate accounts exist and given the option to copy these accounts or not. However, because GP doesn't allow duplicate account numbers, you will have only one of each account after the copy process.

After the process completes, check your chart of accounts to ensure that the new accounts were created.

Mass Modify works on Posting, Unit, Fixed, and Variable Allocation accounts.

ERP Implementation Strategies

2010-03-16T10:17:00.003-04:00

Our friends over at http://www.softwareadvice.com/manufacturing are taking an informal survey about ERP implementation strategies at http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/manufacturing/erp-implementation-strategies-1031101/. They want to determine which implementation strategies are the most popular and most successful. Big bang, phased rollout or parallel adoption.

If you have a chance, click on the link and give them your input. Thanks!

GPTip42day - Miscellaneous Recurring Batch

2010-03-15T23:14:00.001-04:00

Need to do a recurring batch but none of the standard recurrence frequencies suit your needs? Use the Miscellaneous frequency. The Miscellaneous frequency allows you to specify the number of recurrences and the number of days between each recurrence. For instance, let's say you need to post the same transaction daily for 30 days. Here's what it would look like -

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