Management Report Beta Release

Change can be intimidating, but we know this change is for the better. FRx has been the industry standard report writer for over 20 years, but we have had to learn to manage its innate instability while admiring its fine-tuned aptitude towards producing financial reports.

The beta release of its replacement, Microsoft's SQL-based Management Reporter, is slated for release in January 2010. See the MSDN announcement and sign up from that blog to be an early adopter.

The Outsourcing Continuum, Evaluating Your Options

My friend and colleague, Mike Scheuerman has posted a succinct outsourcing article.

By placing Microsoft Dynamics GP in a hosted environment, you tip its advantages over typical hosted-only solutions like NetSuite. Your software is hosted, stable, managed, and widely-available over the net. Yet you have more flexibility and functionality, more support and training options, easier customization options, and more third-party products. You own your data, with access to move it anytime, anywhere. Integration is long standing between all back-office operations for ERP, CRM, and e-commerce.

Keeping Costs Down – Why Service Packs, Upgrades, and Maintenance Pay for Themselves

I know ERP software implementations inside and out. I learned about garage doors this week. Same principle: plan for, pay smaller amounts for, and complete regular maintenance—it’s cheaper in the long run. Garage doors fall off their tracks and twist like pretzels if cables, springs, and balance aren’t regularly corrected. I can send photographs!



Computer systems get viruses and compatibility problems. Users get disgruntled with small problems and miss out on new features that can save them time. I once had a user cry when she saw SmartList for the first time. First there were happy tears, “This will save me six hours a week! I’m so glad to have this new feature.” Then I told her it had been released three years earlier. The CFO recognized what it had cost them not to upgrade, adding his wait time for the report every week to the clerk's preparation time. Now they upgrade and maintain their software regularly.


Economics drive the upgrade process and timing. Companies want to save money and not upgrade every year. The problem is, hardware fails and then what could have been a carefully planned process with controlled expenses becomes a crisis worth “whatever it takes to get us running again.”



Insuring that your SQL maintenance plan is working correctly, your backup is working correctly, and staying within supported, service-packed software at all times—preventative maintenance that will save you money over the long term.

Use GL Journal Types to Your Advantage

I’ve encountered many GP users who use only the General Journal Entry window without realizing there are two additional journal types that make life easier. Some have tried recurring, reversing, and quick journals without success. The following list of attributes can assist you with choosing the best type of entry.

General Journal

• Receive all Subsidiary Ledger entries
• Debits always equal credits for financial accounts
• Can post a debit or credit to a non-financial account
• When attached to a batch header, the Journal Entry can recur on a scheduled or miscellaneous basis. For example, if set at monthly, the date will roll 1 month every time the batch is posted
• Recurring journals will retain their dollar line item amounts after each posting
• The Batch can be posted from either Series or Master Posting
• Allows for correction of posted Journal Entries, including those created by Quick and Clearing Journals and, if allowed in setup, Journal Entries which originated in Subsidiary Ledgers. Correction can back out a posted Journal Entry or correction can back out and re-create the Journal Entry. The re-created Journal Entry is when the correction is made.
• Good example for use: monthly depreciation entries provided by your CPA. They are set to post monthly and the amount doesn't change month-to-month.

Quick Journal

• Once created, the Quick Journal Setup (a Template) can be re-used an unlimited number of times
• By virtue of the Template always being available, the Journal is by nature recurring
• Zero line items are allowed. The account “holds its place” in the journal, but doesn’t post a zero transaction
• Can post a debit or credit to a non-financial account; these entries are excluded from the Control Balance
• The dollar amounts clear from the Template after each posting
• There is no Batch Header; therefore, these entries can’t be posted from Series or Master Posting Windows
• Good example for use: Payroll journal entries if you're using a service and aren't already importing with Payroll Connect or Integration Manager.

Clearing Journal

• Clears year-to-date or Trx Period balance from one account to another
• Can be used for either financial or non-financial accounts, but account types must be consistent on each line, i.e., a financial account must be cleared to a financial account, a non-financial account must be cleared to a non-financial account
• Attached to a batch header, a Clearing Journal can recur on a scheduled basis
• No amount is entered; a Clearing Journal line entry simply reduces the balance to zero in one account and creates the balance in another account
• Batch headers can be posted from Series and Master Posting
• Good example for use: allocation entries each month. See my post on February 27, 2009 on this site about allocation entries

If it will assist you to have this listing in a matrix, please email your request to me at gloria@computeration.net.

When an Old Dog Learns a New Trick

I re-learned several months back to receive shipments and invoices in the Purchase Order Entry window. This ability was added with, well I guess Version 9 or 10 of Microsoft Dynamics GP. I’m getting version creep.


Versions back, we had to go to >>Transactions >> Purchasing >> Receivings Transaction Entry…oh darn, it was created as a drop-ship PO…so we’d go to >> Transactions >> Purchasing >> Enter/Match Invoices.


So much easier now to go to >> Transactions >> Purchasing >> Purchase Order Entry >> Actions. Depending on whether the PO was Standard or Drop Ship and whether the shipment had been received, you have up to 3 options available. As you get experienced with this, you know which to choose immediately:
Receive the PO Items
Receive and Invoice the PO Items
Invoice the PO Items

Handy if you’re working in a small company and security isn’t too tight!


Larger companies with tighter security and more division of responsibilities – those where receiving can’t issue PO’s or receivers can’t input invoices, put those windows on your home page for easy access.

Dynamics GP Bill of Materials and Kits

We have received a number of recent queries about the difference between Inventory Assembly Bill of Materials, Manufacturing Bill of Materials, and Kits.

From the simplest to the most complex, Kits:

Kits are transparent in inventory. Only the component quantities exist in inventory; the kit is assembled at the moment of sale, i.e., when the invoice is posted. Kit components can be swapped in and out.

The system will automatically open the Sales Quantity Shortage Options form if any component is not in stock. If you select the option to Allocate Available Components, the system will automatically open the Sales Kit Options form showing the default location and quantities available. Alternate locations can be searched and selected.

Kits can be used in both Assembly and Manufacturing BOM's for phantom bills. The user decides when the kit is first created if the cost of a kit rolls up from the components following the component's cost method or if the kit has a standard cost.

Assembly Bill of Materials allows for an unlimited number of assemblies and subassemblies, each created with an Assembly Entry transaction. Assembly BOM's allow for the inclusion of service and flat fee items. An Assembly BOM is created at the moment when the Assembly Entry transaction is posted.

Manufacturing BOM's have the complexities of routings, overhead, waste, scheduling, outsourcing, etc. An incorrect assemption is that an Assembly BOM can become a Manufacturing BOM. They are two distinct separate master records, albeit an Assembly BOM can be exported to assist with the import of Manufacturing BOM's should a company choose to add the additional functionality. Manufacturing BOM costing can be quite complex with a number of options.

Audit Tools within Microsoft Dynamics™ GP

In prepping for a presentation to a local CPA audit team, I’ve compiled some useful summary information becoming even more important in this economy.

Most powerful, least used—Audit Trails, the module
Captures change history with a time, date and user ID stamp on each event. Before-change and after-change data values. Query, reporting, and export to Excel capabilities. “Closed system,” i.e., the audit information is retained in a database separate from DYNAMICS and company databases. A la carte module available to users holding Professional and BRL Advanced Management licenses.

Audit Trail Codes
Part of a company’s standard Posting Setup, Audit Trail Codes are part of the glue of the drilldown capability from the general ledger to subsidiary modules. Audit Trail codes are generated at the transaction source document level. While someone creating a General Ledger transaction can use an Audit Trail Code typically generated at the subsidiary module level, they can’t access the numbering sequence used by the system—so we have a telltale indication if a journal entry hasn’t been created via the typical process.

Activity Tracking
Part of the standard System Manager, Activity Tracking logs activities, login/logout, table access, processes, and posting. This is the most common audit capability activated because there’s no additional charge for this functionality in either Business Essentials or Advanced Management. Activity Tracking creates tables which can get very large, very fast if they are not routinely purged. Activity Tracking does not meet the criteria for a “closed system.”

Posting Numbers
Track journal entries as they are posted. Much fewer gaps than journal entry numbers which can be easily deleted resulting in gaps in sequence. Journal entry numbers also duplicate with recurring and reversing entries.

Use of SmartList During Audit
Auditors need to sample transactions. SmartList queries nearly all modules’ master records and transactions. It provides up to 4 restrictions and can be set to search to “Match All” or “Match 1 or More.” If SmartList can’t meet needs, SmartList Builder is the novice report writer’s tool that can access any SQL table.