Most people forget that they have a very fast shortcut to creating new records – the shortcut bar as shown in Figure 1.     

Figure 1 – The Shortcut Menu

By clicking on any of the small icons, you can create a record for entering Purchase Orders under Purchasing, or creating Customers, or setting up for easy Collection access.  And, don’t forget that you have a quick access tool bar as well.  You can see the start of the tool bar in Figure 2.

Figure 2 – Right click on the menu and use ADD to put on more short cuts

There are different ways to create shortcuts, either by using the short cut link on a window under FILE, or by right clicking as in Figure 2. This is a time saver that allows you to spend time entering data, not searching for the window in the menus.

Why do I like using shortcuts?  Here are my top five reasons.

1.  I can get to my work faster.  Regardless of the program, the menu process is a series of steps.  With each step, a little bit of time gets eaten up.  For example, you do need to go several layers to get to pay one single vendor bill.

2. I can arrange my shortcuts to suit the type of work I am doing that day.  As a senior consultant, I do wear many hats as I work on a task for a client.  I like my shortcut menu and my short cut bar specifically for arranging the work that I will be focusing on during the day.  For example, I have what I call my Tools shortcut for easily building reports for a client.  Here is a shortcut menu (Figure 3.)  Note that one of my Tools is a link to an external website for doing Character Counts.

Figure 3 – The Shortcut Menu for Tools

3.  I can use shortcuts like bookmarks.  If I am working on something, and I know that I won’t get back to it for several days, then I can shortcut to it, and know I won’t have lost where I was.  I can cross reference what I was doing either with a screen shot, or with a tag in Evernote or Microsoft’s OneNote, depending on what I am working on.

4. Shortcuts let me multitask.  By using the “open in new tab” feature on my shortcuts, I can have all the things that I am working on up so I can flip between windows, and do my work more quickly, and, have the information at my fingertips.

5. It’s fun!  I don’t think that being at work excludes having fun.  I like the creative challenge of making up new shortcuts, and finding names that mean something that fit in the short labels…. yes I know that I could make the label space longer.  I just couldn’t see the fun in that.

Do you use shortcuts?  If so, do you have different reasons than I do?  Let me know.  Email me at jhirst@esicanada.com.  You can even send me your favourite short cut list, and I will put it on the blog.

Have a great day!

Judy, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

As I continue this series of articles on streamlined data processing I will stick with Purchase Order Processing.  I have already addressed “copy” functionality and now I will address use of the List View for Purchase Order Transactions as a launching point for multiple purchasing actions. In the past I have often used separate windows for assisting GP users that are searching, inquiring, reporting, or entering purchase order transactions.  However, that is due to ingrained behaviour that was established prior to version 10 of Dynamics.  Within GP 10 and GP 2010 I think a more efficient practice is to use the Purchase Order List window as a home base for these activities.

Lists are accessed from the Navigation Pane on the left side of the GP application window and displayed in the content pane. 

Part of the Purchase Order Transactions list is shown below:

There are multiple actions that can be taken from this starting point as follows:

• Easily Apply Restrictions or a Filter to the current list.

These filters are more efficient to apply than a SmartList filter.  Also note the presence of the menus to launch a Report or to Go To a related window.

• When a document is selected, a preview of the document details is available in the lower region of the content pane.

• When a single document is marked then Actions can be taken, such as Print or Send in Email, Copy to a New Purchase Order, Receive Items or Invoice Items from a PO, Post a Shipment or Invoice, or more.  Also the user can choose to modify a document by choosing to Edit, Delete, or Edit the Purchase Order Status.  Specifically with purchase order processing where shipments and receipts reference the originating PO number it is effective to use the Purchase Order Transaction List as a launch point for any of these actions.

• Another feature of lists is the ability start New documents from within a list.

• Finally, for this article, lists can be personalized or customized and then saved for future recall.  Along with this they can be conveniently added to the Home Page or as a Shortcut.

There is significant functionality within GP lists and it is functionality that has been improved with recent updates to Dynamics GP.  So, if you aren’t accustomed to using lists I suggest that you make an effort to try them out and consider how you could use them to make your purchase order processing more efficient.

Sheldon, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

This document shows you how to make your own Policy and Procedure guide for Accounting, for Dynamics GP 2010, using the Word Master Document process.  Policies and procedures help to clarify what steps need to be done in what order so that data is input is consistent, and results of sales or purchases can be measured. 

When you start down the path of creating a procedure manual for using with GP 2010, keep the following suggestions in mind:

• layout the manual sections according to the flow of your business.  This will help the users to picture the flow of documents from department to department.
• use lots of pictures.  Words can be confusing when the language of the business/industry is new to the user.
• have someone test the procedures as they are being written.  It is easier to clarify the writer’s ideas around the task when everything is still fresh in the writer’s mind.
• remember that for very important procedures or processes, you can also attach the procedure to the window using the NOTE tool on the lower right corner of a window.

Figure 1 – Don’t forget about attaching notes to windows in Dynamics GP.

To create a Master Document in Word 2010, use these steps.

Exhibit One -  Getting a Master Document Started

1.   Make your life easier, and add the Master Document icons to the Quick Access Toolbar, as I did in #1 in Exhibit One above.  (Note that you find the Master Document menus under the VIEW >> OUTLINE menu.)

2.   Click on the NEW icon to pull up a new Word document.

3.   Click on the Master Doc icon, and create a new Master Word document.

4.   Give it a name, and save it so that you can find it again. 

5.   Hit the drop down arrow by Master Document (#2 in the above exhibit) and you should jump to the circle with a dash through it, which indicates Level 1 in the document.

6.   Click the INSERT button in #3 in the exhibit above to insert the documents that you wish to combine.

7.   In my example, the INSERT command lets me search for my first document, #4 in the exhibit above, called “Paying Credit Cards”.

8.   Click on the OPEN button at the bottom left of the window.

9.   Your file will now pop into the open document as shown in exhibit two, below.

Exhibit Two – First document into Master Document

10.  The document is quite long, so I have the opportunity to split it by using the SPLIT button as shown in exhibit three below.

Exhibit Three -  Button to Split

11.   Place your cursor where you want to split the subdocument, and hit SPLIT.  Two distinct documents are created as shown in exhibit four.

Exhibit Four -  Split to two documents

12.  The new document shows up with a document icon in the left hand corner in Exhibit Five.

Exhibit Five -  Now there are two documents

13.  Using the Outlining tools, headers (Level 1 or 2 or 3, etc.), may be added as in Exhibit Six.

Exhibit Six – Add a heading – Level 1, 2, 3, Etc.

14.   At any point, additional documents can be added by using the INSERT button noted in step 6 above.

Exhibit Seven – New document inserted into Master, between existing documents (Procedure For Paying Contract Workers)

15.   To remove the subdocument, and add the sub to the format of the Master Doc, put your cursor inside the subdocument box, for example, beside the “Procedure for Paying Contract Workers”, and then hit the UNLINK button, as noted below.

Exhibit Eight – UNLINK has a red X beside it

16.  When you click the CLOSE OUTLINE VIEW, then the document shows the format that will appear when the Master Doc is completed.

Exhibit Nine – Close Outline View

17.  This Master Document is now complete, except for the editing.

Some things to remember:

• Set up your outlining levels before you create the Master Doc.
• If you combine documents with different outlines, the Master Doc outline prevails.
• To make retrieval faster, put all of the subdocuments into one folder – the foundation for your Master Doc.

Creating your policy and process manual for the ongoing use of the Dynamics ERP system should be a much easier task now.  Assign different subject experts to write the pieces that they do, and combine the pieces into a master document.  Edit and publish.  You are done!

Judy, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Email me at judy@esicanada.com with your comments.

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

A “best practice” way to ensure processes and procedures are adhered in a new system to is to give the teams doing the work a tool to help them – that is, procedures or policies.  When I am out at client sites, I am  asked the easiest way to write up policies and procedures around the Dynamics ERP system. 

I tell the client that an easy way to write the accounting procedures is to take the the steps, either from the manuals or from help, and paste them into a Master Document in Word.  Then, modify the steps and add policies for your company and industry.  Typically, the procedures would be divided into functional areas like General Ledger, Bank Rec, etc., which is similar to the way that Dynamics GP 2010 is organized. 

Since it is a challenge to write a document in many parts, I suggest  to write a large document with many parts is to use the “master document” tool that is available in Word 2010. Most people are a little fuzzy on what a master document concept is.

What is it?

Figure 1 -  Master Document controls are in View > Outlining

A master Document can be considered as a main document which would contain a set of separate sub files or subdocuments.  In my example, each functional area such as Finance, Payables, etc., could be a subdocument. 

Why do you want to do this?

· Big documents in Word can get very slow. 

· And, you sometimes lose the formatting by inadvertently sticking in an incorrect heading status. 

· If you have several people working on a document, they can each work on their portion without affecting someone else’s work.

· The master document lets you see the document from an overall project perspective or by parts of the document.

· Formatting rolls down to the sub documents.  (Note: changes to the sub do not roll up to the master.)

When should you use it?

Use it for policy and procedure (manuals), proposals, technical documents, text books, manuals, large how-to’s, thesis papers, magazines, and for restructuring writings or articles on one topic into one, useable document.

What is an easy way to access it?

Figure 2 – Putting the Master Document Icons on the ribbon for faster access

Since I write many documents for clients, I have put the Master Document icons on my ribbon.  When I click on the icon, I am able to see Create, or Merge, or whatever I need to do.  This is very handy when writing up month end and year end procedures.

Watch for the next post that explains how to use the Master Document to create a Procedure Manual for Dynamics GP 2010.

Judy, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Email me at judy@esicanada.com with your comments.

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

    Picture from Clipart

As one year closes and another begins, we accountants think about the housekeeping that needs to be done in our offices and in our ERP systems.  If our fiscal year end is December 31, then we will be closing our files on our accounting system, and rolling to the next year.  We will also be pulling out vendor and customer files out of the filing cabinets to make way for the 2012 files. 

What happens though, if our fiscal year end is not until April or May?  Do we need to close any files?  The answer is “Yes!”  It is a “best practice” to close history for a calendar year end for vendors, customers, payroll, and in some cases, inventory and projects.  ERP systems, like Dynamics GP, provide the ability to track history both by calendar and fiscal years.  There are five good reasons to use calendar year tracking. 

1.  Reporting to Government Agencies

If you are a business that has reporting to do for a specific industry type, generally, Revenue Canada or the IRS wants information based on the calendar year.  Yes, you can go through and collect and compile the data manually, in spreadsheets.  Why not do with your accounting program, as a good information habit.

2.  Negotiating new rates with suppliers

When in negotiations for better rates from suppliers, the information on purchases, returns, and days to pay is done in calendar year time reference because often your year end and the supplier’s year end are different.  Closing the history for the calendar year automatically cuts off the dollar value of purchases for the calendar year. 

3.  Negotiating with customers

Often, negotiations for different terms with customers also happens on a calendar year basis.  It is much easier to track what is happening with clients if you look at their historical information.  Decisions that may be affected by the annual volume are credit terms, discounts, shipping costs, and delivery dates.  When a customer ask for new terms, the company’s reputation is enhanced when it can make a speedy decision.

Figure 1 – screen shot of customer calendar year for 2016 from Dynamics GP

4.  Tracking trends

As a company gets more sophisticated with its data tracking, it can graph things like sales, or returns, or inventory purchases, as examples, against staff vacations.  This type of analysis has been the reason that some companies close down their offices or plants for several weeks during the summer, fall or winter.  It simply makes economic sense to do so.

5.  Long and short term planning

In the same management space as tracking trends, planning carefully around the  ebbs and flows of business, using a calendar year, has provided companies with different information that sometimes causes them to change their fiscal year ends.  Business changes, needs change, and tax laws change.  If a business continues to look at their data in one way only, they never have the opportunity to see a bigger picture.  Comparing fiscal year and calendar year data may provide some surprises. 

These days, business is not just about making money – it is about making money with less effort and being kinder to resources.  The resources may be people or materials, either way, if you can do more with less, and if pressure on people and material is relaxed, the company is successful.  If the company currently has a non-December 31 year end, try tracking the results by a calendar year end for a year, and check to see what new information is available. 

Judy, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Email me at judy@esicanada.com with your comments.

Remember that you can find out more about Dynamics GP year end closing in the post by Sheldon Gitzel of ESI at GP Year End Close Resources.

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

As we start 2012 I have decided to start a series of articles on streamlined data processing.  There are quite a few features in Dynamics GP that allow for efficient data entry and transaction processing and hopefully as each feature is covered it will allow someone to carry out their work more proficiently.

In this article I want to point out the “copy” functionality that is available for reducing data entry when entering Purchase Orders (PO’s).  Under the Actions menu on the Purchase Order Entry window are the options to Copy PO Lines to Current PO and to Create and Copy New PO

To Copy PO Lines to Current PO either open an existing PO or start a new PO and select a Vendor to purchase from.  Then open the Actions menu and choose to Copy PO Lines to Current PO.  The Copy a Purchase Order window will open and you will be able to select a Source PO from those previously issued to the vendor selected for the current PO. 

Choose the options that are right for copying the lines and choose Preview to review the line items that will be copied over to the new PO.

Once you are satisfied with the choices select OK to close the Preview Line Items window and then select Copy.

To Create and Copy New PO start with a blank Purchase Order Entry window and from the Actions menu choose to Create and Copy New PO.  Select the PO that you wish to copy.  You can change the vendor, currency, and document date for the new order.

Choose the options that are right for the new PO and choose Preview to review the line items that will be copied over to the new PO.  Once you are satisfied with the choices in the Preview window select OK to close the Preview Line Items window and then select Copy.  

The “copy” features aren’t right for every new PO but if you are aware of these features then you can choose to use them when it will be of benefit.

Sheldon, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

When I was in public practice, I never understood why companies with hundreds of assets (or even thousands of assets) preferred to “try” to track all of the assets on spread sheets rather than in an Asset Management System.  The accountants would spend days and weeks trying to reconcile the spreadsheets to last year’s yearend balance, to the purchases, to the disposals, and to the changeover in staff.  The amortization schedule was truly difficult to balance annually.  I would ask the accountants why they insisted on using spreadsheets.  The answers varied:

· we don’t need to spend the money

· it will be too difficult to change

· fixed assets aren’t that big a deal

· I like the spreadsheets because I have more control, and,

· it doesn’t take that much time.

What I would see was that many times, the inside staff did not know where the outside assets were located.  I saw that assets “disappeared” because things were not up to date.  And, I saw that assets cost companies money, right off the bottom line.  I came up with my top five reasons that all companies should have a Fixed Asset system to track their capital assets.

1.  Save data entry and reconciling time.

If you purchase a fixed asset module that works with your accounting system or ERP system, then as you set up the vendor purchase, you can automatically route the purchase to Fixed Assets.  You don’t forget to do it under the “I’ll do it later” scenario, and the asset is not lost because it is forgotten.

Setting up the asset when you make the purchase means that you have an audit trail that should tie into the purchases column of your asset report, and that balancing happens immediately, or shortly thereafter.

2. Track asset purchases so that at any time, the total purchases for the period is easily identifiable.

One area that businesses get into trouble in is the problem of over purchasing assets without matching purchases to their actual cash flow.  This often happens if asset tracking is haphazard.  The Board/CEO/President/Owner does not have good facts to show what the purchases have been.  Because record keeping is spotty, the reporting then, does not reflect what actually has transpired.  Sometimes, they feel that they have not purchased as much as they have.  Budgeting for fixed assets is a very good practice.  However, if you are not tracking actuals to the budget number, the budget really has no meaning.

Over spending, particularly on assets that are not required immediately, is one of the ways that companies get into cash flow problems.  And, if the company leases the assets, they can still track them on the assets register because there usually is an option for noting operating leases or financial leases.

3.  Booking accurate amortization expenses – not under booking or over booking.

Amortization is the expense for the portion of use of the asset.  Many companies do not book their amortization until the end of the year.  If a company has a large investment in capital assets, and if those assets are used to help produce revenue, then the expenses are understated when the amortization for the period is not matched with the revenue.  I have worked with clients where the amortization and inventory adjustments were used as levelling tools to adjust the expenses and “control” revenue or losses.  Accurate tracking of assets was not encouraged!  Consequently, in those companies, small assets had a habit of disappearing.

4.  Track Assets By Number and By Caretaker

Some companies track their assets by numbers that are haphazardly assigned.  The number may not be written down for a day or two, and it may not be sequential to the number assigned before it.  And, the asset – often the small electronics – may move from person to person without notification to the person in charge of the assets.  This makes doing a physical audit very difficult.  And, if the caretaker leaves, there is little in the way of documentation to prevent the person from taking the asset with them, other than the person’s own values.

The Fixed Asset system makes this process so much easier because it provides sequential tracking numbers – most will even print them – and the caretaker can be quickly and easily recorded.  This system makes doing physical audits a more simple process.  And, if the employee leaves, the Asset Manager can quickly run a list of the assets in their possession to give to HR so that all assets are collected before the person leaves.

5.  Insurance Coverage Is Exact

We all believe that bad luck things will never happen to us.  Bad luck does happen!  I have seen companies lose out on fire or water damage claims because they did not have an accurate list of assets that they used to consistently update their insurance coverage.  Those companies that do have accurate listings are often able to lower their insurance costs because the insurance values per asset item are quite realistic. Insurance companies tend to be more lenient when they work with companies where the records are well kept and accurate.  Assets that have been disposed of are removed from insurance immediately so that the company is not paying extra for goods it does not own.  A good arrangement with the insurance company means that dollars coverage is  matched with assets, and the company manages their dollars responsibly.

If your company is not using a fixed asset register, consider adding one before year end.  Get it set up and working. We recommend Dynamics GP for most business assets. It has all of the tracking characteristics required to provide accurate information for year end audits and for providing to insurance companies. And, I agree, if you have less than twenty assets, your business probably can manage on spread sheets.  If you will keep growing, and have leases, then moving into a fixed asset management system is being fiscally responsible.

Judy, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Email me at judy@esicanada.com with your comments.

Read about our Fixed Asset Training at http://www.esicanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Fixed-Assets.pdf

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Recently I was reviewing some vendor address data within a spreadsheet that a client was preparing for import.  One of the columns contained telephone number s but they were not formatted consistently.  The client took on the job of editing the phone numbers. 

When the updated file was ready for import I asked the client how they had fixed the phone numbers.  Did they use spreadsheet formulae to manipulate the data, did they re-key the phone numbers, or did they do something else?  They shared that they re-keyed the phone numbers, but that it didn’t take long because one of their strengths was data entry.   I responded that data entry is not one of my strengths so I would have used spreadsheet formulae to reformat or update the numbers.   

You may be wondering by now, “What does this have to do with importing account segment descriptions?”  The point of the anecdote is that where possible I want to use tools to reduce data entry, and entering segment descriptions is no exception.  However with account segment descriptions the integration tools that I usually use, Integration Manager or SmartConnect, do not handle this task.  Therefore, I have had to come up with an alternate method to avoid keying in account segment descriptions.  My method is to use a Word Mail Merge to populate a SQL update statement.

The three key components for a mail merge are a spreadsheet data source, a Word merge template, and the resulting SQL Update statement.  The spreadsheet must have at least three columns.  I like to use:  segment_number; segment_value; and segment_description.   This data is often available or mostly available from the general ledger account import list and should not have to be created from scratch.

The Word mail merge template would use the spreadsheet as the data source for the mail merge.  In my scenario there would be a single statement:

update gl40200 set dscriptn = '«segment_description»' where sgmtnumb = '«segment_number»' and sgmntid = '«segment_value»'

The resulting merged data could then be saved as a SQL query and run against the appropriate company database.  Note that it is best practice to validate database updates in a test environment and to have a current database backup in place before running update statements.  Given those warnings, here are the first four lines from a set of sample data:

update gl40200 set dscriptn = 'BANK – GENERAL' where sgmtnumb = '1' and sgmntid = '10000'

update gl40200 set dscriptn = 'BANK – USD' where sgmtnumb = '1' and sgmntid = '10300'

update gl40200 set dscriptn = 'PETTY CASH' where sgmtnumb = '1' and sgmntid = '10900'

update gl40200 set dscriptn = 'CASH SUSPENSE' where sgmtnumb = '1' and sgmntid = '10999'

I have also used the mail merge functionality to create macros for data entry but they take longer to set up and execute, so I prefer a SQL statement in this case.  If you are not familiar with the Mail Merge functionality in Microsoft Word then look into it.  You could also utilize it in printing addresses on envelopes for your Christmas cards or other mass mail outs.

Sheldon, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Contact Sheldon Here 

This information is provided “as is”.  The author accepts no liability for the content of this article, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

One of the true powers of CRM is the ability to make modifications or customize to the system simply and quickly.  However “with great power comes great responsibility”… seriously, planning and caution need to be taken in to consideration when making any changes.  Here are few simple tips when making modifications to CRM. 

When planning on making modifications or customizations to your CRM system you need to obviously plan before you customize.  A good way to tackle this is to determine what outcome you are looking for from your customization.  Not just what the customization will look like but looking deeper in to what you want to capture from the customization.  Another tactic for customizations that I use is to look at reporting: “ask yourself what information do I need to report on from the customization”.  Once you have an understating of your requirements create a sketch or use MS Word or Visio to map out how the screen will look and how the data should flow.   If at all possible create the modifications in a test environment prior to doing it in your live system 

Other recommendations when modifying or customizing the system is to use fields that are currently in the system when possible.   This process would have the user rename current fields in the system that fit the requirements rather than creating a new data field.   This process keeps your CRM environment cleaner and you can take advantage of the views and reports that have that particular field in them rather than creating new views and reports.   Also please remember to create detailed descriptions for each field you modify or create so you have a reference at a later date or need to change it back to its original state.   

Enjoy the modifying and customizing!

Scott McHale, VP Sales and Marketing at Etelligent

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM