Over the last several weeks, I have been working on Management Reporter with different clients.  This report writer makes it easy to write financial reports.  However, as with any tool, there are a few operating tips that can make your life better. 

Here are three tips that I used last week.

1.  Assigning a name to the account segments after you have built Management Reporter Reports

Most clients do not name the account segments when they implement Dynamics.  Management Reporter does not care if they are named.  If you do name the segments after you have created several reports, all the reports will be created without any data.

Why?  These fields do not update in the existing reports, and the report says that it cannot now read the segment. 

Fix this by doing an EDIT>FIND/REPLACE on the segment in the report.  For example, Segment 2 can be replaced with ACCOUNT, if Account is the new name of the segment.  You can do a Tools>Refresh Cached Data to help the process along.  Now the reports will work again.

2.  Getting a reminder to save your reports

My client was working through a report with some coaching from me.  As we needed to get off the network for a reboot, my client quickly shut down.  Unfortunately, he did not save what we had been working on. 

How to Fix -  Management Reporter does not always ask you to save when you are exiting.  The solutions for this is to go to TOOLS>>OPTIONS, and CHECK the option – “Display confirmation before exiting Management Reporter”.

I can only say, as a reminder, that getting into the habit of saving your work in Management Reporter (or Excel, or Word, or in Report Writer) will save you hours of “Do Over” work.

Figure 1 – The Tools Options Window has a setting that asks whether you want to save before exiting

3.  Build some Dimension Sets for your row definitions

In the Management Reporter training, we all learned that we could create a Dimension Set to calculate the Current Retained Earnings figure.  Then, most users promptly forget about this great little tool.  Instead of creating ranges of accounts on the row definition, dimension sets can be created that can be updated as required.  This speeds up creating various reports.  

Some examples of useful Dimension Sets are:

• Inventory and WIP – to combine these accounts into one number on a summary statement
• Wages and Benefits – to combine accounts that may be in different account ranges for different lines of business or for profit/cost centers
• Selling Expenses – where the expenses may include salaries, telephones, and travel not necessarily grouped under a heading called “SALES EXPENSES”
• Training Costs – where training might cover several lines of business and different departments, and where management is looking for a summary number

The Dimension Sets that you create can be used in column and tree definitions, as well.  So sitting down to figure out useful combinations of accounts is time well spent.

If you are already aware of these tips – great!  If you did not know them, then try them, and let me know how they improve your Management Report writing time.

Have a wonderful day!

Judy  jhirst@esicanada.com 

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Here is an example for Dynamics GP users that want to create an Excel Report that is similar to one of the existing SmartList favorites but who also want the option of selecting from all the available data fields (columns within SmartList) when choosing the data to display.

One of my clients has a lengthy list of Sales Transaction favorites similar to the example in Figure 1.  The sales manager wants to know how he can create an Excel Report that will display the same information as the favorite called Open Orders by SalesPerson

Figure 1

The client in question has already deployed Excel Reports and Data Connections in their environment, by following the steps outlined by Clinton from DynamicsCare, so the key step for our sales manager is choosing the right data connection as a starting point for his new Excel Report. His first instinct had been to navigate to the deployed Excel Reports but from those he will not be able to access all the available fields.  Likewise, not all data connections will provide the full list of all available fields.  In this case the sales manager should navigate to the existing repository of shared data connections shown in Figure 2 and choose “TWO SalesTransactions.odc”  

Figure 2

There are multiple .odc files whose names begin with “TWO SalesTransactions…” but the sales manager should pick the connection whose name matches the SmartList folder that holds the Favorite that he wants to replicate and open it.  Besides “TWO SalesTransactions.odc” there are two other options that are similarly named and could be investigated if our first choice doesn’t have the exact combination of fields required but usually there is only one choice.  The .odc file will open as a new Excel workbook with all available data fields included.  Figure 3 displays the SalesPerson column that was part of the SmartList favorite that we set out to duplicate.

Figure 3

The sales manager can now save this Excel Report with a meaningful moniker, store it where required, and edit it as needed.  The end result should be an Excel Report that is similar to the SmartList favorite that he set out to replicate.

Sheldon, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

www.esicanada.com

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Clients often say to me that they like the information in a report in GP 2010.  However, they add, the report layout is not very nice.  In fact, it is rather clunky.  Can we change it? 

The answer is “Yes!”.  You can often redo the report to make it more tailored to the user needs by printing the report in TEMPLATE format (see Figure 1 below), which is actually a MICROSOFT WORD document.  Since everyone knows Word, people have a higher comfort level with the Word document.

What if the standard report does not have a similar template, or what if you want to change the template? What do you do then?  The simple answer is – use the WORD TEMPLATE GENERATOR in GP 2010 to modify reports into a Word Template.  This blog is about how to make the most out of using the Word Template Generator.

Where Do You Get The Word Template Generator?

If you do not have the Word Template Generator, then go through your Partner to get the latest release.  It installs in the same folder as Dynamics GP2010 – see Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Find Template Generator in the folder Program Files (x86); Microsoft Dynamics

How Does The Word Template Generator Work?

The easiest way to explain how it works is to take you through an example.  Remember, that in GP 2010 R2, most of the reports do have Templates as well as Standard Reports as shown in Figure 2.  You must remember to choose the output type.

Figure 2 – Choose from either Report Type:  Standard or Template

The example that I will walk you through is getting a template for the Checks Journal in Purchasing.  The existing Standard report is a detailed report that my client wants to change.  They wanted to take of the Control info.  Reminder – all Word Templates are most easily created from GP Standard Reports.

1.  Here is the report in Figure 3.

Figure 3 – Computer Cheques Posting Journal – Reprint

2.  To get it to print to a template, at the same time that I generate the Standard report, I must also create a File report.  I usually put this report to my desktop.  The output type must be XML Data file.  See Figure 4.

Figure 4 – Selecting to print to File, to my desktop, and create an XML file

3.  After creating the report, I then drag it onto the Word Convertor.exe file to have a copy created.  See Figure 5.  Yes, there is a command to do this.  Dragging and dropping is more fun!

Figure 5 – drack the CHECKSJOURNAL.XML file onto the TEMPLATEGENERATOR.EXE file, and the new report, CHECKSJOURNAL.DOCX is created.

4.  Now, make any modifications that you want to the WORD document file that was just created.

5.  After modifying, import the new report into Dynamics GP 2010 using the Report Template Maintenance window found at REPORTS>>TEMPLATE MAINTENANCE. See Figure 6 for the window that pops up.

Figure 6 – I hit the big PLUS sign, and add the report, “Checks Journal”.

6.  To make sure that this report is used, you must ASSIGN it to the company.   See the ASSIGN button in Figure 6?  That is where the new report is assigned.

7.  You must also set the report as DEFAULT, in the Assign window, so that the report will default to the TEMPLATE format.

8.  The final step is to make sure that when you print this report in GP, that you select TEMPLATE, and send it to a file location as well.  This allows the WORD doc to generate, rather than sending your template report to Internet Explorer.

9.  It is easy to email the report to the interested parties from  the Word document.  For a reminder of this process, check out the blog article  Outlook 2010–Schedule An Email or “Delay Delivery” For Emails in Dynamics GP.

Does Word Template Generator work with every Report?

I have not tested every report, however, I believe it does work with everyone.  There may be some idiosyncrasies with some of the reports.   For users wanting to make adjustments to Purchase Order report layouts, or to invoices, it is sometimes easier to make the change to the Standard Report, save it, and then use this revised Standard Report to make the changes to the template.

Next Steps

If making changes to your Word Template documents is a burning desire, then ask your Partner about installing the Convertor.  You may want a bit of training unless you are good about reading the manual and following the process, step-by-step. 

Now, go forth and modify your reports.  I’d love to hear what successes and challenges that you have along the way. 

Judy (jhirst@esicanada.com)

Contact Etelligent Solutions for more information about Dynamics GP and CRM. See www.esicanada.com.

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

As follow-up to my article on Allocation Options for Sales Order Processing in Dynamics GP, I want to address a related topic, sales fulfillment.  I haven’t received any fulfillment questions from our client who wanted to know about allocation options, but I still want to address this topic because it naturally follows a decision about sales allocation. 

In Dynamics GP, allocation determines when stock gets reserved by a transaction, including sales orders and sales invoices.  Fulfillment identifies when the stock is considered delivered to the customer.  The level of control over fulfillment is dependent upon whether or not Advanced Distribution is enabled within Dynamics GP.  Without Advanced Distribution the only control available is the option to “Use Separate Fulfillment Process” on the setup of sales orders and sales invoices. 

When the “Use Separate Fulfillment Process” option is not enabled, fulfillment happens simultaneously with allocation.  This can be verified by referring to the “Qty Fulfilled” field on sales line items.

When the “Use Separate Fulfillment Process” option is enabled, fulfillment happens as a separate step either from the Sales Transaction Entry window (use the Sales Allocation-Fulfillment Options or fulfill line by line) or on the Sales Order Fulfillment window. 

When Advanced Distribution is available and enabled, there is the additional alternative of using a Fulfillment Order document.  A fulfillment order is set up on the Sales Fulfillment Order/Invoice Setup window by marking the option to “Enable Fulfillment Workflow”.

With the “Enable Fulfillment Workflow” enabled it is then possible to build a multi-step process to track stages within the fulfillment process.  The Sales Fulfillment Document Workflow Setup window provides the opportunity to create and activate up to 6 steps to match the physical fulfillment process of an organization.

Fulfillment Orders need to pass through each step in the fulfillment workflow before they become an invoice.  These steps are completed by actions on the Sales Transaction Entry window.  Fulfillment Orders require additional manipulation and management but in return provide greater control of fulfillment for those organizations that require it.

Sheldon, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Have you ever promised a client that you would send them an invoice copy in a day or two?  Then, after you have hung up the phone, you realized that you have the information at your fingertips, however, you do not want to condition the person into thinking that you respond immediately to all requests.   What do you do?

The easy answer, is, that you use the wonderful feature “Delay Delivery” that is available in Microsoft Outlook 2010. 

Here is how you do it.

In Dynamics GP

1.  In Dynamics GP, find the invoice that is in discussion.  I use Receivables Transaction Inquiry for the customer, and then find the invoice.  In this case, the customer is Nova Systems, and the invoice is INVS3009 as in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 – Nova Systems has an open invoice that they say they have not received a copy of.

2.  I select to send the document in E-mail when I hit the print icon in the upper right hand corner of the invoice, as well as to print the document to the screen, in case I want to attach it to my notes in Dynamics CRM.  Note that I have set the print for this invoice to print to template.

Figure 2 -  Use PRINT to send the invoice to email and to print to screen.

3.  If your email information is set up correctly in Dynamics, then an email window should pop open to allow you to add a message. 

4.   If a window does not open, you can always send your email through the SAVE & SEND function in Word, from the invoice itself.  Choose the option “Send Using Email”.  Then select, “Send As Attachment”.

5.  When you hit the last button, an email window pops open, and shows you that your invoice is attached.

6.  Now, type in any message, and put in the TO recipient’s address.

Delay Feature

7.  At this point, you can set up the DELAY feature.

8.   In the message, on the Options tab, in the More Options group, click Delay Delivery.

Figure 3 – Find the DELAY DELIVERY option in Outlook

9. This pops open a PROPERTIES box that gives you more options.

10.  Under Delivery options, select the Do not deliver before check box, and then click the delivery date and time that you want.

11.  After you click Send, the message remains in the Outbox folder until the delivery time. Remember, every time that you shut down Outlook, you will get a message that there are unsent messages in your out box, until the message is released.

12.  That’s it!  You have created a delayed email to deliver the invoice to your customer.

Other Reasons To Use The Delay Feature

There are several other good reasons to use the DELAY DELIVERY tool as part of your Dynamics GP toolkit.

• Going on holidays? Have reports to send out by a certain date?  If the reports are for information for a date up to when you leave, create the report and delay the delivery until the required date.
• Do you send monthly statements to certain clients on a specified date?  Create the statement and email it with DELAY DELIVERY until the appropriate date.
• One of your accounting team is on vacation.  When he returns, you want him to do a small project for you to analyse some numbers.  Knowing that he has two weeks of email to review, you want him to receive it on the day he gets back so that it is at the top of his email pile.  Write up the project, taking screen shots from GP, and send it to him using DELAY DELIVERY to schedule it for the day he returns.

Judy (jhirst@esicanada.com)

Contact Etelligent Solutions for more information about Dynamics GP and CRM. See www.esicanada.com

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

A client was recently reviewing their sales process with the goal of better managing the allocation and fulfillment of sales orders.  One of the questions to came through to our office was “What can we do to keep inventory from becoming allocated as soon as a sales order is entered? “

 The starting point for the answer to this question is one of the Sales Document Setup windows.  From the screenshot of the Sales Order Setup window below you can see that there is an option to “Allocate by”.

There are three options available:

Line Item – with use of this choice items will be allocated as they are entered onto an order.  Any quantity shortages must be addressed as the data entry occurs.  This is the default setting for new document setups.

Document/Batch – with use of this choice items will be allocated as part of a document allocation or batch allocation process.  There is an Allocation-Fulfillment Options window that can be accessed from either the Sales Transaction Entry window or the Sales Batch Entry window where Allocation and Fulfillment can be initiated for multiple line items.  Items will only be checked for quantity shortages at the time of allocation and not during data entry.

None – the use of this choice will result in no allocation taking place and is only available for order document types.  Once the order is transferred to an invoice or fulfillment order the allocation will happen in accordance with the setup of the destination document type.

Our client had all of their order and invoice types set to “Allocate by” Line Item, so my recommendation to them was to create document types that would allocate by Document/Batch.  There may be a follow-up question regarding fulfillment, but that the answer to that one will be addressed separately.

Sheldon, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Item transactions within Dynamics often flow into the inventory sub-ledger from other modules, primarily Purchase Order Processing and Sales Order Processing.  Therefore, there are fewer opportunities for streamlined processing related to inventory transactions than there for transactions within other modules.   There is the opportunity for Recurring Batches as we can see with the screenshot of the Inventory Batch Entry Window.

 

Item Copy

Items List: Mass Un-assign

Item ABC Analysis

 

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Figure 1.  The manual process for a bank reconciliation.

As Supervisor of Project Accounting, I was hiring individuals for junior, intermediate, and senior accounting positions.  When I was interviewing candidates for an intermediate accounting position, one of the short tests that I would give them was a short bank statement and the corresponding bank general ledger detail.  I would then ask them to quickly perform a bank reconciliation.  Reconciling accounts and particularly the bank account was a critical process to the flow of accounting information and I wanted proof that the candidate was qualified.  Most often, the person could not do the reconciliation.

I thought it was brilliant when accounting software systems incorporated the bank reconciliation as a module and then as a process.  One of the first ERP systems to incorporate bank reconciliation was Microsoft Dynamics GP (then known as Great Plains Dynamics).  At first, the reconciliation was a third party product.  Later, GP introduced its own bank rec system, and third party developers created many automated enhancements for it. 

There are ten reasons that an automated reconciliation system is a great investment.

1. Manual  execution errors are a thing of the past.  All reconciliations are done on line – no handwritten work required.  This means that there is no chance of writing down a number and either transposing numbers within an amount or transposing numbers between columns.

2. Makes segregation of duties easier.  Most bank reconciliation programs segregate deposits and cheques issued.  This means that if a company is big enough to segregate duties between deposits and cheques, one employee does not have to work in the other employee’s bank rec area.  This too can minimize errors and helps minimize fraud.

3. Time gains. The bank rec program automatically carries forward any outstanding (un-reconciled) deposits and cheques so the person doing the reconcile doesn’t need to worry about pulling them out of some file the following month.  This is an increase in efficiency of at least one-half hour, depending on the size of the bank reconciliation.

4. Reconcile daily.  While doing a manual weekly or even daily reconciliation is almost overwhelming, the efficiency of the reconciliation programs makes this a much easier job.  Most programs have imports that allow the bank file to automatically update the reconcile program with deposits and cheques that have been processed.

5. Exception reconciling.  If the auto import routine is used, then the reconciler is working with the items that are unusual such as interest charges, exchange charges, and bank wires into the account or out of it.

6. Bank balances are always current (if reconciling daily or weekly).  In days gone by, reconciliations were often completed nearly a month and a bit after the month end because of the magnitude of the task in large organizations.  The reconcile program makes the job much easier.

7. Catch Bank errors and deal with them immediately.  In some jurisdictions, there is a time limit on dealing with bank errors.  In some cases, it is thirty days.  By using the reconcile program, errors are discovered and proceedings can start with the bank to make corrections.  Even with all of the tools available, mistakes do happen.  A bank deposit may be inadvertently deposited it to another’s account.

8. Catch human input errors and correct them immediately, and give extra training.  We all have to go through a learning curve when we start a new job.  One of the busiest jobs, I believe, is being an accounting clerk.  Cheques are processed manually for specific reasons and then may get posted to the wrong bank account.  Reconciling on a timely basis catches these errors, and avoids costly overcharges on lines of credit.  Postings can be done in the wrong time period, too.  Catching these early promotes confidence in the financial statements.

9. Errors are easily corrected. In a manual bank rec, making a correction is a very difficult and time consuming task.  Erasers, whiteout, white correction tape – what ever tool you can use to blank out the old numbers and write in the new numbers is the order of the day.  Or, you can just re-write the report.  In the bank rec, you change the numbers, and the report adjusts and reprints; and saves for next month.

10. Legible, printed, clearly defined bank reconciliation reports.  This seems like a small thing.  However, I can assure you that I have tried to read handwriting and numbers on a bank rec and I have been baffled at the structural breakdown of the reconciliation report and not been able to read a word of it. 

Bonus!  This same tool can be used to reconcile company credit cards or gas statements. 

Figure 2.  Dynamic GP window for clearing deposits, cheques, and adjustments.

If you are still using a manual reconciliation process, think about moving to an ERP or accounting system with a reconcile program.  If you have a reconcile program, and you are not using it, start using it today.  It’s worth it!

Judy   (jhirst@esicanada.com)

Contact Etelligent Solutions for more information about Dynamics GP and CRM.  See www.esicanada.com 

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

Several people have asked me how to easily get pictures into their procedure manuals.  The tool that I use is the snipping tool.

There are lots of occasions when I need a picture of something that I am doing, and, I don’t want all of the data in the picture. A good example is when a client wants to know how to correct a GP issue they are having.  I can create the solution and snip the windows to show them how something needs to be set up. For example, in Figure 1 below, I can show my client what box needs to be unchecked to prevent account entry.

Figure 1 – Account Maintenance Window – uncheck the ALLOW ACCOUNT ENTRY box to prevent future posting to the GL account by journal entry.

“Snipping Tool”  is included in Microsoft’s Window 7 under Accessories.

Figure 2 – Snipping Tool is 10 lines down from Accessories.

The selection choices are easy to use, and the Free-Form Snip allows me to cut out any shape I want to use to paste to a Word document, or into a blog, or into procedures.

Figure 3 – Selection Choices In Snipping Tool

Being able to choose the shape of the “snip” is important when one is working with data that is sensitive in nature.  I can snip out a payroll entry, and by using “free form”, ensure that no payroll names are included in the information.

Figure 4 – The file choices in Snipping Tool

I can file the Snip, use it, send it in an email, or using the Tools menu, highlight it or write on it.  I encourage my clients to add it to their SHORT CUT list in Dynamics GP 2010 so that it is handy to snip something to email to a manager or to a customer or vendor. 

Figure 5 – I have my Snipping Tool on my Shortcuts in Dynamics GP

If you have not been using Snipping Tool, then you have been missing out on a great feature in Windows 7.  Try it.  Use it to manage the images that you will put in your policy and procedures manual.  Email images that you have snipped to your team to show them how to do something.  After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!

Have a great day!

Judy, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

See the post from February 22, 2012 – The Top Five Reasons To Use Short Cuts in Dynamics GP

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM

General Ledger (GL) entries are often generated by sub-ledger transactions within Dynamics GP but all companies that I have worked with still have need to enter and post GL journal entries.  In order to streamline GL data entry within Dynamics GP there are few tools to choose from.

Recurring Batches

Use of recurring batches is well suited for regularly scheduled entries such as monthly adjusting entries for prepaid expenses.  The recurring batch Frequency needs to be selected on the Batch Entry window, and the number of times that the batch should recur is also set (“0” means that the batch will recur indefinitely.) Any Journal entries saved to this batch will post for their current transaction date and then have their transaction date incremented to correspond to the batch frequency. 

 Journal entries can be edited in between postings if the values of any of the distributions need to be updated.  The new distribution amounts will be used in subsequent postings.  New to GP 2010 you can select to Clear Recurring Amounts if you want to reset the distribution values to zero after each posting.

Reversing Entries

Use the Reversing Transaction Type of General Journal entry to record a transaction that will have the distributions reversed as of a later date, the Reversing Date.  The reversing transaction is posted at the same time as the original transaction.

Quick Journals

Quick Journals are created from a template.  They are useful where the same accounts are used together in an entry but the amounts vary or the entry frequency is sporadic.  Each quick journal template is named (given an ID) and contains a list of accounts that are part of a regularly used entry.

 At the time of entry a Quick Journal ID is selected and only the debits and credits for the current entry need to be added. 

Copy a Journal Entry

On the General Entry window there is a “Copy” button that has been available since version 8.0.  This button allows the user to select an existing Journal Entry Number.  The distributions from the selected entry populate the screen for the new entry.

I hope that this functionality review provides a new tool to some Dynamics GP users and results in more efficient processing of General Ledger journal entries.

Sheldon, ERP Consultant for Etelligent Solutions

Etelligent Solutions - Edmonton, Calgary ERP and CRM