Microsoft Dynamics GP offers strong accounting, intercompany, manufacturing, and distribution functionality.  Dynamics GP can be set up with  simple processing steps for small offices or for large offices. GP can be set up with multiple processing steps and workflow for high volume transactions.  Either way, the software offers the checks and balances needed to ensure that mistakes are not made or can be easily corrected with a full audit trail. 

The last promotion Microsoft offered was the 3 users for a $1 which ended on June 25^th.  This promotion greatly expanded the visibility in the marketplace including companies with a small accounting group.   I recently met with a small two user company that will utilize Accounts Payable, Fixed Assets, General Ledger, and Bank Reconciliation.  The controller is concerned that the AP clerk will make mistakes in the new system since he is not an accountant.  We encounter this issue with most of our customers.  Clerical staff does not have to have strong accounting skills.   The software can be set up to default GL accounts based on the vendor, customer, item, service, and / or site specific.  Therefore your clerk does not even have to look up accounts if that is your preference.  This controller can also place security on the posting function and even at the account level so the controller or manager can run an edit list first, make corrections if needed, and then post.  The controller can make corrections on posted transactions easily with security access. 

Which brings up another feature; the controller has the ability to close a period for data entry with a click of a button.  Perhaps you don’t want your staff to enter transactions in July for June transactions.  All you have to do is close June for processing.  If you need to make adjustments then you open the period and enter anything you need to for the last period.  You can also close June for Sales / AR processing, but keep Payables and GL open. 

Whether you have 2 or 200 users Dynamics GP can be setup to work efficiently with ease and with full view of transactions and the security with audit trails to make corrections to ensure your staff does not need to be accountants!  One of our customers told me that she liked GP because it was so hard for her staff to make mistakes and that when they do the software is forgiving…

If you care to comment on the information above or have any questions please feel free to contact me at 817-640-0016 x 109 or by emailing me at nphillippi@customis.com. 

Custom Information Services is a Dynamics reseller in Dallas, Fort Worth Texas.

by Custom Information Services, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner in Texas

Related Posts

1. 10 Questions Small Businesses Need To Ask About Their Financial Software
2. 5 Reasons to Switch from Outsourced Payroll to In-House Microsoft Dynamics GP Payroll
3. Can Small Businesses Benefit From an ERP Software Solution?

Have you had time to check out the great new budgeting features in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010? 

I have been showing quite a few customers how the new budgeting feature in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 will be a time saver in the accounting department.  Many customers have different departments within their organization that create their respective budgets. Then someone has to combine all of those budgets into one. With the new feature, they can just import multiple budgets to combine them. 

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. 

Visit the Sherwood Systems website to download your complimentary copy of How to Budget the Cost of ERP Software Implementation Services.  And if you’re looking for specific Microsoft Dynamics GP or CRM information, there are more resources on the Sherwood Systems website.  If you’re located in the Arizona or New Mexico area, contact Sherwood Systems for assistance in determining a ERP or CRM software upgrade can help your organization better serve your customers’ needs. (877) 943-9696

Linda Krawiecki, Sherwood Systems an Arizona Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Related Posts

1. Forrester: 2010 Software Spending Devoted To Existing Systems More Than Emerging Technologies
2. Budgeting 101: Dynamics GP Tools of the Trade
3. Software vs. Services- What You DON’T Have To Give Up With Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft FRx is an industry-leading, automated financial reporting and analysis application for small and midsize businesses, large corporations, and divisions of global enterprises. It is licensed by more than 130,000 sites worldwide to help financial professionals gain immediate control of the financial reporting process. Here are just some of the ways Microsoft FRx can help you:

The Microsoft FRx software application helps you to

1. Create the kind of financial reports your organization requires, when you want them, with the detail and flexibility you need to stay on top of the trends in your business.
2. Ensure everyone can work more efficiently. You can close the books faster, and distribute critical financial information more effectively.
3. Even more important, Microsoft FRx helps finance departments contribute more strategically to the success of their organizations by enabling stronger financial thinking and better-informed decisions.

Microsoft FRx’s immediate business benefits

1. Give your people the ability to provide timely and accurate information, which allows you to accelerate decision-making with in-depth financial reporting.
2. Improve operational efficiency with easy-to-provide comprehensive, timely, and relevant financial reports on a scheduled basis or in an instant.
3. Streamline the flow of information by choosing from a variety of traditional or graphical output options, including Excel, FRx DrillDown Viewer, online analytical processing (OLAP), or extensible business reporting language (XBRL) instance documents.
4. Discover trends in your business without having to wait until the books are closed. Make important, proactive decisions to address your economic highs and lows on a timely basis.

Our team here at Rimrock works collaboratively with clients to improve workflow, reporting, and business intelligence challenges for a variety of industry groups and subgroups. We are dedicated to the total satisfaction of our clients and we absolutely exceed expectations on every project. Rimrock Corporation also offers a full line-up of Microsoft FRX training and Microsoft Dynamics classroom training suited to your needs and your schedule to help your staff maximize the power of the software solution.

By Rimrock Corporation a Leading Toronto Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Related Posts

1. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 And Multicurrency Financial Reporting
2. New IFRS Compliant Reporting Features in Microsoft Dynamics GP Version 11 Will Make Your Job Easier
3. Reporting and Financial Management Tools to Help Grow Your Business

Looking for ways to increase your cash flow, make sure your money gets there on time, monitor cash balances, and reduce check fraud?  We have many customers looking at these exact issues and finding the suite of eBanking products available to Business Ready Advanced Management customers a perfect fit.

Safe Pay – After each check run, you can send a file to your bank with the correct check number and amount and the file is loaded into its system.  The banks call this process “positive pay”.  When the check is presented for payment, only the amount you sent will be debited from your account.  Any other check showing a different amount will be refused.  Every company needs to use this to prevent check fraud.

EFT for Payables – You pay vendors online via your bank’s wire transfer or ACH system now.  Why not transmit this information directly from Dynamics GP to your bank and take out several steps and opportunities for error?  Set up the NACHA format used by most US banks and you can generate a file to upload to the bank’s web or FTP site right after the check run is done with no process changes for payables staff.  The simple setup involves the file verification and pre-noting the participating vendors to verify the accounts and ABA numbers.

EFT for Receivables – An even better way of managing your cash flow is to receive your cash receipts via ACH.  Set up the required format used by your bank and you can download a file to upload the day’s cash receipts from your customers.  There is some setup involving the file verification and verifying the participating customer’s accounts and ABA numbers.

Electronic Reconcile – You don’t want to spend more time that necessary validating your cash in the bank.  Download daily, weekly, or monthly your cleared checks directly into the Bank Reconciliation window and you will always know the amount of cash available that day.  Use the time spent to click off the cleared checks for more productive analysis.

Contact Crestwood Associates  for more information about implementing these eBanking products. 

By Mary Lenehan, Client Education Manager, at Crestwood Associates, your Chicago Microsoft Dynamics GP Gold Certified Partner.

Related Posts

1. Fraud Prevention With Dynamics GP Safe Pay And EFT
2. Electronic Banking in ERP Software – Why Not?
3. How to Write a Cash Flow Statement in FRx

If you’re producing consolidating financials for multiple companies, there are a couple of ways to handle the consolidating entries in Microsoft Dynamics GP and Frx.  Which way to go depends on how you want to track the intercompany activity through your companies.

1. Designate a set of accounts for intercompany entries.  If you will have intercompany entries in multiple departments, profit centers, and so on, then this method can make it easy to track these entries.  Use a range of accounts such as 10990 to 10999 for intercompany receivables; 20990 to 20999 for intercompany payables, and so on.  You will be able to produce reports that track intercompany activity at any level of your company.
2. Designate a segment of the GL code for intercompany entries.  If you want to segregate all intercompany activity from normal activity, then use one of the GL segments other than the natural account.  For example, if your GL structure is Account – Department – Location, use 999 in the Department of Location segment.  You will be able to produce consolidated and company-level financials that separate out the eliminations, but will not see these entries included at the individual department or location levels.
3. Designate an eliminations company

At InterDyn-Artis, we have used both methods to help our clients create the financial statements that they need.  FRx uses GL links and reporting trees to produce consolidating financial statements.  MS Dynamics GP Analysis Cubes allow you to analyze the financial balances – use the first method if you want to see the intercompany activity along with the rest of the financial activity; use the second method to segregate it.  Management Reporter, which will be available starting with the release of MS Dynamics GP 2010, will also accommodate either method for creating financial statements.

 by Lisa Suggs, Senior Consultant at InterDyn – Artis, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner located in Charlotte, NC

Related Posts

1. Challenges for Multi Company Processing
2. Microsoft Dynamics GP Interfund Management – It’s Not Just For Non-Profits
3. New IFRS Compliant Reporting Features in Microsoft Dynamics GP Version 11 Will Make Your Job Easier

One of the best parts about being a provider of Microsoft Dynamics GP and financial solutions is the initial process where we just sit back and learn. This usually happens when we conduct our business review meeting or evaluation.  No solutions are discussed, no sales pitch, only processes and learning about what things are working, what things aren’t and what they’d like to accomplish tomorrow that they can’t do today.  This meeting identifies valuable selection criteria for our customers and lets us know if there’s a fit or not.  Selfishly, the best part for me is just hearing the story.

This week I met with a small yet extremely successful wholesale food distribution company.  I’m talking the American dream here. They’ve been around for almost 25 years and it all started with one man, and one car, delivering frozen pizza to local grocers, convenience stores, and hotels.  Fast forward 25 years later, with eight full time drivers, full blown delivery trucks, unique inventory, and “doing whatever it takes to make the customer happy” customer service.

One thing that hasn’t changed in the past 25 years is the core process of selling and distributing. This process is, load your vehicle with inventory based on what you’ve delivered in the past (memory), drive to your customer’s site then sell and merchandise the products.  This is what they do today without  inventory software.  Economy got them down you ask?  No way.  They have grown and continued to thrive in the past few years.  They account their success to knowing their customers and doing whatever to make them happy.

The office manager admits: “We need to start automating some things”.  Just what IF something were to happen to the ONE person that has it all in his head?  Or perhaps there’s a more efficient way of doing things.  Bottom line, they’re having growing pains.  QuickBooks and memorization just isn’t cutting it any more.  Time to quit gambling with lady luck, and implement a smarter system.  

There simply comes a time when we’re working too hard, and not taking advantage of technology’s ability to streamline and automate processes.  This is a sign; Microsoft Dynamics GP might be an option.  And until June 25^th, 2010, it’s practically free.

Back to my meeting. As anyone would be, I was dying to know how a new driver was trained.  Who does this?  How much time does it take?   How does one sum up 25 years of memorizing routes and how many boxes of beef jerky the Hugo’s in Hoboken normally buys without an inventory system?  This just can’t be easy.  It was quite the “aha” moment, to quantify how much time the President of the company has to take away from what he’s supposed to be doing to show the new guy the ropes..and more-so, who else this effects.

DFC, is a Microsoft partner, with over 20 years of experience and we can help.  Want to hear more about working smarter and how Microsoft Dynamics GP ,  Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server can provide, Call DFC Consultants, at 800-277-5561.  DFC Consultants specialize in Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft CRM and Native American Housing solutions.

By Sarah Mueller, DFC Consultants, North Dakota Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Related Posts

1. Integrated Financial and Native American Housing Solutions Exist Through Microsoft Dynamics GP and DFC Consultants
2. 3 Steps to Choosing Accounting Software that Supports Business Growth
3. How to Select the Right ERP Software Reseller

In a utopian business world, your company’s most critical functions would operate under one user-friendly software umbrella, right?  With a few intuitive clicks of your mouse, you could simply and effectively manage virtually every aspect of your enterprise with confidence.  Your PC would be a window through which you could accomplish mission-critical tasks across your organization, thereby driving business performance and making better business decisions.  Sounds like a perfect set-up in a perfect world, doesn’t it?  Well, dream no more.  You can have all of this in a system that also:

1. Feels familiar to your people.
2. Fits with your existing IT systems.
3. Meets the needs of your organization today and in the future.
4. Is backed by the Microsoft name.

Dynamics GP provides an easy-to-navigate interface that is easily customized to present key functions and information your staff needs. Working with the familiar tools many workers already use, tasks are streamlined and functions are connected to help reduce busy work and redundancies. Additionally, Dynamics GP has the depth and breadth to meet tough business challenges, and can integrate with other business software tools you already use to help increase the reach and relevance of your technology investments. Regardless of your industry, Dynamics GP can be the perfect fit.

By Intellitec Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner serving Pennsylvania

Related Posts

1. Is Right Now Really a Good Time To Be Thinking About Switching Your Accounting System?
2. Tapping Technology in Troubled Times
3. How to Insure That Your Microsoft Dynamics GP Implementation Will Cost More Than You Planned (or how to blow your ERP budget in 6 easy steps): PART II

Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) offers various reporting advantages over other accounting software systems.  Here are 11 Dynamics GP features that provide auditing, monitoring, analyzing, and planning capabilities:

1. Inquiry windows – Quickly find and trace a transaction throughout the system or view and drill on summary information.
2.  SmartList – Easily filter and display multiple data records in a way that makes sense.  User-defined links can be used to zoom to details and related data. SmartList Favorites can trigger custom reminders and export data to Excel or Word.
3.  Microsoft Office Excel – Microsoft Dynamics GP has over 500 Microsoft Office Excel customizable reports out of the box that give you access to real-time data. And, with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, access reports from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
4.  SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) – Prepare and deliver a variety of interactive and printed reports with this server-based report generation system. Interact with the Report Server web service directly, or instead use Report Manager, a web-based application that interfaces with the Report Server web service. With Report Manager, you can view, subscribe to, and manage reports as well as maintain data sources and security settings. Security is role-based and can be assigned on an individual item, such as a report or data source, a folder of items, or site wide. Reports can be delivered via e-mail or placed on a file system.
5.  Microsoft FRx – Easily create, manage, and distribute business financial statements. The reader can use the Drill -Down Viewer to isolate reporting units or drill into line items to reveal component account balances and transactions. Statements can be published at any time regardless of closing cycles. With FRx WebPort, you can access financial statements, or restricted portions of financial statements, from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
6.  Microsoft Forecaster – Compare budgets, forecasts, and plans to actual performance with this flexible planning tool.  Update budgets and plans on the basis of new data, market conditions and specific business objectives so managers can respond effectively.
7.  Business Alerts – Immediately notify users about relevant business activity. Schedule Business Alerts to automatically notify you about specific business changes. The Business Alerts feature monitors the Microsoft SQL Server database for conditions you specify.
8.  Role-Tailored information – Role-Tailored centers within the Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal provide your people with business intelligence information relevant to their jobs.
9.  Key Performance Indicators (KPI) – Microsoft Dynamics GP delivers standard business metrics that allow managers to easily determine the real-time financial health of the organization. Available through Business Portal, these KPIs can warn people when specified values reach a certain point above or below a target value.
10.  Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager – Put information into easy-to-read scorecards. Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager smoothly integrates with Microsoft Dynamics GP to help articulate strategy, convert strategy into measurable goals, and monitor progress.
11.  Analysis Cubes – Analysis Cubes gives your people standard, preconfigured, online analytical processing (OLAP) cubes through Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services, offering virtually unlimited ways to look at data. This powerful, interactive analysis can serve as the basis for Reporting Services reports, Office Excel PivotTables, scorecards, or interactive dashboards built with the Office Excel Add-in for Analysis Services.

 For more information on Microsoft Dynamics GP or reporting tools in accounting software systems, contact Microsoft Dynamics GP New Jersey Partner, SBS Group here or email info@sbsgroupusa.com.

By: SBS Group – New Jersey Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Related Posts

1. Take the Mystery Out of Reporting with Microsoft Dynamics GP Reporting Tools
2. Crystal Reports vs SQL Server Reporting Services: Clash of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Reporting Titans
3. New IFRS Compliant Reporting Features in Microsoft Dynamics GP Version 11 Will Make Your Job Easier

Written by Mike Kean, President, Altico Advisors

I have seen many companies push QuickBooks far beyond its intended use by building manual systems in Access or Excel, for example.  These systems allow companies to continue to use QuickBooks and delay the purchase of a new system.  However, at some point QuickBooks simply becomes too inefficient.  Exactly when that happens really depends on the individual organization. 

As a general rule, you are beginning to outgrow QuickBooks when you notice an unacceptable delay in the menus and screens when navigating QuickBooks, or when reports take an unacceptable amount of time to print.  In QuickBooks, the number of customers, vendors, employees or others on a given list dramatically affects performance.  QuickBooks support acknowledges that significant performance problems generally occur when any list exceeds 10,000.  However, as a practical matter, most companies see performance issue far earlier.

But there are other factors and milestones to be considered as well.  From the perspective of accountants in the finance department, I would suggest that given any of the following circumstances, you should at least consider moving to a more comprehensive accounting/ERP solution such as Microsoft Dynamics GP  and taking your business to the next level:

•  Equity Event – If the organization is preparing for or foresees an equity event, it would be advantageous to have certain controls in place.  Due to the lack of key controls in QuickBooks, outside investors and advisors may not be able to rely on the data contained in QuickBooks and this could jeopardize the equity event even before it happens.
• Spreadsheet Reporting – If you find yourself relying more and more on spreadsheets to produce key reports for the organization, causing you to spend excessive time capturing and manipulating data outside of the system, you should consider moving up to Microsoft. 
• Team Growth – As your team grows and roles start to get more segregated, it will be critical to spread access, add security, and review employees’ work.  Without the ability to understand who did what functions, reliance on the data will become more difficult.  Again, it goes back to the reliability of the data and the controls that ensure reliability.
• Employing Accounting Professionals – Most accounting professional have experience with systems that are more comprehensive than QuickBooks, systems like Microsoft Dynamics GP.  They expect a tool that will allow them to do their jobs as they have in previous organizations.  Accountants become very frustrated very quickly when trying to institute controls and closing procedures in QuickBooks.
• Integration to Critical Business Applications – Companies often invest in custom applications that handle very specific areas of their business.  And from the beginning, these custom programs are manually integrated with QuickBooks.  Eventually that becomes untenable – too frustrating, slow, and kludgy.  Moving to an application like Microsoft Dynamics GP, which integrates more seamlessly with most third party applications, can accomplish the company’s goals while improving controls.

For more information about moving up from QuickBooks to Microsoft Dynamics GP, you can contact Altico Advisors to request the QuickBooks Replacer Kit or download the Replacing QuickBooks Brochure.

Stay tuned for the next installment on this topic, which will be “Testimonials from QuickBooks Replacers.”

By Altico Advisors, Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner for Manufacturing and Distribution serving New Hampshire (NH)

a New Hampshire Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Related Posts

1. Testimonials From Former QuickBooks Users Who Have Moved Up To Microsoft Dynamics GP
2. Why Mid-Market Companies Continue to Make the Smart Move to Microsoft Dynamics GP…
3. 35 Features Microsoft Dynamics GP Has that Quickbooks Forgot

No doubt that QuickBooks has become one of the most popular accounting system solutions for small business.  This software can be used to monitor expenses, create invoices, generate simple reports, and manage inventory, customers, vendors, and employees.  Whereas this software offers an excellent entry-level alternative, the database starts to slow down dramatically when your organization begins to grow and there is an increase in the volume of transactions and master record lists.

How can you determine that QuickBooks no longer meets your business needs?

• Your business data file size reaches 30MB about over 32,000 transactions
• Users start to notice that navigation through the menus and screens is slower
• Reports take a significant amount of time to load and print
• Performance issues are also noted when adding new employee, vendors, or customers

The good news here is that if you have reached this point, it means that your business is growing.  Thus, you may need to start looking for more options to meet your  company’s current functions and requirements.  A lot of businesses that have outgrown QuickBooks migrate to Microsoft Dynamics GP and take advantages of the simplified process that Microsoft offers to diminish all the pains from transitioning to a new management system.

A study performed by the Accounting Library,  one of the most respected software selection tools serving the needs of middle market companies, determined that Microsoft Dynamics GP offered more functionality than QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.  Specifically, Microsoft Dynamics GP met 84% of a typical user’s requirements vs. 43% for QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions.  Therefore, making this smart selection will allow businesses to keep their focus on growing, rather than dealing with performance issues.

The list below highlights some of the functionality that Microsoft Dynamics GP will bring to your business over QuickBooks:

• Manage multiple departments and companies, offering the option to split a bill among several companies or departments or else create a Profit and Loss or Balance Sheet for each entity as well as a consolidated view.
• Maintain multiple years of history with almost no impact on day-to-day system performance
• Structure your Chart of Account in a way that is meaningful to your business, including multiple segments that give you visibility into the performance of different departments or organizational structures within your company
• Enhance inventory management that will help you decrease your costs and deliver quickly, including the LIFO and FIFO perpetual costing methods that many growing companies need in addition to Average Costing available in QuickBooks
• Add  additional reporting tools for fast and informed decisions, with more than 700 standard reports included compared to QuickBooks that only offers about 112 standard reports

Microsoft Dynamics GP uses the right technology to grow with your business and is designed to seamlessly scale from one user to hundreds or thousands of users. Also, Microsoft Dynamics GP’s interface will look familiar to those currently utilizing Microsoft products and includes flawless integrations with Office Outlook, Word, and Excel as well as other products and third party solutions on the market.

For more information about QuickBooks Vs GP, visit the Microsoft Dynamics GP section in our website, on the left column you will find studies made by The Accounting Library, Forrester Wave and The CPA Technology Advisor. Under the Brochures section you will find a “QuickBooks movers guide”.

Article written by Andrea Garay, Senior Consultant – ERT Group

If you’re looking for specific ERP software information, check out the resources on the ERT Group website. You can also contact ERT Group for assistance in determining if a technology solution can help your organization better serve your business needs.

ERT Group is a Florida Microsoft Gold Certified Partner– offering Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Microsoft CRM.

Related Posts

1. 6 Signs You’ve Outgrown QuickBooks and How Microsoft Dynamics GP Can Help
2. Expert Advice on How You Can Tell if You’re Outgrowing QuickBooks
3. 10 Signs You’ve Outgrown QuickBooks