This move to a “disposition” stage is part of a beginning scrap accounting process. What’s really cool is that if something is in disposition it can be reclassified in several ways to move it out or into the production flow. The parts can be:
1. Held in disposition
2. Determined to be scrap with xx reason
3. Moved back into WIP at step ZZ
4. Moved into rework
5. Actioned by a customer defined activity

Sound simple enough? Let’s consider the real world issues. First of all, not all parts are scrapped for the same reason. A single basket of parts may have some “scrap A” parts, some “good” parts and some additional “scrap B” parts, and some rework parts Had enough? There is more. Let’s consider the impact of Lot Control on not just one basket, but several baskets under investigation for possible defects. Finally, for those who are not familiar with the PPM [parts per million] defect threshold of six or less, this is one way of how you arrive at this incredible quality standard.

These increased scrap complexities make it essential that the automotive supplier have a software system that can handle the analysis, reporting, and tracking of dispositioned goods. Perhaps one like AIM Vision that provides for barcode-based material and container tracking of raw material, semi-finished goods, and finished goods inventory, including a barcode-based production entry, and specialized modules that capture scrap and labor efficiency from the plant floor and provide a range of reports that deliver visibility into man, material, and machine movement and utilization.

If you are an automotive supplier or are working with an automotive supplier who needs to address scrap accounting requirements, contact AIM Computer Solutions, Inc.
We are a Michigan Microsoft Certified ISV and ERP Partner with automotive-centered ERP and SCM solutions that are Certified for Microsoft Dynamics GP.

How Automotive Suppliers Can Address Scrap Accounting Requirements is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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Typically, when our clients are looking at purchasing Microsoft Dynamics GP, they consider adding other Microsoft products at the same time, like Office 2010, SQL Server, Windows, Exchange, even Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  With the Big Easy Offer – the more you buy, the more you get back in subsidy funds to help offset your consulting and training services.  Our clients at The TM Group have been taking advantage of the Big Easy offers for years – and it really pays off!  Read below for specific details and links to the rebate sites:

What is Microsoft’s Big Easy Offer 2011?

The Big Easy Offer 2011 is a popular rebate program that runs from May 2, 2011 through June 30, 2011.  The offer gives you choices on Microsoft products and solutions that fit your needs, including purchases of server and desktop solutions, as well as Microsoft Dynamics CRM. For every qualifying product you purchase, like Office 2010, or SQL Server, Windows or Dynamics CRM 2011, Microsoft pays you partner subsidy funds that can be used with a Microsoft Partner of your choice.  This greatly helps offset the implementation of your Microsoft solution including software, hardware, and services.

Now you can find the right solution for your organization, while earning money back on your purchase in the form of a partner subsidy. For every qualifying product you purchase, Microsoft pays you partner subsidy funds to purchase more products and services from the Microsoft Partner of your choice.

What is a Subsidy?
A subsidy is a check made payable to the Microsoft partner of your choice. This subsidy can be used to enrich and implement your Microsoft solution. The subsidy allows you to purchase additional products or services from the Microsoft partner of your choice thus lowering your Total Cost of Ownership.

The Big Easy Offer 2011 includes these products:

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Microsoft Office
• SharePoint Server
• SQL Server
• Exchange Server
• Lync Server
• Forefront
• Windows Server products
• Visio
• Project
• Expression
• Visual Studio

The Microsoft licensing programs included in the Big Easy Offer are:

• Open License
• Open Value
• Open Value Subscription 

How do I take advantage of the Big Easy Offer 2011?

• Make a qualifying purchase between May 2, 2011 and June 30, 2011.
• Redeem your purchase within 30 days of purchase date at http://www.microsoftincentives.com/BigEasy/redeem.aspx.
• Receive your partner subsidy check from Microsoft.
• Spend your subsidy funds with your Microsoft partner upon receipt. Please note that subsidy funds expire after 90 days of the check issue date

 Feel free to contact me at andreed@tmgroupinc.com or call 888.482.2864 for more information about The Big Easy Offer 2011 and how you can use it to help pay for your implementation and training of Microsoft Dynamics GP. 

By The TM Group, a Michigan Dual Gold Certified Partner for Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM, and Silver Certified for Portals & Collaboration

New Purchases of Microsoft Dynamics GP with Microsoft’s Big Easy Offer 2011 Can Add Up to Great Rebate Savings is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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The information they pulled from Lawson took so long to gather that it was no longer relevant once they had it in hand. The data was also inaccurate because of the manual transactional entry needed to run their reports. They just couldn’t rely on the reporting and struggled with maintaining good relationships with their health clinics.

Eager for a solution, they came across Microsoft Dynamics® GP and The TM Group, a Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner with dual Gold competencies in ERP and CRM in Michigan, to help them get through this crisis. With someone there to support them, it  took just less than 90 days to implement the Advanced Management bundle for Microsoft Dynamics GP with General Ledger, Fixed Assets, Accounts Payable, and Accounts Receivable. Within just two months of having their solution in place, they are really hitting their stride with streamlined financial reporting, accurate data pulls, and integration capabilities.

Before Microsoft Dynamics GP, our client did not have integration with their third party system that sent out patient billing, Healthland.  Now, by using SmartConnect by eOne, they can easily export the data from their third party system, import it into Microsoft Dynamics GP’s General Ledger avoiding all manual data entry, and have a full summary view of their financial status across each of their companies. They run this on a weekly basis so their companies have timely and relevant updates to share with their stakeholders. Our client can now trust the data they pull because of the importing/exporting capabilities within SmartConnect and its integration capabilities with Microsoft Dynamics GP.

By using Management Reporter for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, they no longer need to track financial statements within Microsoft Excel. Management Reporter streamlines financial reports through consolidated statements, bringing in information for all of their 17+ entities. They are saving about a day and half of labor time with Management Reporter for creating their financial statements. They also always have full insight into where they stand as a whole as well as where each of their companies are at financially.

In addition to this consolidated view, they can also streamline their accounts payable through intercompany transactions. Intercompany has allowed them to use one of their companies for paying bills where multiple companies’  General Ledger accounts are affected.  For example, let’s say two of their companies purchased envelopes; the envelope supplier can put these charges all on one invoice and our client can enter the invoice and pay the bill to the vendor while hitting the expense accounts for both companies all within one transaction. This has greatly simplified invoicing and billing for our client, saving time and increasing business insight.

Although they have only been live a for few months, our client is definitely seeing things in a new light. They can focus on streamlining their business processes versus double checking the data they manually retrieve from their accounting solution. As with any change, it can take some time to get up and running, but the robust capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP and the support of a Microsoft Dynamics partner is an ideal combo. Our client is hitting their stride when it comes to streamlined business operations and accurate financial data.

By The TM Group, Michigan  Dual Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint

Health Services Management Company Finds Microsoft Dynamics GP is the Right Rx for Financial Consolidation Pains is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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This multi-store retail grocer manages seven store locations in addition to a few holding companies and needed more timely information that could  be consolidated while kept separate so they could easily track inventory for each store. In addition to this, they also required more control internally so they could gain quick access to complete information, without having to pay the CPA fees associated. More control would be sure to result in better reporting and streamlined business processes for their company.

They are happy to report that today they no longer depend on a CPA, but rather have full control of their data in a consolidated and easy-to-manage format. While they were searching for new solutions, they learned Microsoft Dynamics® GP was used in a number of other grocery stores and their CPA even recommended it. They had a solution but needed a partner to help them move forward and really optimize the solution to fit their needs. Through their research, they found the TM Group had a long history in the grocery industry.

Our client moved forward and implemented the basic functions of Microsoft Dynamics GP, including Accounts Payables, Accounts Receivables, General Ledger, and SmartList Builder. They also implemented an ISV solution from Binary Stream called Multi-Facility that met their consolidation needs. Our client realized three main benefits after implementing Microsoft Dynamics GP and Multi Facility:

• Streamlined Consolidation among Multiple Locations and Companies: With multi facility from Binary Stream, our client can see all their stores in one database within Microsoft Dynamics GP. They can see vendor contact information and work history to easily track the purchase process for each story. They have complete insight into customer data, history, and invoices. The solution also allows them to drill down into profit and loss for each store independently.
• Quick and Easy Access to Critical Business Information: Our client was using excel spreadsheets for everything they tracked and were not able to produce financial statements until 4-6 weeks after each quarter. Even with the untimely information they got from their CPAs, they still couldn’t even drill down to the information they needed insight to. SmartList Builder within Microsoft Dynamics GP has created reporting benefits for our clients by centralizing and automating data in one database. The automation of the reporting process has created more functionality when reporting on financials. For example, if they want to run an ad-hoc report for a vendor at a particular location, they can drill down to that information automatically, right within Microsoft Dynamics GP any day of the year. Realizing this functionality is allowing this grocer better business insight to make the critical decisions in order to beat out their competition.
• Better Handle on Inventory and Streamlined Order Process: Before Microsoft Dynamics GP, our client had to dig into multiple spreadsheets to find what inventory was available for a particular location. Even then, that data was most likely out of date, as the data was not automatically updated as sales continued on a daily basis. Microsoft Dynamics GP allows for better inventory control. They can now quickly respond to vendor inquiries on status of invoice payments with real-time data from Microsoft Dynamics GP. They can see exactly what was purchased from a particular vendor in multiple time increments in addition to the volume available at the vendor’s warehouse. Microsoft Dynamics GP is also integrated with their POS system so that their inventory is automatically updated each time a sale goes through at each grocery location. All of this insight allows for timely and complete communications with both vendors and customers about what’s available for purchase.

By The TM Group, Michigan Partner with Microsoft Dynamics Gold ERP and Microsoft Dynamics Gold CRM Certifications, as well as Silver Certified for Portals and Collaboration

Company Consolidations with Drill-Down Reporting Capabilities Sheds New Light for Multi-Store Retail Grocer is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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The TM Group is a Microsoft Dynamics Gold Certified Partner for ERP and CRM, and in our 26-year history we can attest to the fact that this is the real deal.

Here are the details behind the “Buy 1, Get 3” promotion from Microsoft:

Who Will Benefit?

 Growing and medium-sized businesses that wish to take advantage of the rich functionality, low cost of ownership, and rapid deployability offered by Microsoft Dynamics ERP.   The new offer is ideal for companies needing an affordable option for upgrading their outdated accounting or ERP systems (i.e.,  QuickBooks, Peachtree, MAS90, or Macola).   The promotion is also a great investment for new, start-up companies needing true GAAP-compliant accounting and business management software.

How does it work?

The promotion allows a new customer purchasing either the Advanced Management (AM) or Business Essential (BE) Foundation Pack (which both include 1 user as standard) to then get two (2) additional user licenses at no additional cost. It applies to Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and Microsoft Dynamics SL.

What is the promo deadline?

This offer applies to new customers making their first purchase of Microsoft Dynamics ERP and is effective Tuesday, March 1, 2011 through the end of business June 24, 2011. 

SPECIFIC OFFER DETAILS FOR MICROSOFT DYNAMICS ERP “BUY 1, GET 3” OFFER:
With the initial purchase of a Foundation Pack for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, or Microsoft Dynamics NAV,  the customer gets one user as standard – and under the terms of this offer will get up to two (2) additional users for no additional license cost.

• Offer is valid for both Business Essentials and Advanced Management Editions of the product.
• Customers can order any configuration of functionality and any number of additional users they need to meet their business need, and benefit from the offer on the first two (2) additional users. Additional users and Functionality modules will be sold per regular Microsoft Dynamics Price List.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS ERP “BUY 1, GET 3” OFFER ELIGIBILITY:
To benefit from the offer, customers must accept the following terms:

• Offer applies to new Microsoft Dynamics customers only.
• Customers located in the United States purchasing GP or SL must purchase one year of the Business Ready Advantage Plan when they purchase their license. 
• Customers located in the United States purchasing NAV must purchase one year of the Business Ready Enhancement Plan when they purchase their license.
• Enhancement/Support Plan fees will be calculated based on the System list Price (“SLP”) of all users (including the two (2) additional users) and components, based on regular Microsoft Dynamics Price list.  Eligible customer may accept 1 or 2 additional users, as they deem appropriate. 

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS ERP “BUY 1, GET 3” OFFER EXCLUSIONS AND NOTES:
The Microsoft Dynamics ERP “Buy 1, Get 3” Offer does not apply to:

• Microsoft Dynamics Light Users, Microsoft Dynamics Employee Self-Service Users, Limited and Point of Sale (POS) Device CAL’s, and the External Connector.
• SQL Runtime Edition and Database licenses.
• SharePoint Runtime Edition.
• A la carte functionality modules.
• Third Party (ISV) software and functionality.
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM and CRM related Services or Components.
• Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail, Microsoft Dynamics C5, Microsoft Dynamics XAL, Microsoft Apertum or Microsoft Small Business Financial (SBF).
• Offer cannot be combined with other offers and promotions.

For more information about Microsoft’s  “Buy 1, Get 3” promotion, and your affordable options for Microsoft Dynamics GP implementation, training, and custom development, please feel free to send me an email at kenj@tmgroupinc.com or call 888.482.2864. 

By The TM Group, Michigan Microsoft Gold Certified Dynamics ERP partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP,  Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint.

The Real Deal – “Buy 1, Get 3” Microsoft Dynamics ERP Promotional Offer Just Announced is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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Some accounting teams consider outsourcing to avoid the responsibility of tax filings.  In the past, handling payroll in-house meant you were responsible for printing forms, sending checks, and ensuring proper documentation is filed.  Today, Microsoft Dynamics® GP has services that help you file your taxes while doing your payroll in-house. Another great feature now available includes online retrieval of direct deposit pay stubs, mailing of checks, viewing and downloading W2’s for your employees and the system can  even automatically mail the W2’s, making sure you’re covered on all ends.

Not only is tax filing made simpler, your team can also reap the many significant benefits of doing payroll in-house including the following three important benefits:

• Less Expensive
  Microsoft Dynamics GP Payroll software and implementation costs are incurred only in the first year of ownership, while the cost of outsourcing recurs indefinitely.  On-going fees for an in-house implementation including all tax filing services are a fraction of the cost of outsourcing per year and you don’t accrue those added expenses, such as paying extra for reports and/or customized analysis of your data. Since your data resides at the outsourced service’s datacenter, you will probably incur additional costs when trying to retrieve any necessary but non-standard reports.
• Access To Your Data
  When you make an investment in Microsoft Dynamics GP, you are actually buying a software license that you own as opposed to paying for a service, which you are “renting.”  Because the payroll system belongs to your company, you also completely own the payroll data archived in the system. This means you can run any report or analysis you need at any time, and without any additional fees.
• Many Add-on Features Available
  Microsoft Dynamics GP Add-on Modules are available for all types of specific business processes. For example, you may need time clock management or project accounting tracking. This is all available within Microsoft Dynamics GP, along with many more options.

When you do the math, paying extra for outsourced payroll doesn’t add up. Your staff is still responsible for entering and managing 95% of the payroll process and the outsource service just takes the data you give them to complete the tax filing tasks.  With Microsoft Dynamics GP Payroll and Human Resources, and its easy tax filing services and employee self-service portal, you now have a much more secure,  customized, and affordable option that will ensure optimal processes within your payroll department.

We will be doing a follow-up blog post with more details about how to calculate the ROI of bringing payroll in-house.  There is a lot more to consider than just who and how the tax filings are handled. Contact us to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics GP Payroll.

By The TM Group, Michigan Microsoft Dynamics Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint

Do the Math – Outsourced vs. In-house Payroll – Microsoft Dynamics GP Payroll Can Lower Your Costs! is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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Basically, if you are already purchasing Microsoft Dynamics GP and need to upgrade your SharePoint server, you can save over $3,000 dollars!

The Big Easy Offer 5.0 helps you build complete solutions while saving significant money. You can choose from a variety of popular Microsoft products and solutions while earning thousands of dollars on qualifying purchases that can be used towards additional software, hardware, or services.

To take full advantage of the great savings potential with Microsoft’s new Big Easy 5.0 offer, contact us at The TM Group to learn how to optimize your Microsoft product group purchases, including Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange and more.  Act fast as this offer ends on December 31, 2010!

Contact me at kenj@tmgroupinc.com or call 888.482.2864, to find out how to take advantage of the Big Easy 5.0 offer with Microsoft Dynamics GP.

By The TM Group, a Michigan Microsoft Dynamics Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint.

The Big Easy Offer is Back with Big Savings on a Purchase of Microsoft Dynamics GP and Other Popular Microsoft Products! is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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As the data structure for each third-party solution is different, and no unified standard of financial data exchange has been established, our technical consultants at the TM Group, a leading Microsoft Dynamics GP partner based in Michigan, developed a flexible data import framework we’ve successfully deployed for several clients.  By using the data import framework we can easily import third-party data provided via FTP sites, web service calls, SQL queries, as well as many other data sources into Microsoft Dynamics GP.

Our Microsoft Dynamics GP  import framework processes data from virtually any third-party source.  The data is validated against the accounting rules in Microsoft Dynamics GP as well as company-specific rules, and then imported into Dynamics GP using web services or eConnect transactions.  Data can also be exported from Dynamics GP to the third-party applications allowing us to maintain synchronous data between both systems.

For one of our clients, a franchise restaurant company, we used this technology to import data from MyMicros, a restaurant point-of-sale device, with Microsoft Dynamics GP. We also implemented integrations with Waterstreet, a franchise sales management tool.

We helped another client,  a private university, with their need to integrate to CashNet, their point-of-sale terminals.  We use our data import framework to import GL Transactions from CashNet into Microsoft Dynamics GP.  We also export the available GL accounts from Dynamics GP to the CashNet service to update the point-of-sale terminals.

We’ll continue to post other examples from our clients about their growing needs for integrating third-party systems to Microsoft Dynamics GP.   If you’d like more information about the Microsoft Dynamics GP data import framework solution developed by The TM Group’s Microsoft Dynamics custom development team, feel free to contact me at kenj@tmgroupinc.com or call 888-482-2864. 

By The TM Group, a Michigan Microsoft Dynamics Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server

A Flexible Import Framework for Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration with Third-Party Services is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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The company, who dominates the market for officially licensed wall graphics of sports and entertainment stars has licensing agreements with every major sports league, dozens of universities, Disney, and Nickelodeon. Their product lines include the life-size wall graphics, custom graphics, Skins, Tradeables, and Furniture for Fans.

 “We have no idea where the next idea is going to come from. The next idea comes from everybody in this company. Microsoft Dynamics helps us move fast,” says the IT development manager.

Everything moves fast at the company: Ideas, sales, shipments – and especially technology.

Background

Officially founded with a handful of licensing agreements including the NFL, NBA and NASCAR, the company’s revenue and staff were small.  Today, they have hundreds of licensing agreements and sell thousands of products. Yearly revenue is nearly $30 million.   However, staff size has remained the same thanks to the valuable and efficient business solutions provided by Microsoft Dynamics and The TM Group, a leading Michigan Microsoft Dynamics provider.

Our consulting team and custom development staff helped the company replace QuickBooks with Microsoft Dynamics^® GP and some powerful add-on ISV solutions as its financial management and electronic-data interchange systems.  They now rely on:

• Microsoft Dynamics GP
• Microsoft vSync EDI
• Microsoft SQL Server^®
• Microsoft Office

Situation

The colorfully decorated walls inside the company headquarters are a testament to a company that encourages ambitious thinking. Three-dimensional images of everyone from LeBron James and Peyton Manning to Hannah Montana and President Obama fill the office walls and promote a creative atmosphere. Ideas and concepts are constantly brainstormed. They follow a flat organizational structure — anyone in the company can pitch an idea to the CEO, and a month later it can be brought to market.

“Once we have our eye set on something, it becomes ‘how can we get this done as quickly as possible,’” says their EDI specialist.

The company grabbed the attention of sports fans in 2005 with its life-size sports wall graphics. The business model has consistently expanded since then. Hundreds of licensing agreements have been made. Smaller-sized wall graphics were brought to market. The company entered the tradeables and memorabilia industry. Now, on-demand custom printing is eyed as a major revenue stream.

With business booming, many potential software headaches loomed. The finance department was managing inventory manually using QuickBooks financial software. With the sales volume rising, the company struggled to accurately track inventory and cost of goods sold.

“I didn’t feel it was ever really accurate using manual systems. I didn’t trust the accuracy,” says the controller.  “We couldn’t track it down to the SKU. We had pieces coming in from so many different (Excel) spreadsheets.”

Warehouse management issues increased. Originally, they had two warehouses – one to handle web orders and another to handle big-box orders from retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Target. Having one warehouse in Texas and another in Tennessee made it difficult to track inventory and process orders.

“They were manually transferring inventory because they didn’t have good visibility into what was where or how much they had,” says the EDI specialist. “That is an expensive problem because you can’t fulfill orders and you can’t have a proper financial statement.”

The company realized it needed to consolidate to a single warehouse that could handle both types of orders.

An outsource relationship for the electronic transactions with retailers became expensive – there were per-transaction fees, per-setup fees, maintenance fees, and mapping fees. The previous vendor, Sterling Commerce, handled the relationship with retailers. This led to issues of reconciling chargebacks. The company felt the system was unaccountable.

“There was zero quality control,” says the development manager. “We had to trust Sterling Commerce to fix it. It was a very expensive relationship. We would constantly be doing cycle counts at both warehouses. We knew what we sold on the web site and we knew what we sold to retailers, but it wasn’t real time. We only knew once a month what we had at the warehouses using an Excel spreadsheet. Now they know every day what they have.”

Solution

As it steadily added customers, retailers and product lines, the company sought a flexible partner to handle its constantly evolving software needs.

The decision-makers were confident that Microsoft Dynamics and The TM Group would provide solutions that would have a positive impact throughout the company while allowing it to maintain the organizational structure that encourages limitless ideas and opportunities.

The flexibility of the Microsoft business solutions coupled with the trusted advice of The TM Group has allowed the company to avoid a time-consuming learning curve.  Since partnering with The TM Group, they have enjoyed many benefits including:

• A rise in productivity
• An increased volume of orders
• Higher margins
• More efficient ways to evaluate profitability
• Real-time inventory tracking
• Keeping staff costs at same level

Staff costs stay steady

The company has seen tremendous growth. The company went from three retailer relationships to about two dozen. The number of licensing agreements has grown from about a dozen to hundreds. The number of stock-keeping units SKUs ballooned from a couple hundred to 9,000.

Yet the staff size has stayed the same.

Their first implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly known as Great Plains) was in the summer of 2007. At that time, there were four people in the finance department. Today, that number remains at four.

“We definitely would not have been able to run the company with four people in finance without the systems that we have in place between the EDI and Dynamics GP and the inventory tracking from Dynamics,” says the controller.

During the same time frame, the IT staff has shrunk in size — from 13 to nine — since the first Microsoft solutions were implemented.

 “Every other business unit has probably decreased by a of couple people,” says the development manager. “More people are taking on more responsibility.”

The solutions provided by Microsoft Dynamics GP combined with the knowledgeable consultants of The TM Group have allowed employees to add value to their jobs. The flat organizational structure has benefited, as now every employee has information at his fingertips that is easily accessible through industry-standard Microsoft software.

Evaluate profitability more easily

Microsoft Dynamics GP was first used by the financial department, who with the TM Group’s help implemented the financial and inventory modules.

“It probably took 10 days to come up with all the pieces that we needed to funnel into QuickBooks to get our financials,” says the controller. “Now I can just push a button and find out where we are today. The inventory is real time, our cost of goods sold are all real time. It’s good information.”

The financial modules tracked accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory, purchase orders, and sales orders.

The finance department plans to add a Royalties software solution. With Royalties, they will streamline the process of disbursing the royalty payments to the celebrities and sports leagues.

“It should save us at least five days a month,” the controller shared.

Order fulfillment

The company sells about 20,000 units during an average month. Sales soar to approximately 150,000 per month during the holidays. That’s a lot of orders for any company to fulfill, let alone one with only 50 employees.

They began building a data warehouse in the summer of 2008. Now all Microsoft Dynamics systems feed seamlessly into the data warehouse. The vSync solution – which includes sales order processing and warehouse modules — replaced the manual processes of entering orders and fulfilling them at the warehouse.

As the business requirements evolved, it was critical to have a flexible consultant. Enter The TM Group.

“We had to change the way the items were set up in Great Plains from sales items to kits and components because we kept inventory at the raw stock level,” says the EDI specialist. “We wanted to be able to send orders against that. That’s why we had to change our setups. Instead of having inventory at the raw level, it let us calculate our cost of goods effectively and more efficiently.”

With vSync, they automate the fulfillment process. Web site orders flow through Dynamics GP. The vSync solution produces an EDI document to the warehouse. The warehouse then sends another EDI document to Dynamics GP, fulfilling the order. Then GP can process the payment. Without vSync, many of these vital functions would have to be done manually.

A digital ticker inside the company office shows what products are being sold on a minute-by-minute basis. Now they can reconcile invoices daily.

“It’s real time,” the EDI specialist adds. “It ships yesterday, we send the invoice yesterday. We turn things around and we know exactly where we stand.”

The Future

The company is gearing up to use eConnect, a Microsoft integration tool, for the automation of creating inventory items.

One license agreement can lead to hundreds of new SKUs. Using eConnect, they can enter thousands of SKUs into the system in just a few minutes.

eConnect will allow the company  to continue having endless ideas and SKUs. Wherever the next relationship comes from, they can now quickly bring the products to market.

That’s a perfect fit for an organization that thinks big and acts  fast.

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics business solutions and The TM Group, please visit https://www.tmgroupinc.com or call 888-482-2864.

By The TM Group, leading Michigan partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Dynamics SL, Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics GP (vs. QuickBooks) Keeps Fast-Growing Company Nimble While Business Booms is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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Many NFPs are attracted to Dynamics GP because it is a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) solution.  Once a transaction has been posted to the system, you can not intentionally or accidentally change the transaction. This is very important to NFPs that have to accurately report their income and expenditures to their board as well as government agencies. Utilizing non-GAAP compliant systems can result in the frustrating experience of monthly financial statements not matching what was reported the previous period and then having to spend many hours or days trying to figure out why.

Fixed and variable allocation accounts functionality is also an important time-saving feature for NFPs.  Currently many NFPs will manage these in Excel Spreadsheets where they calculate allocations across departments and programs areas of such expenses as insurance, rent, and mortgages and then key them into their accounting system. With allocation accounts the system does this for you.  If you have an fixed expense like rent where the same amount are allocated to departments based pre-established percents or dollar amounts, then when the expense is entered and posted to a fixed allocation account, the system will automatically split this expense across departments for you.

Our recent prospect allocated their mortgage based on wages over the past six months by location and department.  We showed them how they can use variable allocations and unit accounts in the GL to spread these automatically.  Unit accounts in Microsoft Dynamics GP allow you to base variable allocations on things such a square footage, unit sales, head counts, ect. (our training classes for Dynamics GP are designed to help users learn more about General Ledger and all the GP modules).

This data often comes from other line of business applications.  We also showed the NFP org how easy it was to bring in their data using Dynamics integration tools from CSV, text or Excel files.  By using our integration tools, we showed how they could eliminate time consuming data entry and eliminate the mis-keying of data.

The TM Group has over 25 years experience working with non- profits to help them more effectively manage their organizations with rigorous reporting,  streamlined processes, and making sure their staff is empowered with easy-to-use business software.

By The TM Group, a Michigan Microsoft Dynamics Partner for Dynamics GP, Dynamics SL, Dynamics NAV and Dynamics CRM

Best Practice for NFPs – Microsoft Dynamics GP GAAP Reporting, Automating Allocations & More is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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