Charts and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are great tools to provide us with a quick visual reference of analysis without sifting through complex details.  Microsoft Dynamics GP has had a built-in chart and KPI section in the last two releases (versions 10 and 2010) referred to as the “Metrics” section.  As of Microsoft Dynamics GP version 2010, Microsoft has allowed us the ability to create our own custom charts and KPIs and add these to a repository of reports used in Microsoft Dynamics GP.  This allows users and organizations to develop charts and KPIs that can be used on a daily basis to determine the heartbeat of business directly within the ERP system.

 

The metrics used with Microsoft Dynamics GP version 2010 are built with the Report Builder tool that is part of the SQL Reporting Services website deployment and can be installed directly from the website.

 

Once the tool is installed, basic reports, charts, gauges and other metrics can be created with ease using the tools many different dataset options for connecting to different types of data from Microsoft Dynamics GP.

 

Here is a basic Yearly Sales Goal gauge created from sales related data:

 

Adding the metric to Microsoft Dynamics GP is as easy as saving the report file the related module’s “Charts and KPIs” folder (in this case “Sales”).  The metric will now be available from the home area’s metrics:

 

Learn more helpful tips by contacting a Microsoft Dynamics GP partner like The Resource Group (http://www.resgroup.com/).