Ever since massive updates in the Dynamics GP product were announced at Convergence 2014, the Dynamics community has been on edge with anticipation of the latest release.
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Foundational Enhancements
Some features have been in the works for quite a while. These additions are so key to the core product, you’ll be wondering why it was only just added. For example, you can now:
- Take your company offline to perform maintenance or administrative tasks. You can send system-wide messages in the meantime to let users know that the company will be in “maintenance mode”.
- Send documents in email messages that you previously couldn’t send.
- Select “Messaging Application Programming Interface” (MAPI) or “Exchange” as the server type in Outlook 64-bit, which is now fully supported.
- Send Word documents via email with built-in security features and password protection.
- Send reports via email in HTML format.
- Create time saving access for users who only enter time cards or purchase requisitions now that Self Service is a Home Page role.
Another change is the naming conventions for your system database. Once limited to just “DYNAMICS”, now you can name the system database whatever you wish, allowing you to deploy more than one instance of Dynamics GP to a single instance of Microsoft SQL Server – a huge time and space saver for your technical team.
Financing Now More Robust Than Ever
A long-awaited improvement, Excel spreadsheets that will help you match transactions in General Ledger with their originating transactions can now be quickly and easily generated. This is a real time-saver when compared with how transactions have been manually matched together in the past. Things like opening a closed fiscal year and copying journal entries created in an Excel Worksheet to the “Journal Entry” window are now an option, giving users flexibility in a more robust and automated tool.
Payables Management Leaps Forward
Ever have to void accounts payable transactions and then re-enter them just so you could change the address? Now you can simply edit the remit address without having to void the whole transaction. Other things like the inability to reprint check remittance forms made for some really unhappy vendors, which can now be done at the push of a button. Here are a few more examples to chew on:
- Support for printing 1096 forms has been added.
- All the new Federal 1099 fields have been added to ensure you are 100% compliant with your tax filing requirements.
- Modifying or combining vendors is now a feature available in the vendor window.
The New and Improved Inventory
For inventory, we see many high-level edits to the software that have been in the works for a while. New features include:
- Selection of multiple serial numbers at one time.
- Inactivate sites and items/site relationships for additional control over your inventory.
- Reason codes added throughout Inventory to provide greater control over inventory movement.
- Track movements between bins if you use multiple bins.
The Whole Package
One of the most valuable aspects to Dynamics GP is the speed and depth to which the product is constantly enhanced. Microsoft does a great job of listening to both end-user and VAR feedback and then translates this feedback into tangible product enhancements. As of now, this process has been tied to bi-annual updates to ensure that more and more of these new features reach users sooner. All of the companies that have deployed their GP install via the cloud are seeing these benefits immediately. Those who have been installing on a local level will have to upgrade to get the new features.
In future releases of Dynamics GP,
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by Journyx