organizing dynamics gp – free chapter from microsoft dynamics gp 2010 cookbook

Chapter 2 , Organizing Dynamics GP includes recipes that are designed to help administrators get more out of Dynamics GP for their users by changing the way Dynamics GP is organized.. C

In this package, you will find:

A Biography of the author of the book

A preview chapter from the book, Chapter NO.2 "Organizing Dynamics GP"

A synopsis of the book’s content

Information on where to buy this book

About the Author

Mark Polino is a Microsoft MVP for Dynamics GP, a Certified Public Accountant, and

a Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Professional He is the author of the premier Dynamics GP related blog, DynamicAccounting.net and the creator and presenter of the successful series "Getting More Out of Microsoft Dynamics GP: 50 Tips

in 50 minutes" Mark has worked with Dynamics GP and its predecessor, Great Plains, for more than 10 years

He works as a Principal Consultant with I.B.I.S., Inc and spends his days helping clients implement Microsoft Dynamics GP

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook

By Mark Polino

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010

Cookbook

Tens of thousands of Microsoft Dynamics GP users keep the accounting functions of their firms running day in and day out They ensure that vendors get paid, customer payments are tracked, and the financial statements balance in the end In short, they provide the information critical to corporate decision making

Although thousands of people use Dynamics GP, many of them only use a subset of the functionality They figure out just enough to do their job but never delve into ways to do

it better Many users also start with a particular version of Dynamics GP but don't update their skills for new features in updated versions Employers generally offer little or no training after the initial implementation The work gets done, but users are left with a feeling that there must be a better way This book is designed to remove that nagging feeling and provide ways to get more from Dynamics GP

What This Book Covers

Chapter 1, Personalizing Dynamics GP includes recipes designed to enhance the

usefulness of Microsoft Dynamics GP by personalizing the look and feel of the

application

Chapter 2 , Organizing Dynamics GP includes recipes that are designed to help

administrators get more out of Dynamics GP for their users by changing the way

Dynamics GP is organized

Chapter 3 , Automating Dynamics GP includes recipes that focus on efficiency and

automation and are designed to be time savers across the system

Chapter 4 , Harnessing the Power of SmartLists includes recipes used to harness the

power of Dynamics GP's Ad hoc reporting tool and ways to leverage the reporting power

of SmartLists

Chapter 5 , Connecting Dynamics GP to Microsoft Office 2010 includes recipes that help

connect Dynamics GP with Microsoft Office 2010 and ways to use Office to improve processes in Dynamics GP

Chapter 6 , Exposing Hidden Features in Dynamics GP includes techniques that are well

known to consultants but often missed by users It contains hidden settings that can help save a lot of time

Chapter 7 , Improving Dynamics GP with Hacks includes recipes that are used to hack

existing features in Dynamics GP so as to improve its usability

Chapter 8 , Preventing Errors in Dynamics GP includes recipes for administrators and

users to help prevent errors in Dynamics GP It also includes ways to fi x erroneous transactions that managed to make it to the general ledger

Chapter 9 , Maintaining Dynamics GP includes recipes for an administrator or power user

to help maintain Dynamics GP

Chapter 10 , Extending Dynamics GP with Free Software includes recipes that make use

of third-party applications to provide additional functionality, address industry-specific requirements, and improve efficiency in Dynamics GP

Organizing Dynamics

GP

In this chapter, we move from recipes designed for a typical user to recipes fi t for the head chef These recipes are designed to help administrators get more out of Dynamics GP for their users by organizing Dynamics GP

In this chapter, we will look at:

f Speeding up account entry with Account Aliases

f Gaining visibility with Horizontal Scroll Arrows

f Streamlining payables processing by prioritizing vendors

f Getting clarity with User Defi ned fi elds

f Developing connections with Internet User Defi ned fi elds

f Gaining additional reporting control with Account Rollups

f Remembering processes with an Ad hoc workfl ow

f Improving fi nancial reporting clarity by splitting purchasing accounts

f Speeding up lookups with Advanced Lookups

f Going straight to the site with Web Links

Speeding up account entry with

Account Aliases

As organizations grow the chart of accounts tends to grow larger and more complex as well Companies want to segment their business by departments, locations, or divisions All of this means that more and more accounts get added to the chart As the chart of accounts grows it gets more diffi cult to select the right account Dynamics GP provides the Account Alias feature

as a way to quickly select the right account The account aliases provide a way to create shortcuts to specifi c accounts This can dramatically speed up the process of selecting the correct account We'll look at how this works in this recipe

Getting ready

Setting up Account Aliases requires a user with access to the Account Maintenance window

To get to this window:

1 Select Financial from the Navigation Pane on the left In the Cards section

of the Financial Area Page click on Accounts This will open the Account

Maintenance window

2 Click on the lookup button (indicated by a magnifying glass) next to the Account fi eld

3 Find and select Account No 000-2100-00

4 Enter AP in the Alias fi eld, which is in the middle of the Account Maintenance window This associates the letters AP with the Accounts Payable account selected This means that the user now only has to enter AP instead of the full account number

to use the Accounts Payable account:

How to do it

1 To demonstrate how this works, click on Financial from the Navigation Pane on the left Select Transaction Entry from the Financial Area Page under Transactions.

2 In the Transaction Entry window select the top line in the grid area on the lower half

of the window

3 Click on the blue arrow next to the Account heading to open the Account Entry window

4 In the Alias fi eld type AP and press Enter:

5 The Account Entry window will close and the account represented by the alias will appear in the Transaction Entry window:

How it works

Account Aliases provide quick shortcuts for account entry Keeping them short and obvious makes them easy to use Aliases are less useful if users have to think about them Limiting them to the most commonly used accounts make these more useful Most users don't mind occasionally looking up the odd account However, they wouldn't want to memorize long account strings for regularly used account numbers

It's counter-productive to put an alias on every account as that would make fi nding the right alias as diffi cult as fi nding the right account number The setup process should be performed

on the most commonly used accounts to provide easy access

See also

f Gaining visibility with Horizontal Scroll Arrows

Gaining visibility with Horizontal

Scroll Arrows

A consequence of company growth is that not only does the chart of accounts grow larger and less intuitive, but the actual lengths of account numbers tend to grow longer as well Companies want to be able to report by account, department, location, and so on This results in a proliferation of segments added to the main account number and can create very long account names Dynamics GP can accommodate an account number as long as

66 characters The longest I've seen used in practice was 27 characters and even that was unwieldy Most users only need a portion of that length for their day-to-day work

This presents a problem because very long account numbers won't fi t into the account number fi eld on most screens For this recipe, we'll look at how Dynamics GP provides a solution to this in the User Preferences window

How to do it

Here we'll see how to increase the visibility of long account numbers:

1 On the Navigation Pane on the left select Home

2 Click on User Preferences on the Shortcut Bar

3 Select the checkbox for Horizontal Scroll Arrows:

This turns on the functionality to allow users to scroll horizontally within the Account fi eld and lets them see the full account number:

How it works

Once Horizontal Scroll Arrows are activated small arrows appear at the left-hand

and right-hand side of the Account fi eld letting users scroll right and left to see the

full account number

There's more

Horizontal Scroll Arrows are implemented on a per-user basis, meaning each user has to turn this on individually Administrators can make this active for all users with an SQL script.Additionally, for companies using alphanumeric characters in their chart of accounts, wide letters such as M or W are often diffi cult to see There is also an option to increase the visible width of a particular segment

Activating Horizontal Scroll Arrows for all users

Horizontal Scroll Arrows are activated by the user However, an administrator can turn this feature on for all users in all companies by running the following SQL script against

the Dynamics database:

Update SY01400

Set HSCRLARW=1

Widening segments for better visibility

When companies use alphanumeric characters in their chart of accounts wide letters, such as

M or W, are often cut off Horizontal scroll arrows don't help because the problem is that the segment fi eld is too narrow, not the entire account fi eld To resolve this problem Dynamics GP provides an option to widen the segment fi elds as well

On the Navigation Pane click on Administration Select Account Format For each segment that needs to be wider, select the fi eld under the Display Width column and change it from Standard to Expansion 1, Expansion 2, or Expansion 3 to widen the fi eld Expansion 3 represents the widest option

Companies using only numbers in their chart of accounts won't need to widen the segment

fi eld However, fi rms that include letters as part of their chart will need to increase the width Following is a list of the expansion options and the letters these are designed to accommodate:

f Expansion 1: A,B,E,K,P,S,V,X, and Y

f Expansion 2: C,D,G,H,M,N,O, Q,R, and U

f Expansion 3: W

Streamlining payables processing

by prioritizing vendors

Management of vendor payments is a critical activity for any fi rm It's even more critical

in diffi cult economic times Companies need to understand and control payments A key component of that is prioritizing vendors Every fi rm has both critical and expendable vendors Paying critical vendors on time is a key business driver

For example, a newspaper company that doesn't pay their newsprint supplier won't be in business for long However, they can safely delay payments to their janitorial vendor without worrying about going under

Dynamics GP provides a mechanism to prioritize vendors and apply those priorities when selecting which checks to print That is the focus of this recipe

Getting ready

Setting this up fi rst requires that the company fi gure out who the priority vendors are That part

is beyond the scope of this book The Vendor Priority fi eld in Dynamics GP is a 3-character fi eld Users shouldn't be tempted by the possibilities of 3 characters A best practice is to keep the priorities simple by using 1, 2, and 3 or A, B, and C Anything more complicated than this tends

to confuse users and actually makes it harder to prioritize vendors

Once the vendor priorities have been determined the priority needs to be set in Dynamics GP Attaching a priority to a vendor is the fi rst step To do that:

1 Select Purchasing from the Navigation Pane In the Purchasing Area Page, under Cards, click on Vendor Maintenance

2 Once the Vendor Maintenance window opens, click on the lookup button (indicated

by a magnifying glass) next to Vendor ID

3 Select a vendor and click on OK

4 Once the vendor information is populated, click on the Options button This opens the Vendor Maintenance Options window

5 In the center left is the Payment Priority fi eld Enter 1 in the Payment Priority fi eld and click on Save:

2 In the Select Payables Checks window enter TEST to name the check batch

Press Tab to move off the Batch ID fi eld and click on Add to add the batch.

3 Select a Checkbook ID and click on Save to save the batch

4 In the Select fi eld click on the drop-down box and select Payment Priority

Enter 1 in both the From and To fi elds

5 Click on the Insert button to lock in Payment Priority as an option:

6 Click on Build Batch at the top of the Select Payables Checks window If there are any transactions where the vendor is set to a priority of 1, this will populate a batch of checks based on the vendor priority:

How it works

Since priority is one of the built-in options for selecting checks it's easy to ensure that

high-priority vendors get selected to be paid fi rst All of this is easily accomplished with basic Dynamics GP functionality that most people miss

Getting clarity with User Defi ned fi elds

Throughout Dynamics GP maintenance cards typically include at least two user defi ned fi elds User defi ned fi elds can be renamed in the setup screen for the related module This provides

a great mechanism to add in special information We'll take a look at a typical use of a user defi ned fi eld in this recipe

How to do it

For our example, we'll look at using a user defi ned fi eld to rename the User-Defi ned 1 fi eld

to Region in the Customer Maintenance window

1 From the Navigation Pane select Sales In the Sales Area Page click on Setup, then Receivables, and fi nally Options

2 In the User-Defi ned 1 fi eld type Region and click on OK to close each window:

3 Back on the Sales Area Page click on Customer under the Cards area On the bottom left above User-Defi ned 2 is the newly named Region fi eld ready to be fi lled in:

How it works

Changing the fi eld name only changes the display fi eld It doesn't change the underlying fi eld name in the database SmartLists are smart enough to show the new name In our example the description Region would appear in a SmartList, not User-Defi ned 1

User defi ned fi elds such as these are present for Customers, Vendors, Accounts, Sales Orders, Fixed Assets, Inventory Items, and Purchase Receipts among others These can each be renamed in their respective setup screens

There's more

All user defi ned fi elds are not the same Some have special features

Special User Defi ned 1 features

User Defi ned 1 has special features inside of Dynamics GP Most of the built-in reports inside of Dynamics GP allow sorting and selection by the User Defi ned 1 fi eld These options aren't provided for User Defi ned 2 Consequently, administrators should carefully consider what information belongs in User Defi ned 1 before changing its name as the effects of this selection will be felt throughout the system

Company Setup user defi ned fi elds

On the Company Setup window there are two user defi ned fi elds at the top right There is

no option in Dynamics GP to rename these fi elds The Company Setup window is accessed

by clicking on Administration on the Navigation Pane, then clicking on Company under the Setup and Company headers

Expanded user defi ned fi elds

Certain areas such as Fixed Assets, Inventory Items, and Purchase Receipts have more

See also

f Renaming Fields for clarity

f Developing connections with Internet User Defi ned fi elds

f Going straight to the site with Web Links

Developing connections with Internet

User Defi ned fi elds

Dynamics GP provides a built-in set of Internet fi elds for users to enter information such as web pages, e-mail addresses, and FTP sites What many people don't know is that these are actually user defi ned fi elds and can be changed by an administrator This allows a fi rm to add

a second e-mail address or remove the FTP link if they want to In this recipe, we'll look at how

to customize these fi elds

It is important to keep in mind when setting up Internet User Defi ned fi elds that these settings affect all of the Internet User Defi ned fi eld names attached to address IDs assigned to a Company, Customers, Employees, Items, Salespeople, and Vendors

2 Click on the Internet User Defi ned button and change the description in the Label 4

fi eld to Twitter Click on OK:

3 Back on the Company Setup screen click on the blue italic letter (I) to the right of the Address ID to open the Internet Information window In the Twitter fi eld type http://www.twitter.com/mpolino.

4 Click on the link associated with the Twitter fi eld on the left This opens a web browser and navigates to my Twitter account so that you can follow me Click on Save

to update the record:

If http://www.microsoft.com is entered in the Home Page fi eld, clicking on the link to the left will start the default browser and open the Microsoft web page If http:// is not included but www is, GP fi gures out that it should open a web page Just putting in microsoft.com isn't enough for GP to understand that the link corresponds to a web page Similarly, if a user enters

mailto://mpolino@gmail.com in the E-mail fi eld and clicks on the corresponding link the default e-mail client opens up ready to send an e-mail to me If no prefi x is used on an e-mail address, GP will respond with a "File Not Found" error when the link is clicked on It's not smart enough to know that the @ symbol means that this is an e-mail account

Using a prefi x in the Internet User Defi ned fi elds explicitly defi nes how this link should work and provides the most consistency to users