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Saving Keystrokes in GP

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Would you like to save keystrokes?  Mouse less?  Here are a couple of shortcuts you can use in Dynamics GP.  Some of them you may remember from one of my earlier blog posts.

 

Sales Order Processing Quick Print

When printing an invoice in Sales Order Processing, the typical key strokes are:

 

1)    Click printer icon

2)    Select which documents to include

3)    Click Print

4)    Select printer or screen

5)    Select number of copies

6)    Click ‘OK’

 

With Quick Print the key strokes are:

1)    Click ‘CNTRL’ and ‘Q’ buttons on your keyboard simultaneously and watch the clicks happen automatically!

 

How to setup Quick Print:

·         Open the Sales Transaction Entry window – Transactions>Sales>Sales Transaction Entry

·         Click on ‘Options’ from menu

·         Select ‘Quick Print Setup’

·         Mark options as applicable

·         Click ‘Save’

 

Quick Links

Quick Links are found on your home page in GP.  A quick link allows a user to access a window/web site/external program with one click rather than using the drop down menus.

 

How to setup a GP Window Quick Link:

·         Go to Home Page

·         Click on ‘Change Details’ in the Quick Links area

·         Click on ‘Add’ button

·         Select ‘Microsoft Dynamics GP Window’

·         Navigate through Menu group and Categories/commands to select the Quick Link destination

·         Click ‘Ok’

·         Click ‘OK’

·         Refresh Home page to see new Quick Link in your Quick Links list

 

Shortcuts

Shortcuts are similar to Quick Links, but they reside in the Navigation Pane in GP.  The functionality is the same as a Quick Link.  Once click on the shortcut and you arrive at your desired location!

 

How to setup a Shortcut

·         Click on ‘File’ in the window you would like to create a short cut for

·         Select ‘Add to Shortcuts’

·         Short cut will now show in your Navigation Pane

 

To remove a short cut simply right click on the shortcut and select ‘delete’ from the list.

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What can a Dynamics GP Light User do?

Monday, August 1st, 2011

There’s been so much buzz about Dynamics GP Light Licenses lately, and why shouldn’t there be?  When you have the ability to access data, turn it into business intelligence and deliver insight to your team, we would be putting our head in the sand by not asking about it.

 

Understanding and complying with Microsoft’s licensing rules requires some education, but it’s not complicated when limited to Dynamics GP.   

 

What can a Dynamics GP Light User do?

·         Perform real-time analyses with refreshable Excel reports

·         Access the library of key metrics via SQL Server Reporting Services – Charts, Metrics, KPI’s

·         Gain insight using Analysis Cubes

·         View financial statements with Management Reporter

 

How does the Light User access this information?

·         Using a web browser, Light Users access information through SharePoint, including:

o   Role Center Dashboards

o   External Lists

o   Business Portal Applications such as Time & Expense and Requisition Management

o   Workflow Approvals

o   Enterprise Search

 

Why buy a full Microsoft Dynamics GP User License when you can get a Light License and real time data for under $200? (What CAN’T a GP Light User do?)

·         A GP Light User can NOT log into the GP Application or perform any tasks within the program.

 

How do you know when you need a Light License in order to be in compliance?

·         GP Light Users are perfect for a non-GP User who is accessing a report, query, or application that uses the Dynamics databases, for example:

o   Executive Centers and Dashboards

o   Excel Reports (Smartlist Builder and Microsoft Excel Reports)

o   SSRS, Crystal, and other reporting tools

o   Visual Studio, Access, or other development applications that produce or update GP data

o   Workflow in Dynamics GP

o   Business Portal’s Order Management and Requisition Management

o   Payroll and HR Self Service suite

 

Still not sure?  Contact us today to get the answers you need to take advantage of the price and opportunity to deliver intelligence rather than meaningless data.

 

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How can Business Ready Licensing (BRL) for Dynamics GP save you money?

Monday, June 13th, 2011

At Gilchrist Scott, LTD, we know how important the relationship between clients and their Microsoft Dynamics Business Partner is.  You have made the wise decision to invest in Microsoft Dynamics GP. Now is the time to ensure that you are taking full advantage of all the Microsoft Dynamics features and capabilities to enable confident decision making, drive business productivity, and reduce operational costs.

 

BRL (Business Ready Licensing), was introduced in 2006 to help Dynamics customers get more value from their existing and new solution.  The bundle offers a wide range of functionality to support your business process.  Prior to 2006, customers purchased their solution using Module-based Licensing, adding new modules as needed.  This placed the value in the functionality, whereas BRL places the value in the number of users so customers don’t have to worry about which modules to buy initially.  You own the entire bundle, and may activate unused functionality as needed.  

 

With the special  promotional offers out there, many of our clients are able to move to BRL at a fraction of the cost that it was even a few short months ago. This will enable existing clients to access dozens and dozens of new modules, and freeze their annual enhancement at their current list price.

 

If your company is interested in a License Model Transition, now is the time to do it.  Microsoft’s year-end promotions offer this transition at a deeply discounted rate, but only until June 24th.  Please contact us now to discuss!

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SmartList Export Solutions for Dynamics GP

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

If you use SmartLists in Dynamics GP, you have most likely used the Excel button to export a SmartList to Excel.  What you may not know is that there is another option called SmartList Export Solutions that is available for you to use.

Examples of things you can use Smartlist Export Solutions for are to automate totaling and formatting of SmartList data in an existing Excel Spreadsheet.   And you can export SmartList Data to the same spreadsheet over and over again.  You also gain additional functionality by being able to use macros that automate various tasks like clearing data from an existing spreadsheet, creating a new sheet within a workbook before adding data, adding up columns etc..

To Setup a Smartlist Export Solution

1)      You’ll want to save a SmartList with the columns you want, as a Favorite

2)      Export your Favorite SmartList to Excel

3)      Save the Excel Spreadsheet to the location of your choosing  and close out of Excel

4)      View your Favorite SmartList in Dynamics GP

5)      Select Smartlist>>Export Solutions from the Menu

a.       Name:          Enter a Name to identify the Spreadsheet that you will be exporting to

b.      Document:                 Enter the Path or browse to where you previously exported and saved the SmartList in Number 3

c.       Preparation and Completion Macro:  If you added a macro to the Excel File enter those names here

d.      Visible To: Enter who you would like to be able to use/see this solution

e.      Application:  Select Excel

f.        Works for Favorites:  Check the box next to the Favorite that this solution is associated to

g.       Save and Close the Export Solutions window

Back at the SmartList window open your Favorite SmartList

1)      Click the Excel Button

a.       You will now have an additional choice of Export Solution (Quick Export is the usual way of exporting a SmartList)

b.      Click Export Solution and your spreadsheet will open

                                                               i.      If you created a before and/or an after macro these will run ahead of and/or after your is exported

It can be that simple, or you can design macros for different tasks like creating pivot tables etc..  This gives you quite a few more options when exporting SmartLists to Excel, especially when you do the same type of export month after month, and this should save you lots of time once the solution is in place.  Happy Exporting!

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Key Questions to ask about your Audit Controls

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

You passed your last financial audit with high marks. Your internal accounting controls more than satisfy the auditors’ requirements and you have nothing to worry about, right? Maybe!

With businesses “doing more with less”, the accounting staff is required to take on more responsibilities. This reduction in staff does not accommodate the traditional separation of duties recommended for audit controls.

When we talk with prospects and customers, we find:

  • AP Clerks are entering and posting transactions, and printing checks. How do you know some of those checks are not going to friends and family?
  • General ledger trial balances are downloaded to Excel to create financial statements instead of direct printing from the accounting system. What balances are changed for external reporting that do not match up to the general ledger?
  • Bank reconciliations are completed offline. Are you sure that every bank transaction has been recorded in the accounting system?

When we recommend to our clients a greater separation of duties, the response is that they don’t have the staff and the auditors approved the internal controls. After all, SAS300 states that “There is always some control risk because of the inherent limitations of any accounting and internal control systems.”

So how do you protect against fraud and accounting irregularities without hiring more staff and incurring large consulting expenditures? Here are examples of some things you can do to protect your company or organization.

· Review user security in your accounting system. Are the users allowed to remove history? Do members of the accounting department know the system administrator password that gives them access to every function in the system? Change the system password and restrict their rights only to their specific duties.

· Use an auditing tool that tracks changes to records. Most quality Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems sell an inexpensive module that will track “before” and “after” changes. When a vendor address changes, the information can be tracked and reviewed at any time. Track changes to vendor EFT bank account information.

· Insist that all accounting functions operate in the accounting system. Use the bank reconciliation tool to reconcile to the bank, use the financial statement generator to print financial statements directly from the general ledger, track fixed assets within the ERP system and not in Excel.

· Assign bank reconciliation duties to someone who is not handling cash or printing checks. In a small accounting department, one of the best ways to prevent against fraud is to review the bank statement.

· Assign posting (update of the accounting records) to a different staff person. Reviewing the results of a computer check run or cash receipts batch can be completed in a matter of minutes by a separate staff person. And correcting the general ledger accounts prior to posting saves time when completing the month end reconciliation.

These are just a few examples of ways to maintain the integrity of your financial systems. And as auditors become more accounting system savvy, you continue to meet and, hopefully, exceed expectations.

For more information on how you can implement further accounting controls, please call us at 207.761.2133 or email info@gilchristscott.com.

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Collaboration is Power - New England Microsoft Dynamics GP User Group 2/23/10!

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Someone once described TEAM as Together Everyone Achieves More.

This is a concept that will be tested and, most likely embraced, by the group of professionals coming together for the first ever NE Dynamics GP User Group being held at ecomaine on 2/23. In this time of cost cutting, do-more-with-less, everyone should consider collaboration as a way to learn, grow, and create efficiencies that traditionally were accomplished through expensive training programs and consulting engagements.

Great minds are coming together for the Dynamics GP User Group to talk about the new Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (Dynamics GP V11), Tips and Tricks, Roundtable discussion, and to create an agenda for future meetings that will result in achievements not found in traditional learning. Welcome to the new world of collaboration where we connect and work with others and benefit from the team approach!

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Less.

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

“Doing more with less” is a goal we’ve been helping customers achieve recently. Cutting costs, cutting unnecessary tasks, and cutting out the clutter, can all contribute to a lean, efficient, and profitable outcome.

 

I have listed some ideas below - some are related specifically to Dynamics GP, and some are generic.

  1. Create a ‘default calendar’ that defines how you want to spend your time in a week or month. Stop allowing interruptions and distractions that take you away from your default calendar. Post the default calendar near your desk to remind you of the hours and categories of time that are critical to your success. Let everything else go that you can, and delegate.

(more…)

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