Welcome to January 2012!  Ready to start the New Year?  With Dynamics GP, the next few steps are easy. For many professionals, the first day of the New Year signals the beginning of a long and difficult period in their work lives.  Perform the Year End close, then prep for the auditors visit, and then tax season.  Of course, for those professionals using Dynamics GP as their ERP system, these three steps are quick and painless.

If you don’t already have Dynamics GP, well, maybe next year?  Most Dynamics GP implementations can be completed in 3 – 4 months, so you have plenty of time to make the switch.

Three steps to go:

Begin by closing out 2011.  This process is straightforward, and trouble free, just be sure to follow all of the steps, in the correct sequence.  For a detailed step-by-step process guide, click here.

Here is the summary:

–      US Payroll Close

–      Inventory Close

–      Receivables Close

–      Payables Close

–      Fixed Assets Close

–      General Ledger Close

Be patient, follow ALL of the steps, even for those modules you are not using.  It won’t add much time to the total process and your Dynamics GP system will be that much happier starting the New Year.

Prepping for Auditors

As you begin to prepare for the annual visit from the Auditors, Dynamics GP can make this process much smoother and more comfortable.  First, rest assured that no auditor will give you stink eye for using Dynamics GP, which cannot be said for all of the various shrink-wrapped packages that are available.

Second, make use of the Reports Group function in Dynamics GP.  You know that the auditors will always want to see the same basic documents every year:  Trial Balance of the General Ledger, AP aging report, AR aging report, Inventory reports, etc.  With Dynamics GP, you can create a Report Group that includes all of these basic reports, and then print them for the auditors as a single exercise.

Third, use the Risk Management Suite to provide superior internal controls to protect the integrity of the data in Dynamics GP.  The Risk Management Suite consists of the Audit Trails module and the Electronic Signatures module.  Audit Trails allows you to monitor the critical data elements within your system, tracking the changes made to specific data fields, and recording whom made the change, date and time stamped, and preserves the former data value for reporting and auditing.  Electronic Signatures can be deployed to require a second approval to a change before it can be finalized and saved.

Finally, at Tax time, you can rest assured that Dynamics GP is ready to help you with your various tax filings and reportings.  From Sales and Use taxes, 1099 and W-2 filings, Amortization and Depreciation, property tax filings, and the back-up materials for income tax filings, Dynamics GP provides a smooth and efficient tool for meeting your needs.

E-mail overview

By using the e-mail functionality in Microsoft Dynamics GP, you can embed document into the body of an e-mail or send documents as attachment. You can send a single document, batches of documents, or multiple documents from sales and purchasing transaction lists. When setting up the e-mail functionality, you can select which documents to send and which customers and vendors should receive their documents in e–mail. If you are using Word templates for Microsoft Dynamics GP, you can send predefined or customized forms. For more information, see Word templates in Dynamics GP 2010 help.

You can send the following documents in e-mail.

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Customer, vendor, and item classes are often underutilized features in Dynamics GP (GP). During initial setup of new master records (cards), classes can be used to default setup information that is common among a group of master records. If a class of customers, vendors or items will continue to use the same common setups in the future, the class can be used to push changes to the cards that are assigned to that class. Classes can also be used for reporting purposes and for various utilities.

To read more:  Click Here

Dynamics Great Plains v.10 came out with a brand new reporting tool called Excel Refreshable Reports. The new refresh feature in these Excel Reports uses what is known as a data connection to fetch a specific set of data from Microsoft SQL Server. With a click of a button, Dynamics GP data is easily accessible from within Excel, giving real-time access to data. The pre-built data connection is configured to refresh Excel data each time the Excel Report is opened.

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With Microsoft Dynamics GP, there are 2 different ways to view your unposted Sales Transactions documents: the SOP Edit List and the SOP Batch List. Each view has its own distinct approach and usage. Selecting the proper report should be based on your current need and application. The SOP Edit List is used to review those Invoices that are ready to be posted, and the SOP Batch List is used to review all of the documents in a batch.

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• Setup SOP Quick Print

With Dynamics GP, you can configure the Sales Transaction Entry screen to allow for the quick printing of Sales Invoices and Sales Orders with a keyboard shortcut. Simply locate the Sales document that you wish to print, and then use the keyboard shortcut to print the document!

Transactions > Sales > Sales Transaction Entry > Extras > Options > Quick Print Setup (more…)

Use the Write Off Documents window to write off outstanding credit or debit balance amounts for one or more customers. You can specify a writeoff limit and cutoff date, and whether to create one credit or debit memo for each customer or document. The debit or credit memos that you create will be posted and applied to the documents you’re writing off balances for.

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Use the Payables Check Stub Documents window to edit check stubs. If you marked Print Previously Applied Documents on Remittance in the Payables Management Setup window, the previously applied information attached to the check is printed on the check stub. If the option is not marked in that window, the previously applied information for the check isn’t printed on the check stub. THe Payables Check Stub Window allows you to determine which documents (Vouchers, Payments, Credit Memos, etc) will be printed on an individual check stub.

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With Microsoft Dynamics GP, you can configure the Accounts Payable system to restrict which General Ledger accounts are available to be selected during the voucher entry process. When selecting the expense account for a new payables voucher, only thos eaccounts that have been assigned to the Vendor Account will be available.  For example, when keying in an American Express bill, you may want it to auto populate the expense categories that apply to American Express to streamline data entry for the user.  Here is how you do that….

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Use the Account Rollup Inquiry window to view segment-based inquiries using options you created in the Account Rollup Inquiry Options window. You can view for open or historical years. This allows you to create a custome inquiry, specific to your needs, and then recall that inquiry at any time.

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