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Showing posts from July, 2009

SCM Metrics – I: Back Orders

Some organizations would not just want to use Dynamics GP for their Financial Reporting purposes. They would also want the Dynamics GP to meet their Operational Reporting needs. Among those Operational reporting needs is the most important chunk, Supply Chain Management (SCM). Dynamics GP offers several reporting features to accomplish these needs. One such feature is Smartlist. I’d discuss several SCM metrics in my upcoming posts and I’ll discuss about Back Orders in this post.  Back orders : Back order can be defined as an unfulfilled customer order. Back orders are created when a SKU(s) whose current inventory level is insufficient to meet the demand. The more the back orders pile up over a period of time, be it in a manufacturing company or a Trading company, implicates that the company is not able to meet the demand on time with its current available inventory. Tracking backorders efficiently ensures an adequate supply of inventory in time equivalent to the current and future de

How Dynamics GP BI can help drive Sales in New economy

Pam presents us a whole lot of information that includes a partner focused Web seminar video on driving existing customer sales around Business Intelligence. This post has also got all references to information referenced in the web seminar video. Here is the link http://blogs.msdn.com/gp/archive/2009/07/30/drive-sales-in-a-new-economy-with-business-intelligence.aspx

Optimize security using Field Level Security

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During an Implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP, My client asked me how can I hide the Unit Cost field in SOP Transaction Entry window for certain users (not for all users). If the client said he needed it for all users, my job is quite simple, as to just go to global setting of SOP wherein I unmark the Display Item Unit cost option. If I want to achieve the same in User Security, I can’t because in User Security, I can’t limit the access by fields.Then, I was thinking of inserting a small VBA code in each client machine for hiding this field. Is this the only option? Certainly Not. This is where the Field Level Security(FLS) comes into picture. Field Level Security (Termed as Advanced Security in Dynamics GP V9.0) is an additional security layer(module) in Microsoft Dynamics GP that provides the ability to restrict access to any field, window or form. It does offer several options in terms of access restriction through Security Modes. Let us see what security modes does the FLS poss

Windows 7 Released To Manufacturing

Another Milestone for Microsoft and its partners, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 has been  released To Manufacturing (RTM) according to The Windows Blog update. For more info on the subject, Click the below links http://blogs.msdn.com/developingfordynamicsgp/archive/2009/07/24/windows-7-released-to-manufacturing.aspx http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/22/windows-7-has-been-released-to-manufacturing.aspx

Web Services Install: Fatal Error during Installation

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During Web Services for Dynamics GP installation in windows 2003 Server, we receive a Fatal Error during installation, if it doesn’t meet certain pre-requisites. I’ll cover the possible troubleshooting steps in this article.We also see Rolling back IIS Metabase transaction, then the installation fails giving fatal error. We also might receive an error “The user account specified for the Dynamics Security Service worker process is invalid”.   Possible Resolutions : 1. Ensure Full permissions are assigned to the ASP.Net Temp folder to IIS_WPG group before installing Web services. The default location would be C://Windows/.Net Framework/V2.0.5727/Temp folder. 2. In the web server running IIS6.0, Ensure Directory security is set to Integrated Authentication and Unmark the Anonymous Access. 3. If installing to Default Website, Ensure the port-80 is free and unused by any other site 4. If SQL server and the Web server where Web services are being installed on different server

Mobile Sales Integration with Dynamics GP

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One of the finest strengths of Dynamics GP is its ability to integrate with a variety of applications.Among those integrations is its ability to integrate with Mobile Sales applications. In today’s world of automation, Sales process play a key role in ensuring the financial stability of any organization that it is its backbone. Which is why, Sales processes in Enterprise applications have always been demanding to technology upgrades constantly so as to achieve an economy of operation in terms of reducing the cycle time for the process. In this article, I’d focus on a Microsoft Dynamics Certified Mobile Sales Integration solution available from jLanmobile .  jLanMobile Sales for Microsoft Dynamics GP is a complete PDA based mobile sales software solution. The solution integrates with Receivables, Sales Order processing and Inventory data in Dynamics GP. Below is a PDA screen where the Dynamics GP Items can either be entered manually, through Lookup or a Barcode Reader for Sales Order.

Dynamics GP New Scalability Test Report is out

A New scalability test report was out on Microsoft Dynamics GP. V10 SP2 along with Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008. The results of the test that a whopping 3.28 Million business transactions and 10.66 million transaction line items are processed over a period of an 8 hour day. The scalability Test report is available for partners by clicking here . For a Complete news, Visit the link below http://blogs.msdn.com/gp/archive/2009/07/23/testing-the-scalability-of-microsoft-dynamics-gp-10-0.aspx

Project Accounting – Retainer Fee Questions

Here in this post is a collection of Retainer Fee (Project Accounting Module) FAQ that would be of interest to everyone. Q . In billing entry, when attempting to add a tax schedule ID to a retainer type fee, we get the message:  “You can not enter a Tax Schedule ID for retainer fees” A . Tax Schedule ID for retainer fees cannot be entered in the Billing entry window. To add tax to a retainer fee billing invoice we need to go to Tools | Setup | Project | Billing, enable the option Retainer Fee taxable and then save the change. Then go to the fee setup window, select the retainer fee that is being used, and make sure that the tax option is either set to taxable and a tax schedule is inserted or the tax option is set to based on customer. The retainer fee billing invoice will now include tax when it is raised after these changes. Q . Is there a way to apply the Retainer after the fact? A . There isn’t a way to apply the retainer to the billing after the fact. The only w

Reconcile Bank Statement directly with GL

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Can it be just possible? The standard GP functionality reconciles the bank statement against the Checkbook Register. So, How can it be possible to reconcile a bank statement directly with General ledger open transactions? Same question came to my mind when i was writing the scope for a large Client whose business process demanded a Reconciliation module that actually reconciles the bank statement against the GL transactions in Dynamics GP. The client said they also need the reconciliation to provide complete reconciliation history. Then came the Advanced Bank Reconciliation module from Nolan Computers as a big rescue.I’ll cover the functionality of this module in brief in this post just for those clients who are looking for an advanced version of bank reconciliation. Features : 1. Transactions are read directly from the General ledger 2. Can track multiple General Ledger accounts for the same Bank 3. Enhanced Multicurrency support, transaction currency needs to be sam

Advantage Microsoft Dynamics for Sage Customers

According to an article posted in MSDynamicsWorld , An independent authority for news and views on MS Dynamics, Microsoft is inviting Sage customers and partners to consider available alternatives from Microsoft, including Microsoft Dynamics Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions. Sage’s largest channel partner for the past two years, MIS group suddenly shut down citing economic crisis. This is a major opportunity for Microsoft Dynamics Resellers in particular. For full article posted on MSDynamicsWorld, click here . Note: You might require to login to the site for full article access

Workflows Installation Error

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While trying to install Workflows for Dynamics GP, we might encounter the following errors. Microsoft.Dynamics.Workflow.InstallSystemSecurityMetadata has encountered a problem and needs to close. Microsoft.Dynamics.Workflow.InstallSystemSecurityMetadata returned –532459699   Resolution : This error comes primarily if we install MOSS 2007 Enterprise Edition as a basic installation instead of selecting Advanced installation. Only when we select the Advanced installation, the SharePoint 2007 would be installed as a “complete installation”. To verify if SharePoint was a complete installation, go to SharePoint 3.0 Central Administration site, Click Operations tab, then go to Topology and Services area, Click Services on server. Here we should be seeing web server for medium server farms should be marked. otherwise, it need to be treated as basic installation. If it is basic installation, we need to uninstall the MOSS and then install it again in Advanced mode to install

Visual Studio Tools for Dynamics GP lessons from Mariano

Mariano Gomez started an interesting series of articles on VST for Dynamics GP. Check it out for yourself in this link http://dynamicsgpblogster.blogspot.com/2009/07/getting-started-with-vst-hello-world.html Another link related to this http://dynamicsgpblogster.blogspot.com/2009/07/getting-started-with-visual-studio.html

Item Purchasing Controls

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Most of the mid-size and large-size companies would be interested to have an efficient control on their purchasing processes. Among such common controls are the ability to restrict the Order quantity by Minimum order quantity and maximum order quantity. Minimum order is the minimum quantity of an item that can be ordered. Maximum order is the maximum quantity of an item that can be ordered. Some vendors require that items must be ordered at least the minimum quantity specified by them. In these cases, having a restriction in terms of Minimum order and Maximum order helps efficient purchasing process in any organization. Dynamics GP has many such controls available as part of its Purchasing and Inventory series. Some of the salient features of Item Resource Planning in Dynamics GP include 1. Ability to restrict purchase order by Minimum and Maximum orders 2. Calculate the Average Lead time automatically 3. Suggested Purchase order generator 4. Selection of Vendors based

Login failed for sa while launching GP

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A user reported that when Dynamics GP V10 is installed on a server and trying to login as ‘sa’ user for the first time in GP, it is returning the following error message. “ You’re attempting to log in from a data source using a trusted connection. Update the SQL server settings for this data source to disable trusted connections and try logging in again .” Logging into GP Utilities has no issue and everything runs fine while running Utilities. However, the error only surfaces when launching GP, the user reports. Resolution : Check the ODBC settings. This will be caused mainly when a SQL Server is selected as the Data source Driver instead of SQL Native client. Delete the old ODBC and setup a new ODBC with SQL Native client as the Driver for the data source.

Analytical Accounting Uninstall – Error in Smart list Favorites

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In Dynamics GP10, When we uninstall Analytical Accounting feature in Add/Remove programs, we might get the following error while trying to open default Smart lists like Accounts, Customers, Vendors,Items. The same error will be displayed in the smart list lookups in the Cards windows for Accounts, Customers and Vendors. “ This Favorite Contains a column from a product(3180) not installed on this workstation. The following columns will not be displayed:Node ” Resolution : To avoid this message, Go to Administration => Setup => System Setup => Smart list Options, Select Accounts in Category drop down, Unmark the Node column. Continue the same for Customers,Vendors, Items categories if the same error is popping up in smart list lookups or smart list views. Note: This error was replicated on Dynamics GP V10 SP3 (10.00.1193)

Multicurrency Revaluation: Post Results to Account Vs Post to Offset Account

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Whenever we set up an Account in Financial => Cards => Account, We’d go to Account Currencies window and assign the Multi currencies in case the account will have transactions originating in currencies other than Functional Currency. Besides assigning the Multi currencies here, it also involves to check whether we need those currencies to be revalued or not. If Yes, we need to mark the Revalue Account option and then choose to Post Results to Account or Financial Offset Account. Here, Results mean the the Realized gain / Loss or the Unrealized Gain / loss as the case may be, resulting out of Revaluation of Multi currencies in the Financial Routines ( Financial => Routines => Revaluation ) The basic difference between choosing Post results to an offset A/c and post results to Account is If you choose the Offset a/c, the revaluation results would be posted to a separate account that is defined as Financial Offset A/c in Posting Accounts setup ( Administration => Setup

IIS Website is not displaying in the drop down while installing Business Portal

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While installing Business Portal for Dynamics GP, We might not be able to see the IIS website in the drop down where we’d want the Business Portal be installed to. This could happen commonly if you’re installing the Business portal on a computer logged in is not the Site collection administrator in Windows SharePoint services (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Services (MOSS). There are various other reasons as well  that are outlined in KB947927 .

Customer/Vendor Transactions

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In most businesses,we come across the situation where a vendor is become a customer to us and vice versa. In these types of cases, the business needs demands us to consolidate the customer and vendor activity so that the statements reflect true and fair view of the transaction activity. Dynamics GP provides standard functionality to take care of Customer/Vendor Consolidation. Features of Customer/Vendor Consolidations include : 1. Auto Create Vendors and Customers 2. Consolidate balances in Payables or Receivables for a single company 3. Assign Relationships between existing customers and vendors 4. Easily Track the Consolidations using Cross-Module Link 5. Vendor Balances and Customer Balances can be consolidated including National Account Customers 6. All Open Payables/Receivables debit &credit documents can be applied against each other to consolidate the current balances  Setting up Customer/Vendor Consolidations is quite easy to start with. 1. A

Extender Inquiries

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I’d shed some light on how we can link Extender Inquiries to Extender windows. For this purpose, I’d take the Payables Transaction Entry window. First, let us create an Extender window for Payables Transaction Entry. For this, Go to Microsoft Dynamics GP Menu => Tools => Extender, Click New window that will open the below window. I’ll fill the fields with the necessary details. Click Save to close the EXT window. Now, Click New Inquiry window in Microsoft Dynamics GP Menu => Tools => Extender. Fill the Inquiry window with the necessary fields. I used the Voucher Number – work as the key field for the Extender window. If we create the Inquiry just with the above fields, it will return error due to voucher number – work field. To avoid this error, we can make use of the Use Alternate Key field in the Inquiry window. We’ll set the alternate field by clicking in the Alternate Keys menu that will open the window below.Fill the fields as shown below and click Save

Which Security Tasks provide access to a particular GP window

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In GP10, Security is managed by Security Tasks, Tasks mapped to respective Security Roles, Roles then mapped to User Security apart from Field Level Security. So, Each User will have one Role or Many Roles, Roles again have one or many security Tasks. Mostly, we land up having each user mapped to several security Tasks. Sometimes, It would be difficult for us to ascertain which security tasks are allowing access to a particular GP window. Or sometimes, we think we did everything to grant access to an user and the User in turn comes back saying he is getting a security access denied error. In these types of scenarios, I now rely upon the Security Debugging Tool. Earlier, it used to be a nightmare for me trying to find which task is allowing access to a particular window or which task is needed to be marked to allow access to a particular GP window until I started using this Tool, many Thanks to David Musgrave. Now, How does the Security Debugging Tool help in finding which securit

Where our Product feedback goes?

Most of the times we wonder if our Dynamics product suggestions or feeback are even read by someone in Microsoft. A blog post has been recently posted to address these questions that might be of interest to everyone. http://blogs.msdn.com/gp/archive/2009/05/19/ever-wonder-where-your-product-feedback-goes.aspx Another blog post written by Scott Stephenson in Developing for Dynamics GP on providing Product Feedback using Microsoft Connect is also helpful in this case. http://blogs.msdn.com/developingfordynamicsgp/archive/2008/10/10/providing-product-feedback-using-microsoft-connect.aspx

Correct option - General Entry takes longer time than expected

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In the General Entry, We have the option to back out a Journal Entry or Back out and post correcting Entry option. Clicking on the Correct option will open the Correct Journal Entry option In this window, when we open the Original Journal Entry lookup, it will take longer time than expected. To avoid this delay in bringing up the results, adding the following index script to the company database will help. The journal entry records will then be displayed much faster. This script was provided by Microsoft support sometime before. (I dont really remember when though). CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [SEE_GL30000PerformanceCustom] ON [dbo]. [GL30000] ( [Back_Out_JE] ASC, [HSTYEAR] ASC ) ON [PRIMARY] go CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [SEE_GL20000PerformanceCustom] ON [dbo]. [GL20000] ( [Back_Out_JE] ASC, [OPENYEAR] ASC ) ON [PRIMARY] go To add the above script, Open SQL Server Management Studio, Click to open the Query Analyzer, Select the Company Database against which you'd want to

Smartlist Builder: Building GoTo

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Smartlist Builder is one of various tools available for extensive reporting inside Dynamics GP. One of the features in Smartlist Builder is the functionality to build custom Go To's. In the Go To's we can make use of Advanced Go To's that just need to be added to the custom smartlist. They doesn't need any tasks to be performed for displaying the Go To's. However, Advanced Go To's are limited. Available default Advanced Go To's are 1. Payables Transaction Inquiry 2. Purchase Order Inquiry 3. Receivables Transaction Inquiry 4. Sales Inquiry So, If we need to build any other Go To on any custom Smartlist, We need to build it ourselves making use of the Go To Functionality. I'll try to explain how we can build a Go To Check Book Register Inquiry using this functionality in this example. For my example, I've built a custom smartlist making using of CM Transaction Table. Once the CM Transaction Table is added, I'd add checkbook Register Inquiry Go To.

RMS-GP Integration

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Microsoft Dynamics provides a free integration between its Retail Management System (MRMS) and Dynamics GP. The integration is available for Dyn amics GP Versions 9.0 & 10.0. I'd put the steps in setting up the integration in GP for version 10.0. StepI : Install the RMS integration feature from Dynamics GP V10 media Do not forget to complete the GP Utilities process unless otherwise the SQL objects required for the integration would not be installed in SQL Server. After installing the RMS Integration feature, the integration would not be immediately available in Dynamics GP. Because we have to set the connection properties for Dynamics GP to fetch data from RMS database. To establish this connection, we have to make use of Linked Server in MS SQL Server. StepII : Configure the Linked Server in the MS SQL Server. For this, Go to the SQL Server Management Studio => Server Objects => Linked Servers. Right Click on the Linked Servers and select New Linked Server. StepIII : C

Project Budgeting Questions

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Most of the clients ask us these common questions on Project Accounting whether it is during a Pre-sales activity or during an implementation cycle. During a recent discussion in Dynamics GP partner forums , Andy Sather from Microsoft has given great answers to these questions. I thought I'll put the same here. Q1: In Dynamics GP Project Accounting Module, Can we have zero budgets defined? Q2: In Dynamics GP Project Accounting Module, Can we modify the Baseline Project Budget Amounts? A1 : The answer to Q1 is partly yes and partly no. We can have zero budgets if the the project type is "Time & Materials". We cannot have zero budgets for the other two project types, Cost Plus and Fixed Price. Time & materials projects are based on cost transaction amounts. So, We dont need to budget T&M projects at all. Fixed Price projects use the Baseline Billings amounts to bill off of. Whenever you make a change to the baseline, it will update the forecast and you are not g