Today’s #TipTuesday post is all about the AutoComplete feature in Dynamics GP. There’s not a lot to this but at the same time, there are a few tips I can pass along that you may not have known about!

What is it?

AutoComplete is the feature where a drop down list appears in certain fields in Dynamics GP, allowing a user to more quickly complete data entry using recently used information. The example below is on a vendor card. This AutoComplete list would appear on any instance of the Vendor ID field in Dynamics GP, whether that is a transaction or a card or an inquiry window.

Generally speaking, AutoComplete is only available on “ID” fields. Sometimes where ISV (Third Party products) are involved, it may not always be present where you expect it to be! (And this contradicts what I said above, as some ISV products may not recognize or utilize AutoComplete and thus there could be a Vendor ID field tied into that ISV product where this list would not appear).

Removing AutoComplete entries – one at a time

Have you ever mis-typed an ID, only for it to sit in your AutoComplete list forever and tempt you to make the same mistake twice?! I’ve never done that (LOL)…

Here’s the good part: you can right click on it and select Remove From List to remove it. Easy peasy! It will then disappear from the “Vendor ID” AutoComplete list forever, until you mis-type it again some day!

Removing AutoComplete entries – all of them!

There is another option if you want to simply clear the entire AutoComplete list for yourself (speaking as an individual user): it’s an option in User Preferences.

First, open the User Preferences window (by default this is on the Home page shortcut bar or under the Dynamics GP menu).

Next, click on AutoComplete (a button on the right hand side as shown above).

To remove all of *your* entries (just for your UserID), click on Remove Entries.

Other AutoComplete options

As you can see in the screenshot above, there are a few more options that you can manage in the User Preferences > AutoComplete Setup window.

1. A user can turn off AutoComplete entirely. Some users really hate the drop down list thing and find it gets in the way. This is an option for those users!
2. Setting a number of days after which unused entries will be removed. By default the days is 0 which is unlimited, meaning the AutoComplete list on a given field will stay there forever!
3. Setting a limit on how many AutoComplete entries a user wants to remember, per field. The default here is 10,000 and I’ve seen some users trim it down to a more manageable number.

That’s it for this one…

Security around an ERP system is a key area and yet a lot of GP companies have users with excessive privileges. You really want to avoid having to make statements like Costo did:

“The weakness relates to general information technology controls in the areas of user access and program change-management over certain information technology systems that support the Company’s financial reporting processes. The access issues relate to the extent of privileges afforded users authorized to access company systems.”

Costco reports a material weakness in internal control. But is it really?

So how do you fix this in GP? There are a lot of pieces, but we’ll hit the highlights and include plenty of resources.

1. Control/Limit/Eliminate ‘sa‘ & ‘Dynsa‘ users, and don’t assign the ‘Power User‘ role. Once the system is up an running, ‘sa’ is really only recommended for installing additional modules and running the GP Utilities APPLICATION (not utilities in GP). Everything else can be done with other permissions. Dynsa is required to exist and own the database. There is no reason for a user to need it. The Power User role simply provides too much access and creates a risk of both intentional and accidental issues. Fastpath’s Minimizing the Use of ‘sa’ whitepaper is a great resource for addressing this.
2. Rebuild & reassign roles in GP. The roles in GP are designed to complete a process from beginning to end. This works great for testing and violates segregation of duties principles across the board. An AP clerk should not be able to create a vendor, enter a voucher, and process payment without additional controls, but that is what the AP Clerk role allows. The tasks are a great starting point, but they need to be reassigned into new roles. Fastpath’s free Security Matrix is a good tool to start the role rebuilding process with.
3. Identify mitigating controls. There are a number of features in GP that can be used as mitigating controls when changing security is not an option. Workflow is a great example. An AP Clerk could be allowed to create vendors, but before the vendor is final, it needs to be approved by a supervisor using GP’s built-in workflow.
4. The first three will significantly improve security. They’ll take some time, but not a lot of additional money. The last step is looking across roles to see where multiple role assignments may have created new segregation of duties conflicts. This is really hard to do without a paid tool. Fastpath’s Assure tool is the best option for complete segregation of duties management.

Links to all the posts in this series can be found at http://mpolino.com/gp/gp-controller-series-index/

As a technology consultant, one of the most satisfying and rewarding aspects I get to enjoy is finding ways to improve the quality of (work) life for my clients. My client relationships typically start with clients sharing frustrations related to manual and duplicative data entry, the inability to find what they need, the time spent tracking down data inconsistencies, and in some cases the hours spent manually compiling reports for weekly meetings.

As I work with clients and gain an understanding of their challenges and needs I almost always find that people are doing the best they can to serve their customers. Most of the time this ingenuity to meet demands comes in the form of workarounds like Excel spreadsheets, Access databases, file shares, etc. These fragmented workarounds, while good-intentioned, ultimately impair organizational productivity and negatively impact the customer experience. For organizations with operations that span different lines of businesses, territories or geographies the negative impacts are multiplied!

The impacts from these types of productivity challenges prevent organizations from delivering a great customer experience. Employees had become absorbed in high-touch manual steps and data entry. Despite best efforts, these workarounds resulted in incomplete data which stifled customer marketing efforts.

They also present real risks to the organization in terms of data security and handling of sensitive customer information and prevented leaders from gaining a set of organization-wide benchmarks.

Here are just a few real life examples of productivity challenges I’ve seen in 20 years of working with clients, and how it was solved by using Microsoft Dynamics 365.

These challenges also highlight how organizations could be wasting their most valuable resource – their people’s time and talent! Every minute of an employee’s time wasted on a repetitive mundane task comes with an opportunity cost. I’ve seen clients re-purpose extensive time spent on manually gathering, de-duplicating and mining data to ways that contribute to the organization’s mission in more valuable ways like analyzing, creative thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making.

When people have to go to multiple systems to get the information they need this translates into big productivity losses across the company and has a negative impact on employee productivity, the customer experience and revenue.

Implementing a solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 (formerly Microsoft Dynamics CRM) can help your organization improve collaboration and data access, automate processes and enable your employees to spend more time strengthening existing customer relationships and pursuing new ones.

If you are interested in discussing how you can be more efficient using Microsoft Dynamics 365 contact us today.

By Jeremy Cox, Crowe, a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Gold Partner www.CroweCRM.com

Follow us on Twitter: @CroweCRM

The post 5 Real Life Examples of Companies That Solved the Manual Data Entry Challenge with Microsoft Dynamics 365 appeared first on CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365.

QuickBooks, arguably the most ubiquitous accounting software on the market, is designed to help small and medium-sized businesses manage their bills and payroll, get invoices paid, accept payments etc.  Widely used as a starter accounting system by organizations across industry, about 85% of our new Dynamics 365 Business Central clients come to us when they can no longer run their businesses with QuickBooks.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft’s first pure cloud-based ERP solution.  Because is it purpose-built, designed to scale as you grow, it is now the logical place companies look to compare against QuickBooks. As such, people are always asking us, “How does Business Central compare to QuickBooks?”  If that question is on your mind today, keep reading.

QuickBooks

First released in 1983, QuickBooks has the benefit of longevity on the market and an established market presence. Part of its appeal to so many users, is the ease of purchase and set up.

QuickBooks Features

However, this simplicity belies a lack of sophistication, evident in its limited reporting options; QuickBooks doesn't offer deep analytical capabilities or customer insights reporting.

• The easy set-up also means fewer accounting and auditing controls. This results in weak user permissions that allow any user to have access to sensitive data.
• There is the issue of scalability with QuickBooks; startups with limited data to process, can benefit from it. But when they start to process over 1,000 transactions per month, or have multiple users accessing the system, the software starts to slow down.
• Available in a number of different versions, including QuickBooks Online Plus, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions Platinum, Gold, and Silver, clients have found upgrading QuickBooks to be a hassle, as not all versions are built on the same platform.

With a recent study reporting that that over 90% of consumers would consider taking their business elsewhere, rather than work with a company that uses outdated technology, it's important that you carefully choose the right technology for scaling your business.

Once you find that your QuickBooks software cannot provide insight into your cash flow, provide accurate overview reports or help to control inventory, it's time you find a robust and scalable platform that will equip you to grow and succeed.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

For sustained business growth, businesses must have access to a 10,000 foot view, as well as detailed insights into how their individual processes are working.

Few tools provide better insights than Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.  Dynamics 365 is a pure cloud solution designed to simplify your business processes through automation, connecting all your process flows in one system and providing seamless integration with Office 365 and other Dynamics 365 applications.

Backed by Microsoft’s new Power Platform and the AppSource marketplace, Dynamics 365 is designed to scale as your business grows. With end-to-end functionality and a comprehensive suite of capabilities, available at a fraction of the price of other pure cloud ERP’s like NetSuite, Dynamics 365 is priced to sell.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Features

• Full financial management, connecting data across accounting, sales, purchasing, inventory, to provide an end-to-end view of your business
• Well-defined audit trails that track changes made to data by utilizing a historical log of activities
• Consolidation of financial data from subsidiary companies, even if they are in other regions, and in multiple currencies
• Tight integration with Dynamics 365 for Sales and Office 365
• Mobile access to manage your business from anywhere using apps available for both iOS and Android devices
• Extensibility with third-party apps from AppSource or custom apps and workflow on the Power Platform

Still not sure which accounting software is right for you? Let’s compare 5 key features:

Ease of Automation

With QuickBooks lacking depth of capability, users find that they must be more hands-on with the software, as they add new products and their business processes become more complex.

In Business Central however, connected process flows across accounting, sales, purchasing and inventory, allows users to leverage automation to simplify and streamline their work - all within one unified dashboard.

Extensibility & Customization

QuickBooks under-performs when addressing functions like reporting and provides generic and impersonal support.

Built on Microsoft Azure platform, Business Central ships with embedded Power BI for advanced reporting and you can rely on an extensive and experienced partner network to provide implementation services, training and support.

Real-time Data

Accounting software like QuickBooks can only provide users with a snapshot of sales performance for a given period.

What if you need to know which products are producing the highest margins?  

Through user-defined KPI’s and dashboards, Business Central provides visibility into what drives the profitability of your business. It offers insight into current activities and trends, helping you prioritize sales leads based on revenue potential and uncover your best-performing up-sells and cross-sells.

Plus, leveraging the Azure platform, Microsoft is investing in AI and machine learning to further enhance Business Central with predictive insights that will suggest the best possible choices for you to make given the aggregate data available – like your own personal robotic assistant!

Tighter Controls

QuickBooks has a security protocol works best when you have a few users. As your company grows, and more people access your system, this basic security system just isn't good enough. In response businesses will excessively limit some users or give too much access to others, leading to organizational inefficiency.

With Business Central, you get extremely granular control options, as functions can be limited by permission, groups, dimensions or accounts. You can even use built-in workflows to add an additional layer of security.

Scalability and Efficiency

Yes, QuickBooks is a good fit for smaller companies, but once you achieve a certain complexity/size, processes like job costing, inventory management, reporting, and forecasting start to become a challenge in QuickBooks.

With a robust ERP solution, your environment will grow with you, adding apps and functionality along the way. Easily configurable and extensible, you can further customize Business Central to create a unique solution to accommodate your business or industry needs.

The Verdict: QuickBooks vs Dynamics 365 Business Central

QuickBooks works, for growing startups that need a good entry-level accounting solution. Beyond that, a more robust financial management solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is essential.

Given the depth of data and the visibility it provides, Business Central is a complete and reliable solution for your business. At Admiral Consulting Group, we recommend Business Central as the best option for businesses with a plan for growth.

Whether you are aiming to optimize your operations, deliver projects on time and under budget, or simply sell smarter, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can help you achieve these goals.

To learn more about Business Central and see if it's the right fit for your business, click here to set up a no-obligation consultation today. 

In today’s blog, we’ll explore a process familiar to many of our readers: the basic setup of a finished goods item in Dynamics 365. This will include setting up the finished good product in the released product form, along with an example of a basic route and bill of material (BOM) that we can use in the production process. As you may know, there can certainly be more complexity to the setup (and the entire process) than what we cover here. Our objective today is simply to outline the steps needed just to get started. We hope you enjoy…

• To start, we will set up a released product. Navigate to Product Information management> Products> Released products – New.When setting up a released product that can be used in the production process, the Product type must be set to Item; the Product subtype can be either Product or Product Master.

Note that if your environment has no other existing products set up, for purposes of this example you will want to create a few that can be used for the BOM that will be set up later in the post.

• To define this finished goods product as a bill of material type, there is a field on the Engineer fast tab called Production type. Select BOM from the dropdown menu:

• How do we set up an item so that master planning will see this as a planned production order when the master plan is run? Well, we also need to go to the Manage Inventory tab at the top of the released product form and click on DEFAULT ORDER SETTINGS. Here, we will find the Default order type. Select Production from the dropdown menu.

• Now that we have the basics for the finished goods product set up, we can move on to produce a Routing and Bill of Material and relate those to our finished goods product.
  • Routing is used to define the operation(s) needed in the manufacturing and outside service processes – the operations that need to be performed to fabricate or assemble the finished goods product.
  • The BOM (Bill of Material) is the material needed and consumed in the production process to produce the finished goods product.
  • Note that you could set up Routing or BOM only, if you don’t have both requirements for your process; you will still be able to process a production order.

• If you would like the “consume the material” defined on the BOM at the operation itself, it is recommended to set up the routing first, as the route defines our operation number(s). If it is done in this sequence, the operation from the route can be added to the BOM line as they are set up, which allows for the consumption of the item(s) that are required for that operation. In some cases, operations may not be needed on the BOM line, as the material may always be consumed at the first operation. If the operation is not defined on the BOM, the system assumes consumption is at the first operation.

• When setting up a routing, you will also find that a Route version is needed. One way to accomplish this it to go to the Engineer tab at the top of the released products form and click on ROUTE. Once the route form is open, click New< Route and route version.

• You may need to enter the route number if your systems sequence number for the route is configured to do so; then, enter the Description and the Site that will use this route to complete the manufacturing operations needed, then click OK.

• The route form shown below will now be displayed; the version is defined on the upper half of the form and the operations to accomplish all the tasks needed to make the item are defined in the next section of the form.
  • To accomplish the building of the route, operations and resources will need to be predefined. Resources can be of many types and define such things as humans or machines that will define the required resources for the operation. Operation can also be defined; these are the tasks required to process or make an item in your manufacturing facility. We will not go into detail here, as the intent is to make this basic.
  • When defining the route, at the very least you will need Operation No, which should populate automatically, Operation, Next operation, and Route group; then, on the Resource Requirements tab, a Resource must be defined. Following is an example of a route that has been entered with three operations.

• Once the route is set up, you must approve the route; if the route is not approved, it cannot be used on the production order. Along with the approval, you can also run the Activate process, which makes this route the default for the product and will eliminate the need to select a route when a production order is created. Typically, when there is only one route version for the item/site, Activate is best practice.

• When setting up the Bill of Material from the released product form, we discover that the system also requires a BOM version. One way to create a BOM is from the release product form; on the Engineer tab, at the top of the form click on the BOM Version button. Once the BOM Version form opens, click New< BOM and BOM version.

• You may need to enter the BOM number if your systems sequence number for the BOM is configured to do so; Name and Site must be populated, then click OK.

• The Bill of Material form will display (shown below). In the center of the form, populate the Bill of materials lines that will define the materials/items that will be used to build our finished goods product.
  • When adding the item, at a minimum you will need the item number and any product dimension required, the warehouse if we do not mark for resource consumption, the quantity, per series and unit of measure. If you wish to link the BOM line to an operation, this can be accomplished on the Detail tab at the bottom on the form.

• Once the Bill of material is set up, you must approve the BOM and the BOM Version; if the BOM is not approved, it cannot be used on the production order. One can also run the Activate process, which makes this BOM the default for the finished goods product, meaning it does not need to be selected when a production order is created. Typically, when there is only one BOM version for the item/site, Activate is best practice.

• When doing the approval on the BOM Version, as shown below, one can also use the yes/no option on this form to approve the Bill of Material.

• Activate the BOM so that it will be our default version for the production order.

That’s it! In conclusion, we have just created the finished good product and set the parameters to allow for a BOM type and set to production. We built a simple route to define the operations needed to build our product and set up a Bill of Material to allow the production process to consume this material. Now, we can set up a production order and run the production process.

Want to take your manufacturing solution to the next level? PowerObjects can help! Learn more about our solutions for the manufacturing industry.

Happy D365’ing!