Figure 1 – Project Maintenance Window in GP Recently, the number of support calls for project accounting seem to have increased.  While I was out sear

If you use Project Accounting, you really need to Vote on Accurate GL to PA Reporting in Dynamics GP!

The post Vote on Accurate GL to PA Reporting in Dynamics GP! – Etelligent Solutions – appeared first on DynamicAccounting.net.

In its 2-part Business Priorities 2015 report, ChainLink Research, Inc., of Newton, Mass., examined companies' technology priorities and future prospects. Done annually, the report is based on a survey that's designed to "get companies thinking about what they've been doing and what they plan to do" on the technology front, says Ann Grackin, CEO.

The report, which is available in two parts (Part 1, Part 2; requires registration) from the research firm, aims to step away from the hype and examine the ...

read more

How much do you rely on spreadsheets for critical business data such as inventory levels or inventory planning? If spreadsheets are your only way to know what you have stocked in the warehouse or promised to customers, then you could be in for trouble. Spreadsheets are fraught with errors (according to MarketWatch, 88% of spreadsheets have errors) and basing procurement decisions on bad data could be the start of your demise.

Spreadsheets can be an easy way to capture, find, and use a reasonable amount of data, such as inventory data. However, in many offices spreadsheets are often relied upon for so much, for so long, that the data within them can quickly grow out of control. You may add or remove product lines and each change requires tweaks in the spreadsheet. In addition, spreadsheets can become elaborate with connected cells and mathematical functions. One disconnected cell or change in a formula can send forecasting scenarios or procurement decisions in the wrong direction. Don’t let spreadsheets become your Achilles heel. Replace disparate solutions and elaborate spreadsheets with stronger technology.

The Inventory Management Suite offers the control and the visibility that you need for forecasting and prudent procurement and inventory management decisions. This solution connects seamlessly with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, connecting all of the moving parts of your business. You can have insight on historical and current customer sales, inventory availability, and use real-time data to make smarter stocking decisions. You can connect orders with inventory targets and identify replenishment quantities by item. Creating an inventory replenishment plan that coordinates with strategic goals can reduce your investment in inventory while protecting against stock-outs and backorders. Maintaining that delicate balance with safety stock levels can protect cash flow while also improving customer satisfaction.

Spreadsheets can’t offer insight or business intelligence that you can use. Enterprise Metrics can get you closer to the data you need to monitor inventory movement, fill rates, and performance. You can monitor data and watch for trends that you can use to your competitive advantage. You can improve inventory management and respond faster to customer needs while protecting your bottom line by using the real-time data within your inventory management solution. Contact RockySoft for more information about replacing inadequate spreadsheets with more powerful inventory management solutions.

By Jeffrey Porter with RockySoft, Microsoft Dynamics software provider for demand planning

The post Spreadsheets Could Be Your Achilles Heel appeared first on .

Related posts:

1. Opening A New Storefront? Keep Your Shelves Stocked With ‘Retail Store Planner’ When customers walk through your store, you don’t want to...
2. You Have To Act Fast To Get Food To Market Without Spoiling How do you get vine-ripened tomatoes to the market before...
3. Three Inventory Decisions To Reconsider Maintaining the right inventory, at the right time, in the...

YARPP powered by AdBistro

Powered by

Victoria Yudin delivers a Refreshable Excel report for monthly GL budget in Dynamics GP 

The post Refreshable Excel report for monthly GL budget in Dynamics GP | Victoria Yudin appeared first on DynamicAccounting.net.

The US Dynamics Partner team has joined forces with The Microsoft Dynamics Alliance Team (http://microsoft.com/dynamicsaa (DynAA)) to train students and recent graduates on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015, interest them in Dynamics careers, and connect our Partners with this pool of quality candidates who are new to the CRM channel.   

This Microsoft Dynamics CRM Career Connect Boot camp is comprised of:

• Five days of in-person technical training led by a Microsoft Certified Trainer on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015
• Microsoft Sponsored Career Fair for Partners to engage with Students
• Certification in Microsoft Dynamics CRM
• Virtual Learning sessions with MCTs, Partners, and Microsoft Dynamics experts focused on product functional skills (i.e. consulting, project management and soft-skills training).

Currently they are hosting this in 3 locations, inviting, juniors, graduating seniors, MBAs, graduate students, and recent graduates from local universities:

• Chicago, IL – at the Chicago Microsoft office
• Seattle, WA – hosted by the University of Washington
• Boston, MA – hosted by Northeastern University

All of the boot camps will take place different weeks in June.

Please contact the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Career Connect Bootcamp Team if interested by sending mail to  usdyns2b at microsoft.com with questions.  Please note that space is limited and applications are only accepted for another couple weeks.  Space is filling quickly!

Busy manufacturers and distributors don’t often have the time to sit back and take a look at business operations. Many times it’s more like a fire drill – responding to problems as they arise. However, evaluating areas where the business could be struggling can lead to quality improvement in areas including inventory management, labor productivity, packing and shipping, and customer service. Get to key metrics in record time with the support of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

Businesses pursuing lean manufacturing methods often perform simulations or observe operations throughout their facility with a focus on identifying waste and inefficient processes. These types of inspections can support efforts to simplify common tasks which can improve labor productivity and identify other areas for improvement. Another way to streamline operations and make improvements is by replacing inefficient technology with ERP.

Spreadsheets and specialty software may serve many purposes, but they are not an ideal way to manage your business. Disparate solutions can be expensive to manage and difficult to use. Today’s ERP solutions are integrated and provide a centralized location for all of your business data. You can manage finances, supply chain and inventory, manufacturing and distribution operations, human resources and payroll, and other core business processes with greater efficiency from one solution than many disparate solutions. The time that you and your team will save when entering and looking for data can then be spent on other important business tasks.

Many ERP solutions, including Microsoft Dynamics® GP, offer built-in business intelligence and robust reporting features. RoleTailored dashboards can also be used by managers to monitor key metrics in real-time. You can use these features to identify trends within your business data such as customer demands, inventory usage, and other processes, which you can then use to make improvements. You can gain control over inventory, for example, reducing stock-outs or overstocking, and save money by making strategic procurement decisions. You can also get closer to finances and identify ways to reduce waste or improve cash flow.

Don’t wait for the proverbial squeaky wheel, be proactive and discover where your business could be falling short and strengthen those weaknesses. Contact The Resource Group to learn how ERP can improve operations and provide the insight needed for quality improvement.

By The Resource Group, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner out of Washington

The post Discover Where Business Is Falling Short And Strengthen Weaknesses appeared first on .

Related posts:

1. Manufacturers Are Positioned To Capitalize On Big Data Big data is in the news a lot these days....
2. Tangled Web of Software Can Strangle Business Growth Manufacturers and distributors have a lot of moving parts in...
3. Implement ERP To Save Time And Reduce Waste Manufacturers and distributors are only going to get busier as...

YARPP powered by AdBistro

Powered by

In our Microsoft Dynamics CRM Tips blog post for today, we wanted to dicuss using global option sets to save time instead of having to always enter new info. When making custom Option Sets make the list a global list so that the drop-down values can be used on other forms/entities. This time-saver is especially helpful for drop-downs with a lot of options. Anytime we can save time, we help ourselves right?

To complete this you just need to follow these simple steps:

• Go into Entity you want to modify [Contact in this example] and click Forms

• Click the name of the form you would like to modify. [Contact in this example]

• Click New Field in the bottom right corner
• Enter the applicable information including: Display Name, Set the Field Requirement, and Select Option Set as the Type
• Set Use Existing Option Set to Yes. Even though you are creating a new field you need to select Yes in order be able to set this up as a global Option Set. Then, click New.

• Enter the names of the options you want to display [Manufacturing Locations in example]

• Save and Publish Changes
• Go into new Entity you would like to add this field to and follow the same instructions to edit a form in this entity [Lead in example]

• Click New Field and enter applicable information [Your field name can be different than the first field you created – it won’t affect the options that display]
• Choose Type of Option Set and choose Yes for Use Existing Option Set
• Click the dropdown next to Option Set

• Choose your custom field [Manufacturing Locations in example]
• All the manufacturing locations you entered for the first option set are now added to your field
• Save, Close, and Publish changes

For more CRM tips be sure to see our other Microsoft Dynamics CRM Tips blog posts here. Also you can subscribe on the top right of this page to receive notification via email when new blogs are posted.

The post Dynamics CRM Global Option Sets appeared first on Ledgeview Partners.

Applies to: CRM Online

In the world of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the shift to the cloud is well underway. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is growing by leaps and bounds, including sales to massive customers with huge user counts. If you’re a partner in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM channel, it’s important that you understand what this means for the solutions you build for customers who want Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

You may believe that the difference between building a solution for an on-premises and an online deployment consists of a few technical details, like the requirement to use FetchXML for reports in online deployments, or the requirement to sandbox plugins. But in reality, the differences are much deeper than that. To truly build a high-quality solution for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, you need to do more than simply build the on-premises way and then check a few extra boxes.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online patterns & principles for solution builders whitepaper describes the new mindset required to successfully design solutions for online deployment. Check it out at the following location!

Download: Patterns and Principles for CRM Online Solution Builders.pdf

Your feedback is always welcome.

Thank you!

Andy Schultz | LinkedIn | @andrewbschultz

Marc Schweigert | Blog | LinkedIn | @devkeydet

For users to get the information they need from mobile reports, we frequently have to tailor the way we design those reports to the characteristics of the target device. Adam Aspin demonstrates some of the ways that we can deliver easy-to-use Business Intelligence to tablets and smartphones using Reporting Services.

Adam Aspin helps with Mobile BI with SQL Server Reporting Services

This is not a short blog post. There is a lot in here on designing for mobile BI delivery in general, regardless of the tool and a lot of detail on SSRS. It’s not a 5 minute skim, it’s more like a short reference book.

The post Mobile BI with SQL Server Reporting Services appeared first on DynamicAccounting.net.

If you cannot open the Service Configuration editor out of the Client configuration tool you can use the following workaround:

1. Open the Client configuration tool

2. Click the Configure Services button

3. Receive the error message that it can’t open the Service Configuration editor.

4. Agree with the Message

5. The configuration tool will open a TXT file.

6. Note the name of the File and keep the TXT file open

7. Open the Service Configuration editor manually from the Start Menu.

8. Open the TXT file from the Configuration tool. This is located under: c:\users\"username"\appdata\local\temp\1

9. Edit the file as you want in the Service Configuration editor.

10. Then save the file in the Service Configuration editor.

11. Now close the TXT file in Notepad without saving.

12. Press the Apply button in the Client configuration Tool.

Now all changes are done and stored.

The reason we have to do it like this is because only the "Apply" Button is pushing the WCF setting

into the Registry blob under "WCFconfig".

Or into the created configuration axc file.

Writer: Uwe Zimmermann <uwezim@microsoft.com>

Enterprise resource planning software requires a significant amount of time to implement. The most recent "ERP Report" from Panorama Consulting said the average length of an implementation is 14.3 months. That's a lot of time, even when taking into consideration advanced cloud platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015. Even with this in mind, there's still a distinct possibility that the project will go past its original launch date. In fact, it's very realistic: The same report found that 75 percent of all projects get delayed. With this in mind, what is a company to do in order to prevent that from happening? Proper measures, along with an understanding of why these projects get delayed in the first place, can help.

A failure to plan Panorama took some time to explain the reasons for delays in its report. The most common one has always been obvious: Creating a schedule that is unrealistic to execute within a given time frame, which registered at 14 percent of all projects surveyed by the firm. Often, companies are either trying to minimize the impact, or they believe the sales cycle conversations with ERP vendors which downplay the length, as Eric Kimberling noted in an article for IT Toolbox. Either way, there is a failure to appreciate the necessary amount of time to complete the implementation. Realistic expectations can help mitigate that.

Planning can also create delays in other ways. For example, during the planning process, it's important to consider the non-technical or business side of the implementation such as reworking significant amounts of workflows so that they match up with the software. However, the implementation may get too focused on the technical aspects to consider these important features, and let them fall to the wayside. Time comes around and they find that the employees and management aren't actually prepared for the software, which means that they have to delay finishing it to address their needs.

Fundamentals that weaken There are other reasons that cause delays in ERP implementation, often related to structural issues that even planning may not be able to fix easily. As Rick Carlton suggested in ERP Focus, there are a lot of infrastructural faults that can appear at any time during an ERP implementation, usually at the hardware level. The type of implementation doesn't matter, as even a cloud-based installation can run afoul of local hardware on premise. Such a fundamental failure is often not due to lack of planning but not enough testing to ensure everything works properly.

Similarly, a delay can be necessary if, at go-live, the system fails when it's supposed to be running normally. That's usually due to lack of testing of the software while running at complete load. In other words, it has been tested with all of its functions being active. Testing should be rigorous in the days leading up to the launch, so that these errors don't occur.

However, the most common problem is personal: Workers aren't educated on ins and outs of the software. Even something like addressing workers can be overlooked. Without an organizational change management system in place, employees will likely stall the start of the software either through mere ignorance or fear that their jobs are at risk.

Learn how to define your ERP strategy by downloading the white paper entitled "ERP in Manufacturing: Defining the ERP Strategy" from the DMS website today.

The post Understanding why ERP implementations get delayed appeared first on Dynamic Manufacturing Solutions.

What’s new in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015?

As you will find out in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Preview Guide, this update is a major release chock full of new features and improvements.

Here is a list of a few enhancements included in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015:

• New Marketing Calendar
• New Email Editor
• New Sales Collaboration Panel
• Enhanced Campaign Management Console
• Enhancements for tablets—great for your mobile work force!
• Improvements to business process flows
• Improvements to product-selling features
• Better searching and synchronizing
• and much more!

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Release Preview Guide has a complete list of new features and improvements, and effective ways that your business can use them.

An outstanding new feature is Social Listening (now called Social Engagement), a formerly elite tool that Microsoft has made available for everyone. Social Listening lets your business monitor social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. With it you can track brands, competitors and more all over the world in real time. Imagine what your marketing department can do with that! And it is included for free if you have 10 or more Professional Edition licenses of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Release Preview Guide here to discover how this update can make your business even more productive.

By AbleBridge, Massachusetts Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner, www.AbleBridge.com

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Release Preview Guide is a post from: CRM Software Blog

The post Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Release Preview Guide appeared first on CRM Software Blog.

Be sure to check out the SmartList Designer Overview webinar coming up on May 13th presented via MSDynamicsWorld.com You can register via this link: SmartList Designer Overview

The post SmartList Designer Overview – MSDW appeared first on DynamicAccounting.net.

The GP team is gearing up for the release of R2 for GP 2015. With that comes the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 Upgrade Blog Series Schedule!!

The post Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 Upgrade Blog Series Schedule!! – Microsoft Dynamics GP Community appeared first on DynamicAccounting.net.