A challenge we often see in the world of reporting is getting your reports and visualizations to meet your company’s standards or format the way you want. But when the real value is in the report, and not in the appearance, who wants to spend time on such seemingly insignificant tasks?

The ability to generate cleaner, professional looking reports by default, right out of Microsoft Dynamics GP would make the lives of accountants a bit less daunting. A little known Microsoft Dynamics GP reporting tip is that it comes with a template generator that allows you to create a Microsoft Word template for ANY Microsoft Dynamics GP report or additional products (Project, Manufacturing, etc.).

With the installation of Dynamics GP 2013 there is an EXE file installed in the program files folder (C/Program Files (X86) / Microsoft Dynamics/GP2013/ or equivalent) called TemplateGenerator.EXE. This was available in GP 2010, but was not as accessible or as functional as it is with the newer versions.

Benefits

By applying the Template Generator, you gain essentially limitless report formats with their own logos! This was and will remain one of the best aspects about the Word templates, which is the ability to throw company-specific logos on the forms and reports.

Setting Up the Template Generator

Part 1

1. Print ANY Microsoft Dynamics GP report to an XML file. Save to your desktop or another easily accessible location. Note: Any report can be printed from Report Writer in Dynamics GP without having to actually run it in the application itself. Just look for the Print option while in Report Writer on the right hand side.

2. Once the file is there, then Left Click, HOLD, and DRAG the file into the TemplateGenerator.EXE within the program files folder. A little black window will display momentarily to let you know that something is happening.

3. VIOLA! You now have a Word Template ready to be added to the current format. Not fully confirmed, but from the looks of it, the Word document is deployed to the same location that you dragged the XML file from. In my case, it added the Word document right back to my desktop.

Part 2

1. Go to Reports> Template Maintenance

2. Look up your report in the Report Name drop down. Make sure you choose the correct one: Modified vs. Original vs. Alternate vs. Alternate Modified.

3. Click the green plus sign.

4. Locate your file that should be conveniently located on the desktop.

5. You should now have a Word template for the current report. You would then follow the normal steps thereafter to assign as the default in the company.

Helpful notes:

• The Word template created will save time while formatting reports. The template created is fairly bland and will likely require some additional graphical work to get up to the standards required.
• The logo would need to be added manually to the report or form to display.

If you would like more information on reporting in Microsoft Dynamics GP, Contact Us or schedule a Free BI Assessment with our reporting/business intelligence experts.

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By Sean Hunter and Brad Vorbeck at Turnkey Technologies, Inc. - Microsoft Gold Certified Dynamics ERP and Dynamics CRM Partner of Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma and North Texas.