How the Analytical Accounting Module in Dynamics GP Can Help Improve Your Data Analysis
Do you wish it was easier to perform data analysis, so that all of your financial decisions could be made based on fact rather than gut feel? Do you need to trace specific things such as your profit centers or cost centers? Its time you utilize Analytical Accounting with Dynamics GP. Starting with GP 2013, the analytical accounting and several other useful modules are included at no additional cost. Click here to learn more.
By now, you're probably wondering what the analytical accounting module does exactly. Analytical accounting (AA) is designed to track additional data and allows for greater flexibility with regards to reporting. Every company that uses Dynamics GP generates and maintains a chart of accounts which is helpful, but many organizations find over time that they could benefit from tracking additional benchmarks. This is where AA comes into play.
The first step in implementing AA is to decide what exactly you wish to track based on your unique business needs. I mentioned some examples above (profit and cost centers), but there are many more opportunities to improve your financial decision-making with the AA module. For example, perhaps you would like to report on a specific region or on a set of purchase orders. After you’ve decided what you want to trace, the next thing you will need to determine are the specific dimension codes you wish to use for traceability. Dimensions can be numeric, alphanumeric, yes/no, or date. It’s important to remember there is a limit of 30 characters. The setup screen looks like this:
Once you have your dimension codes created you can assign the respective codes to the ledger. This is key for reporting. It gives you the ability to flag specific accounts for certain dimensions. And then, the flagged accounts are linked to specific modules such as payables or inventory and the data will flow through accordingly.
There are certainly other benefits to using Analytical Accounting in Great Plains, including wizard-driven queries, budgets and advanced reporting. If you would like to learn more please contact us. Our expert consultants will be happy to discuss your specific needs.
By: Chris Butcher, Intelligent Technologies Inc., a North Carolina Microsoft Dynamics and Acumatica partner www.inteltech.com/