Introduction to Microsoft Dynamics GP

By David H. Ringstrom, CPA

The start of a new year is an ideal time for your clients to migrate to a new accounting package. Very likely many of your clients are currently using Intuit QuickBooks and Peachtree Accounting by Sage, and rapidly growing organizations may investigate Enterprise and Quantum versions of these programs.  You may have thought that a full-featured solution like Microsoft Dynamics GP to be beyond reach, but you’ll likely be surprised how affordable mid-market-level accounting software can be. For a limited time, trade-in allowances are available to existing QuickBooks users, plus packaged solutions are available for as little as US$190 per month.

Try it for free: You can download a free 90-day trial version of Microsoft Dynamics GP. (Tip: Use the letters SA as the User ID when you first attempt to log into the Microsoft Dynamics GP trial company.) You can also register to receive a free QuickBooks Replacer Kit or a Smart Move Kit for Peachtree users.

Cost Considerations

Keep in mind that you can’t just compare license costs when weighing Microsoft Dynamics GP against other accounting packages. Hidden costs for workarounds or for manually combining or reformatting accounting reports in other packages may be more than originally thought.

Are you outgrowing your current accounting software?

Although there are no hard and fast answers as to when your clients have outgrown their existing software, you’ll likely be able to identify certain pain points:

·         Scalability: Over time some accounting packages begin to exhibit performance challenges. For instance, users may have to wait several seconds after clicking the Save button on a transaction screen, or reports may take several minutes to appear.

·         Internal Controls:  Small business accounting packages offer basic audit trails and password security, but as an enterprise grows—or considers going public—internal controls take on even more importance.

·         Lack of Integration: Most small business accounting packages offer some level of integration with key business tools like Microsoft Excel, Word, and Outlook, but this is usually limited to mail merges and exporting reports. Specifically, some software packages may not currently support advanced features like Microsoft SharePoint report portals, workflow integration with Outlook, or Excel-based dashboard reports.

·         Limited Customization: You’ve likely thrown up your hands in frustration when a client’s accounting package wouldn’t let you create a report you need, customize a transaction screen, or handle advanced features like foreign language support.

The aforementioned issues are endemic of most small business accounting packages. Microsoft Dynamics GP easily addresses all of these issues and more:

·         Scalability: Tests have shown that Microsoft Dynamics GP can successfully scale to 1,000 concurrent users processing over 6 million transactions in a single workday. Suffice it to say that Microsoft Dynamics GP can handle your clients’ growing needs with ease.

·         Internal Controls: Microsoft Dynamics GP simplifies security by offering password expiration dates, workflow features such as transaction routing and approval, and roles-based access to tasks and reports. Further, most small business accounting packages offer dozens of reports, while Microsoft Dynamics GP includes hundreds of predefined reports, along with a dizzying array of custom reports through Microsoft FRx, Pivot Tables, Analysis Cubes, and other analysis tools. There’s basically no limit to the types of exception reports that you can develop to ensure compliance with internal control procedures.

·         Integration: As you would expect, Microsoft Dynamics GP provides a high level of integration with the Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, and Outlook. However, the possibilities don’t end there—Microsoft Dynamics GP works natively with Microsoft MapPoint (as shown in Figure 1), Microsoft InfoPath, Microsoft FRx, and Microsoft Forecaster, as well as other Microsoft tools like Small Business Server for sending unattended faxes. In addition, Microsoft Dynamics GP works with many other Microsoft solutions, such as BizTalk Server, SQL Server Analysis Services, Live Communications Server, and more.

 

Figure 1: Microsoft Dynamics GP integrates with Microsoft MapPoint.

 

·         Customization: You may find that you don’t need as much as customization as you would think in Microsoft Dynamics GP, because it shares the same look and feel as other Microsoft products. Further, features like account numbers with up to 10 segments overcome challenges in other packages that only let you tag transaction line items to a single class, if at all. Microsoft Dynamics GP is backed by Microsoft-approved independent software vendors (ISVs) that create tailored solutions for specific industries, or specific clients. Further, as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3, the reporting capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics GP present data in formats helpful to driving smart business decisions. Further, you can add shortcuts to specific screens within the program, or even Web pages, so that you can quickly get where you need to go.

 

Figure 2: Microsoft Dynamics built-in Report Writer provides almost unlimited report writing capabilities.

 

Figure 3: Microsoft Dynamics GP ships with hundreds of built-in reports, not just dozens.

 

Case studies: You can peruse at least 200 case studies that show how Microsoft Dynamics GP transforms not only accounting but operations within fast growing companies.

 

International Considerations

Does your current accounting package  handle every day issues that arise with international business? Microsoft Dynamics GP allows these languages to be used interchangeably within a single installation:

·         US English

·         International English

·         French Canadian

·         Latin American Spanish

 

Other Unique Capabilities

Microsoft Dynamics GP includes more features, such as:

·         Report scheduling: Reports can be automatically generated and distributed to stakeholders on a scheduled basis.

·         CRM: These challenging economic times mean it’s more important than ever to keep every customer satisfied. While other software packages offer entry-level customer relationship management, those capabilities may pale when compared to the advanced features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.*

·         Workflow management: Microsoft Dynamics GP offers workflow capability to allow for document approval and enhanced internal controls.

·         Statistical analysis: Microsoft Dynamics GP allows both financial and non-financial accounts. This means you can easily generate reports on a per unit basis, or analyze costs on measurements such as square footage, head count, units sold, and more.

·         Budget flexibility: Rapidly changing economic times mean that your clients may need to have three or more budgets, such as best case, most likely, and worst case scenarios that they can implement on the fly rather than constantly retooling the same budget over and over again.

·         Report periods: Microsoft Dynamics GP allows you to establish any type of report period, including a 4-4-5 report calendar for quarters with two four-week periods and one five-week period.

·         Integration Manager: You can import just about any data into Microsoft Dynamics GP, including but not limited to customers, vendors, and transactions.

·         Fixed Allocations: This feature, shown in Figure 4, allows you to automatically distribute overhead or other amounts among other accounts on a predefined basis. This means that your financial reports are always up to date, with no manual allocation journal entries required!

·         Easy automation: As shown in Figure 5, Microsoft Dynamics GP makes it easy to record macros so that you can easily automate repetitive tasks.

 

Figure 4: Fixed allocations automate tedious allocations of overhead or other amounts.

 

Figure 5: The Built-in macro capabilities let you record and play back repetitive tasks.

 

As you can see, Microsoft Dynamics GP provides power and capabilities for growing businesses. Randy Johnston of K2 Enterprises adds, “Since Microsoft Dynamics GP has so many features, much more can be done inside the system rather than outside the system. This could result in some unexpected efficiencies.” Visit www.asmartmove.com to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics GP, or www.microsoft.com/dynamics to learn more about Microsoft’s other accounting solutions.

 

*Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a separate software package; separate licensing fees will apply

 

 

David Ringstrom heads an Atlanta-based software and database consulting firm serving clients nationwide since 1992. Long ago David recognized that either you work Excel, or it works you, so much of his work involves creating Excel-based tools to streamline accounting and other processes. David shares his knowledge with others as a freelance writer, professional speaker and technical editor, and is proud to have served in the United States Navy.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Microsoft.