No matter which version of Dynamics GP that you use, there is a lot to keep track of. There are features that can help save time in your day and improve your workflow. Sikich recently gave a presentation on refreshing yourself with Dynamics GP, and features the software contains to save you time and effort.
Logging in and User Preferences
Remember that you don’t need to logout of GP to switch companies. As of GP 2016, you can click on the bottom left corner on the company name, and you can switch between companies that you are logged into.
It’s possible to set your choice of Entry Key from User Preferences. Microsoft by default uses Tab. If you prefer Return, you can choose that. From this screen you can also choose the default report destination to be your screen, and not to a printer, if you never print anything. The Display button in User Preferences allows you to set the font color and style for required fields. It’s worth setting them to red and bold to make them stand out. You can also change your Password if you’re a newly-setup user from User Preferences.
Quick Links and Shortcuts
Many Dynamics GP users use Quick Links and have many of them setup. Quick Links allow you to get to a window you regularly access right from your homepage. You must hover your mouse over the Quick Links option and click the pencil to add a Quick Link.
Right click on the Navigation Pane on your homepage, and then you can add external shortcuts, and access them via a keyboard shortcut. For example, if you often use a banking website, you can set it to a hotkey. Be sure to add https:// to the URL or it will not open.
Copying and Pasting
Remember the Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V commands to copy and paste information from one location to another in GP without using commands from the Edit window or by right-clicking. The Transaction Entry window in the Financial module offers a paste option once you copy the data in Excel. If you find yourself preparing data in Excel, particularly if you create journal entries, this will save you time. Dynamics GP will notify you if your Excel paste balances in GP.
The Copy Home Page and Area Pages section helps if you need to copy the detailed security rights from one user to another. Copy Security Access lets you save time when you’re replacing or adding new staff. These features are available as of GP 2015. GP security settings are quite robust, so copying with this method will save time and prevent errors with misapplying security settings
Company-Level Functions
The Professional Services Tools Library (PSTL) is a tool that allows for setting up a new company, especially for developing test companies. Sysadmins are the only ones that can use this functionality, and you want to be sure to have a backup when using this functionality because it is irreversible. Also validate the data afterward. Do note that this is an installation process; it is a simple install, but a fresh GP install nonetheless.
The vendor and customer combiner functions are no longer part of the PSTL, but still need sysadmin access to use. The PSTL offers the ability to modify accounts, checkbooks, 1099s, inventory, and item reconciliation. Only run these functions if everyone is out of the system, and after you run a full database backup.
IT can use the Take Company Offline function to perform maintenance or administrative tasks without interrupting other users’ workflows. Current users can continue working in the company but cannot log back in unless they have offline access to the company.
Useful Reconciliation Features
While you shouldn’t use it as your main source of reconciliation, the Reconcile to General Ledger functionality will help you identify where reconciliation issues exist. It doesn’t change any data, it only generates an Excel-based report with three different sections for your transactions: unmatched, potentially matched, and matched transactions. This runs from your subledger to the general ledger, letting you see where mismatches might have occurred.
Don’t use this function with a lot of entries at once, as this can cause errors and slowdown. Break your data down into smaller chunks. This does include Payables Management, Receivables Management, Bank Reconciliation, and Inventory, providing a spreadsheet view of the reconciling items.
Once you run your bank reconciliation process, you can reprint your Outstanding Transaction Report from the Reports section, in the Bank Posting Journals report list. The Price List Wizard allows you to add, update, copy, or remove records to/from your price lists. You can also run the Assign Currency Wizard function. These wizards do show you what is happening before they are finalized, but it’s still recommended to run these into a test company, and backup your data beforehand as well.
Transaction Functionality
Sometimes you need to update the email address on a sales or purchase order, but only temporarily. Use the Email Detail Entry window to update the email only for this specific document. You can permanently change email records by using the customer or Vendor Email Options window. This is great if someone is out of the office for a short period of time.
Paid Transaction Removal moves fully-paid transactions to history or removes them from the system based on how your company is set up. This feature consolidates all balance forward transaction amounts and adds the total to the noncurrent period amount. This makes it easier to tell which transactions are unpaid with frequent clients, by archiving paid ones. If you must make changes, AR Transaction Unapply is available to sysadmin users. Make sure you have backups before unapplying and ensure other users are out of the system. There is a report option to review what the unapply will do.
Conclusion
Dynamics GP is deep, and powerful software, and there is always a lot to keep in mind when using it. These tips will save you a few seconds here or there or have a learning curve before you feel comfortable with them. However, the improvement in your workflow with Dynamics GP will be noticeable over time.
Our Sikich team of GP experts are here to help with your ERP needs and questions. Let’s chat.
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