Transition to Cloud Dynamics GP

Dynamics GP is a mature and robust ERP solution. However, over time, many clients have grown tired of maintaining servers, performing upgrades, etc. These clients are content on the system and have no reason to find another ERP platform. These clients will often transition their existing Dynamics GP environment to the cloud. WebSan is currently the largest cloud Dynamics GP partner in the country, providing hosting services for many organizations, large and small. We have a standard migration process to seamlessly transition your Dynamics GP environment to the cloud.

In the cloud, customers benefit from complimentary upgrades and backups. Security is also administered on a complimentary basis. Further, our full suite of services allows users to expand into areas of automation such as EDI or other integrations, opening up many possibilities that do not exist today. Further, upgraded environments allow customers to take advantage of Power BI & workflows capabilities that Microsoft has recently deployed.

Dynamics GP continues to thrive, both for on-premise and cloud customers. Microsoft Dynamics GP is a mature solution with over 45,000 customers around the world, so it isn’t going away anytime soon. However, Dynamics GP isn’t immune from Microsoft’s consistent push towards the cloud.

So why move GP to the cloud?

Here are some reasons why GP customers move to the cloud:

•           They need to invest in new hardware to support new versions of GP
•           They are concerned about backups, recovery, security and 24/7 remote access
•           They are not current with Microsoft on your maintenance and want to add users/capabilities to the system
•           They are looking for better access to information/reporting (GP2018 required for Power BI)

So what can we expect in future releases of Dynamics GP?

First, Dynamics GP releases and development will continue from Microsoft. The current roadmap is projecting two additional version releases. This clearly indicates a commitment by Microsoft considering these are typically released every two years. Customers should expect various user community requested enhancements and fixes.

There are many articles that can be found detailing year-end processes in GP, but what about your month-end processes?  Dynamics GP uses a ‘soft’ close concept wherein periods are not required to be closed.  Further, periods can be reopened if needed.  However, performing a month-end is critical to ensuring you can move forward within your system without any fear of inaccuracies.

Prior to performing any special or unfamiliar processes, it is always recommended that users have a proper backup of the system.  Your system administrator should ensure backups are regularly scheduled and available if needed. 

It is recommended that the month-end process start with the POP and SOP modules.  One can think of both of these modules as feeder modules to Payables, Receivables, Fixed Assets, Bank Reconciliation and the General Ledger.  In these modules, you should ensure all batches are posted within Series Post.  Ensure all Customer Orders, Vendor Receipts and everything in between are posted.  Further, within Purchasing, one should print the Received Not Invoiced report via Reports > Analysis.  This report should tie to your accrued purchases. 

Once the above are reconciled, one should move onto the Payables and Receivables module.  For each, users should ensure all documents are properly applied, especially if multiple currencies are in use, as this will affect realized gain and loss entries.  Users can check for unapplied documents by navigating to Sales > Reports > Analysis > Unapplied Documents Report.  Further, users should also run the Reconcile to GL option within Financials in order to ensure these subledgers and GL match.  The same routine should be performed for the Inventory module.

Once all subsidiary modules are complete, uses should close out the Financial modules.  First, users should complete bank reconciliation and reconcile the Bank to the GL via the associated Financial Routine.  Users can then move onto closing the Fixed Assets module.  Remember to ensure Payables are closed prior to processing anything in Fixed Assets given the Payables feeds the Fixed Assets module.  Within Fixed Assets, users need to double check that all additions and retirements are posted.  Depreciation will need to be run and all related GL processes complete. 

Lead – This is the qualifier for a sales opportunity. Perhaps someone you met at a trade show that might not be a qualified lead, but you want to keep in touch with them.

Opportunity – Once you qualify your leads, you would convert them to an opportunity. For example, a lead that you have spoken to whom has shown interest in your product.

Account – Once you have closed business with that person, you would 'win' the opportunity and convert the person / company to an account.

Adam MacIntosh is the Manager of Client Services with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics Partner firm.

One of the powerful marketing tools on Microsoft Dynamics CRM is an Email Template which will allow your sales team to mass email groups of contacts.

To create Email Templated within CRM, navigate to the Settings Tab, then Templates under the Business section. Select the Email Template button.

Note: The Outlook Client & Web Client will both look slightly different. However, both have the same options, so users should be comfortable using both.

CRM will then ask the user for a Template Type.  This will restrict the template to certain groupings of data from within CRM.  For example, if one selects a Template Type of ‘Contact’, CRM will restrict the template data to CRM contacts.

Learn more about Dynamics GPView Dynamics GP PricingFree Dynamics GP Training

Printers get jammed!  It happens ... sometimes even when you are printing a cheque.  Fear not, there is a solution.  If your GP environment does not allow Duplicate Cheque Numbers (as per the Chequebook Maintenance window), you can simply add (or subtract) a leading zero from the Next Cheque Number field & voila, its a new, UNIQUE cheque number for GP to use.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Silver Winner.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Our clients will often have the need to attach supporting documentation to transactions within Dynamics GP.  These might be for odd / correcting entries, entries required by auditors, or large dollar value entries.  Further, it is good practice to attach supporting documentation for transactions if possible.

To attach supporting documentation to a transaction within GP, select the yellow paper icon beside the transaction number within the entry window for that transaction.  This icon is also available within master data setup widows & essentially every other window within GP.  Once within this window, select the paperclip icon at the bottom of the window (Note:  Your system admin may have to enable this functionality to have this icon appear).  This will open a new OLE Container window wherein one can select Edit > Insert New Object.  From here, the process is as simple as selecting the file & clicking Attach within the note window.

WebSan has found this feature very helpful to our clients whenever they need to track down the supporting documentation for a transaction.  As transactions move throughout their life-cycle in Dynamics GP, they will maintain the supporting documents attached to them, making audits a breeze.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Winner.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Once a project is finished, user should close out that project within Dynamics GP.  This helps to avoid errant postings to the project & ensures accurate reporting.

To close a project within Microsoft Dynamics GP, first set the status of your project to Completed within the Project Maintenance window.  Then, navigate to  Project > Transactions > Project Closing to access the Project Closing window.  Within this window, select the Contract Number that the completed project belongs to.  All the completed projects for that contract should then appear in the listing below.  To close a project, check the box under the Close column & select Process.

Users should note that even though a project is set to status of Completed, there may be additional transactions that may need to be completed prior to closing the project.  If additional transactions are required, the box under the C* column will be blank.  To obtain a listing of the transactions yet to be completed for a 'Completed' project, select the blue arrow beside the Project number field within the Project Closing window.  This will open the Project Closing More info window wherein users are presented with a check list of all the tasks required prior to closing the project.

[caption id="attachment_1505" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Project Closing[/caption]

There are times when users may have completed check list items, but they do not display within GP as completed.  If this occurs, it is good practice to run the PA Reconcile Utility.  This utility will search through the GP transaction tables to verify what activities have truly been completed.  To access this window, select Project > Utilities > PA Reconcile.  Select a data set to reconcile and then click Process.  The utility is fairly quick depending on the volume of data within your Dynamics GP environment.

Many companies have a need to grant Dynamics GP users access to a window, but not all functionality within that window.  For example, many clients will want users to be able to input invoices, but not post them individually.  Instead, they will force users to save invoice transactions to a batch such that a manager can review the source documents and post.  An easy way to achieve this is through Field Level Security which allows the Dynamics GP admin to restrict user access to singular buttons within a window (such as the Post button).

To configure Field Level Security, navigate to Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > System > Field Level Security

This will open up the Field Level Security window.  Within the window, select Add to create a new restriction.

[caption id="attachment_1442" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Field Level Security window[/caption]

This will open the Field Security Maintenance window wherein one defines a the window and field to restrict.  Within this window, enter an ID and Description for the restriction.  Then select the Product Name, Form Name, Window Name & Field Name using the look-ups within the window.

Check out our YouTube page for great Dynamics GP Training videos and other informative tips!

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Winner.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Users should keep in mind that all banking transactions need to be processed through a Chequebook ID in order to display in that bank subledger & that one should NEVER post a general journal entry to a bank GL account.  When we look at the Bank Transaction window, there is only a single Chequebook ID to allocate the transaction to.  This is the account to which this transaction will apply.  You will see in the lower portion of this window, you must explicitly state the other half of the GL portion of this entry.  This should NOT be a bank GL account as a general journal entry to that bank GL will not affect that bank’s subledger.

A transfer of funds from one account to another should be completed through the Bank Transfer Entry window where possible.  You will see on this window that there are two Chequebook IDs that must be identified.  Thus, this transaction will affect two separate bank subledgers.  One can only use this window wherein one of the account currencies is the functional currency (this is due to how GP treats the entries and is a restriction of the system).  When you need to enter these types of transactions, you will have to enter TWO separate bank transactions. One will be an Increase Adjustment to the ‘to’ account, the other a Decrease Adjustment to the ‘from’ account while using a clearing account to flow the funds through.

I thought I would share a couple useful posts from our friends at Dynamics University

Who Posted this Journal Entry?

http://dynamicsuniversity.com/article/dynamics-university-summer-2013/who-posted-journal-entry

Encumbrance Management for Non-Profits

When a user posts an individual transaction in GP, that transaction will likely display in the Financial Series Post, saved to a batch with an odd, automated ID.  These IDs are auto-created by Dynamics GP & are based on the source document / originating module from which the transaction was posted.  Generally, the first 2-3 characters of the these Batch IDs are based on the module, with 3 or so more characters to identify the transaction type.  this is or course followed by a numeric counter.

If one reviews the Source Document listing in GP, that will generally tell them what all the abbreviations represent.  For those more technical, source documents can be found in SY00900 in the database.

Below, I have listed a number of the more common prefixes to an automated Batch ID and have noted the module which they represent.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Winner.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

WebSan Support plans are available for purchase online using PayPal and all major credit cards.  Enable your team to get the cost-effective support it needs.  Get started now!

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Finalist.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Want to learn more about Dynamics GP, enroll in one of our WebSan University courses.  Course are instructor lead, contain certification tests & all students receive a certification of completion.

Our next course in August 29th from 1 - 5 pm.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Finalist.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Join our growing & diverse team at WebSan.  We have a number of positions currently available & offer a wide range of benefits.

See our Careers page for more information.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Finalist.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Want to learn how better management of billable hours can help you become more profitable?  Contact us to get a free assessment of your financial accounting software!

OR

Want a Demo of Dynamics GP.  Request one for free!

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Finalist.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

In October 2009 I wrote a blog about using Checklists in GP.  I find this blog is still useful today as I have clients wherein turnover has forced the need to document processes within the system.  Checklist are the perfect tool to allow these processes to be documented.  See my blog below:

Lots of us make checklists for a variety of tasks from grocery shopping to complex projects.  Microsoft Dynamics GP offers built in checklists in the Routines section of every module that can help walk users through a diverse range of topics.

Once you have accessed the appropriate Checklists window, ensure the frequency is appropriate for the checklist you are about to create.  Click Add to create a link to a Microsoft Dynamics GP window.  Name the checklist item & select the appropriate in the Command (Dynamics GP window).  Once your list is complete, order the items appropriately by using the Up & Down buttons.  Now every time a user performs this particular task, all they are required to do is click the checklist item in order & populate the fields with new data.

Checklists are particularly beneficial when turnover is an issue or roles require extensive training.  Two tasks I recommend clients create checklists for are performing payroll & completing year-end.  Mistakes made performing either of these functions can have wide-reaching effects.  In my next blog, I will cover a few tasks that should be on your year-end checklist.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Finalist.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Dynamics GP allows users to enter invoices through a number of different methods.  When first accessing the invoicing windows in GP, users will often encounter a system alert warning them of the fact that they have multiple windows with which to enter the data.  Without intervention, this warning will always appear for users moving forward.

To get rid of this warning, run your GP Utilities (from your Start menu).  In the Additional Tasks window, select the ‘Remove SOP and Invoicing message’.  Proceed to uncheck ‘Warn in Sales Order Processing’ & ‘Warn in Invoicing’.  When complete, the warning will be gone forever.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Finalist.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.

Many times, usually around month-end, I will get a call from a client that has a mis-match between their sub-ledger balance & their General Ledger.  The first thing I will ask them is whether or not all batches in their Financial Series Post are posted.  You can see from the screenshot below that GP will automatically create a number of batches in the Financial module after transactions have been posted in the Sales or Purchasing modules.  Company configurations can vary, however, in general, a transaction posted individually in a subsidiary ledger will have to also be verified & posted in the Financial Series Post before it will affect the GL.  Most transactions that are saved in the Financial Series Post have already affect the appropriate sub-ledger but NOT the General Ledger.

I advise clients to clear out all entries in the Financial Series Post daily to ensure accurate reporting and to be able to deal with any issues as they arise.

Adam MacIntosh is a Senior Account & Project Manager with WebSan Solutions Inc, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner and 2013 Canadian Channel Elite Awards Finalist.  Adam can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 416-499-1235 ext 213.