It's a Friday afternoon, 3pm, going into a long weekend. You are already going to hit traffic heading up to the cottage if you leave now, however it won't be as bad as in a couple of hours. You just finished a modified SOP Blank Invoice Form and would like to import it into your client's production environment. As you click the import button in Customization Maintenance, your heart starts to race as you cross your fingers and pray that the REPORTS.DIC file is not locked by any users....and you get the "Unable to open customizations dictionary" message. The afternoon sun will have to wait until tomorrow.

When importing customized reports through Customization Maintenance, users accessing the reporting dictionary will need to log out of Dynamics GP to have the report import successfully. This can be a pain and a scheduling nightmare for users and yourself alike. "There has to be a better way!" Well, luckily, there is. If you have access to the REPORTS.DIC file found in the "Microsoft Dynamics/GP/Data" directory, then you can import the modified report straight from this dictionary file using Report Writer (this is assuming that you developed the report in a test environment and would now like to push it through to production). To do this, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Copy the REPORTS.DIC file from your test environment to a local or network shared drive that is accessible from the production server.

Step 2: Log into the production environment with 'POWERUSER' access and launch Report Writer (Microsoft Dynamics GP menu >> Tools> Customize >> Report Writer).

Step 3:  Click 'Report', then click the 'Import' button:

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.

WebSan Solutions Inc. has been named a 2012 Impact Award Finalist for ERP Partner of the Year!

"We're thrilled with the recognition of our contributions to our Clients' successes and our position as the leading Canadian Hosted Dynamics GP Partner." stated Andrew King, Managing Director.

Here's a complete list of the 2012 Impact Award Finalists.

We'll find out November 13 if we won or not!

Stay tuned!

The dictionary definition of productivity is: “the quality of being productive or having the power to produce”.  Some businesses prefer a structured environment while others prefer a flexible environment. But every business strives to be productive, efficient and proactive. The cloud computing movement has allowed businesses to free up time to focus on other aspects of their company.

Examples of ways that cloud computing can improve productivity:

The cloud offers flexibility

Your employees have more time to be productive and creative! No need to contact your IT department for access to different software and applications. You now have the ability to access services through the web on your own.

Improve communication amongst employees

If you find yourself always starting from scratch when creating custom VBA forms in Dynamics GP even though you've created other similar forms in the past, here's a little trick to save yourself some time:

1. Find a similar VBA form that you have already created and export that form to a package file using the Customization Maintenance window.

2. Browse to where you saved the package file and open the file in a text editor (such as Notepad).

3. Here you can do 2 key things that you can't do directly in Dynamics GP's VBE window.  The first thing you can do is change the name of the form by simply doing a Find & Replace and changing the existing form name to the new name you want to use.  The second thing you can do is change the Product ID.  You'll notice that when you create a form in a standard Dynamics GP module, you can't use it in Project Accounting (or other add-on modules).  By changing the Product ID at the top of the package file, you can make the form available in a different module.  So if you originally created the form for the Customer Maintenance window (Product ID 0), simply change the Product ID to 258 to now make it available in Project Accounting.

4. Save your changes to the package file.

Andrew King, Managing Director at WebSan Solutions shares 10 different tips and tricks about Microsoft Dynamics GP. Watch the following video to learn more:

WebSan Solutions offers an online (SaaS) hosted-enterprise business software solution, leveraging the vast capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP. For more information, please contact us.

Doriana Kote, Marketing Assistant, WebSan Solutions Inc., a Channel Elite Awards Finalist for 2013

The most arguable myth about cloud ERP solutions refers to organizational data not being as secured as in an on-premise solution. In fact, SaaS security and privacy of data has proved to be customers’ biggest concern.

The top 4 most important issues about data security in the cloud are:

1. Your data storage location

This issue is related to the physical location of the data. When it comes to cloud ERP vendors, their data centers are housed in multimillion dollar facilities and have a 24/7 security all year long. After all, most cloud providers are actually better with physical security than an onsite solution vendor because they don’t have a lot of staff hanging around the facility. Thus, they are able to control physical access to various parts of the office space.

2. Who has access to your data and when

When organizing your business’ data and sorting through multiple categories and headings, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the time-consuming process. Structured Query Language (SQL) used in Microsoft Dynamics GP serves to retrieve information from databases through the use of basic statements and clauses. Here are some SQL features that can help you sort through data quickly in Microsoft Dynamics GP:

• Select clause – Allows you to pull and read data from the database. Often using the Select * format, this statement enables the user to select data from columns and tables such as a list of customers.
• Where clause – Used to filter your list based on a certain condition, such as to specify a customer’s country or location.
• Alias syntax – Enables the user to rename a database table or a column in a table. This function becomes especially useful when there are multiple tables in a query or when column names are long and not easily readable.
• Join clause – Helps to combine and add more columns in your data. The join clause is often used to combine fields from two tables by using values that are common to each. 
• Group by clause – Allows you to compress, consolidate and summarize data. This clause is used together with aggregate functions to group a result set into one or more columns.

To learn more about SQL queries and common functions in Microsoft Dynamics GP, register for our online course! 

Register for SQL 100 course in WebSan University

Linz Tan, Web Marketing Assistant, WebSan Solutions Inc. a 2014 Ontario Business Achievement Award Winner for Service Excellence.

WebSan Solutions, the largest Canadian Cloud Dynamics partner, offers users the ability to access Dynamics GP on a tablet. Customers now have an alternative way to access and create accounting transactions, without having to log in through their desktop computers.

“We see this as a natural extension of our Cloud Dynamics offerings. No other partner has made the commitment that WebSan has to provide this much flexibility to our customers,” says Andrew King, Managing Director of WebSan Solutions.

As long as there’s an active Internet connection, users would be able to use all of the capabilities of Dynamics GP, which also includes exporting SmartLists to Microsoft Excel with ease. WebSan’s Cloud Dynamics GP solution  allows users to quickly and securely access Dynamics on-the-go using Android, iOS and Windows devices.

An element that makes Dynamics GP on a tablet even more valuable is the feature that lets users print and email documents (i.e. Invoices) on the fly.

The ability to provide access to critical financial information to executives on devices other than a computer is important to a business. Get the insight you need to manage your business and improve the decision-making process by making it portable. 

These days, everyone is throwing around buzz words like “Software as a Service” or “Hosted” or “Cloud”, but how do I really go about calculating the total cost of the solution and whether to choose “the Cloud” or on-premise (traditional) solutions?

There are a number of cost figures to include :

1.       License fee

2.       License fee for upgrades

3.       Maintenance costs

We all know that the economy is not in the best shape. Some companies are forced to downsize due to insufficient revenue in these times. Anywhere that they can cut cost is a benefit to them, that’s why many companies are now deciding to use Saas (Software as a service). Just because a company may be downsizing doesn’t mean their data and files do, so they still need software to store their information. The great aspect about Saas is that instead of spending money on hardware, installation and maintenance you have the advantages of having your company records, data and information web based.

If you can save money in you IT spending and still have the advantages of data being backed up, disaster recovery and long term record retention, wouldn’t you do it? But maybe you’re a smaller company and your IT department consists of only you. Then you should get your core business applications hosted in the “Cloud”. You still have access to everything in your database; the only difference is that it’s through the internet. Now you might ask, “What kind of software would be a good choice to leverage as a hosted solution?”

Microsoft Dynamics GP online accounting software gives companies the flexibility to customize the software based on their needs and requirements. It’s one of the most capable and sophisticated business accounting solutions for small to medium business, now available in the Cloud. No need to install software on users’ laptops or worry about keeping the system updated with the latest patch.

Investing in Online Dynamics GP is a good investment in your business; it puts your finance department on the same wavelength with other department and keeps your general ledgers, payables and receivables, budgeting, collections management highly organized.

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics GP click here

Wouldn't you like to look sharper than your competitors? Then training is what makes your employees stay within your company or stand out from those at another.

Corporate training is an extremely valuable resource because it gives your employees a sense of empowerment. Once you invest in programs to help them enhance their skills and boost their knowledge they will feel better about working for your company. In turn, this fact will improve company retention rates and is an excellent motivational tool.

WebSan University is taking corporate training to a whole new level by offering live, instructor - led online courses. For more information on WebSan University and our upcoming course Microsoft Dynamics GP General Ledger, visit our website or contact us here.

Doriana Kote, Marketing Assistant, WebSan Solutions Inc., a Channel Elite Awards Finalist for 2013

I encounter prospective Clients every day who ask me: why?

• Why do I need a new system?
• Why do I need to invest in new software?
• Why WebSan?

I cannot come up with "one-size-fits all" answer for everyone, but what I can tell you is the following:

• Companies that leverage Enterprise software to run their business see a significant improvement in their financial performance. This can manifest itself operationally in many ways, but typically it's a reduction in outstanding Receivables, growth in operating margin and lower overhead resources in the Finance and administration departments.
• According to a recent Aberdeen© report, best in class companies saw:
  • 22% reduction in operating costs
  • 20% reduction in administrative costs
  • 17% reduction in inventory
  • 19% improvement in complete and on-time delivery

Organizations are always looking to be more competitive and reduce costs. A solid investment in technology with the right Partner can make all the difference in the world.

WebSan Solutions Inc. is a Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner specializing in MS Dynamics GP and Hosted MS Dynamics GP. Dynamics is a top-rated Enterprise software system that has over 40,000 installs in North America.

Contact us for inquiries.

WebSan University officially opened its doors to the public and takes WebSan Solutions webinars to a whole new level. The program consists of a series of extensive Microsoft Dynamics GP courses, from Bank Reconciliation to Project Accounting and is making its debut on July 25^th, 2013 with its first course “Microsoft Dynamics GP Orientation”. In this introductory course new users will learn the basic principles of navigating and personalizing important areas of Dynamics GP as well as posting and integrating with other applications.

Why Online Training?

• Immediate, cost- effective and easily affordable
• Corporations save between 50-70% due to elimination of travel expenses according to Training Magazine
• ROI to the Max - Affordable online training can be up to 93% cheaper than classroom training
• Multimedia content, including dynamic video and graphics to efficiently illustrate key concepts
• A new, easy and interactive way to learn.
• Focus on the practical application of new approaches and tools
• Contains applied work assignments that put learning into action
• Ability to answer questions live

For more information on WebSan University Online Training and our upcoming courses, visit our website or contact us here.

Doriana Kote, Marketing Assistant, WebSan Solutions Inc.

A CEO plays one of the most important roles in a business and has a tremendous amount of responsibility. So some people may say, “I would never want to be a CEO, it’s just too much”. But I say, “If you increase your business intelligence using Microsoft GP, it is a breeze.” Now you’ll have more knowledge to:

Make better business decisions

• You don’t have to solely rely on advisors, consultants and employees because you have educated yourself about what’s been going on in the company.

Use a tool you are already familiar with to reduce operational costs

• With more than 200+ built in Excel reports it is easier to observe changes in the company and react to market conditions rapidly.

Achieve your budget and forecast targets more consistently

• Productivity improves because budgeting will be more accurate and planning will be more organized.

Be notified about key changes in your business rapidly

Disaster recovery is often neglected until an actual disaster occurs.  A number of people assume it will never happen to them.  We don’t drive cars without insurance, so why compute without a disaster recovery plan?

Well enter the cloud with hosted Microsoft Dynamics GP …

Access to files & reports when you want them.  Take the worry out of disaster recovery.  Accessing your ERP over the net has never been more secure, convenient or faster.  When you enter the cloud with WebSan, we ensure the highest level of disaster recovery.  We have redundancy upon redundancy to protect your data.  From protection against power failures to floods to fire.

Never worry again about a service disruption.

Adam MacIntosh, Senior Project Manager

Cloud computing is the latest & greatest innovation in the technology industry & for good reason.  I previously discussed how cloud computing takes the worry out of disaster recovery.  Another way cloud computer helps take strain off executive shoulders is that it helps your company avoid service disruptions often associated with service updates.  Imagine never worrying about having to upgrade your software.  Imagine it was just done for you, with no downtime, disruptions or worry.  That is what the cloud offers.  At WebSan, we offer hosted Microsoft Dynamics GP for a number of client, taking care of necessary service packs, system updates & necessary maintenance that comes along with owning an ERP system.  By taking advantage of Saas Dynamics GP (or software as a service), customers can stay focused on their core competencies.  Hosted solutions allow clients to scale up or down as the market dictates without & overhead burden often associated with on-premise solutions.  Lastly, they don’t have to worry about having a full-time IT resource to help with issues where one might not be required.

WebSan is a Microsoft Partner offering hosted Dynamics GP to clients big & small.

Adam MacIntosh, Senior Project Manager

Nowadays business professionals have access to a vast variety of technologies and sources of information. Big data is growing fast as organizations devote technology resources to tapping the terabytes of data flowing into their organizations and externally in social media. Thus, a major challenge has come up recently: how to leverage Big Data analytics and improve business performance by using current Business Intelligence (BI) practices?

The current thinking around big data and business intelligence tends to be built around a very simplistic model. You acquire lots of data, in all kind of formats, from a myriad of sources, apply some business intelligence and get your answer to the above question. However, executives thinking that a big data dive is all they need to exploit conclusions are mistaken. While big data might be getting ahead of itself in enterprise promises, you need to think about the skills you have in your company and develop the relevant data skills to adapt to this new model. At the same time, BI kills the need to develop, administer and analyze this huge amount of corporate data. Therefore, big data and BI can be integrated within the business context for better, faster decision making.

Keep in mind, though, big data can make or break a company. Integrating advanced analytics for big data with business intelligence systems is an important step toward gaining full return on investment. That is, BI systems and advanced analytics can be highly complementary; the latter ones can provide the deeper, exploratory perspective on the data, while BI systems provide a more structured user experience. In addition, BI systems’ richness in data visualization and reporting can be vital to making advanced analytics actionable.

The first step to understanding big data is collecting all of your data into powerful, integrated solutions. The second step is to identify correlations with your data to make improvements in your operations and find new opportunities. Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Intelligence (BI) module provides people with the insight they need to take quick action and pursue opportunities. What is more, using a single software solution, like Microsoft Dynamics GP, will make it easier for you to find and use the important business data you need to drive your business forward.  The more efficiently you use this data, the faster you can respond to new opportunities.

At the end of the day, while big data is a hot term, it doesn't mean much unless you can complement them with BI systems and expand their power. Thus, big data can be very helpful if you can wade through it to obtain meaning, i.e. they always have to make sense. It's not enough to gather accurate and timely data. Professionals need powerful and user friendly BI analysis tools to help them understand context and trends. You need to focus on evolving your BI approaches and integrate them with big data analytics to fuel faster and more accurate decision making. In this way, you will be able to gain a competitive advantage by understanding how big data can supplement the outcomes already achieved through “traditional” BI.

Tele-working or working from home is very common in today’s business world.  Staff at many companies have the ability to work from anywhere.  In fact, IBM has half its staff working from home, saving them valuable real estate, overhead & all that goes with having an office.  As a consultant, I am constantly traveling, but I am still able to stay in touch with the office through my Blackberry.  VPN’s allow many users to log into networks to access systems, emails, files, etc.

With cloud computing, the ability to work from anywhere is made even easier.  Through hosted Microsoft Dynamics GP, all staff need to access their ERP is an internet connection.  A CFO can easily review financial statements, in real time, from a Starbucks.  Imagine living out your days on a beach in the Caribbean, still able to complete necessary tasks.  With the invention of internet sticks that can plug into any USB, Operations Managers can carry a net-book or laptops with them & have the ability to complete sensitive tasks in an instant.  Sales staff no longer need a reserved desk at the office.  They can stay mobile, reaching more clients.  Even administrative staff could work remotely should the need arise as it did for many last summer with the G8 summit shutting down the core of Toronto.

WebSan Solutions is a Microsoft Partner offering Hosted Dynamics GP

Adam MacIntosh, Senior Project Manager

I frequently receive questions from Clients regarding our Hosted Dynamics GP solution, so I thought I would publish our "FAQ" document on our blog for all to see. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact us and we can help you with any inquiry you may have.

Q: What is the cost of Hosted Dynamics GP?

A: You will need to contact us in order to discuss your requirements in a bit more detail so that we can provide you with a quote customized to your needs.

Q: Who owns the data?

A: The Client owns the data and WebSan Solutions owns the application as well as any customizations and/or enhancements made to it.

Q: Where is the data hosted?