Each week, the Globe and Mail seeks out expert advice to help a small or medium-sized company overcome a key issue. WebSan’s challenge was: How can WebSan persuade its clients to take training and implementation more seriously while preserving good business relationships?

We had three experts give us advice, and they came up with the following:

Make a case

Spend time with the senior management of its clients to press the importance of both sides adhering to the original training schedule.

A different financial solution

When creating a user interface, you always want it to feel smooth and fast as you can, and any time that the user is left waiting on the system decreases the appearance of how fast your system is. Delays on web applications can be caused from things such as processing lots of data, to constantly requesting new data from the server. It’s the latter case that I’m going to look at today and show a method that can reduce the amount of times you request data from the server.

For a working example, say we have a registration screen that is asking for the user’s country and province/state that they live in. Both fields could be simple text boxes, but it’s a little bit nicer if you provide combo boxes that give the user a list of options to choose from.

You probably want the list of provinces/states that you show to be dynamic based upon what country they select. So your province/state combo box will likely have an event listener that looks like this:

Above is a simple listener that listens for when the combo box expands (when the user opens the combo box to view the choices), and when it does that, it gets what the country combo box is set to, sets it as a parameter, and then retrieves the list of provinces/states from the server based on the selected country.

So if they select a country, and then open the combo box for the province/state, it will load up the list properly. The problem is that if they open the combo box for the province/state again, it will request the list from the server again, even if the country selection hasn’t changed.

WebSan Solutions Inc., a cloud Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner and IT consulting and solutions provider,  has been recognized as one of Canada’s top 100 Solution Providers in 2012 by Computer Dealer News (CDN). WebSan has over a decade of experience in Enterprise Software solutions, business and financial accounting software.

The list was announced April 16th, 2013 at the Top 100 Solution Providers Awards Gala. CDN is the voice of Canada's IT channel community for more than 25 years and defines an information technology solution provider as an organization that resells computer hardware, software or peripheral products along with providing IT related professional services, support services, consulting in a cloud or on-demand environment, on-premise fashion or as managed service.

“WebSan Solutions Inc. of Toronto makes the CDN Top 100 Solution Providers list this year and with that they join an exclusive club of the best technology minds in the country. WebSan really made a name for itself this year by offering cloud services based on Dynamics GP. They are part of a group of young and up-and-coming cloud specialists that CDN has noticed on the Top 100 list over the last few years,” said Paolo Del Nibletto, editor and associate publisher of CDN – Computer Dealer News, Canada’s No. 1 IT Channel Publication and Web site.

“We are very pleased to have made the list this year.” says Andrew King, Managing Director, WebSan Solutions Inc. “Our relentless focus on customer service and growth has enabled us to reach this milestone. More and more small to medium businesses our choosing our Cloud Dynamics GP Accounting solution for ease of use and cost every day.”

To view the list of the top 100 Solution Provider click here: http://www.computerdealernews.com/top-100-solution-providers/top-100

WebSan Solutions Inc., a cloud Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner and IT consulting and solutions provider, has been recognized as one of Canada’s top 100 Solution Providers in 2012 by Computer Dealer News (CDN). WebSan has over a decade of experience in Enterprise Software solutions, business as well as financial accounting software.

The list was announced April 16th, 2013 at the Top 100 Solution Providers Awards Gala. CDN is the voice of Canada's IT channel community for more than 25 years and defines an information technology solution provider as an organization that resells computer hardware, software or peripheral products along with providing IT related professional services, support services, consulting in a cloud or on-demand environment, on-premise fashion or as managed service.

“WebSan Solutions Inc. of Toronto makes the CDN Top 100 Solution Providers list this year and with that they join an exclusive club of the best technology minds in the country. WebSan really made a name for itself this year by offering cloud services based on Dynamics GP. They are part of a group of young and up-and-coming cloud specialists that CDN has noticed on the Top 100 list over the last few years,” said Paolo Del Nibletto, editor and associate publisher of CDN – Computer Dealer News, Canada’s No. 1 IT Channel Publication and Web site.

“We are very pleased to have made the list this year.” says Andrew King, Managing Director, WebSan Solutions Inc. “Our relentless focus on customer service and growth has enabled us to reach this milestone. More and more small to medium businesses our choosing our Cloud Dynamics GP Accounting solution for ease of use and cost every day.”

To view the list of the top 100 Solution Provider click here: https://www.computerdealernews.com/top-100-solution-providers/top-100

The last release of Microsoft Office was in 2010, now three years later Microsoft unveils their new “sleek appearance” and features with Office 2013. The new appearance coincides with the Windows 8 look; they’ve added better functional improvement and links to SharePoint and SkyDrive.

There is the option of purchasing the software separately or getting Office 365 for your business. Still questioning if it’s time to upgrade? Here are some features that I’ve done research on that might change your mind.

Do you find that your desktop applications are taking up too much space on your hard drive? Microsoft has introduced SkyDrive Integration with Office 2013. Office 2013 is designed to integrate with the cloud using SkyDrive and SharePoint. That’s a big benefit to SMB if you prefer to store your documents in the cloud. If you're still skeptic about the cloud, you still have the option of saving files on your local drive.

Do you find that you are always on the go and can’t bring your laptop with you all the time? When business is booming you might find yourself all over the place, with no time to sit at a desk. But using Office 2013/Office 365 you will be able to view your documents online using a PC, tablet or WebApps. This feature makes it easier to pick up where you left off working, even if you open the file on a different device than you last used.

Do you have trouble using Excel? Do you need to use Excel to create charts and monitor sales? Excel 2013 has a new feature called Recommended Chart which you select the data to chart and click Insert > Recommended Chart to see options such as line, bar, and pie charts that the program recommends for your data. Click each chart to preview what your data will look like in that form.

When there’s a question that needs an answer, we are quick to Google it to find a solution. If you wanted to inform your boss about the benefits of moving to Cloud ERP, how would you go about it? Just remember your trying to convince someone that might need more convincing than your average person because of the magnitude of the move. So make sure you clear up some of the perceptions they might have beforehand to ensure the best results.

Here are a few perceptions that you might come across:

1. Cloud ERP Software is only for small businesses

Cloud ERP Software is for all types of businesses from small to large companies. Moving to the cloud was more popular for SMBs because it was easier to convince them of the value and impact that it could have on their business. With larger businesses, there were more hurdles to overcome and more people to see before they were convinced. Some benefits of Cloud ERP for any type of business include:

• The cloud is everywhere. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a Multi-National company or a mom and pop shop. Cloud software can serve remote offices without the addition of more servers and IT staff.
• Cloud security has advanced greatly. Companies can guarantee your data is always secure. Here at WebSan Solutions we have a secure network, in our SAS70/SSAE16 certified data center.

2.“Cloud” and “Hosted” are the same thing

Three common ways of making a payment using Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains are cash, credit and cheque payments. I’m not a pro-Dynamics GP user; I’ve always paid vendors using cash and cheque payments. I came across Victoria Yudin’s blog “Using credit cards to pay vendors in Dynamics GP”. I found her blog to be straightforward and informational.

She shows you how to set up a payables vendor for the credit card which is quick and easy to do.  With The three scenarios that were given, scenario 1 was the most common for me. “Scenario 1: You purchased non-inventory items from a vendor want to track and pay them with a credit card. You have not posted the invoice yet.”

She provides lots of pictures and a simple step by step process of how to complete each scenario.

To read “My interview with Victoria Yudin about Dynamics GP” click here.

Natalie Williams, Marketing Coordinator, WebSan Solutions Inc., a Canadian Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner

As Cloud technologies continue to evolve, more and more software buyers are seriously evaluating software as a service (SaaS) solutions against on-premise offerings. While there are many factors that influence which deployment model is best for any particular business (e.g., ability to manage IT internally and speed of deployment) the cost of the system is often a key factor. But comparing the true cost of a Cloud-based system against an on-premise system can be time-consuming and is often a complex undertaking.

For instance, most buyers understand that on-premise licenses are typically purchased with a large, upfront investment and SaaS licenses are purchased for a relatively cheaper subscription price. But many forget to consider the total cost of ownership (TCO) of their investment. That is, they don’t look beyond the licensing costs to consider how other factors such as the need to customize the software and integrate it with existing applications can influence the TCO of their software purchase.

Even then there are intricacies like maintenance and support and training requirements that can make creating an apples-to-apples comparison of the TCO on-premise and Cloud software difficult. If you’re not a seasoned veteran in modeling all these costs, comparing them can become overwhelming.

To help buyers ballpark the true costs of each software model, Software Advice--a research firm that reviews and evaluates enterprise systems--created an interactive TCO calculator that software buyers can use to compare SaaS against on-premise software over a 10-year ownership period.

The calculator models annual and cumulative costs over this time period and shows buyers at which year of ownership the TCO of a SaaS system will equal that of an on-premise solution, based on user inputs. Although the data comes pre-populated with an example case, users can override every value to see the impact that changing any particular value will have on the TCO as a graph at the top of the calculator automatically refreshes after each update.

Have you ever wanted to share a report between several different people or companies, but wanted the report to only display data for that specific person or company?  This can be tricky with a multi company or multi person database.  However there is an easy way to do this, and it's not coping and pasting the report for each company/user.

There are 2 steps to do this.

The first step is easy.  When creating the SRS report, create a person or company parameter, just a normal text field parameter.  This will be the parameter be used to set which specific person/company the report will be for.  It would probably be a good idea to use a different naming convention for this parameter, to specify that it as a default parameter, like default_user.  Then finish creating the report and onto the next step!

The second step is to change your code where you set/send the report parameters to the SSRSPHP library.  All you have to do is check if the parameter name is equal to one of the default parameters and hide the parameter from the user when setting the parameter.  Then when the report is being submitted, all you have to do is set the parameter before sending it to the SSRSPHP library to retrieve the report.

Now the user won't be able to change or even see the parameter.  This is pretty good, but if we want to add more default parameters this isn't a very elegant solution.  Instead we can put all the default parameters into an array and check if the default parameter exists in the array.  This way in order to add more parameters, all we have to do is change an array.

As of April 1, 2013, the Government of Prince Edward Island is implementing the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). The combined HST rate in PEI will be 14%, of which 5% will represent the federal part and 9% the provincial part. Further, the Government of British Columbia will be eliminating the HST and reinstating PST and GST on taxable services provided in British Columbia. As of April 1, 2013, you will be taxed GST at a rate of 5% and PST at a rate of 7%.

To create the ability to track these changes in Dynamics GP, one must utilize Tax Details and
Tax Schedules.  Tax Details identify specific taxes and their rate of taxation.  These are then assigned to & grouped on Tax Schedules for processing transactions in GP.  Tax Schedules can be assigned to Customers, Vendors, Items, etc.

Setting up Tax Details

• Enter a Tax Detail ID and a Description.
• It is important to set the Type properly as Tax Details can apply to either Sales (to a Customer) or Purchases (from a Vendor) exclusively.
• Set a default GL Account to distribute tax transactions to in order to capture values in the general ledger.
• Set both the Based On & Round values depending on the tax.  For HST & PST, these should be set to Percent of Sale / Purchase & To the Nearest Currency Decimal Digit respectively.
• Set the Percentage for the Tax Detail.  For HST PEI, this is 14%.  For PST BC, this is 7%.

Setting up Tax Schedules

The Tax Schedule Maintenance window contains two list boxes:

Save Money by Switching to a Cloud Hosted Solution

Do you manage your financial accounting using an on-premise solution? Are you spending a lot of money on licensing?

WebSan Solutions offers business the option of switching to a cloud hosting solution.  They offer faster deployment options when compared to on-premise.  You can save on licensing because you have access to your data through the web. No need to purchase hardware or software. You need to pay a low monthly fee, which helps you manage cash flow.

Frequently Asked Questions

WebSan Solutions Inc. is a cloud Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner and IT consulting and solutions provider. In their web-based time and expense management system, they have added the FAQ page to tackle commonly asked client inquiries. This new enhancement will reduce their IT costs and create more productivity amongst their clients. This system is very easy to use because of its simple design and user-friendly navigation.

In 2012, the Canadian government announced in their Economic Action Plan that they would phase out the penny due to the cost of producing the penny, relative to their face value. February 4, 2013, was the last day that the penny would be made. One thing to note is that this change does not affect cheques or electronic transactions (e.g. Interac). With this change in effect, it’s estimated that it will save taxpayers $11 million each year.

On Microsoft’s Community Dynamics website, I came across a blog Angela Melhus wrote which is called “Phasing out the Penny in Canada”. For a B2B business, this might not be much of a worry because they would normally deal with cheques and EFT payments. But for some B2C business that have a store and accept cash that might be a problem.

In Angela’s blog, she gives you a step by step process to phase out the penny in your Dynamics GP system. Her instructions are very clear and she provides screenshots of the whole process. By the end of the last step, you should have written off of the penny.

Angel Melhus blog post:

https://community.dynamics.com/gp/b/dynamicsgp/archive/2013/02/26/phasing-out-the-penny-in-canada.aspx

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

There is no doubt that Microsoft Dynamics GP offers a wide variety of custom reporting methods that can enable anyone in your organization to get real-time reporting quickly and easily – whether it be SmartLists, Linked Excel Reports, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), or Management Reporter (MR). As a report developer, typically it’s not too difficult to find the data that you need for a given reporting request – instead, sometimes the biggest challenge is just figuring out which reporting tool to use when creating the report.  I’ve found that there are a few key questions you can ask that can immediately narrow down your options for you.

Will non-GP users need access to this report?

If your answer is “Yes”, then SmartLists are automatically out of the question, as these can only be accessed from within GP.

Will users need to run this report for various scenarios?

If your answer is “Yes”, go with either SSRS or Management Reporter – these are the only 2 reporting methods that allow “parameters” that the user can play with before running the report.  These parameters make it easy for the user of the report to run it for a specific scenario that suits their needs.

Since Microsoft has released an update to its Dynamics CRM Online software, they decided to add a new capability to its system. Skype is a service that allows back and forth communication with people by voice and video using a microphone and a webcam, and instant messaging over the Internet.

Users could make Skype calls when using Dynamics CRM. Microsoft has said that this new feature will "Guide sales and service professionals through predefined lead, opportunity and case-management processes."

But users aren’t forced to use the Skype application. You have the option of “opting in or out” of this new feature. Microsoft understands that their users might prefer to use the Outlook interface instead.

Microsoft has also stated that this new update includes support for Firefox, Chrome Browsers on Windows PC and Safari on Macs. The update also includes more integration with Bing Maps that will create addresses and other information about prospects and leads. In mid-2013, Microsoft is preparing to run a mobile version of CRM on Windows 8 and iPad devices.

Microsoft is moving in the right direction integrating customer relationship management with social media. This is a great way to stay connected and to maintain relationships, whether it’s a B2B or B2C relationship.

WebSan Solutions Inc., Largest Canadian Cloud Dynamics GP Partner announced the latest release of its Time and Expense portal for Dynamics GP.

Working with Microsoft Dynamics GP for many years has given WebSan the opportunity to help clients overcome many business challenges. Their latest Time and Expense Portal continues to allow Dynamics GP users to enter time and expenses anytime, anywhere without the typical limitations of Microsoft's Business Portal solution.

Some of the key features that are now included in the latest release are the following:

• Seamless integration with Dynamics GP database
• Process timesheets and expenses in an easy to use, web-based format
• Handle Canadian VAT (value added tax) and US taxes seamlessly
• Automatic approval workflows for time and expense submission based on $ limits
• Track days off, holiday and vacation time
• Purchase requisition approval module
• Internal reporting for timesheet status, expense reports and history
• Works with on-premise or Cloud-deployed Dynamics GP
• SQL Report viewer with self-managed security and ability to export to Word, Excel, PDF or Images
• Built in user messaging

To see WebSan’s Time and Expense portal in action click the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCu3BM3DInA&list=UUHAtQ9fSm1oPZYDW37ELFAA&index=1

Learn more about Dynamics GPView Dynamics GP PricingFree Dynamics GP Training

There are a number of recorded issues with Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 and 2010 when attempting to reference VBA code on 64-bit machines. Both Office 2010 and Crystal Reporting are known culprits in causing this issue to occur, as their installations update some system registry keys for VBA 6 incorrectly. Office 2010 references VB7, thus it should not be affecting keys it does not require. Registry Keys are used by the system as container objects, similar to folders, that can store values or further keys. If the value of a registry key is changed without the knowledge of an application that references its value, problems can arise. This would be the case for the VBA 6 file not being found.

I recently had a client of whom we were aiding implement an on-premise installation of GP and needed to deploy the software, along with any customized forms and reports we had designed, to a dozen workstations. After completing the deployment steps without any issue on the first three workstations, it was not until the forth that the system administrator eventually encountered the “File not found: VBA6.dll” error. The error can occur either on login to GP or when accessing custom VBA code through ‘Modifier’, if installed. Upon discussion, I was told that both Office 2010 and Crystal Reporting resided on the machine (Crystal was later removed, however the effects its installation has on registry keys can remain even after its removal).

To resolve the issue, there are two steps that need to be confirmed and/or completed to allow GP to properly reference the system dll:

(NOTE: Making changes to system registry keys is only advisable for advanced users, as incorrectly performing any steps can corrupt the system if care is not taken. Contact your system administrator for help.)
1. Ensure that Dynamics GP is not running.

If you have ever created any customized reports from within Microsoft Dynamics GP, then you are quite aware of how reporting can be a useful tool in extracting the exact information needed to increase your productivity and make effective business decisions. While there are a number of different reporting methods that can be utilized (such as SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), SmartLists, and Word Templates), the most popular and basis for reporting within GP is Report Writer.

While exceptionally powerful, Report Writer is not the easiest application to operate without prior knowledge or experience. However, the following is a trick that one can use to have Report Writer work for you.

A few weeks ago, a client had requested a Purchase Order form for a new company that they had just recently added to GP. The formatting of the PO form was to resemble that of an existing company, the only difference being a change in logo in the top-left corner of the report. Should be easy. However, Report Writer will only allow two versions of the same type of report: either the original GP standard or the modified version. When a report is 'modified', it will print in place of the standard version of the report. Although there are both 'Copy' and 'Duplicate' options when choosing a report to customize in Report Writer, these secondary versions of the report will only be accessible through (Reports → Customized) within GP and cannot be printed or displayed, for example, from the 'Purchase Order Entry' window.

Luckily, the Purchase Order form has two documents types: the Blank form or Other form. This way, both companies can utilize their own type of purchase order form. However, if the client requests the POP Purchase Order Other Form to be a copy of the POP Purchase Order Blank Form, the latter having numerous formatting changes and functions created; the replication of this report can be a lengthy process. There must be a better way, right? Well, there is.

Through the (Microsoft Dynamics GP → Tools → Customize → Customization Maintenance) menu, you can export a package file of the report you wish to copy. Package files are XML formatted and contain all the modifications and fields used on the report. Due to their text-based nature, these files can be manipulated within a simple text editing program, such as Notepad, without ever having to access Report Writer itself. After exporting the POP Purchase Order Blank Form as a package file (the form we would like to replicate) we can open the file and copy all text between the Report “POP Purchase Order Blank Form” line and the closing </Component>line.

There are several different elements that need to be well thought-out in order to receive a good ERP quote. Enterprise Resource Planning by definition is a system that integrates information across a company using services such as: finance/accounting, manufacturing, sales, customer relationship management (CRM) and more. You want to make sure that you get a quote that’s in your budget, but you don’t want to sacrifice the essentials to stay within your budget either. Make some room in your budget for fluctuation and negotiation to ensure that you get the best quote.

Modules

There are a number of modules that are offered in an ERP system, it’s up to you to choose which ones best fit your company. For example if you are a consulting company maybe you only need CRM, Finance and the Sales module. Save money on modules that you don’t need and get the one’s that you do need. You have the option of getting standard or advanced modules. Advanced modules offer more variety of features but are usually used for larger businesses. There needs to be research done to explore what particular capabilities you need.

Number of Users

The number of user’s plays an important role when determining the price. It is important to have a firm estimate of the amount of user’s that you need. Plan in advance to avoid unanticipated cost and to get a more accurate quote.

Implementing a new ERP Software is a time for new learning experiences and challenges. There are some common mistakes that you want to avoid when implementing ERP software, remember this list so you can become a hero and not a victim of poor planning.

Mistake 1: Not selecting the right vendor

Browsing through a vendor’s website can’t determine if they are right for you. Call the company and speak with someone, this gives you the chance to ask questions about the company and their services. Don’t forget to ask for references so you can hear more than one opinion of the vendor.

Mistake 2: Not taking advantage of all the features that you are paying for!

For any kind of service you pay for, be mindful of what’s included. If you are unaware of a feature that you have but never use, just ask!