Mark Polino's Blog, page 205
August 16, 2012
It's been a good couple of months for Fastpath
If I were Fastpath, I'd be wondering where all the free marketing was coming from and how I could get more. The last several months have seen a number of unrelated items all point to Fastpath's products for users of a Microsoft Dynamics ERP system.
For those of you not familiar, Fastpath makes security related products for all of the options in the Microsoft Dynamics line. For Dynamics GP specifically they offer:
Config AD - Single sign on and security management tied to active directory. Yes you can log in to GP using AD.
Audit Trail - Transaction auditing.
Assure - Separation of Duties evaluator for Dynamics GP. This doesn't get enough airtime but for risk junkies it's pretty cool.
Audit View - Audit/Security report scheduling and delivery.
It all started with the July issue of Journal of Accountancy which profiled ten years of Sarbanes-Oxley. I thought, hey, SOX generates plenty of Audit Trail and Assure work for Fastpath. Thought drifted away into the ether.
Then my much anticipated August J of A arrived (they are all much anticipated, don't read anything to the August part) . Lo and behold, it's all about fraud and we're back talking about security control, auditing and separation of duties.
[Sidebar: For fun, checkout this this fraud, described at CFO.com, that included the CEO colluding with the HR manager because the CFO “always demanded proper documentation”.]
Finally, MSDynamicsWorld.com is reporting that Microsoft is killing the native Audit Trail module in Dynamics GP. Frankly, MS bought this functionality and doesn't appear to have ever spent a dime improving it. I think they got tired of trying to support it.
So in a couple of months span, Fastpath has two J of A issues, not just articles, dedicated to needs and problems that their products help solve and a major competitor exits the business. (By major competitor I really mean inertia and the idea that "It's included so let's try to use it".)
Yep, they've had a couple of good months. If they are smart, they'll leverage these marketing gems for a long time to come and hope for September J of A hat trick. [image error]
For those of you not familiar, Fastpath makes security related products for all of the options in the Microsoft Dynamics line. For Dynamics GP specifically they offer:
Config AD - Single sign on and security management tied to active directory. Yes you can log in to GP using AD.
Audit Trail - Transaction auditing.
Assure - Separation of Duties evaluator for Dynamics GP. This doesn't get enough airtime but for risk junkies it's pretty cool.
Audit View - Audit/Security report scheduling and delivery.
It all started with the July issue of Journal of Accountancy which profiled ten years of Sarbanes-Oxley. I thought, hey, SOX generates plenty of Audit Trail and Assure work for Fastpath. Thought drifted away into the ether.
Then my much anticipated August J of A arrived (they are all much anticipated, don't read anything to the August part) . Lo and behold, it's all about fraud and we're back talking about security control, auditing and separation of duties.
[Sidebar: For fun, checkout this this fraud, described at CFO.com, that included the CEO colluding with the HR manager because the CFO “always demanded proper documentation”.]
Finally, MSDynamicsWorld.com is reporting that Microsoft is killing the native Audit Trail module in Dynamics GP. Frankly, MS bought this functionality and doesn't appear to have ever spent a dime improving it. I think they got tired of trying to support it.
So in a couple of months span, Fastpath has two J of A issues, not just articles, dedicated to needs and problems that their products help solve and a major competitor exits the business. (By major competitor I really mean inertia and the idea that "It's included so let's try to use it".)
Yep, they've had a couple of good months. If they are smart, they'll leverage these marketing gems for a long time to come and hope for September J of A hat trick. [image error]
Weekly Review: Exporting to Other Systems
Recently I’ve had a number of requests for regular processes to get data out of Dynamics GP for integration to other systems. The export formats were all over the place including CSV, fixed length and pipe delimited (|).
In all cases there have been common elements to the exports, they want them to be user initiated. There have also been common elements to the solution, Microsoft Excel.
In one case I used SmartList Builder to create a SmartList with everything we needed to export, then I used a SmartList Export Solution to provide a button for the user to export the data to Excel and activate an Excel macro to format and save the file.
In another case, the client didn’t own SmartList Builder so I used a refreshable Excel report to get the data we needed an then used a macro to format the export.
With the power of Excel, getting data out to other systems becomes easy.
Originally Posted by Mark Polino
at 12/13/2010
09:00:00 AM [image error]
In all cases there have been common elements to the exports, they want them to be user initiated. There have also been common elements to the solution, Microsoft Excel.
In one case I used SmartList Builder to create a SmartList with everything we needed to export, then I used a SmartList Export Solution to provide a button for the user to export the data to Excel and activate an Excel macro to format and save the file.
In another case, the client didn’t own SmartList Builder so I used a refreshable Excel report to get the data we needed an then used a macro to format the export.
With the power of Excel, getting data out to other systems becomes easy.
Originally Posted by Mark Polino
at 12/13/2010
09:00:00 AM [image error]
August 15, 2012
How to reconcile the Checkbook Balance to the GL Cash Account in Microsoft Dynamics GP
Dynamics GP Support and Services details How to reconcile the Checkbook Balance to the GL Cash Account in Microsoft Dynamics GP
This was timely. The question came up just as this post went up.[image error]
This was timely. The question came up just as this post went up.[image error]
Feature of the Day: Certification, Licensing and Training Management - Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
In a new Feature of the Day, Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP explores Certification, Licensing and Training Management 
August 14, 2012
Energized Accounting: What Keeps You Up at Night? Accounts Payable
Recently Metafile was kind enough to help out with our GPUG CFO Special Interest Group (SIG) and help folks understand more about document management software selection. Now Energized Accounting has a great new post up on What Keeps You Up at Night? Accounts Payable. The post screams document management without ever mentioning the topic.
If I ran a document management software firm I would be sending this out everywhere.
If I ran a document management software firm I would be sending this out everywhere.
Feature of the Day: Relate-Link Items for Suggested Sales - Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
In a new Feature of the Day for GP 2013, Microsoft shows off Link Items for Suggested Sales. Essentially a related items box pops up to support suggestive selling, cross-selling or associated items.
I did view a while back designed to display related items. That could be used as a starting point to populating the linked items.
I did view a while back designed to display related items. That could be used as a starting point to populating the linked items.
