Mark Polino's Blog, page 226
June 6, 2012
Why Weak Accounting Leadership Stymies Great Accounting Software | MSDynamicsWorld.com
My look at Why Weak Accounting Leadership Stymies Great Accounting Software is up now at MSDynamicsWorld.com. Check it out.
June 5, 2012
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Rapid Tools for Dynamics GP - Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
The Rapid Tools for Dynamics GP are getting an update to facilitate migrations from the latest versions of Quickbooks and Quickbooks Enterprise.
Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 - Technical Adoption Program (TAP) - Early Adopter - Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP - Site Home - MSDN Blogs
Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP has information about the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 - Technical Adoption Program (TAP) as does Developing for Dynamics GP.
I suspect that there is going to be a lot of interest in this. I have my own thoughts. Specifically,
If your current use of GP is a mess, if you can't balance and you can't close the month, don't try to become a TAP user. Concentrate on fixing your issues. A new version probably won't help.
If everyone is working 60+ hours a week now, TAP is probably not a good fit. You'll need some time to really test stuff.
If you are looking to deploy GP 2013 sooner rather than later, you might be a good fit.
If there are specific GP 2013 features that can provide a significant advantage for your business, then TAP might be a good fit.
I'll let it go there, you get the idea.
I suspect that there is going to be a lot of interest in this. I have my own thoughts. Specifically,
If your current use of GP is a mess, if you can't balance and you can't close the month, don't try to become a TAP user. Concentrate on fixing your issues. A new version probably won't help.
If everyone is working 60+ hours a week now, TAP is probably not a good fit. You'll need some time to really test stuff.
If you are looking to deploy GP 2013 sooner rather than later, you might be a good fit.
If there are specific GP 2013 features that can provide a significant advantage for your business, then TAP might be a good fit.
I'll let it go there, you get the idea.
CFO.com and Financial Reporting Spreadsheets
In a May 31, 2012 article , CFO.com provides a decidely negative take on financial reporting using spreadsheets in their article Spreadsheets Still a Crutch in the Financial Reporting Process.
Except of course that the article is wrong. When "More than 70% of the 1,100 global executives interviewed in a survey by Oracle and Accenture said they used spreadsheets to track and manage financial reporting on a daily basis" changing their behavior by taking away spreadsheets is the wrong answer.
The article makes it clear that a common usage for Excel is to present financial reports. If data is being pulled from other systems into Excel for better formatting, it doesn't make sense to take away Excel, as suggested in the article. Changing the behavior of 70% of global users is a fool's game.
A better solution is to use something like deFacto to leverage the 70% already using Excel. deFacto uses Microsoft Excel as the interface for financial reporting. Data is still stored securely in Dynamics GP for reporting. This is NOT simply exporting to Excel. It's using the full power of Excel to design and build financial statements without having to go through a formatting dance every month end.
It is also not the spreadsheet mess created by storing the data in Excel. The data is regularly pulled from Dynamics GP and stored a SQL Server analysis cube for easy, powerful and secure reporting without bogging down transactional processing.
Taking away spreadsheets is not the answer. Leveraging Excel with the power of deFacto and analysis services is.
Except of course that the article is wrong. When "More than 70% of the 1,100 global executives interviewed in a survey by Oracle and Accenture said they used spreadsheets to track and manage financial reporting on a daily basis" changing their behavior by taking away spreadsheets is the wrong answer.
The article makes it clear that a common usage for Excel is to present financial reports. If data is being pulled from other systems into Excel for better formatting, it doesn't make sense to take away Excel, as suggested in the article. Changing the behavior of 70% of global users is a fool's game.
A better solution is to use something like deFacto to leverage the 70% already using Excel. deFacto uses Microsoft Excel as the interface for financial reporting. Data is still stored securely in Dynamics GP for reporting. This is NOT simply exporting to Excel. It's using the full power of Excel to design and build financial statements without having to go through a formatting dance every month end.
It is also not the spreadsheet mess created by storing the data in Excel. The data is regularly pulled from Dynamics GP and stored a SQL Server analysis cube for easy, powerful and secure reporting without bogging down transactional processing.
Taking away spreadsheets is not the answer. Leveraging Excel with the power of deFacto and analysis services is.
Future Dynamic - Vote - Improved Intercompany
This week's vote looks at improving intercompany modules. Suggestion 696285 actually calls for Full Intercompany on all modules. That's a little vague but Intercompany does need to be improved to better support sales, inventory transfers and fixed asset transfers between companies with proper backout for voided transactions across the range. There may be more I/C suggestions out there but let's vote for this one and then we can help MS figure out what really makes sense in terms of I/C support.
June 4, 2012
Dynamics GP Land: Dynamics GP Customers: Demand Good Service!
Steve Endow tells Dynamics GP Customers: Demand Good Service! I've said many of these same things over the years. Steve gets it just right.
