Microsoft Dynamics GP/Great Plains Business Software: What's New in Microsoft Dynamics GP/Great Plains 2010?
A Complete Business Solution
Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, released in April 2010, is the latest version of the market's most mature high-end accounting system for Windows. After two decades of evolution driven by the experience of more than 40,000 businesses who rely on it, Dynamics GP now offers small and mid-size businesses one of the industry's most comprehensive and cost-effective solutions for integrated finances, e-commerce, supply chain, sales and marketing, project accounting, manufacturing, field service, customer relationship, and human resources. The 2010 version of Dynamics GP followed closely after the publication of Dynamics GP version 10.0, which included a massive array of enhancements over previous versions.
Dynamics GP now offers twice as many features as QuickBooks Enterprise, seven times more standard reports, and, thanks to its integration with Microsoft SQL Server 2008, significantly more performance and expandability. Examples of features available in Dynamics GP but not in QuickBooks are allocation calculations, landed cost tracking, formula-based demand forecasts, partial pay invoice for partial receipt, LIFO and FIFO inventory, application of sales tax rates by item, lot and serial number tracking, automatic calculation of late fees, and multiple ship to on a single order. Progent's certified consultants can help you evaluate the potential benefits of the latest version of Dynamics GP for your business and can help you upgrade from an earlier version of Dynamics GP/Great Plains or migrate smoothly from QuickBooks or any other accounting platform.
New Features of Microsoft Dynamics GP Release 10.0
Release 10.0 of Microsoft Dynamics GP delivered a long list of enhancements that impacted virtually every aspect of Dynamics GP including the user interface, security, workflow, reporting, SharePoint integration, and deployment accelerators. Improved functionality was added to modules for financials, distribution, human resources, payables, manufacturing, field service, and project accounting.
Examples of new features included with Microsoft Dynamics GP Release 10.0 include:
Foundation Enhancements
User Interface: Buttons and controls have the look and feel of Office 2007
Security: Automatic synchronization of role membership between different security infrastructures
Workflow: You can manage workflow by defining approval processes and conditions for a document or batch
Reporting: New integration with Excel and SQL Server Reporting Services help you create and view reports
SharePoint Integration: Share report libraries, search for documents, and streamline approval processes
Deployment Accelerators: The Rapid Migration Tool simplifies the migration from QuickBooks
Financials Series Enhancements
General Ledger: Simplify reconciliation of Receivables Management and Payables Management to General Ledger
Payables Management: Track information for more than one tax type for each 1099 vendor
Receivables Management: Submit receivables batches to a workflow approval process
Collections Management: In collection letters, include invoice numbers, dates, and amounts by aging period
Analytical Accounting: Use aliases to enter large amounts of analysis information during transaction entry
Electronic Banking: Simplify EFT setup, link customer/vendor records to address on customer or vendor card
Encumbrance Management: Encumber funds against budget defined within Analytical Accounting instead of GL
Distribution Series Enhancements
Inventory Control: Setup options in the Inventory Control Setup window add control over the use of lot numbers
Purchase Order Enhancements: You can view budget vs. actual and committed information by budget or year
Purchase Order Processing: Non-users of Dynamics GP can approve workflows based on pre-defined rules
Sales Order Processing: You can submit a quote to a workflow approval process
Invoicing: You can select whether lot numbers are assigned automatically by receipt date or by expiration date
Bill of Materials: You can specify whether to use expired lots when entering transactions in Bill of Materials
Manufacturing Series Enhancements
Manufacturing ordering: Reverse manufacturing order receipts in the Manufacturing Orders list
MRP: View the sources for an order and the demand on components generated from that order
Field Service Series Enhancements
Service Call Management: Create task/service codes to estimate the time needed to complete a service call
Contract Administration: Specify whether to include expired contract lines when you transfer a contract
Depot Management: Prevents users from accidentally changing work orders while viewing them
Returns Management: Password protect ability to delete an RMA with an RTV or work order document attached
Integration to Inventory: In–Transit Transfer Entry window is accessible from Inventory and Field Service
Project Accounting Series Enhancements
Benefit allocation: Allocate employee benefits to specific projects to show the true cost of the work performed
Project cost allocation: Allocate costs from one project to other projects by units, percentage, or currency amounts
Cost category mass update: Update budget lines for existing projects or templates with the new cost category
Add projects to open contracts: Add a project to open contracts and to estimates
New Features of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010
Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 offers a wide selection of enhancements covering key areas such as e-mail functionality, deployment, migration, reporting, security, and workflow. New features were added to modules associated with financials, distribution, manufacturing, field service, and project accounting.
Some of the enhancements incorporated in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 include:
Foundation Enhancements
E-mail functionality: Create predefined messages and attached documents for customers and vendors
Electronic Signatures: Create a standard workflow that requires an approval with an electronic signature
Security: Option to display only the security tasks and items to which access has been granted
Workflow: Define an action to be taken during the workflow process instead of a simple approval
Reporting: Navigation pane lists reports from Report Writer, Excel, SQL SRS, SmartList favorites, Word etc.
Unified Communications: Integration with Office Communicator provides Dynamics GP with presence information
Word templates: Predefined or custom Word templates for doc types like sales quotes and purchase orders
Integration Manager: Adapter enhancement for eConnect includes a Vendor destination
Financials Series Enhancements
General Ledger: Combine multiple General Ledger budgets into a single, master budget, one budget at a time
Payables Management: Exclude all inactive vendor records from the Vendors lookup window and set a default view
Receivables Management: Create a recurring batch for your cash receipts to speed data entry
Collections Management: Total unposted and other cash mounts are shown in the Collection Main window
Analytical Accounting: Track employee expenses by transaction dimensions created in analytical Accounting
Electronic Banking: Create or revise bank format information used to generate EFT files for sales
Encumbrance Management: Encumber purchase order lines under budget and pre-encumber those over budget
Distribution Series Enhancements
Inventory Control: Exclude all discontinued items or discontinued/unavailable items from the Items lookup window
Purchase Order Processing: Automatically generate a specific number of lot numbers when receiving an item
Sales Order Processing: Print back ordered items on picking tickets
Manufacturing Series Enhancements
Production Functions: Sales Forecasting window has an improved user interface
Manufacturing Core Functions: Roll cost changes at a single level or to all levels
Field Service Series Enhancements
Service Call Management: Automatically transfer service calls to history when the billing process is complete
Contract Administration: Specify up to four non-overlapping service hour ranges per day on contracts
Depot Management: Include kits on parts lines for depot work orders
Returns Management: Sales Order Processing return for components on RMA for credit, replace, or cross-ship
Preventive Maintenance: More flexibility in the way preventive maintenance (PM) events are generated
Project Accounting Series Enhancements
Benefit allocation: Associate benefits with a cost category class
Reporting: New SQL Server Reporting Services reports added
Combining Microsoft Dynamics GP with SharePoint
By combining Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains with Microsoft SharePoint Server or SharePoint Foundation, your employees, customers, vendors, and other stakeholders can easily collaborate via controlled sharing of business information, reports, and documents. You can also exploit the powerful features of Microsoft Dynamics GP and SharePoint in order to enhance the efficiency of business processes, increase the value of your information network, and your business to make more informed decisions. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint enable simple-to-implement workflows, powerful search, and collective business intelligence for maximum productivity. Learn more about Progent's
SharePoint consulting services.
Progent's Microsoft Dynamics GP Consultants Can Deliver Business Solutions
Progent can help you set up and maintain a reliable, secure server and communications infrastructure to support Microsoft Dynamics GP, and can provide experienced Microsoft Dynamics GP consultants to help your business understand and exploit the full potential of Microsoft Dynamics GP Release 10.0 or Dynamics GP 2010. If you are looking for a Microsoft Dynamics GP consulting specialist, phone 1-800-993-9400 or email microsoft-dynamics-help@progent.com.
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