This year many employers will be required to do 1095-C reporting in order to be compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). One of the first things to consider is what do I need to do to be compliant for year-end reporting? In other words, find out what is required for year-end reporting for your specific company by reviewing the ACA laws. If you are using Microsoft Dynamics^® GP with Payroll, please review these three action items below to help prepare yourself.

Install the March Hotfix

The first item to take care of is to make sure to install the March hotfix if you are on Dynamics GP 2013 or higher. The March Hotfix is needed in order to do the printing of the 1095-C. If you installed the Payroll year-end update at end of 2014, then you have the ability to track the 1095-C information, however, you can’t print or edit the 1095-C without the March Hotfix.

You also will need to make sure that you have the Human Resources (HR) module installed as this data is entered into the HR module, not the payroll module. In order to do the 1095-C reporting, you would want to install the HR module, enter dependent information, enter ACA codes in the HR benefits window and print the 1095-C form to validate the information. (Please contact your Dynamics GP Partner to assist you with implementing the HR module and installing the March Hotfix.)

Upgrade to a Newer Version of Microsoft Dynamics GP

If you’re currently on a version of Dynamics GP earlier than 2013, such as GP 2010 or GP 10, you will need to upgrade your solution. The fields that are required to be ACA compliant are not available in earlier versions, and you also need to be on a newer version to receive the Payroll Tax Updates.

Know if You Need to File Electronically

The last item you need to consider is whether or not you need to file electronically. If you're a large employer that has 50 full-time equivalent employees or more, you will need to do the 1095 forms, and can print them from Dynamics GP. However, if you need to file electronically, you may need to consider contacting a third-party vendor to help with electronic reporting as Dynamics GP doesn’t provide that functionality. The third-party vendors we recommend reviewing would be either GreenShades or Integrity Data. Both offer strong integrations to Microsoft Dynamics GP and help you streamline the process of year-end reporting.

Be sure you are planning now for the new rules and regulations brought about by the ACA in order to reduce additional work and avoid costly IRS fees. A partner like The Resource Group can help you become compliant with ACA regulations. Contact us for more information.

by Carol Livingston, The Resource Group

Yes, you can still buy Great Plains accounting software; it just has a different name.

Change is hard. People who “grew up” in finance departments using Great Plains software still call the software “Great Plains” even though the name officially changed to Microsoft Dynamics GP over a decade ago. (Great Plains Historical Timeline).

In all honesty, I still call it Great Plains too, even though technically I know I shouldn’t.

Here are a few milestones in the software’s name:

• Great Plains software released Dynamics 1.0 in February 1993.
• Microsoft purchased Great Plains in 2001 for over $1 billion
• The name was changed to Microsoft Business Solutions - Great Plains in 2003
• Then the current name was introduced as Microsoft Dynamics GP in 2005

The software has certainly improved over the years, but the core features users loved about Great Plains software are still the same. Dynamics GP is still a stable, core financial system that just works.

New Tools for a New Era
Of course, a major change over the years from Great Plains to Microsoft Dynamics GP is that now there is much more advanced functionality. There is a much tighter integration to the Microsoft Office components such as Excel and Word. When Microsoft purchased Great Plains in 2001 that was one of the big areas of investment.

There are also new tools in Dynamics GP like Safe Pay, which allows for electronic funds transfers and online bill pay. There was no need for that in the old Great Plains days.

My favorite improvement was the release of SmartList for Dynamics GP. This allows users to be more independent and empowered to build their own reports and find their own data without going to their programming department.

However I think in retrospect, what's really changed the most is the way you buy Dynamics GP software vs. the old Great Plains. You get much more with Dynamics GP than you did in the past with Great Plains, and you're actually paying much less.

Let me explain:

A New Way to Buy
Software packages in the '80s, in the DOS era, were very simple. You basically bought just what you needed for a specific number of users and everybody used the software in the same way. But in the last 15 years the way you buy software has really changed. Not unlike our lives today.

Now, when you buy Dynamics GP you get the Starter Pack. This includes ALL the modules/functionality available. You don't buy modules a la carte. So you end up getting a lot more software than you did in the past. On a typical implementation of Dynamics GP you may implement only a fraction of the modules that you actually own. Usually what is installed in Phase 1 are the core financial modules (General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation).

In Phases 2, 3, 4 and beyond, you can start using the rest of the functionality you already own, such as Fixed Assets, Inventory, Bill of Materials and much more.

Double the Functionality for Half the Price
We started selling Great Plains when it was the DOS product back in 1997, and Windows product was very much in its infancy, (Version 3). At that time a typical distribution company that was purchasing Great Plains for five users needed to buy all of the financial modules as well as all of the supply chain modules. The cost of the Great Plains software alone was probably in the $25,000.00 to $30,000.00 range

Now if you purchase the Dynamics GP Starter Pack with three users for $5,000.00, and add two additional users at $3,000 each, the software price would be at $11,000. So you could conservatively say that for a small business you’re pretty much at half the price of 5 to 6 years ago. And that doesn’t even take into account that Microsoft regularly offers big discounts on the Dynamics GP software list price that we never saw for Great Plains.

Lower Learning Curve
Back in 1993 software was available, but many companies were just coming off manual-based paper systems which meant that the learning curve was much higher. Now when you switch to Dynamics GP from another software system you don't have to learn the whole process, you just learn how to do it a different way. Plus, over the years the user interface has certainly improved so Dynamics GP is easier to learn and navigate.

Better Training, Bigger Community
In the old Great Plains days you could have personal training (in a classroom, not online) or you could get a printed manual, or a video to watch on your VCR. Now there is unlimited online training available to every user. Also there are thousands of YouTube videos and blog posts. And if you are still stuck you can post a question on a user forum or attend a user event.

Speaking of user events, the first Great Plains user event, called Convergence, was in Orlando in 1997 with 164 attendees. Last year in Atlanta there were 12,000 attendees at Convergence. That gives you an idea of the increase in scale.

Great Plains is Dynamics GP
There is no reason to try to compare Great Plains with Dynamics GP. The product is the same, just better and less expensive. How often has that happened in the last decade?

If you are interested in buying Great Plains give us a call, we know what you mean. CAL Business Solutions, 860-485-0910 x4. sales@calszone.com

By George Mackiewicz, CAL Business Solutions, Dynamics GP (Great Plains) Partner, www.calszone.com

Finding a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution can be challenging, especially with so many great options available. So, how do you choose the right product for your business?

At The Resource Group we offer Intacct and Microsoft Dynamics GP. What we suggest to companies is to look at the benefits of each solution and then decide which one is the best fit for your industry.

Intacct

Intacct Cloud financial management and accounting software provides you with real-time financial and operational visibility throughout your business.

Intacct is a great fit for software and high tech companies, primarily those that have subscription billing needs, complex revenue recognition, as well as the need to integrate with a Salesforce.com platform. Secondly, Intacct is also a great fit for organizations that are project accounting oriented, such as architecture firms, professional services and engineering. If your business revolves around projects. Intacct is a better fit.

Microsoft Dynamics GP

Dynamics GP offers a unique combination of business intelligence, collaboration and communication tools that provide increased control, streamlined operations, and forward-looking insight. Any company that manages inventory, such as wholesale distribution, is a great fit for Dynamics GP. Other industries which are a fit include manufacturers and medical labs. If your company manages inventory, we recommend Microsoft Dynamics GP.

So, how do you decide when your particular industry is a great fit for both, such as biotech, healthcare, not-for-profit and hospitality? What we would recommend is taking a look at both solutions to see which one can better meet your needs before making a decision.

Take the first step to finding your new financial management solution by downloading our Dynamics GP and Intacct comparison flyer. Or contact a partner like The Resource Group for more information.

by Brady Curtis, The Resource Group

As a reseller of Microsoft Dynamics^® GP, The Resource Group has several clients who are distributors. A product we highly recommend to our distribution customers using Dynamics GP is SalesPad GP.

SalesPad GP seamlessly integrates with Dynamics GP data to deliver an all in­ one order entry, inventory, purchasing, and sales management solution. It simplifies entry of all purchasing and sales documents. And because users can operate exclusively in SalesPad GP, it adds an additional level of security between them and core financials.

SalesPad GP provides an enhanced user experience so your team can process orders faster and more accurately. This enhanced user experience enables your team to provide a better customer experience.

In addition, it's easy to customize the way you view sales orders in SalesPad GP. You can also add custom defined fields, which helps you to really tailor the platform to fit your business needs.

SalesPad GP is a great tool for customers who have promos and complex pricing models. Instead of having all those extra spreadsheets on the side, having to go into in-depth training for your users, inaccuracies on your sales orders because of those special pricing promos, everything is automatic. So your invoices come out quickly and accurately.  Finally, SalesPad integrates well with Dynamics GP. Because it writes to all the GP tables, the integration is real time. You never have a synchronization issue and your information is immediate. Plus, you get to use all of the core functionality that Dynamics GP offers with SalesPad GP.

If you're interested in finding out more about SalesPad GP, you can contact us, or you can visit www.salespad.net and take a look at their full suite of distribution products for Dynamics GP.

By Marty Schillaci, The Resource Group

A data warehouse is a dynamic solution for Professional Sports organizations utilizing Microsoft Dynamics GP to manage and analyze multiple types of data for robust reports and budgets.   

The size and significance of your data sets today can be huge, perhaps particularly for professional sports teams.  Because this information relates specifically to performance, advertising, profit, and so on, a data warehouse can help professional sports organizations to stay on track with budgeting – for the sake of owners, players, admin personnel, and the finance department.  You might not be that familiar with data warehousing as a solution, so if you have questions, this article will speak to those curiosities and any confusion, so you can best understand how a data warehouse can improve your data management and analyses for professional sports teams using Dynamics GP as well as other data sources.

Let’s start with a definition.  Conceptually, a data warehouse (DW) is a multi-dimensional database.  Additionally, DWs are a virtual storage place and server-staged database, staged on a shared or standalone server.  As a point of comparison, external hard drives offer you a place to store diverse file types and software while today’s commercial DWs provide you with a space to house a variety of transactional and operational data sets.  You can also understand DWs by conceptualizing the solution as a three-dimensional Excel spreadsheet where you can organize all of your transactional and operational data in aggregated, streamlined, and logical ways, which is precisely the purpose of the technology, getting rid of error with business user friendly software.  Management of a modern commercial DW requires a technical database management system, like Microsoft SQL Server Visual Studio or Solver’s application, the BI360 Data Warehouse Manager, which is part of the easy-to-use BI360 Suite platform.

Installation.  Commercial DWs usually come “out of the box,” which means an easy implementation regarding deployment and automation of the software, followed by replicating your professional sports data from Dynamics GP and any additional data sources, like payroll, ticketing, and other systems.  A consultant who can extract, transform, and load (ETL) your information will deploy the DW, then automate the ETL process from your data sources.  Then, a consultant who can streamline and optimize your financial reporting, planning, and dashboard processes will show you how to deepen your decision-making by maximizing the DW to better understand professional sports organization’s data.  The smartest investment would be a DW that comes with a built-in integration directly to GP.  Once the DW is set up and your end users know how to work with it, professionals at all levels of the organization can manage the tool without relying on IT.

To continue learning more about data warehousing for professional sports teams using Microsoft Dynamics GP, read the rest of this article here.

by Solver, Inc

From time to time you may have a customer that underpays what is due and you need to decide either to collect on the debt or write it off. In some cases, it makes more sense to write off that past due balance.

In Microsoft Dynamics GP, this is an automatic process where the system searches for applicable customers and then starts the write-off process.

Each customer has their own credit limit setting. By default, the maximum write-off is set to not allowed.  This needs to be set to a number in order to use the write-off feature. You can set the maximum amount that can be written off by individual customer or for all customers.

You can write off underpayments or overpayments. You can choose one write-off per customer or one write-off per document. For example, if you have a customer who underpays 50 cents on each bill you can write off one of those, or you can write off the entire history of those underpayments.

You can choose to run the write-off for all customers or specific customers. The preview function will give you a list of all of the customers who will qualify for the write-off and how much money will be written off as a total. You can also drill down to find out what the bill was for, how much the total charge was and how much the underpayment was.

Once you finish your preview, you choose process and the posting journals are generated.

by DFC Consultants

New enhancements to Purchase orders allow you to set up a limited way to allow purchase order approvals in Microsoft Dynamics GP without having to add on any additional software.

The approval set up button will show you the list of users you have available in Microsoft Dynamics GP. There you will see the approval type where you can set up levels and restrictions based on dollar amounts. Then you assign who that user reports to.

Then you can choose the security type:

1. The user can only approve POs for users that report to them
2. The user can approve POs for any user up to the approval authority.

Keep in mind the approval settings are specifically based on dollar amount and security type.

If you don’t mark anyone, it will tell you it recommends you set up one user with unlimited approval authority. Without that person, you won’t have anyone that can go in and fix any errors or stuck approvals in the system.

Looking for help with Purchase Orders in Microsoft Dynamics GP? Contact the experts at DFC Consultants.

Today’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, are complex and can be made up of many applications created, and provided, by a vast array of vendors. The challenge end-user companies face today is data consolidation from various systems into a single reporting system in order to track their business more accurately.

A simple example of this configuration might be an end-user company using Dynamics GP as their financial reporting system, a custom point-of-sale (POS) system, and a time entry tracking system. Considering that Dynamics GP is the reporting system, it is necessary to get the data from the POS and time tracking systems into Dynamics GP at a minimum but it may also be necessary for the inventory data in Dynamics GP to be provided to the POS system to ensure the POS system has a current item list, pricing and availability.

Keeping the data in the three systems up to date and consistent requires a considerable amount of time if the end-user company has to perform the updates through manual entry. This process is not recommended for several reasons, the primary reasons being user entry errors and latency. No matter how competent the data entry staff is, mistakes are always made, which seem minor but can have major ramifications. An example might be a transposition error entering item available quantities. The available quantity is 15 and the data entry person enters 51. The POS system now indicates that there are more items available than there actually are, which can lead to lost time trying to find the items after a sale, as well as a customer waiting for items that do not exist. Latency issues effect most external applications. It may take the end-user company a day to enter the prior days’ time entry information so the reporting on this is always at least a day old, which may lead to stale data.

Most of today’s applications provide some type of data export through a physical file or through the use of an Application Programming Interface (API). This definitely helps out the end user by reducing the amount of data that has be updated to a single set or list. The issue with these exports is that most applications are not designed to bring that data in by default. Those systems that provide an import of the data, such as Dynamics GP importing GL transactions, are not flexible and mandate that the end-user company coerce the exported data into a particular format and content. The external system might have customer information but that customer information does not match what is in Dynamics GP so the sales to this customer cannot be brought into Dynamics GP and tracked.

What most companies resort to doing is using Dynamics GP to track the core account information, foregoing the detail information due to time and effort to get it into the system. What this means is that the end-user company may only bring in General Ledger account adjustments and disregard the Sales Transactions or Payroll information. Tracking of this type does keep the account balances up to date but fails to enable the power of the base ERP system, Dynamics GP. Tracking sales trends, repeat customers, daily sales metrics, the list can be quite long.

The solution to optimizing this data interchange is through the use of integrations. Whether it is an out-of-the-box integration, such as a copy/paste tool, or a custom integration process, once an end-user company realizes the time savings, data integrity, and detail that can be provided, the return on investment (ROI) is apparent.

There are some simple questions that an end-user company can answer about their data integration process to determine if they would benefit from an automated integration.

1. Are you spending more than a few hours a week updating this data?
2. Do you have data integrity issues?
3. Are you bringing in the detail that you need to track?
4. Is the data stale?

Integration approaches are diverse and the choice of an approach is usually customer specific depending on the systems that need to integrate and what data needs to be transferred. A sample of the different approaches to a solution are:

1. Dynamics GP Add-in application to import/export a physical data file (user interface).
2. Dynamics GP Add-in application to import/export data from a SQL server data source (user interface).
3. SQL Stored procedure to integrate data on a scheduled basis (no user interface).
4. Windows Service to monitor data folders, FTP Sites, or an applications API for information (no user interface). This service can also be used to transmit data out to an external system.

Learn more about integrations for Dynamics GP by contacting The Resource Group today.

by Dan Roach, The Resource Group

It’s no secret that Microsoft Dynamics GP is a robust enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for a number of industries. Below are two Integration Manager quick tips to help you better use your Dynamics GP software.

Quick Tip 1: Simplify the Mapping Process

A great way to save yourself time when creating Integration Manager integrations is to simplify the mapping process. Many people don’t know that the Integration Manager mapper is drag and drop enabled. This can save you time eliminating the need to select each source field, open the source field lookup and ‘Selecting’ a source field.

Simply open up the Source field one time, and instead of selecting a source field, click on the source field and drag it to the destination field within the mapper. This will create the link and leave the source window open so you can drag and drop all their source field mappings by only opening the source window one time.

Quick Tip #2: Pathname Translations

When creating or updating Integration Manager integrations, one task consistently comes up as a check list item. This can be time consuming. For example, a common task might be that the source of the data files changes from one server or machine drive to another. You may find yourself updating all the ‘Source Adapters’ to point to the new folder or drive. Through the use of Pathname Translations, this can become a very easy and maintainable task.

To use this feature, open the IM options window (Tools -> Options) and change over to the Pathname Translation tab. This window will typically show the default translation IMSamples\, which is set equal to your Integration Manager samples directory. You can define your own translation in this window and use it anywhere that a ‘path’ might be used within Integration Manager, specifically in the Source Adapter definitions. By doing this you can create Source Adapters using a ‘relative’ path and the filename. In the event that the directory for the source files changes, you only need to update the one translation and all the Source Adapters will use the updated path.

Below is a quick example creating a translation called TRG\. Create the translation and assign a Path to it. In this example the path C:\Users\danr\Documents\ will be used anywhere that Integration Manager encounters the string TRG\.

This translation can now be used during Source Adapter definition when specifying the file location.

Once this is done, if the path for the source files changes -- regardless of how many source adapters you have created -- all you need to do is update the path in the translations window and the change will be used by all the source adapters.

Learn more quick tips for Dynamics GP by contacting a partner like The Resource Group.

By Dan Roach, The Resource Group

Is your business tired of dealing with the same software issues day in and day out? You are not alone! Many businesses have recurring issues with their out-of-date systems but they might not have the information on what a new ERP system can really do for them. With the right Microsoft ERP System and proper implementation these challenges that may be holding your business back can be combatted.

Challenge 1: Manual Entry

If your business is using a basic accounting system, likely, employees are dealing with the hassle of having to manually enter orders. This tedious manual entry process can cause major delays in your orders which can lead to extra costs caused by necessary rush orders. A small mistake can lead to a major hassle that not only causes a delay in business, but deflates trusting relationships that have been built with loyal customers.

Solution:

Make order management error-free with a Microsoft Dynamics ERP system. By implementing a system like Microsoft Dynamics GP, you no longer have to take the time entering invoices into Microsoft Word before finalization. The system allows for you to save your work directly in the program so you can work at your own convenience. These editing capabilities make changing orders, creating quotes, and converting invoices easier than ever in your ERP software. Your customized ERP system won’t hurt your positive customer relationships any longer and will only allow for you to continue making more progress within your business.

Challenge 2: Building Reports

A considerable amount of time must be allocated for employees to build reports manually. Not to mention having to compile information from multiple sources can cause a huge headache! Constantly having to go back to double check numbers in your spreadsheets is repetitive, plus you can never be 100% accurate when juggling between Microsoft Excel documents. This untimely routine not only causes major error, but creates an unneeded stress during your work day.

Solution:

When switching to an ERP software it allows for timely reporting of accurate financials customized just for you. This reduces your need to go back and double check time and time again. It also allows for you to send over your reports to other reviewers with a simple click of a button or simply make them available to users via a secure portal or email link.

Challenge 3: Discrepancies in Inventory

If your business is using multiple systems to keep track of inventory, it is likely that much of your information is inconsistent. By not having the correct knowledge regarding inventory, it can lead to unknown transfers of products and old product lists. Products that are out of stock or overstock have the potential to go completely unnoticed leading to unrepresented information in inventory reports. This alone can lead to inaccuracy for entire business segments.

Solution:

To avoid miscommunications about inventory in real-time it is essential to implement an ERP system that promotes inventory accuracy. Your inventory levels will appear consistent no matter the device you use. This consistency will save time and money in the end when out of stock mishaps are completely avoided. With your ERP solution purchases are known across the business so everyone can make informed and accurate decisions for the enterprise.

While Microsoft Dynamics ERP software has numerous benefits on business processes, these are just a few of the issues they can help your business tackle. If you need more help deciding which system works best for your enterprise the best plan is to set up a consultation with your local ERP consultant to determine the best fit for you. For further information on ERP customization and implementation, contact Logan Consulting a Chicago, Milwaukee, and Indianapolis based ERP partner.

Tensoft is pleased to announce the launch of Tensoft DemandOps.  This SaaS demand management solution addresses the shortcomings of "generic" ERP solutions and fits with the "postmodern ERP" strategy preferred by most companies today.  DemandOps was designed to address the needs of customers in the

DemandOps was designed to address the needs of customers in the semiconductor, IoT and technology industries.   Furthermore, it delivers intelligent order-to-cash, returns and distribution management - functionality that is especially relevant to these industries.   In addition, by capturing demand signals from start to finish, it collects important information that is critical to support distributor-based requirements.

Tensoft DemandOps seamlessly integrates with Tensoft cloud apps and Microsoft Dynamics, including Dynamics 365.  Some of the features included are:

• Order management
• Flexible shipping terms management
• Efficient distributor management
• Enhanced visibility, allowing for planning accuracy

Quick overview in this video

In the video below, Tensoft CEO Bob Scarborough gives a quick overview of Tensoft DemandOps.

[vimeo 208368186 w=640 h=360]

Learn more

To learn more about Tensoft’s products and services, visit https://www.tensoft.com/ or contact us.

=GetGP(), the Excel Function that gets data from Dynamics GP database into your spreadsheet, one cell at a time.

At times we need the ability to bring a value from GP into excel, primarily because it could change or to verify if a key is valid. This is a very simple way to provide the much-needed functionality to bring data from GP directly into an Excel spreadsheet and bring Dynamics GP and Excel closer together.

• GL00105 – Account Master (ACTNUMST)
• PM00200 – Vendor Master (VENDORID)
• IV00101 – Item Master (ITEMNMBR)
• RM00101 – Customer Master (CUSTNMBR)
• FA00100 – Account Master (ASSETID)

When using the rest of the parameters, you can point directly to a table and specific fields, check these samples:

A link to a sample spreadsheet (macro enabled) that uses the function included on this blog; you will need to follow the instructions to gain permissions and to point to the right SQL server. Your partner or your IT department can assist you with this task.

Download here the sample Excel file and instructions.

https://files.titaniumgp.net/BlogBits/GetValuesFromGP.zip

The function GetGP Excel UDF (User Defined Function) was created using VBA. If you download the sample file, to see the code for the formula

simply open the VBA Editor (Alt-F11), code is as follows in a module:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

'TitaniumGP'    Excel Functions to bring and validate data from GP'    Version 1.0''    COVERED SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED UNDER CDDL-1.0 LICENSE ON "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,'    EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE COVERED SOFTWARE'    IS FREE OF DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING. THE ENTIRE RISK'    AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE COVERED SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY COVERED SOFTWARE'    PROVE DEFECTIVE IN ANY RESPECT, YOU (NOT THE INITIAL DEVELOPER OR ANY OTHER CONTRIBUTOR) ASSUME THE'    COST OF ANY NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN'    ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENSE. NO USE OF ANY COVERED SOFTWARE IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER'    EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER.''    Provided under License Agreement CDDL-1.0'    https://opensource.org/licenses/CDDL-1.0

Public Function GetGP _
            ( _
                         SearchValue As String, _
                Optional WhichGPTable As String = "", _
                Optional FieldToRetrieve As String = "", _
                Optional KeyFieldToSearch As String = "", _
                Optional CompanyDB As String = "" _
            ) As String'Requires reference to Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects ADO 2.8 (Menu: Tools | References...)
     Dim oConnection As New ADODB.Connection

     Dim sServer As String
     Dim sDatabase As String
     Dim inTransaction As String
     Dim oRecordset As ADODB.Recordset
     Dim sSQL As String

     On Error GoTo ErrorLabel:

     'Connect to the database, get SearchValues from the worksheet advanced properties in the INFO section of Excel'  if you prefer not to use custom properties
     sServer = ActiveWorkbook.CustomDocumentProperties("Server")
     If RTrim(CompanyDB) <> "" Then
        sDatabase = CompanyDB
     Else
        sDatabase = ActiveWorkbook.CustomDocumentProperties("Database")
     End If
     If RTrim(sDatabase) = "" Or RTrim(sServer) = "" Then
        GoTo ErrorConnection:
     End If


     oConnection.Open "provider=sqloledb;data source=" & sServer & ";Trusted_Connection=yes;initial catalog=" & sDatabase & ";"'Validate against SQL Injection
     If InStr(SearchValue, ";") > 0 Or InStr(SearchValue, "--") > 0 Or InStr(SearchValue, "'") > 0 Then GoTo ErrorInput:
     If InStr(WhichGPTable, ";") > 0 Or InStr(WhichGPTable, "--") > 0 Or InStr(WhichGPTable, "'") > 0 Then GoTo ErrorInput:
     If InStr(FieldToRetrieve, ";") > 0 Or InStr(FieldToRetrieve, "--") > 0 Or InStr(FieldToRetrieve, "'") > 0 Then GoTo ErrorInput:
     If InStr(KeyFieldToSearch, ";") > 0 Or InStr(KeyFieldToSearch, "--") > 0 Or InStr(KeyFieldToSearch, "'") > 0 Then GoTo ErrorInput:'Do not allow to bring SearchValues from other databases
     If InStr(WhichGPTable, ".") > 0 Then GoTo ErrorInput:

     Select Case RTrim(WhichGPTable)
        Case Is = ""' Single script to locate description from 5 different entities, you might want to limit depending on database size
            sSQL = "SELECT G1.ACTDESCR Description FROM GL00100 G1 WITH (NOLOCK) JOIN GL00105 G2 ON G1.ACTINDX = G2.ACTINDX WHERE ACTNUMST = '" & SearchValue & "'" & _" UNION " & _"   SELECT VENDNAME FROM PM00200 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE VENDORID = '" & SearchValue & "'" & _" UNION " & _"   SELECT CUSTNAME FROM RM00101 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE CUSTNMBR = '" & SearchValue & "'" & _" UNION " & _"   SELECT ITEMDESC FROM IV00101 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE ITEMNMBR = '" & SearchValue & "'" & _" UNION " & _"   SELECT ASSETDESC FROM FA00100 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE ASSETID = '" & SearchValue & "'" & _""

        Case Is = "ACCOUNT", "A", "ACC"
            sSQL = "SELECT G1." & FieldToRetrieve & " FROM GL00100 G1 WITH (NOLOCK) JOIN GL00105 G2 ON G1.ACTINDX = G2.ACTINDX WHERE ACTNUMST = '" & SearchValue & "'"

        Case Is = "VENDOR", "V", "VEN"
            sSQL = "SELECT " & FieldToRetrieve & " FROM PM00200 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE VENDORID = '" & SearchValue & "'"

        Case Is = "ITEM", "I", "ITM"
            sSQL = "SELECT " & FieldToRetrieve & " FROM IV00101 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE ITEMNMBR = '" & SearchValue & "'"

        Case Is = "CUSTOMER", "C", "CUS"
            sSQL = "SELECT " & FieldToRetrieve & " FROM RM00101 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE CUSTNMBR = '" & SearchValue & "'"

        Case Is = "ASSET"
            sSQL = "SELECT ASSETDESC FROM FA00100 WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE ASSETID = '" & SearchValue & "'"

        Case Else
            sSQL = "SELECT " & FieldToRetrieve & " FROM " & WhichGPTable & " WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE " & KeyFieldToSearch & " = '" & SearchValue & "'"

        End Select

     'Execute the SQL Script
     inTransaction = oConnection.BeginTrans
     Set oRecordset = oConnection.Execute(sSQL)
     If oRecordset.EOF Then'If SearchValue not found then return n/a
         GetGP = "n/a"
     Else' Return the found FieldToRetrieve
         If RTrim(FieldToRetrieve) = "" Then
            GetGP = RTrim(oRecordset(0)) 'Get first column of the dataset
         Else
            GetGP = RTrim(oRecordset(FieldToRetrieve))
         End If
     End If
     oConnection.RollbackTrans
     inTransaction = 0
     oRecordset.Close
     oConnection.Close

     Exit Function

ErrorLabel:
     If inTransaction > 0 Then
        oConnection.RollbackTrans
     End If

     GetGP = "<<Error:" & Err.Description & ">>"
     Exit Function

ErrorInput:

     GetGP = "<<Parameters of this function must not contain ' (single quote) ; (semicolon) or -- (two continuos dashes)>>"
     Exit Function

ErrorConnection:

     GetGP = "<<Database or Server have not been defined in the Custom Properties window>>"
     Exit Function

ExitFunction:

End Function

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For more info visit our website:  http://www.titaniumgp.com/2017/04/getgp-excel-function/

If you want your online business to show up ahead of the competition on Google, you’re going to need search engine optimization.

The good news?

SEO isn’t luck or guesswork. It begins with the way you build your site. And a modern eCommerce solution makes it even easier by taking coding out of the equation and letting you create search-engine optimized content directly through your content management system.

In other words, it’s not as complex as it seems… once you’ve got a handle on the basics.

So, to get you started, let’s take a look at some of the major SEO elements you need to consider when building your web store.

Page Title

The page title is just that: the title text that you see at the very top of your browser window.

It’s also the text you’ll see when the page appears in a search engine results page (SERP for short); which means it’s a critical component of your SEO.

Google displays the first 70 characters of a page title. So, when naming your page, give a thought to what you want your customers to see in search results. You should also take care not to duplicate page titles or incorporate irrelevant terms that could negatively affect your results.

Meta Keywords

In general, keywords are words your clients use during their online search. These words might be products (hiking boots), special offers (shoes for a dollar), or even a description of your site (online shoe store).

Meta keywords, then, are elements of a page that tell search engines about the content of the page. So you might use hiking boots on a product page, shoes for a dollar on a promotion page, and online shoe store for your home page.

These keywords are distinct from page content like product descriptions. While page content may also contain keywords, visitors to your site do not see the meta keywords.

Meta Description

Like meta keywords, the meta description tells web crawlers about the content of the page. As the name implies, it’s a concise description of the page’s contents.

The meta description is more important to advanced SEO than meta keywords. Google in particular no longer crawls meta keywords but does crawl the meta description.

Also, unlike meta keywords, visitors can see meta descriptions from the SERP. As such, meta descriptions should be given the same consideration as other visible content when writing them.

While there is no restriction as to the length, most search engines only look at the first 160 characters.

Breadcrumb

A breadcrumb is a navigation tool. You’ll usually see it at or near the top of the page, where visitors can click through to any of the preceding pages without having to hit the back button:

Home > Kitchen > Cutlery > Knives

Aside from being convenient for your clients, the breadcrumb plays an important role in providing information about the page to search engines. Breadcrumbs are usually generated from page titles, but some eCommerce solutions provide breadcrumb tools that let you customize and fine-tune the text even further.

Canonical Pages

Google hates duplicate content. Years ago, website owners could manipulate search engine results by heavily reproducing keyword-rich pages, so search engines began penalizing sites that did this.

But often there is a legitimate reason for having duplicate content. For instance, you might have a disclaimer that you want to appear on several of your site’s pages.

When you have similar content in more than one place, you can set one of the page URLs as canonical. Doing so tells the search engine that this page takes precedence over the others, letting you sidestep the problem of duplicate content.

Robots.txt

Sometimes you might not want certain pages getting picked up by search engines.

There’s a text file called robots.txt in the top-level directory of your web server. You can use this file to tell web crawlers to disregard specific pages when crawling your site. You can also restrict specific crawlers (for example, if you want a page indexed by Google but not Yahoo).

However, be aware that robots.txt is only protocol. It can’t actually force web crawlers to comply. While this is not typically an issue with search engines, it provides no protection against malicious bots.

Remember, most if not all of these components can be configured easily through the content management system of a good eCommerce solution. With just a little work, your web store’s Google ranking will be climbing in no time!

Ready to talk with an eCommerce specialist about implementing these strategies for your web store? Give us a call and let's talk about your project.

k-eCommerce is an innovative B2B and B2C eCommerce platform that integrates to Microsoft Dynamics. It allows you simplify and accelerate your organization’s ability to sell online by pulling pricing, inventory, product information and more from Dynamics and displaying it on your online store. Contact us today and discover how our eCommerce solutions can help your business grow.

By k-eCommerce

"How to close Dynamics GP sessions from remote using TGP Remote Control"

Suppose you send an email

to all users:

Please log out of GP before you go home since we need to run Inventory Reconciliation tonight.
Sincerely, GP Admin

You know the results.

Certain processes in Dynamics GP require exclusive access to some functions, this means no user should be in particular transactions or batches in order to execute. But at times, users might leave their workstation with GP opened with an opened transaction preventing these processes to be executed.

With TGP Remote Control, is exactly that, close windows or GP for users remotely, with a press of a button, (Uses File | Close Windows or File | Exit), if users do not have any unsaved transactions, the windows will be closed or GP will end nicely. And you can run Inventory Reconciliation without executing “creative” SQL statements. TGP Remote Control can tell you for how long their computer has been idle.

The second function is the ability to unlock batches that have been marked for post when they didn’t finish processing or to remove the locks from DEX_LOCK, SY00800 and SY00801 for documents that got stranded.

How does it work?

 TGP Remote Controlcommunicates with each TGP Remote Control of all the other sessions and receives commands like: “Close all Windows” or “Close GP”.

“The Button” is the option to reset batch status when process got interrupted.

Who can take advantage of this intelligent tool and how?

GP administrators are the main users of TGP Remote Control.

It allows them to:

• Understand each client install.
• See the versions of the modules installed, including modified dictionaries.
• To close inactive sessions  releasing locks that prevent other users or processes to execute.

How is it different from competing products?

TGP Remote Control allows you to:

• See the GP Environment multiple ways: workstation by workstation or in Terminal Server or in Citrix. Check idle time.
• Allows power users to close GP Sessions when needed, other products close sessions on a particular time or when idle.

Watch a real-life Story where Ruth a GP Manager stop the wait and started enjoying her free time again.

Staying on top of your equipment availability is always a big challenge for operations, especially for rental organizations, where turnover for equipment is complex and involves multiple depots. DynaRent provides easy access to equipment availability on depot, nation-wide, or at the global level. Our software’s highly visual approach allows your rental operations team to make easy decision focused on equipment availability and maximum utilization rates.

Image 1: Looking at equipment-availability

DynaRent’s Graphical Equipment Availability

DynaRent’s Graphical Equipment Availability dashboard pulls critical elements from detailed equipment records into interactive overviews that let you visualize, analyze, and create transactions quickly and accurately. This will help your rental department to quickly analyze, monitor, and take action about equipment with confidence. For example, DynaRent graphical overviews for a specific time-range include:

Overview of your equipment availability in time

• Is it on-rent?
• Is it being sold?
• Is it being quoted?
• Is it in maintenance?
• Is it in transport?

Overview of total availability

• On equipment type per depot (depot manager)
• On equipment type nation-wide (fleet manager)
• On equipment type globally (global fleet division)

Create transactions immediately

• Create rentals – short- or long term
• Create service jobs – periodic and corrective maintenance
• Create transportation – fleet management

Image 2: Interface equipment-availability

DynaRent works like a native part of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations, so equipment rental processes are integrated across all areas of your business. All information is stored in the Dynamics database and can be instantly accessed by any department for analysis and decision-making.

Watch our product video where we demonstrate the complete rental desk experience directly from DynaRent’s graphical equipment overview in Dynamics 365 for Operations here: Product video – DynaRent Rental Desk Experience

The last few months we’ve written multiple blogs regarding the equipment rental industry. And we will keep informing you by writing new content.

Are you looking at how IT innovations can benefit your equipment rental business and its models? Then this article might be useful  for you.  It offers a summary of our top 3 blog articles about the equipment rental industry.

Image: Rental industry

1. New trends in equipment rental call for flexible, future-ready software

Let’s start with the first article where we talked about New trends in equipment rental call for flexible, future-ready software. We directly spoke about the need to be ready to take on new trends in equipment rental. And it will reflect you’re in tune with today’s customers. This article also addresses some of the technology-driven rental models. They are making an entry into the equipment rental industry.

2. Top equipment-driven rental trend: Get online to expand presence and profits

Another article--Top equipment-driven rental trend: Get online to expand presence and profits--  discusses how the Digital Revolution is impacting the rental business. And more important, how digital trends can be a game-changer for your company. The industrial revolution 4.0 is shifting the balance from in-store to online selling for both retail and commercial businesses, and our article lays out some compelling reasons for embracing an online rental model.

3. Graphical Equipment Rental Dashboards—More than a pretty face for data-driven equipment rental

In Graphical Equipment Rental Dashboards—More than a pretty face for data-driven equipment rental, we describe how you can provide your equipment rental department with complete overviews and drilldowns that let them make the right decision within the right time-frame. There’s nothing simple about managing equipment rental, especially in a global, services-focused marketplace. But there is huge opportunity and reward if you’re able to turn on a dime to meet customer needs while getting every calorie of utilization from your equipment.

“Market trends for equipment rental will keep changing, and today’s consumer fad will be tomorrow’s commercial demand.”

Interested in learning more? Visit www.highsoftware.com to learn about DynaRent or contact us at info@highsoftware.com

The equipment rental market is exploding with opportunity. But at the same time it is a market with complex rental processes. Both business customers and consumers turn to rental to conserve or spread out cash expenditure.

The range and scope for rental goods and services is very wide. Heavy equipment industries need to handle complex projects that involve international fleet transport, bulk and serialized equipment, resources, and complex forecasting and budgets.

Image 1: Rental processes in the equipment industry

Simplify you rental processes

DynaRent reflects HiGH Software’s mission of giving multiple rental industries a proven, innovative solution that can handle tradition and changing rental trends. Simplify your equipment rental processes. Dyna Rent has a broad, deep functionality that spans virtually any scenario. DynaRent is part of a modular solutions suite that’s designed to meet multi-industry needs for equipment rental, leasing and services. Choose what you need now, and then add capabilities at any time. This way you will not only have great insights into your rental processes, but also complete control.

DynaRent, the modulair solution for every rental process

DynaRent for Dynamics 365 for Operations Management solution maps your entire rental process chain with the rest of your organization, including financials, operations, sales, rental, projects, service management, and mobile field services. It helps you streamline processes for a number of things. For example:
Rental Quotations
Rental Orders
Rental Projects
Rental Inventory
Fleet Management
Transport Planning
Service Planning
Equipment Maintenance
Equipment Purchase
Equipment Sales

Our software also lets you tailor processes to meet industry-specific requirements with ease and flexibility. In fact, you can pre-configure up to 70 percent of your requirements using our flexible templates. Making it the ideal solution for every process.

“Our Rental Management system is broadly used by many world-wide equipment rental companies and our solution has over 15 years of functionality embedded from the start.”

Interested in learning more? Visit www.highsoftware.com to learn about DynaRent or contact us at info@highsoftware.com.

Equipment-driven rental and service companies often rely heavily on field resources, in particular service engineers whose work orders range from routine to “just in time” service calls, onsite project tasks, and more. Mobile technologies are rapidly becoming a must-have to ensure that workers have quick access to precise information, documentation, and workflow.

Equipping field staff to execute key tasks while staying connected to the back office can sharply increase service efficiency, reduce overhead and errors, improve customer satisfaction. There’s much to gain from using a dedicated ISV solution for equipment rental processes, especially if it can offer you full mobility through the Microsoft PowerApps platform. That’s precisely what DynaRent for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Dynamics AX offers.

Image1 1: DynaRent PowerApps

How to increase fix rate in real time, in the field

On the one side, DynaRent PowerApps helps diverse equipment-driven companies meet a common challenge: increasing first-time-fix rate. Our standardized processes and integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 make “on the go” mobility consistent, reliable, and accurate. But companies and service scenarios come in all shapes and sizes.
DynaRent PowerApps allows your company to configure workflow for every service engineer so that they receive the right information, including diagnostics and the correct order for task execution.
You also have the flexibility to change workflow in just seconds, with assurance that field techs using mobile devices receive all updates instantly. Behind the scenes, project managers and planners use DynaRent’s rich capabilities and full Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration to schedule, allocate, and monitor service tasks.

Image 2: keep data secure with DynaRent PowerApps

Technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and assisted service innovations like Augmented Reality and 3D are also becoming part of the solutions landscape. There are many mobility software options available, but if you’re using or considering DynaRent for Microsoft Dynamics, we can offer a solution that connects field operations, customer-facing communications, and back office processes across a multi-location Enterprise.
You can read more about DynaRent PowerApps in the following articles:

• How DynaRent industry-specific Microsoft Dynamics PowerApps help your business thrive
• Reduce invoice cycle times with Rental PowerApps: mobile registration & direct processing
• How mobile apps can help equipment-driven rental and service companies give more to customers with less effort

Interested in learning more or do you want a tailored demonstration? Visit www.highsoftware.com to learn about DynaRent or contact us at info@highsoftware.com

 Business Intelligence (BI) tools are mostly used by analysts to help them make strategic decisions. A useful BI-tool combines and connects diverse data to help companies define and reach business. From a strategic perspective, BI makes understanding and setting profit and growth goals faster and easier. At the same time BI is very useful when working with short- term goals, such as daily sales and rental performance.

Common business intelligence tools make it possible to create detailed analyses of databases coming from different types of systems. They also foster insight across the whole organization. Of course, the ultimate goal should be to create “The Holy Grail of business intelligence” for your company. Let’s explore some examples.

Image 1: Business intelligence creates insight across the whole organization

Compare and decide: agility vs. efficiency

The focus within business intelligence is changing. Companies need to go beyond historical reporting, because forecasting has become just as important. New technologies are making accurate predictions possible. A future-oriented approach to business intelligence helps companies become more agile. They can anticipate emerging needs and customer demand and work proactively to address those predictions. This agility leads to better strategic decisions.

Image 2: Example of a business intelligence ***-pit using a business intelligence tool

ERP software, on the other hand, is built to deliver efficiencies to a company. It comes in many forms: improved communication between departments, cost savings and business process performance. Many analysts, including Gartner and CIO.com, believe that proper ERP implementation improves an organization’s overall performance.

Because data-driven business approaches have become so important, the trend is for ERP software to include embedded business intelligence tools. If companies have tools at hand, they can work flexibly with approaches to gathering insight. With a strong toolset, they can gain a thorough understanding of ongoing performance and predict future outcomes—merging both an efficiency-based approach with an agility-focused approach. BI becomes a path to making both short-term and strategic decisions about operations, profits, growth, and more.

In the end, business intelligence can work as part of your total business system to improve performance and help your company move forward.

Interested in learning more or do you also want a tailored demonstration? Visit www.highsoftware.com to learn about DynaRent or contact us at info@highsoftware.com 

Today, more consumers are making online purchases than ever before.  More than 79 percent are shopping online and 51 percent use a mobile phone to buy online. If you’re slow to adjust to the new retail landscape, your business will feel the impact. So, what is a brand to do? Drop shipping can be an excellent way to meet consumer expectations and keep costs in check.

What is drop shipping

With drop shipping, retailers sell products that they never hold in inventory. In this model, vendors are responsible for warehousing and fulfilling orders.  Here's how it works:

1. The customer orders from the retailer's e-commerce site.
2. Supplier fulfills and ships the order, using the retailer's branded packaging materials.
3. Customer experiences a seamless transaction.
4. Everybody wins!

When done correctly, retailers increase their product offerings with little capital investment. Suppliers enjoy new trading partner opportunities and increased sales channels.

Getting ready to drop ship

Before implementing a drop ship program, think about how it will affect order fulfillment and team resources.

Drop shipping's increased document flow can tax existing systems and teams. Can your EDI systems and processes support the extra volume? Remember that accurate and efficient documentation compliance for all trading partners is vital. Will you need increased staffing or new technology to handle the influx of order volume? Take the time to evaluate your current resources and technology.

Additional considerations

Returns are inevitable. What's your plan to handle them? Think about the following:

• Does the item go back to the vendor?
• Will you accept it at a retail location?
• Do you want different return policies for different categories?

Create a plan and then clearly state the return policies for consumers. You should also include return information in each drop ship order.

Drop shipping does add complexity to the relationship between retailer and vendor. But with careful planning, both retailers and brands can meet the needs of today’s consumer.

SPS Commerce powers the trading relationships of over 70,000 customers. Want to learn more about how we can help set your brand up for drop-shipping success?

CONTACT US TODAY