Category: GP (Great Plains)

As mentioned in the last post, more functionality has been added to the base Workflow 2.0 module, adding more flexibility. This second enhancement has seen the addition of new workflow conditions:

Two new options for what happens when step conditions are not met:

• Continue to next step
• Reject

While it’s nice to see new features being added to Workflow 2.0, I’m not entirely sure of the use case for this addition, although it might become clear once I can get hands on with it.

My initial thought is if the condition isn’t met why would I want to continue to the next step? If I wanted that to happen then, surely, I would have had different conditions in the first place?

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1 reached Release to Manufacturing (RTM) yesterday. This means the product is ready to ship and Microsoft will, in the next few days, finalise the shipping process and make it available for download on the 1st May 2016.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 includes a new HTML5 web client with cross-browser support (including iPad, Android, and Windows).

Key additions to the All in One Doc viewers; ODATA service for Power BI, new service based architecture entities and 35+ functionality features prioritized by customers; see my feature of the day posts for more details.

If you’re going to the Amplify conference in five weeks time you’ll get to see the highlights of the Dynamics GP 2016 R1.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 saw the introduction of the Workflow 2.0 (which was the subject of my fourth book. Workflow 2.0 was enhanced further in both Microsoft Dynamics 2015 R1 and R2, and is again being improved in Dynamics GP 2016 R1.

This time, the enhancement is a twofold one. Firstly, the Batch Edit lists have a default Word Template and, secondly, this can be emailed to the workflow approver:

The main features of are:

• Workflow Batch Approvals now have a default Word Template for the following edit lists:
• General Ledger Batches
• Payables Batches
• Receivables Batches
• Can be emailed to approver for complete information before approving

I think this feature will prove to be popular with those clietn using Workflow approvals as an approver will always want s much information before approving as possible. This will likely be of great interest when Workflow approvals are being used.

As mentioned in the previous post, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 SP2 saw the introduction of SmartList Designer and have been gradually improving it since. This new feature allows a user to create a new SmartList from a favourite, instead of just from a SmartList Object:

The main features of are:

• A user can create a new SmartList from a favourite using Designer
• The user doesn’t have to remove all extra columns from the default SmartList

This new feature will ease the creation of a SmartList Object simialr to an existing favourite instead of a copy of the default SmartList Object to which the favourite belongs.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 SP2 saw the introduction of SmartList Designer. It was reasonably useful, but nowhere near as useful as SmartList Builder. Little by little Microsoft are making SmartList Designer more useful. Microsoft Dynamics 2016 R1 actually makes it quote a bit more useful by adding the ability to export and import SmartLists:

One f the problems with SmartList Designer was that you had to create the SmartList on the server on which you wanted it; you could not develop it on a test system or development system and if, as a partner, you wanted to give it to another client you had to recreate it. This is why I often created SQL Views and plugged them in rather than creating the SmartList in the Designer.

I’ll need to do some testing to see how good the export/import functionality is, but this feature may allow us to put together SmartLists on our development system and then export them for clients.

In Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R1 Analytical Accounting has been enhanced to add an option to allow users to be given access to all transaction dimensions:

This is a nice simple feature but one which will make maintaining Analytical Accounting so much easier. I have more clients using the old Multi-Dimensional Analysis than AA, with maintaining access being one of the sticking points so I may have to have a chat with them and see if this changes the equation.

MDGP 2016 R1 Feature of the Day: Budget Import Exception Report

This feature of the day is the production of an exception report during the Budget import. This is going to be a very popular one:

The main features of are:

• When importing a budget from Excel, an exception report will print displaying accounts that aren’t setup in Dynamics GP

The Budget Wizard is a good tool, but it has always been problematic to identify accounts on the budget upload which didn’t exist. This new feature will make importing budgets far easier now any missing accounts are highlighted.

I have a couple of customers who might be tempted to upgrade just to get this one feature (including one who just upgrade to Dynamics GP 2015 R2.

MDGP 2016 R1 Feature of the Day: Payroll Posting Accounts

Again a US and Canadian only feature of the day; the use of Payroll posting accounts has been made easier:

The main features of are:

• See all posting accounts in a navigation list
• Easily filter and sort accounts with navigation list functionality
• Export and Import payroll posting accounts using Microsoft Excel

MDGP 2016 R1 Feature of the Day: Prepayments on Purchase Orders

Again this feature of the day is building on one introduced in a recent version. Prepayments were introduced in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2, but all the clients I spoke to about it said that it wasn’t useful as the prepayment could only cover the subtotal.

This feature of the day allows the prepayment amount to cover taxes, freight and miscellaneous:

The main features of are:

• Prepayment amount on purchase orders can now include Taxes, Freight and Miscellaneous
• Entire PO amount can be included in the prepayment

This update to prepayments finally makes them usable. I’ll need to remember the clients I have previously discussed it with and let them know of the new functionality.