by steveendow@gmail.com (Steve Endow)
So I read about Mark Polino's new Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook through several of the GP blogs, including, naturally, Mark's own DynamicAccounting.net blog which does a great job of highlighting tasty morsels of GP goodness cooked up by MVPs and other top GP chefs.
As soon as I heard about the book, I got in touch with the good folks at Packt Publishing and pleaded for a review copy as soon as it was available.
Unfortunately, I was a little bit ambitious. Between the in-laws visiting from China and my wife getting ready to have our second child in the next few weeks while my two year old demands more Dora,things have been hectic, to say the least. (Insane, perhaps?) I received the book, all shiny and crisp, but it had to sit on my desk for a few weeks until my sanity levels returned to normal.
So, finally, at 4:30am this morning, after I dropped off the in laws to go on a Las Vegas + Grand Canyon tour, I figured it was the perfect, and rare quiet opportunity to finally give The Cookbook the time that it deserved.
First, the "Cookbook" title is excellent, as it is written from the perspective of the user who wants to use GP. It isn't a dry or tedious reference manual that needs to be studied and digested (pun!). It's a book with great suggestions on actually using GP, getting the most out of GP, and pointing out those features that many users never knew existed, but would make their lives so much easier.
For example, have you configured My Reports? Or are you still wasting time navigating through the Reports menu while taking a call on your rotary phone?
And did you know that there is a way to fix AutoComplete errors without having to clear all of the AutoComplete entries? Seriously? I just learned about that from The Cookbook, and honestly I'm a bit embarrassed. With all of the repetitive entry I have to do for testing, and with all of the mistakes I make doing that data entry, I need this feature!
Hmmm, do you know how to quickly and fully create new inventory items without having to go into the 5 or 6 windows required to fully setup a new item? Page 69 has step by step instructions on how and when to use this feature that, trust me, will save a lot of time.
Are you wasting time waiting for data to export from SmartLists into Excel? Pages 138 - 154 offer three great ways to bypass SmartLists and get your data directly into Excel, which is especially powerful for users who regularly need to extract thousands of records out of GP. I've had clients that regularly exported over 100,000 records from GP for analysis in Excel, so whenever I see someone try and export more than 1,000 records, I definitely recommend one or two of the approaches Mark has laid out in detail in his Cookbook (and I just learned about a new one!).
And to wrap up my early morning review, I see that The Cookbook dutifully covers how to use the Reconcile to GL feature. I can't count the number of times I've received calls from clients who discovered that their subledgers don't tie to their trial balance. They don't know where to start, or understand how to perform the subledger reconciliation in GP. This is a process that every consultant or accounting manager should be familiar with.
Even if you think you know everything about GP (in which case you are fooling yourself), this book at a minimum reminds you of many features and functions that you may have forgotten or not used in a while. Collectively, the valuable and concise content on the 297 pages will provide value to you and your organization.
If you have invested in Dynamics GP, you've already spent thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars in software, consulting, and training. And I'll bet that the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook will humble you once you realize how many useful features there are in GP that you haven't bothered to use or that you never even knew about. It's well worth the investment and should be standard issue for any consultant or GP customer.
In fact, for you consultants out there, it would be a great gift for your clients, and a great excuse to visit them and have a conversation to discuss if they are using GP as efficiently and effectively as possible. [emphasis in original]
Hats off to Mark for putting together such a valuable handbook for the GP community!
via Dynamics GP Land
The Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook
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Solve real-world Dynamics GP problems with over 100 immediately usable and incredibly effective recipes
Overview of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Cookbook
- Discover how to solve real-world Dynamics GP problems with immediately useable recipes
- Follow carefully organized sequences of instructions along with screenshots
- Understand the various tips and tricks to master Dynamics GP, improve your system's stability, and enable you to get work done faster
- Access proven and effective Dynamics GP techniques from an author with over 10 years of experience in Dynamics GP
- Covers the new features in Dynamics GP 2010
In Detail
Microsoft Dynamics GP is an Enterprise Resource Planning system, essentially an accounting system on steroids, designed for mid-sized organizations. The implementation of Dynamics GP is usually considered to be complex, and people often realize there must be more efficient ways of working with the system. This book will show readers how to improve their use of Dynamics GP and get the most out of this tool quickly and effectively.
This book picks up where implementation training leaves off. Whether you are new or experienced you will find useful recipes for improving the way you use and work with Dynamics GP. The clear recipe steps and screenshots make implementing these solutions easy for users of any level and will be sure to improve your efficiency with the Dynamics GP system.
The book starts with recipes designed to enhance the usefulness of Microsoft Dynamics GP by personalizing the look and feel of the application. Most of the recipes are designed to give tips for a typical installation of Dynamics GP, including core financials and distribution modules. The book then moves through recipes that include automating Dynamics GP to allow users or administrators to focus on value adding tasks, harnessing the power of SmartLists to leverage both simplicity and power, connecting Dynamics GP to Microsoft Office 2007, exposing hidden features in Dynamics GP, and much more!
By following the clear recipe steps and screenshots in this book, you will learn what is required to improve your efficiency with the Dynamics GP system
Find solutions to common Dynamics GP problems, and effectively manage your business processes
What you will learn from this book
- Create and run macros in Dynamics GP
- Activate hidden features of Dynamics GP
- Improve the usability of Dynamics GP by hacking the system
- Leverage the impressive and powerful SmartList feature using proven techniques
- Enhance your Dynamics GP processes using various tools and tips
- Prevent and correct errors in Dynamics GP using proven methods
- Maintain Dynamics GP and ensure proper operation of the system using optimum processes
- Connect Dynamics GP to Microsoft Office using different options
- Improve the efficiency of ordinary Dynamics GP applications
Approach
As a cookbook, this book enables you to solve real-world Dynamics GP problems with immediately useable recipes that unleash the powerful functionality of Dynamics GP. The book provides tips, techniques, and solutions designed to show users how to improve their use of Dynamics GP, not simply perform basic tasks.
Who this book is written for
If you are a Dynamics GP user or Dynamics GP partner primarily focused on delivering time-proven application optimizations, then this book is for you. This book assumes that you have a basic understanding of business management systems, with basic knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics GP. All the recipes are real-world tested and designed to be used immediately.
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