Cash Receipts Inquiry Applied Payments Drill Down

Sometimes users can find it particularly challenging to answer Customer’s questions about which invoices were applied to a particular payment. There are numerous ways to get at this information, but one of my favorite approaches is a SmartList

Navigation = SmartList > Sales > Receivables Transactions > Cash Receipts Entered Today

This SmartList is, by default, filtered for Payments with a Document Date of Today. It can easily be modified to restrict by date ranges, customer name/number and/or payment amounts then saved as various additional favorites (i.e. Payments by Customer, Payments by Amount, etc.)

In this SmartList, when you double click on a payment, Dynamics GP opens the Cash Receipts Inquiry Zoom Window, which contains detailed information about this payment (cash, check or credit card, dates, comments, etc.)  

This window also has an Apply Button. Clicking on the Apply Button opens the Applied To Debits Window, which presents a list of Documents Applied to the payment the user double clicked on.  From here, these documents can be accessed, viewed and printed.

If you just have folks on the phone with customers, this SmartList, which can be filtered by Customer, Dates, Document Numbers and Amounts, etc. and drills down into the specifics, once a particular payment is located, would likely do nicely to meet their needs.  

In some cases, this may not be the sum total of your problem, but on the off chance you do have folks in Finance or Collections struggling with this problem with some minor training, this may resolve most of the issues causing consternation.  If your needs go well beyond this, Dynamics GP has a Collections Management module available, with a host of features to improve customer interaction.

Fourteen... ahem Nine Things I Hate about Dynamics GP plus One Thing I Hate about Management Reporter

Last year, I first published my Article, 10 things I hate about Dynamics GP. With the introduction of Dynamics GP 2015, I must update my list. No longer can I complain about the weak integration of Active Directory with Dynamics GP.

Thanks to the diligence of Microsoft, we can cross another issue off my list, With the previous improvements, introduced in Dynamics GP 2013, this release takes another one of my "Top Five" issues off my list. For those keeping score at home, that is four "Top Five" issues, resolved in the space of 24 months.

Dynamics GP 2015 now integrates with Active Directory and Azure. Work flow has been improved, and numerous other functional improvements were introduced.

I want all who read this to understand this post for what it is, a list of MY frustrations with Microsoft Dynamics GP and Management reporter.   I have been implementing and supporting Dynamics GP, by choice, since 1996.  Like many consultants, Dynamics GP is not the only solution I have implemented and supported.  I have worked with satisfied clients on Macola, Intuitive, Solomon and Platinum.

I freely share my list with potential clients during demonstrations in an effort to set expectations correctly.  I also suggest potential clients ask for a similar list from the people performing the demonstration of competing products.  As it turns out all other software is perfect, zero defects, nothing they can do better, just ask them - we all know, no software is perfect.

If you would have asked me for this list, when I was a fledgling consultant, my list would have started with Btrieve error 20.  A couple of years ago the top item on my list was the Year-End Close window.  Here's an interesting and important observation about my list, it is ever-evolving.   

Great Plains and ultimately Microsoft have managed to consistently resolve the issues I find most objectionable.  Sometimes solutions are a long-time coming, like having to choose your desired printer prior to printing a report, which previously checked in at number four on my list. Other issues, I never knew I had, until an improvement was introduced like SmartLists.

My list follows...  You will note some of the list has been struck through - these are items Microsoft resolved with the release of GP 2013 and 2015.  So, without further adieu here is MY list of 10 9 Things I Hate About Dynamics GP and 1 thing I hate about Management Reporter:

1. Year-End Close window is (was) poorly designed; No Progress Bar, No Confirmation, No Options.
2. Required Fields Error.  On save, GP should shift focus to the problem field or list required fields with NULL values.  It does not.
3. There is no Account / Sub-Account relationship in Dynamics GP, so users must create every possible posting account combination.
4. Desired printer must be selected before print.  Standing ovation on announcement leads to awkward moment.
5. Expansion of some GP windows sometimes give you 4 more inches of Grey Border, instead of more columns of data.
6. Expansion of the SmartLists window was poorly executed.  User could not suppress navigation tree, stretching the window produced little benefit.
7. Discard Changes option is not universal. You open a transaction, review and close it.  GP asks you to save it, but you don't remember changing anything. What do you do now?  Delete the transaction?  Save an undesirable change?  How about a third option, no matter where you are in the system; Discard Changes?
8. Weak Active Directory Integration.  Management Reporter, Web Client, SSRS Reports all use Active Directory. Dynamics GP still uses SQL Authentication.
9. Dynamics GP has two Bill of Materials Modules. These modules have different features, functions and tables and are completely incompatible going forward.
10. State Payroll Reporting has been left to Greenshades, a third party.  Every US business reports to at least one state.
11. There is a disconnect on some Modular Voids. Transactions that originate in other modules must be voided in these originating modules to maintain accurate accounting records in Microsoft Dynamics GP. If you use Bank Reconciliation to void a transaction that was entered in another module, you receive a warning message that suggests that you void the transaction in the other module. You may continue through this message. However, the original transaction remains in the module in which the transaction was created. Reference KB858473
12. Standard Navigation's departure from palettes to multi-level chained navigation.  Ah, the good old days.  I look back fondly on the days when one could navigate to Tools > Setup > System > Security and a palette containing all Security related menu options would open (User, User Access, User Security, etc.)  This palette could be pinned down, so you could move effortlessly between these related windows.  Now, it takes four levels of navigation to get to these options, and there is no easy way to transition between these related windows.  If you don't remember this feature, you can't miss it.  You really had to be there.
13. Report Writer could use a Face Lift. Well-trained folks are all powerful with this tool, novices are typically lost.  There has to be a happy medium.  Easy to use, and incredibly flexible.  And don’t get me started on why a customer needs to buy a third-party solution to replace a default report with an SSRS version.
14. Management Reporter Data Mart has to be recreated too frequently. I feel too many issues with Management Reporter are resolved by recreating the Data Mart.

As you can see, my list is really 13  14 Things I (used to) Hate About Dynamics GP.  To keep the list at 10 Things I Hate About Dynamics GP I have added one more nagging issue to my list, albeit an issue with Management Reporter and the Data Mart integration with Dynamics GP.

P.S. One of the best things about Microsoft Dynamics GP has always been the enthusiastic partner channel that works tirelessly to fill the gaps in what always ever will be an imperfect system.  In many ways this asset has made it possible for Microsoft to "take its time" while managing significant change.

Dynamics GP Receivables Aging is Too BIG, long, many pages...

I was recently working with a new customer on an upgrade. As part of the upgrade process, I have clients print various reports for comparison (before and after) the upgrade process. Typically I advise clients to print these reports to PDF, or similar file format. Some print outs can be quite large.

In this instance, the Receivables Aging report was more than 1500 plus pages long. So, I asked, "what's up with that?" Turns out, their previous partner had told them, "that was just how GP worked." Rarely do the words , "that's just wrong"  escape my mouth when criticizing my predecessors. I usually say things like that's not the approach I typically recommend, or something similar, acknowledging the possibility users were presented alternatives and may have selected the alternative of their own accord.

In this case, it is safe to say, the partner providing this information was wrong. If you have assumed the Receivables Aging report perpetually grows, or have been told this by someone, allow me to disabuse you of this notion.  There is a mechanism in GP, which can be used to shrink the aging by moving fully applied payments to history.

This tool, which can be misunderstood by users and consultants, is called Paid Transaction Removal...  Sales > Routines > Paid Transaction Removal

I believe the thing that puts people off about this feature is the use of the word Removal. In reality the routine moves transactions to history, which occurred before the specified cutoff dates. 

This process, when run, will “set in stone” cash applications for past documents, and prevent NSF transactions from being processed on payments within the Cut Off date. My recommendation to clients is leave enough cushion within the cutoff date to allow normal processing of NSF transactions, and changes in Cash Application.  

Some clients, do this at the end of every month (i.e. publicly traded companies), and others leave a full year open by processing at year end with a cutoff date of the year before (i.e. 12/31/2013 when closing 2014).  This makes a lot of sense, because closing a year, actually hard closes the prior year, and adjustments can be made to the last closed year in GP. 

As with any major update to the database, you should have a backup handy, should things not go exactly to plan.  It is also possible/recommended to update your test database, so you can run this process there to get an idea of the impact.  

When this process was run by a client who had not done it, ever, it took some time to run, so if you are in a similar situation, I would recommend you run this process when you have exclusive access to GP, and no one is going to need to use it for the duration of this process.