It’s that time of year again to think about closing the fiscal year. With many clients making the switch from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Microsoft Business Central, I’ve been asked many times, “how do I close the books in Business Central?” “Do you have an eBook on it?” or “is Crestwood going to have a … Read more
Great Plains HR and Payroll Module Changes Some Microsoft Dynamics GP users will be seeing some changes in the upcoming years. The Human Resources and Payroll suites consist of four modules that provide existing functionality to Dynamics GP installations that will be discontinued in March of 2022. The four modules in question are: Payroll Extensions – … Read more
Save time by ordering pre-formatted tax forms and checks for Microsoft Dynamics GP and Dynamics SL. Crestwood Associates has partnered with Deluxe Checks offering you a Priority Service Code on all orders of IRS-approved tax forms, checks, invoices, and more. With this Priority code, you’ll receive special offers, discounts, and ease of ordering Dynamics related … Read more
Year-end is coming too quickly – can you believe the year is almost over? For our Dynamics GP folks, it’s time to start looking at what needs to be done. October 2021 Dynamics GP Release Let’s start with the latest release – Dynamics GP 18.4. Microsoft has added a ton of functionality this time around. … Read more
This is the second consecutive year of an event that we all hope won’t become an annual one: the IRS announced changes yet again to the 1099-NEC form. There are minor changes to some boxes, and the 1099-NEC form is now three forms per page (where last year it was two). Form 1099-NEC sizing: there … Read more
Accurate reporting is paramount to making effective decisions in any business. In Microsoft Dynamics GP, SmartLists are a fantastic tool for organizing your data exactly how you need it. In Dynamics GP, there are out-of-the-box SmartLists already loaded in your system. Those are great places to start, but when is anything ever perfect right out … Read more
As we sit on the precipice of the next Microsoft Dynamics GP release (scheduled for October), we figured it was time to again check in with our Great Plains folks! Payroll Tax Updates The first thing we should note is the updated payroll tax tables. Late July saw Round 4 updates in Idaho, Kansas, New … Read more
Dynamics 365 Business Central is better than Dynamics GP or Dynamics SL. You must try it out. Just as we love classic cars, vinyl records, and drive-in theatres, we love Great Plains, Dynamics GP and Dynamics SL too! But sometimes nostalgia needs to take a backseat to efficiency. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is simply … Read more
Often our success stories highlight a customer’s journey through choosing a new ERP system (Acumatica or Dynamics 365 Business Central) and the ins and outs of their implementation with our team here at Crestwood Associates. This one will be a little different; this is a story of a company who had gone through the process … Read more
How can I correct a posted transaction in Dynamics GP? Have you ever accidentally posted a journal entry incorrectly? Dynamics GP does not allow you to correct or void a GL entry that is posted. You need to enter a new journal entry, reversing the previously entered one. Dynamics GP provides the ability to do … Read more
Microsoft released the updated lifecycle roadmap for Dynamics GP. The dates show active development and support well into the future, 2028 and further, which indicates GP is here to stay. Since the October 2019 release of GP, Microsoft follows the Modern Lifecycle policy, which offers you continuous support and servicing, including fixes, new features, and … Read more
I won’t keep you in suspense – MACROS! Yes, you can use the Macros tool in Microsoft Word to record any repetitive action and save yourself time and money! Even though Microsoft offers a number of import tools for Dynamics GP including Integration Manager, Table Imports, and eConnect and there are third-party tools available to purchase, such as Scribe … Read more
The 2021 mid-year release for Dynamics GP is officially here! The big thing to note is this: this is the LAST update for Dynamics GP 2016. If you are currently running GP 2016, you will not receive a year-end update for the 2021. Be sure to reach out to your Crestwood CAM about planning your … Read more
A comparison of Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central No cost to upgrade: Business Central is Free vs. GP $3,200 per upgrade Dynamics GP upgrades average $3,200 plus user time to verify and check features, balances, and reports; whereas, Business Central automatically upgrades your system to the current version for free. Built for remote … Read more
THE most powerful tool for business insights on the market right now is a big part of Microsoft’s Power Platform: Power BI. With Power BI (which stands for “Business Insights”), you can leverage your data to easily build reports and dashboards with interactive visualizations. And, not just Dynamics data either – even Acumatica, QuickBooks, or … Read more
If you live on the East coast, you likely had some early pandemic flashbacks recently; stories of a gas shortage threw people into a gas-buying frenzy (indeed making that gas shortage narrative a true one). Social media was filled with photos of people in pickup trucks filling barrels with gasoline and videos of motorists physically … Read more
Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (“SRS” or “SSRS”) have been around for the better part of two decades, first hitting the streets in early 2004. Over the past 16+ years, many articles and blog posts have been written about passing multi-value parameters between reports using a combination of the JOIN and SPLIT functions. These work … Read more
Good news! If you are an existing Windows 10 user, you can now download Microsoft Power Automate Desktop for free! Microsoft made this download available on March 2nd, 2021. Why Power Automate Desktop? Power Automate Desktop (formerly Microsoft Flow) will allow you to automate repetitive tasks such as mouse clicks and keyboard taps in much … Read more
Below is a guest blog written by our friends over at KwikTag. Join us for a quick 30-minute webinar about this topic on May 6th! One of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to Accounts Payable automation is that a business is “too small” to go digital – either they don’t have enough team members, … Read more
We have been asked by many clients about moving their existing business intelligence solutions to the modern Microsoft Power BI platform, and most of those inquiries involve some combination of Crystal Reports and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) reports. One question we are often asked in those discussions is, “how do we migrate our existing … Read more
As an old-school Great Plains accounting veteran (my father was one of the very first partners in the late 70s), I’m a fan of user groups. GPUG, DSLUG, and even the three D365UGs (if I can figure out which one is which). In particular, the discussion threads are especially helpful. I trust feedback provided in … Read more
As we mentioned in a previous blog, users printing from Report Writer (including checks!) were experiencing an error: black boxes instead of images. This problem spanned across a number of Microsoft products. (Photo credit: Justin Sutton, Dynamics GP Support Team) The Solution The fix is here! The latest update (released March 18th, 2021) includes the … Read more
As we stroll through the tech graveyard, fondly remembering obsolete systems and tools (we hardly knew you, Skype for Business!), we notice that a fresh plot of land has been tilled, and the tombstone reads “Microsoft CustomerSource.” Here’s what happens when you click on your old CustomerSource bookmarks: Yes, that’s right – CustomerSource is now … Read more
#1 – Automate Dynamics GP Check Links Utility With the latest release of Dynamics GP, you can set up a schedule to run Check Links outside of normal business hours. You are now able to run the processes without having to manually select the Check Links process. This process uses the Report Scheduler setup and functionality, so … Read more