Vertical Solutions

May's Topic for the First Tuesday Networking Group

2011-04-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

Defeat the Paper Monster!
How to Simplify the Way You File & Retrieve Documents.

If your paper monster is limiting your ability to run more productively & operate more cost effectively, then this session is for you. During this First Tuesday Networking Group session, Tara Jones, a document management specialist, will lead a discussion around innovative solutions for moving your paper to the digital world. In just one hour, Tara will cover:

What to consider when researching document imaging systems
Eliminating the time spent searching for lost or misfiled documents
Overcoming the skepticism of the success of reducing paper usage
Recover precious office space and increase efficiency
More affordable ways to manage your processes with automated workflow and document management

Event Registration Page

About First Tuesday Networking Group, Pittsburgh

We are a Pittsburgh networking group dedicated to providing our members with opportunities to advance their business objectives and develop relationships though networking events combined with educational forums.

Educational forum sessions cover such topics as: industry trends, personal development, best practices, technology, marketing, communication, computer applications, and talent management.

The group was founded exclusively for CPAs, but now is open to all. We still offer topics that are of an interest to CPAs and attendance in all forums will result in the receipt of one CPE credit.

The First Tuesday Networking Group is sponsored by Vertical Solutions– Providers of in-depth business systems expertise that delivers real business value - tailored to your needs.

SCAM Alert

2011-02-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

Vertical Solutions would like to alert you to the following email. *Very Important*

This is a typical Phishing e-mail and should be ignored. It isn't from us or any other it service provider that you make work with! If you have any questions you when receiving correspondence like this you should always speak directly with your IT support team.

Thank you,
Vertical Solutions

From: System Administrator [mailto:ithelpdesk@domain.com]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 3:19 PM
Subject: Important Notice - Please read!!

The Helpdesk Program that periodically checks the size of your e-mail space is
sending you this information. The program runs weekly to ensure your
inbox does
not grow too large, thus preventing you from receiving or sending new e-mail.

As this message is being sent, you have 18 megabytes (MB) or more stored in
your inbox. To help us reset your space in our database, please enter your
Domain/Username (_________________) Password/Passcode
(_______________)

You will receive a periodic alert if your inbox size is between 18 and 20 MB.
If your inbox size is 20 MB, a program on your Webmail will move your
oldest e-mails to a folder in your home directory to ensure you can continue receiving
incoming e-mail. You will be notified this has taken place.

If your inbox grows to 25 MB, you will be unable to receive new e-mail and it
will be returned to sender. All this is programmed to ensure your e-mail
continues to function well.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Help Desk

IT Spending for 2011

2011-01-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

IT Spending for 2011

As we head out of both 2010 and the recession we have seen a slight up tick in spending in technology. Assuming the economy continues to move in the right direction we would expect this trend to continue and accelerate. The question is will you commit to the future of your organization and where will you spend your dollars?

To provide some guidance in this area we have identified several areas that clients have invested in and seen significant returns in time, cost and productivity.

Virtualization

Stop! Before you buy another server just to replace an aging machine you need to consider this technology and have a conversation with us to see if it makes sense for your organization. Several of our clients have taken the opportunity during this refresh cycle to implement this modal. This technology allows you to consolidate multiple servers into just a few. Out clients have realized the following benefits:

1. Reduced the cost and overhead associated with maintaining multiple physical servers

2. Reduce power consumptions and related emissions

3. Increased system availability and performance

Managed IT Services

Outsourcing part or all of a particular service area has been around for years. Information Technology support is not different. Most small to mid size organizations fall into one of two categories:

1. No internal IT support resources. In this case they are looking to outsource all levels of support and projects to an outside firm. Unfortunately, in many cases this service lacks the appropriate level of resource and communication. During our discussion with prospects we often hear the following frustrations:

a. Lack of communication regarding what is being done, why it is necessary and what issues long-term and short that it will resolve. We refer to this as the “Black Magic” model because the provider wants to make you believe that everything they do is so complicated, that they are the only one who can do it.

b. Lack of vision regarding new technologies and the future of your organization. This primarily the result of a lack of professional leadership within the service provided and the inability to keep up with evolving technologies. We refer to this as the SALY (Same as Last Year) approach since the service typically hasn’t learned anything new since last year, so they just stick with the same solution.

2. Limited internal IT resources. In this case they may be looking to outsource part of there IT function which could include:

a. Helpdesk support to free up internal resources to focus on project and higher level issue

b. Monitoring solutions to provide insight and documentation of their system

c. Project and Project Management services to address a specific skill set they may not have

Vertical Solutions has solutions for both environments with our VCare Essentials Advantage and VCare Essentials programs. This proactive approach to IT support, planning and management create clear strategic advantage for our clients.

Collaboration

The fastest growing product in Microsoft history is SharePoint, and guess what, you already own it. This collaboration tool gives you the ability to:

1. Create a robust intranet to deliver, news, announcements, contact list, Human Resource information and more.

2. Centralize document search, storage and retrieval, including version control.

3. Create various centralized calendars to track and report on key events in your organization

4. Integrate with Outlook, Word, Excel and more

To view a short demo on this solution visit http://www.verticalsol.com/vshare.asp .

Data Entry Made Easy

2011-01-03T06:28:00.000-08:00

Several Vertical Solutions' team members were trading emails this weekend regarding the latest articles on MSDynamicsWorld.com. One article regarding the top ten ISV products that Microsoft should buy and incorporate into Dynamics GP generated a lot of conversation. Joe Critchlow, the head of our Microsoft Dynamics GP consulting group was particularly championing SmartFill from Rockton Software.

Joe says “Everyone could use SmartFill, it is a simple solution to something that has always been a pain point.” Ever wish you could do a google-style search to find your key data in Dynamics GP? Tired of "looking up" a Customer when you know their name and not their ID? SmartFill makes data entry easy. Find accounts by typing in part of their description or just a partial segment. Find Employees by typing in their first or last name, or even their address. Find customers by phone, address, name, or even information stored in outside databases!

As Rockton Software points out, many users of Dynamics GP often use non-intuitive numbering schemes for Customers, Items, Accounts, and other IDs. SmartFill allows you to type part of the Name, Description, or WHATEVER you know into any ID field, and then intuitively discovers the correct ID and types it in for you. No lookup required!

Are you still having to click the lookup, pick the right header and then search? SmartFill is a very inexpensive solution. Still not convinced? Watch the demo, then let us know that you are ready to make data entry easy!

Year End Wrap Up

2010-12-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

To help our clients prepare for a successful year end close, Vertical Solutions held a series of seminars in Charlottesville and Pittsburgh. In addition to reviewing the year end checklists, we demonstrated some of the more popular features in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (still hard not to say Great Plains for some of us old timers), introduced the complete collection of tools and resources for Dynamics GP, and discussed some tips and tricks as well.

The tips and tricks session was considered especially beneficial . The loose format, which allowed everyone to inquire about their particular issues with processes, allowed attendees to get real world solutions from our complete consulting team. Here are some of the tips the groups took back to back to their offices:

Tip	Benefit
Navigation Pane Options	Only show what you need, compact view. Click the Configure button at the bottom of the Navigation Pane.
Toolbars	Quick launch icons, time savers. Right click on the Toolbar to open men.
Word Forms/ Email	Customize Payables and Receivables documents using Word and email in Dynamics GP 2010 only.
Budget Transactions	Keep an audit trail of budget modifications, in Dynamics GP 2010 only.
Report Lists	Use the Type to Filter Box to find reports quickly.
Rename SmartList Column Names	Click on the Columns button on the Search Page to change the Display Name. Remember to save or update the Favorite.
Allocution Accounts	Fixed Allocution and Variable Allocution accounts can replace maintaining spreadsheets to allocate costs.
Shut off posting reports	Tools>>Setup>>Posting>>Posting. Select the Series and the Origin and uncheck reports not needed for printing after posting.
Recurring Batches	Payables and Financial entries saved to a recurring batch. This can eliminate repeatedly rekeying entries and transactions.
Remove Entries from AutoFill	Once the list is presented, right click the entry and click on remove. You can also change the AutoFill preferences in the User Preference Window.

Didn’t get to attend? You download the checklists from our web site. Also, we would be happy to come out to your location and replicate our consulting roundtable, and show you the best tricks we have collected over the years. We will even spring for lunch! Contact us if you want to hear more.

The New Year is a Great Time to Upgrade

2010-12-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

As we are approaching the holidays and year-end, it is not too early to start planning “what comes next”. Take advantage of the ability to improve insight, productivity, and collaboration across your organization, make sure your organization is on the 2011 upgrade calendar.

We suggest that you take a few moments with other Microsoft Dynamics GP users and learn about their experiences using the latest features and functionality of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010.

Vertical Solutions is pretty excited about how you and your team, and the different ways you work, can drive business success with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. Employees can make quick and informed decisions with insight that is personalized and easy to access. In addition, this release continues to remove barriers that get in the way of working effectively, to better connect you to information that is across applications and systems.

It seems hard to believe as the snow is flying, but summer and vacation time will be here soon – February, March, and April are a great time to take advantage of all the features offered by Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. Contact us today to schedule your upgrade!

Twenty Tips to Improve the Value of Your Businss

2010-12-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

Last night, the First Tuesday Networking Group heard a presentation by Alex Kinder of Horovitz, Rudoy & Roteman and our own Bob Nelson on how to improve your business value. It was a cold snowy night, but the hardy group picked up several valuable tips. Most important was that there is always an opportunity for your business to be sold, you should always be prepared and have a plan.

Sprinkled into their top 20 list, Alex and Bob shared several real-life cautionary tales of clients who, unfortunately did not anticipate selling their business, did not have a plan, and saw their business being purchased for much less than valued.

Twenty Tips to Improve Your Value of Your Business1. Clean up the Balance Sheet
2. Streamline operating ratios
3. Evaluate leased assets and convert to owned assets
4. Evaluate on-going service and maintenance contracts
5. Conduct fixed vs. variable expense analysis
6. Perform a product line profitability analysis
7. Modify all leases, mortgages, agreements and contracts to ensure they are transferable
8. Engage your CPA to prepare audited financial statements
9. Evaluate inventory for accuracy and relevancy
10. Settle all outstanding lawsuits, tax liens, employee disputes and union grievances
11. Recast financial statements to reflect “normalized, non family” impact
12. Update the Strategic Plan
13. Find and implement the Best Practices for your industry
14. Ensure that you are in compliance with federal, state, local, environmental, labor rules and regulations
15. Automate your processes, invest in technology
16. Resolve partner – shareholder disputes
17. Engage a knowledgeable, experienced Board
18. Separate real estate from the business
19. Ensure that all product/service liability policies are in place
20. Ensure that all copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade names and patents are fully documented

Our First Tuesday Networking Group will take a break in the month of January to let everyone get settled in after the New Year’s holiday. We’ll see you in February for The Business Value of Going Green.

Vertical Solutions Named to Microsoft Dynamics Advisory Board for Existing Customers

2010-11-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce that Vertical Solutions was named to the Microsoft Dynamics Advisory Board for Existing Customers to support its growing efforts to deliver an integrated, adaptable business management solution. As a member of this board we will:

Give feedback on our customers’ topics of interest to the Microsoft teams regarding pricing and packaging as well as planning and design decisions.
Strengthen relationships between customers and the Microsoft sales, delivery and product teams.
Communicate general market needs and issues.
Determine product functionality and direction.
Review our customers’ implementation experience.
Suggest improvements for ongoing maintenance and support programs

If you have any specific account you would like us to bring to the Advisory Board’s attention, please contact Tina Featheringham. We want to make sure that you are getting the best experience possible with your Dynamics GP system.

2010-11-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Making Sales Tax Less Taxing

Erica Bacco of Avalara spoke of trends in the sales/ use tax arena at our monthly First Tuesday networking session. She presented some compelling examples of how this non-revenue generating activity can not only be incredibly time consuming, but can have a huge negative effect if not done correctly. She talked of how textbooks, while nontaxable in our home state of Pennsylvania, they are subject to sales tax in other states. Or, how zip code databases don’t always calculate sales tax correctly, since they don’t include different local assessments for that code. She showed this example from 80111 in Colorado.

One question came up – when should I add a tax management solution? Here are Erica’s tips on what to consider:

Collect sales tax in several or any home rule states?
Want to get amnesty or audit protection from the SST Project?
Sell products with complex tax rules?
Plan to add on new products, a web store or additional locations?
Manage a remote sales force or contract labor?
Have multiple order entry points that are not managed by a single resource?
Just want to get rid of the manual work….

We had a great group of local business members, sharing ideas and resources and learning all about the exciting world of sales tax! Carl Ruyevcan, of Third Generation - a Pittsburgh area business that provides the latest generation of communication technology and service solutions, including VoIP, voice and data networks – shared with the group his story about almost not surviving a sales tax audit, when working at a previous organization.

Make sure you mark your calendars for First Tuesday, and attend one of these great sessions! Vertical Solutions First Tuesday format: one hour of free CPE will be offered from 4:00-5:00pm followed by a networking session. During the networking session you will be able to meet and develop relationships with other CPA’s and CPA support organizations; lawyers, bankers, insurance brokers, wealth advisors, technology companies, etc. Contact Tina Featheringham, if you would like more information.

Making Sales Tax Less Taxing

2010-10-25T12:03:00.000-07:00

Have you heard the joke about the sales tax audit?

No one has. There is nothing funny about a sales tax audit.

In the USA, 45 states, the District of Columbia, 4,696 cities, 1,602 counties, and 1,113 other jurisdictions impose some form of sales tax. There is no joke about trying to keep current with this many changes for an everyday routine calculation. Remember, the accuracy of a sales tax calculation is never praised, it is only noticed when it is wrong.

Compliance steps rarely demonstrate ways to add value. However, the process surrounding sales tax calculations, collection and reporting impacts a most important business asset – your customers, or your clients’ customers. As states and local tax jurisdictions experience sales tax revenue decrease and their revenue expectations shrink, they will aggressively look for non payers through enforcement of the nexus concept. If nexus is established, then tax collection and remittance is required.

So where does the value add come into play? Sales tax is a compliance process that impacts your customers or your clients’ customers. When it is done right – there are no problems. When something is wrong: calculation, reporting, payment - there is a price to pay. Any under collection could result in a cut in the expected profit margin. If a sales tax audit shows amounts due from past transactions, it is almost impossible to collect from customers. When customers are charged the wrong rate, there is immediate ill will on the part of the customer as well as the potential for a lawsuit.

In addition, there is an unplanned time and dollar cost to answer customers’ questions about improper sales tax calculations. Often customers will call about a sales tax calculation that is only a few dollars. Each answer requires staff time to take the call, retrieve the sales document, review the calculation and rate, and respond. This effort could consume at least one labor hour, not to mention having an unhappy customer. If a refund is due, a refund must be issued, approved and tracked including updating the sales tax return and financial accounting records. If you add all the staff time, time to process the refund, and updating all accounting records, it could easily exceed $50 to correct a $1 sales tax error.

There are other system wide requirements to update the customer records, sales information data, local, county, state and federal reporting requirements. Doing the job right the first time will keep customers happy, reduce non-productive time and make any sales tax audit efficient. Vertical Solutions offers a complete Sales Tax Management Systems integrated to Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains).

Want to learn more about these major trends in the sales/use tax arena? If you are in the Pittsburgh area, attend our First Tuesday Networking Event on November 2, 2010. We will discuss:

Efforts by taxing jurisdictions to collect more
Law changes focusing on the unification of sales tax collection and reporting
Sales Tax Management Systems vs. manual research

Registration
Not in the area or unable to attend? Contact Tina Featheringham for more details.

Webinar - Improve Your Productivity with Tools & Resources

2010-10-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Learn the Secrets of CustomerSource and More!

Are you aware of the numerous tools and resources that can enhance your productivity and enable self-sufficiency for Dynamics GP? We will introduce you to ways you can become more knowledgeable about your solution by demonstrating CustomerSource, User Groups, Training Resources, Blogs, and Communities.

Learn more and register today

Meet a Team Member - Tina Featheringham

2010-10-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Describe your position at Vertical Solutions.
I am the newest member of the team, joining just two weeks ago as an Account Manager. I have spent the last eleven years working with two of the largest Microsoft Partners in the U.S., helping clients improve their success. I will be available as your dedicated contact and advocate within Vertical Solutions. Feel free to contact me anytime at tfeatheringham@verticalsol.com.

Where were you born and live?
While I was born in Runcorn, England, I consider Washington, D.C. to be home. I have also spent several years in Boston, Massachusetts. I am currently staying with family in Canonsburg while I figure out where I am going to live. Anyone have a great suggestion for a single person who misses the city?

How did you join Vertical Solutions?
This is a bit of a funny story. I was visiting my brother for the Super Bowl this year, when the back-to-back snow storms hit, and was unable to return home to D.C. I was a bit bored and started surfing the web to see if what the Microsoft Partner community was like here in Pittsburgh, and came across Vertical Solutions site. I was really impressed by the work they were doing, and sent Bruce Nelson my resume as a lark. Short end to the story, he held on to it, contacted me and here I am!

What is the first question that you would ask someone who is considering a new solution for their organization?
Since I work with our clients, I don’t technically come across someone who is considering a “new” solution - kind of the opposite in fact. The first question I ask is: are you getting the greatest possible value out of your current system?

What industry/industries are you currently focused on?
While Vertical Solutions specializes in several key industries; I get to work with all our clients from all over. I am amazed at the variety of organizations that benefit from our solutions! I have worked with everyone from a bakery who makes the buns for a fast food chain to a pharmaceutical manufacturer who milks horseshoe crabs.

What was a small mistake that you’ve seen an organization make with their systems that had a big consequence?
Not understanding the value of their enhancement/ software assurance plan and decide to not stay current. First, they are missing tremendous benefits beyond access to new releases. But, most important, they can get burned with a huge fee when staying with current functionality becomes unbearable.

What is your background picture on your desktop right now?
It is a picture of my toes at the Youghiogheny Reservoir. My family has owned a cabin on the lake for over 40 years now, and it will be great to be so near to it!

How has the ecomony impacted our client base?

2010-09-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

The economy has had profound impact on many of our clients. We noticed the emergence of a “wait and see” policy, starting with the crash in 2008. Even though many of our clients were not immediately impacted, they still had significant concerns about the future of their business. As we moved into early 2009, our strongest clients began to make strategic moves to see them through an extended downturn. While they cut back on sizable IT initiatives they still made investments that had a Return on Investment and would put them in a good position when the economy began to grow again.

For example, a client invested in automating their manual business processes and eliminated time consuming activities such as compiling data in massive Excel spreadsheets - allowing them to efficiently match customer demand to inventory. This resulted in higher productivity and the ability to grow without increasing personnel.

Conversely, other clients essentially froze, and unfortunately they stayed frozen. Others have put off IT spending for so long that they now face major upgrades due to the age and unavailability of needed functionality in their current systems. These unrecorded liabilities are going to be a significant issue for organizations, as the slow growth out of this recession continues. If they are going to succeed they will to define an IT Strategic Plan - which identifies their most critical issues, as well as create a long term roadmap to address less vital issues. Vertical Solutions will continue to work closely with these clients to assist them with the design and implementation of a plan, so they can identify paths of opportunity as the economy rebounds.

SmartList Builder and Extender Seminars

2010-09-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

Grow your business using simple reporting and personalization tools for adapting your system, without complicated development efforts.

Are you worried about how your business will evolve and the new systems you'll need to meet your ever-changing requirements?
Do you have concerns over pending customization projects?

Join Microsoft to learn how to personalize Dynamics GP without the need for a developer, from creating new refreshable reports to creating mini-applications.

Smartlist in MS Dynamics GP allows people to organize and display data from the accounting system in a way that makes sense to them and to then search those records according to specific criteria. People can save their searches as SmartList favorites or export data to Microsoft Excel® or Microsoft Word.

SmartList Builder takes the highly popular, easy-to-use SmartList tool in Microsoft Dynamics GP and dramatically increases its power and range. Now you can query more data in more ways, because SmartList Builder gives you access to all the information that you capture, enabling you to create your own custom SmartLists.

Microsoft is committed to delivering consistent and significant value to our customers. That’s whyMicrosoft is sponsoring a FREE webcast on September 23, 2010. In this webcast, we’ll show you how Microsoft Dynamics GP can help you grow your business using simple tools for adapting your system, without complicated development efforts.

Don't miss out—sign up for this informative webcast today. We look forward to reviewing the latest news and answering your questions.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 Service Pack 5 for English Installations is now available!!

2010-08-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

**IMPORTANT NOTES**
1. Moving forward all patch releases for 10.0 will be an .EXE file due to a new Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Runtime Library pre-requisite. Bundled in the .EXE is the .MSP service pack file and the .MSI for the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Runtime Library pre-requisite. Please review the FAQ below for more information: This FAQ is posted on the download page for Partners and Customers.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/downloads/servicepacks/MDGP10_FAQNewPatchProcess

2. Once service pack 5 is installed, there is NO update path to GP 2010 until the release of service pack 1 for GP 2010.

3. If a Partner our Customer would like to use mass deployment for service pack 5, please refer to the Deployment section of the FAQ below. Direct links to the MSP file and MSI file needed for mass deployment are in the FAQ and also included below.
https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/downloads/servicepacks/MDGP10_FAQNewPatchProcess

The following products have updates in Service Pack 5:

Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.00.1579
Dexterity 10.00.0331
Project Accounting 10.00.1552
Fixed Assets 10.00.1538
Manufacturing 10.00.1536
Human Resources 10.00.1555
Field Service 10.00.1554
Cashbook Bank Management 10.00.1579
Scheduled Instalments 10.00.1579
Collections Management 10.0.23
SmartList 10.00.1549
Payment Document Management 10.00.1579
Business Activity Statement 10.00.1579
Purchase Order Enhancements 10.00.1522
RMS Integration 10.00.1544
Enhanced Intrastat 10.00.1579
VAT Daybook 10.00.1579
Extender 10.0.92
Analytical Accounting 10.00.1563
Encumbrance Management 10.00.1589
Report Scheduler 10.00.1548
SmartList Builder 10.0.83
ML Checks 10.00.1579

Customers
https://mbs.microsoft.com/customersource/downloads/servicepacks/mdgp10_patchreleases.htm?printpage=false

Dynamics GP - Professional Services Tools

2010-08-12T13:57:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know the Microsoft's Professional Services Tools Library (PSTL) is a great set of utilities developed the Dynamics GP team to address common issues faced by users or simply enhance productivity.

These tools include solutions that allow you to update key master records while still maintaining the integrity of the current and historical data. Let's say for example your organization has grown and you need to redesign your Chart of Accounts. The Account Modifier/Combiner tool will give you the ability to map the old account number to the new and when run, it will update the current and historical records to reflect the new account number. This let's you maintain the history, run comparative financials and enhance your overall reporting capabilities.

The PSTL also includes a number of other utilities for the Sales, Purchasing and Inventory modules. For additional information and pricing please contact Lorrie Siedlecki at lsiedlecki@verticalsol.com or 724.733.4102 ext. 117

Accounting Software Training Essential for Optimization

2010-08-05T10:15:00.000-07:00

With the abundant variety of accounting software packages available globally, training is crucial to accounting. Regardless of which solution a business uses, training will help eliminate some of the confusion in using large systems.

With Accounting Software, retrieving financial data is automated. Software can now quickly do the work people used to do manually over long periods of time. Automated accounting now performs every day entries and tasks in minutes, even seconds. The ease and accuracy of today's accounting systems appeals to businesses large and small, freeing time for business owners and operators to pursue business growth rather than record keeping. Thus, even the required reports, calculations, and predictions are faster, simpler, and more accurate than they were years ago.

Although the automation within accounting software saves time and resources, if one person in your company is unfamiliar or untrained, the benefits you see with accounting software plummet dramatically. Don’t spend oodles of money on an accounting software solution only to have untrained and inexperienced employees manipulate your company data. Find a software solution provider that offers implementation as well as training and support.

If you’re interested in learning more about Accounting Software and how to effectively train your employees, call us at 888-313-0647. Vertical Solutions focuses on the sales, implementation and support of Microsoft Dynamics GP. This solution is designed to help mid-sized organizations optimize work flows, provide access to timely and relevant information, reduce end user training time and make the organizations more efficient and profitable. Our team of certified consultants has years of experience mapping client requirements to system implementations and results.

By Vertical Solutions – Pennsylvania Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

2010-07-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to attended the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference this week and the definitive theme for the event was Cloud Services. This topic has been picking up speed lately and Microsoft is clearly going all in. If you are not familiar with this concept it really addresses the question of "Why do I need this server in my office".

The answer is you don't. Microsoft and partners like us have developed solutions, pricing models and service offering that allow clients (big and small) to quickly get up and running on a wide array of solutions. These range from productivity solutions Office, ShapePoint, and Exchange solutions to complete server and development platforms.

Microsoft has launched a new sight designed to educate customers on the new offerings and how they can be incorporated in your ongoing IT plans. For a detailed review of your system requirements plesase contact Justin Krentz at jkrentz@verticalsol.com or call 412.220.8460.

http://www.microsoft.com/cloud/

Concurrent Payroll Runs

2010-07-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

New with Dynamics GP 2010 is the abilities to process concurrent payroll runs allowing payroll departments to divide payrolls runs into smaller functional runs vs. one large one for the organization. Dynamics GP 2010 provides a Multiuser Payroll Setup window letting administrators define the Max Wait Time for Calculations and Retry Intervals. This new methodology does have controls preventing users from calculating and printing checks at the same time. This prevents duplication in employee pay and check numbers.

For more on the enhancements to Dynamics GP 2010 payroll view the following snack.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/dynamics/snack08/Default.html

Microsoft Management Reporter

2010-06-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

There have been a lot of questions regarding the new release of Management Reporter (the replacement for FRx) and what value it brings. As we continue to learn more about this solution it will bring significant value to organizations that make the transition. I have recently reviewed a new Microsoft Snack that covered the Report Viewer and other features: Here are just a few of the highlights presented in this video:

You have the ability to create a report library for all generated reports
These reports can be organized in folders
You can add external files, including word and excel documents to these folders
Security can be set for the entire library, individual folders or individual files. Security is based on Windows and SQL Sever security.
Graphics can now be added to report headers and footers

To see the entire presentation just click on the link below.
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/_silverlight/learningsnacks/dynamics/snack11/Default.html

Are you a higher paid data entry clerk? Part I

2010-06-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Vertical Solutions has managed and supported hundreds of clients migrating to Dynamics GP. Over the years we noticed a trend that to this day never ceases to amaze us. It’s a position called the Chief Data Entry Officer, CDEO. This is typically a high level and highly compensated individual (or team) that spends hour or days rekeying data from other systems into GP, from GP into Excel etc. While I’m not sure how this position got created I am sure there are ways to fix it. Dynamics GP offers numerous tools that allow you to bring data in from other operational systems that organizations may rely on. This data can be integrated in various ways and always accounts for the system controls available in Dynamics GP. The following are a couple of the tools available:

Integration Manager allows you to:

o Easily map external data fields to fields within Microsoft Dynamics GP without underlying knowledge of the data structures or tables.

o Import data from virtually any database or desktop application, including comma- and tab-delimited text files, XML, and most open database connectivity (ODBC) data sources.

o Schedule data integrations from other systems on a continuous basis. Verify the accuracy and integrity of external data by processing all imported data through a series of business objects encapsulating Microsoft Dynamics GP business logic.

Web Services and eConnect allow you to

o Tailor and extend your Microsoft Dynamics GP solution with a toolkit that includes documentation, samples, and command-line tools and compilers to help your developers create and deploy .NET Framework applications. The Developer Toolkit includes Web Services and eConnect for Microsoft Dynamics GP, which assist you in integrating data from Microsoft and non-Microsoft platform data sources—including Web services, CRM applications, Web storefronts, and legacy applications—with Microsoft Dynamics GP.

o Connect your organization’s applications and data to create a powerful flow of information that enables smarter decisions and a more productive workforce. By taking advantage of emerging industry standards, you can extend Microsoft Dynamics GP to better connect information, people, systems, and devices, share data more easily, integrate processes, and manage change in a demanding business climate.

o Ensure the accuracy and integrity of external data by processing data through business logic contained in Microsoft Dynamics GP, helping to guarantee that data meets the processing criteria before being committed to the database.

If you are currently acting as the CDEO and have a system that either doesn’t provide this level of integration capability or you are using Dynamics and haven’t yet implemented these solutions, call us at 888-313-0647 to learn more about how we can help your organization

By Vertical Solutions – Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner in Pennsylvania

Accounting Software Review Site

2010-06-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

Vertical Solutions has been invited to contribute content to a new site designed to eductate new and prospective users of Microsoft Dynamcis solutions. This great new site can be found at Accounting Software Review.

By Vertical Solutions - Pennsylvania Microsoft Dynamcis Partner

SpellCheck for Dynamics GP

2010-05-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

SpellCheck for Dynamics GP provides spell-checking on any Note, Comment, Text or String field in GP and 3rd party products. SpellCheck can be attached to any text entry field in the application.

This is a free application that can be downloaded directly from Willowware.

http://www.willoware.com/spellcheck/

Create Budget Transactions in GL

2010-05-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is a great new feature if you currently manage budgets within GP. The challenge before was that an edit to a budget amount had no audit trail. In other words if you need to track budget transfers or other adjustment you had to do this outside the system to record the history.

With Dynamics GP 2010 you can now create a transaction solely against a budget. You can view a list of budget transactions, make adjustments, and then update the budget from the list.

Dynamics GP Training Guides

2010-05-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

Accolade Publishing offers numerous books and training materials designed to help Dynamics GP users get the most from their systems. if you are looking to enhance your understanding of Dynamics GP we would encourage you to take a look at some of the materials available at Accolade Publishing. You can use the coupon VerticalSol to save 10% on materials that you would purchase.