Management Reporter is replacing Microsoft FRx by extending its proven functionality and enabling people to quickly and easily create, generate, help secure and publish professional-looking financial statements, such as profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports, and will allow them to take advantage of the following:

• Custom reports that can be created by the finance team, thereby reducing the burden on the IT department.
• Deep cross-functional analysis that provides easy and accurate financial reporting, intercompany reconciliations and eliminations.
• Reduced training time and increased productivity with a familiar user interface and reporting tools that enable users to easily transition from Microsoft Office applications to the similar navigation pane and toolbars in Management Reporter.
• Strong data integrity and report accuracy with support for regulatory requirements, such as generally accepted accounting practices and international financial reporting standards.

Management Reporter functionality goes beyond what FRx had to offer by including:

Direct integration to the Microsoft Dynamics ERP general ledger that aids in simplified, real-time reporting with greater accuracy.

Reusable building blocks of Report, Row, Column and Tree definitions that can be mixed and matched to produce a wide variety of boardroom-quality reports.

A Report Library is where reports can be secured, stored, and viewed.

Management Reporter is available at no additional cost to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010users and will be availble with all future releases of Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions.

Learn more about Management Reporter and download FAQs and Tips & Tricks for migrating from FRx.

This week, Microsoft introduced a new connector that accelerates two-tier enterprise resource planning (ERP) deployments between Microsoft Dynamics AX and SAP Business Suite.  This connector would allow a company with SAP installed at the corporate headquarters to integrate and connect their data to subsidiaries, divisions or branch entities that are using Microsoft Dynamics AX.  This kind of solution is referred to as a “two-tier erp strategy.”

According to Microsoft, the two-tier connector will enable consolidation of financial data, integration of intercompany supply-chain, and plan automation.

So how do you know if a two-tier strategy (like one using the Microsoft Dynamics ERP connector) is right for your business? 

R. Ray Wang, an analyst and blogger, recently conducted a survey for Software Insider to spot trends in two-tier ERP strategy.  Through his analysis, he explains the three scenarios in which a two-tier approach makes the most sense:

1. Organizations that have different lines of business or business models sometimes find it beneficial to use separate ERP systems for each line of business
2. Companies with international subsidiaries can often save on operating costs with country specific deployments
3.  Organizations that choose a phased approach to modernization, updating one system at a time rather than all systems at the same time

According to Software Insider, the key drivers behind companies considering a two-tier strategy are:

• Desire for an industry specific or purpose built system
• Existing systems are too costly
• Expensive upgrades of existing systems
• A need for innovation that outpaces the solutions on the market
• Regulatory compliance issues
• Geographic requirements
• Rigidity of existing systems

All of these factors are working together to increase interest in two-tier ERP strategies.  Software Insider reports the number of organizations considering two-tier solutions has increased 10% since Q3 2009. 

If you are considering a two-tier ERP solution for your organization, request a complimentary Business Strategy Assessmentwith Socius to help you determine the best strategy for your company.

As an FRx user, you can rest assured that Microsoft isn’t leaving you in a reporting lurch though.  Along with the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 (formerly GP 11.0) launch later this spring, Microsoft is releasing Management Reporter (MR), the reporting engine which will be the foundation upon which future budgeting and planning functionality will be built.

FRx will continue to be supported according to the GP 10 product lifecycle.  If you upgrade to GP 2010, you’ll have both FRx and MR users available to you.  You can transition to MR whenever it best fits your business needs.  Get Tips & Tricks for Migrating from FRx to Management Reporter.

Learn more about Microsoft’s Management Reporter

In our previous post, “What a Difference a Partner Makes – Part 2,” we provided some bullet points of how engaging an effective software partner can help you get employee buy-in throughout the implementation process and beyond.    We have a perfect example of how one company put these concepts into action. 

Here is the story of how Neundorfer, an Ohio Clean Tech consulting and manufacturing company, worked with Socius to engage their employees from the beginning of the software selection process to ensure a successful implementation. 

Software Selection based on Business Requirements

From the time they reached out to Socius for assistance in selecting a new ERP software solution, Neundorfer was already including employees from across the organization in their decision making process.  Socius’ first step in any engagement with a new client is to perform a business requirements assessment.  Neundorfer made people from every department from finance and operations to sales and marketing available for Socius to ask questions and determine what their needs really were so that they could suggest the solution that would fit their business best.  Neundorfer ultimately decided on an integrated Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution that would fit the needs of everyone in the organization. 

“Socius listened, they understood our process, they asked a lot of powerful and good questions and then they came up with a solution.”
- Mike Neundorfer, CEO at Neundorfer

Request a complimentary Business Strategy Assessment by Socius

Review Business Processes as a Team

Prior to jumping into the implementation project, Neundorfer partnered with Socius to complete a comprehensive business process review (BPR) which allowed Socius to work with the staff to identify current business processes and develop best practices going forward.  This review was another opportunity for individuals across the organization to make sure that their day-to-day activities were supporting the goals of the organization efficiently.  Neundorfer saw immediate benefits from the BPR including reduced meeting times which resulted in significant cost savings for the company.

“By involving our entire team in the process, getting their feedback and buy-in, we were able to streamline many operations.”
- Jean Ockuly, VP of Finance at Neundorfer

Internal Training Shows Corporate Ownership

A standard part of Socius’ implementation methodology that Neundorfer participated in is the training of the user community.  For this training, Socius trained the project leadership team and was on-hand to contribute subject matter expertise, however, the general user training was conducted by the project team.  Having the project team lead this training proves to the staff that the leaders are invested in the project and the success of the ERP implementation.  This training also gave the project team and Socius the opportunity to test their assumptions and refine the new processes to ensure that the solution worked as it was intended for all users, allowing them to see how their needs were being addressed by the solution prior to “Go Live.” 

Use Technology to Demonstrate the Value of the Individual

Neundorfer has a large computer monitor hanging prominently in their facility that displays sales figures, backlog volume, production costs, and other current data.  Socius showed Neundorfer how they could use their new Microsoft Dynamics GP solution to extract that data and stream it live to the monitors so that employees could refer to it and see how their work to boost sales and minimize costs is affecting the organization in real-time.

  “Across every department, our staff understands the value they add to the company and the importance of their positions and the work they do. They look for ways to improve our operations, and that leads to better quality for our customers.”
- Jean Ockuly, VP of Finance at Neundorfer

Ongoing Engagement through Ongoing Education

Neundorfer continues to keep their employees plugged-in and up-to-date on the latest tools and resources for Microsoft Dynamics GP by encouraging them to participate in educational opportunities that Socius and Microsoft offer.  GP users from Neundorfer are consistently on Socius’ monthly webinars where they learn tips and tricks to enhance their use of the product and improve their organizations results.  Additionally, Neundorfer sent representatives from every department to Socius’ annual Aspire conference so that everyone in the organization could benefit from the knowledge that the attendees brought back.  By having people from various roles participating in these learning opportunities, it not only keeps the employees engaged in and using the software, but it also keeps the partner more involved and gives Socius more opportunities to help Neundorfer continue to make the most of their Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP software.

To hear from the Neundorfer staff why they chose Microsoft Dynamics GP and Socius, watch this video!

In a year of economic uncertainty, it is especially difficult to trust your numbers and use them as a basis to plan for future success.  That is why the same ERP solution that you use to extract your financial data provides tools to help you analyze that data and leverage it to plan and set your budgets.  Each ERP solution has slightly different tools for budgeting, but all will influence the decisions you make and confidence with which you make them. 

Sage Active Planner

If you are a Sage MAS 90, 200 or 500 user, you can take advantage of Sage Active Planner to improve the flow of key information such as business drivers and transaction data, through templates, automatic distribution and consolidation of the budget, central control over budget revisions, real-time seamless integration of data sources, and built-in security mechanisms.   To learn more and see Sage Active Planner in action, attend this Sage software webinar on December 8th at 1:00 PM:  Control Your Budget – Don’t Let it Control You

Microsoft Forecaster

Microsoft Dynamics ERP users (those that use Microsoft Dynamics GP, Great Plains, Solomon, or Microsoft Dynamics SL for example) can take advantage of can build budgets that incorporate market conditions and specific business objectives. When the business environment changes, Microsoft Forecaster can be used to adjust forecasts and budgets so that managers can respond effectively.  Additionally, it allows you to quickly view current budget-to-actual comparisons to help you understand the effect of changing numbers on your plans.  Read how Socius’ client Bellefaire JCB/Wingspan Care Group is using Forecaster with Microsoft Dynamics GP to create budgets that stear them toward their goals while reducing administrative costs by 5%. 

BIO for Microsoft Dynamics SL

While BIO provides a wealth of business intelligence tools to Microsoft Dynamics SL users, for the purpose of this post, we’ll focus on it’s budgeting capabilities.  Not only can the business insights revealed by BIO help guide your decision making, but BIO also contains the ability to track your business performance and measure it against a goal or budget, so that you can adjust as you go and grow.  Because it is specialized for Microsoft SL, BIO not only helps with organizational budgeting, but also creating project budgets.  Lastly, BIO data is presented in role-based scorecards so everyone in your organization sees the data most relevant to them.  Learn more about BIO for Microsoft Dynamics SL.

Socius, which is a 2009 Microsoft Dynamics GP Worldwide Partner of the Year Finalist, will be offering a two-hour webinar presenting Year End closing tips and tricks for individuals using Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains).  This complimentary session will take place on December 8, 2009 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.  More information is available at www.socius1.com/year-end-tips-webinar.

“Our Year End Tips and Tricks webinar is always a favorite with our Microsoft Dynamics GP clients,” said Jeff Smith, Senior Consulting Manager for Socius.  “It’s a great refresher course for experienced Dynamics GP users because they only conduct these processes once a year, but is also a nice opportunity to train new users that will be closing their books for the first time.” 

Microsoft Dynamics SL (formerly Solomon) users may request on-site or web-based training on Year End closing procedures from Socius consultants through their website:  www.socius1.com/training/ registration. 

Socius’ Sage clients using Sage MAS 90, Sage MAS 200, or Sage MAS 500 ERP solutions can take advantage of on-site, individualized, Year End training through the “Loose Ends Day” program.  “Loose Ends Day” gives clients the opportunity to select from a list of services they would like performed to fine tune their Sage ERP solution.  The services are performed for a fixed-fee during a half-day of on-site work by an experienced Socius consultant.  “Loose Ends Day” is being offered throughout December and January for Sage software users interested in this service.

“Sage’s MAS 90, 200, and 500 solutions make Year End processing easy because it is so similar to any other period end closing,” said Mary Jo Mahood, Senior Consulting Manager for Socius.  “If MAS users do have new employees who need training, or if someone just want some tips on how to execute these processes most efficiently, we’d be happy to provide individualized guidance during a “Loose Ends Day” engagement.  The great thing about “Loose Ends Day” is that it also allows clients to take advantage of other Socius services that will help them get their processes in place to start off 2010 on the right foot.”

About Socius:

Socius is a strategic business consulting partner that provides comprehensive business management solutions to help companies leverage technology to accelerate their growth and profitability and compete more successfully in today’s economy.  As a Sage Authorized Partner and a Gold Certified Microsoft partner, Socius represents the most trusted accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), business analytics, and customer relationship management (CRM) technologies on the market.  Backed by more than 24 years of award-winning experience, Socius proudly serves clients in Ohio and the surrounding area from its offices in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, Ohio.

There is no arguing that certain Microsoft Dynamics ERP products serve certain industries more effectively than others. You need only look at the industry lists off of each of the Dynamics product pages on Microsoft’s website to see which industries Microsoft thinks their solutions fit best in.  However, as you can see in the chart below (which Houston referenced in his post as well) there is a tremendous amount of overlap in the products functionality. 

As you can see, all four are equally suited to fit the needs of a 250 employee distributor and manufacturers with 500 employees will receive a comparable experience using Dynamics GP, NAV, or AX.  That is why these other two aspects are of such great importance.

ISVs
As Houston mentioned, there are over 9000 independent software vendors (ISVs) providing customized solutions for Microsoft Dynamics products.  Many of these ISV solutions are industry focused.  Pairing an industry specific ISV solution with a Dynamics product can provide you with the proprietary software experience without the headaches of maintaining and updating a proprietary system. 

Partners
When you are considering a Microsoft Dynamics ERP solution, you are not just shopping for software, but a Microsoft Dynamics Partner as well.  The best way to find a solution that fits your industry is to look for a partner that understands your unique needs and has experience working with other companies in your industry.  

Some partners have either worked with ISVs or developed their own industry specific solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics solutions that they take to market.  Others have consultants on staff with industry expertise that they use to manage the software selection and implementation process to ensure that the right ISVs are engaged and the right solution is crafted for each individual organization.  Regardless of which track your partner goes down, if they have experience serving your industry, they will provide you with references and evidence of their expertise that you can use to assess not only the partner, but also the software solutions they offer.  

Often if you select a Microsoft Dynamics partner that has a great depth of knowledge in your industry, the right software solution for your organization will follow. 

Request a complimentary Business Strategy Assessment from Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics SL Partner, Socius

Socius’ Ben Davis and Tina Haerr presented on this topic at Aspire 2009 and provided some helpful tips for using Collections Management:

Managing Collections

Use the Collections Management Main Window to view collection information and to open most of the key windows in Collections Management.

Navigation: Transactions/Sales/Collection Main

 You can use the Collections Management Main Window to complete most of your collections tasks. You can create notes, view financial information, and print letters, statements and invoices or send them by e-mail.

You also can open these windows from the Collections Management Main Window.

• Collections Management Notes window
• Collections Management Build Query window
• Collections Management Print Selection window
• Collections Management Task List window
• Collections Management E-Mail window
• Customer Payment Summary Inquiry window
• Collections Management Transaction Inquiry window
• Collections Management Customer Information window

Creating a Customer Query

Use the Collections Management Build Query window to create a list of customers that meet specific user-defined criteria. Query results are saved by collector ID, each collector can run his or her own queries. Lists of customers that match the query criteria are saved so that each collector can work with a separate list of customers.

Navigation:  Transactions/Sales/Build Query

Process Steps:

• Open the Collections Management Build Query window  – Transactions >> Sales >> Build Query
• Enter a query ID or select one from the list. If the query is new, enter a description. To view additional query information, choose the Query ID information button.
• To create a restriction, choose a tab and enter information. To insert the range information into the query, choose Insert.

Working with Collector Tasks

Use the Collections Management Task List to view tasks and the user assigned to the tasks. You can mark tasks completed or paid and print a task list. You also can use the tasks list to locate customer contact information

Navigation: Transactions /Sales/Collection Tasks 

 Process Steps:

• Open the Collections Management Task List window – (Transactions >> Sales >> Collection Tasks
• Enter or select a collector ID to view tasks for.
• Enter a range of action dates to view tasks that occur within those dates.
• Enter a range of action IDs to view tasks for a range of action IDs.
• To display notes that are completed, select Completed, otherwise, select Uncompleted.
• You can mark the Show Payment Promises Only option to display notes with attached action IDs that have an action type of Promised to Pay.
• You can choose Mark Paid to mark notes as completed automatically if the invoices assigned to the notes have been paid and the action ID attached to the notes is marked Promise to Pay in the Collections Management New Action window.
• Choose File >>Print to print the task list for the selected user.

 To see more tips on how to save money through Improving Your Receivables and Collections in Microsoft Dynamics GP, download the handout from the Aspire presentation.

 Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI is a calculation that divides the average total savings, over 3 years, by the initial cost.  (Three years is the accepted operational threshold for technological innovation and product usability).  An ROI calculation will account for both direct benefits (explicitly quantifiable cost savings or revenue increases) as well as indirect benefits (returns that are not clearly observable, but whose effects can be measured through investigation). 

Nucleus Research studied the ROI gained by companies that use one of four  highly competitive ERP solutions: Microsoft Dynamics GP, Oracle, SAP, and PeopleSoft.  They studied benefits in the following areas:

• Reduced staff / increased productivity
• Reduced IT or other direct costs
• Improved customer / partner relations
• Improved operations / visibility
• Reduced accounting / auditing costs or improved financial management / compliance

 Microsoft Dynamics GP users were the only study participants to report gains in all five of these benefit areas. They were also the able to achieve a positive ROI faster than users of any of the four competing products:

Hear from real-life companies about the positive ROI they have received from Microsoft Dynamics GP. 

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
TCO is the calculation all of the costs of purchasing, implementing, supporting, and using a product over its lifetime.  It can help you budget for projects and compare similar products.  However, since TCO does not weigh the benefits that the software brings you, it isn’t reliable to help you select a software application or prioritize projects. 

Once again, Nucleus Research compared the TCO of these four products.  This study revealed that of these four software solutions, Microsoft Dynamics GP had the lowest TCO on account of the fact that it takes less time to deploy and fewer resources to support than the other solutions. 

 See the full results of the Nucleus Research study.

Aspire Industry Session: Field Service

Date: October 13, 2009
11:45-1:00 p.m.

Location:

The Conference Center at NorthPointe
9243 Columbus Pike
Lewis Center, OH 43035

Socius and FieldPoint would like to introduce you to a solution that makes sure all of the pieces of your service organization are in place for success. Join us for a seminar designed to help you discover the value of using a web-based application for project management, job costing, and field service. By integrating this system with CRM and ERP software, you will see the improvements your sales and delivery teams make in driving revenue and streamlining costly inefficiencies.

Register today to see:

• Microsoft Dynamics GP: A richly featured ERP and business management software solution that allows you to operate and grow your business using powerful yet familiar tools.
• Fieldpoint’s Alert Software: A 100% web-based application for project management, job costing, and field service integrated to Dynamics CRM and GP. See how this integration improves sales and delivery team interactions with customers to drive revenue, and streamline costly service operation inefficiencies.

Registration is complimentary (a $250 value)
Cancellations within 7 days of the event or no-shows will incur a $25 fee.

The Streamlining Professional Services Planning and Execution seminar is taking place during Aspire 2009, Sociusannual conference.

By attending this seminar, you will have access to the entire Aspire conference including an inspirational keynote address on Innovation in a Changing World, networking opportunities with professionals from across the Midwest, and 24 additional breakout sessions on software and business issues. 

Choose a session to attend during Breakout Session 2
Choose a session to attend during Breakout Session 3