27 New Microsoft Dynamics GP Features You Should Know — Part I

Microsoft Dynamics GP has been a mainstay at growing businesses for decades, and the company has continued to improve the platform’s functionality over the years. Whether it’s in the form of full releases (the most recent launches were in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018) or through updates and service packs, Microsoft constantly responds to its customers to provide a familiar, yet advanced solution that saves business users time and money.

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 offered many exciting advancements to businesses, and the R2 release (which took place on October 1) provides even more improvements to the platform based on user requests. In a new, two-part blog series, we’re looking at 26 features Microsoft has added to Dynamics GP with R2. Today, we’re sharing the first 14 features you should have on your radar:

General Improvements: Administrator and Across-the-Board Updates

Many of the improvements Microsoft made with the GP 2018 R2 update are tailored to specific functions or processes, but there are also enhancements that improve the user experience across the board:

1. Post Through General Ledger: In Posting Setup, Microsoft has introduced an additional option to allow transactions to post all the way through the general ledger (GL). This applies to a wide range of supported transactions, including: Invoice Entry, Receivables Apply Doc., Receivables Cash Receipts, Receivables Sales Entry, Sales Deposits, Sales Trx Entry, Voided Trx Maintenance (Sales), Payables Trx Entry, Payment Entry, Purchasing Invoice Entry, Purchasing Prepayments, Receivings Trx Entry, Returns Trx Entry, Assembly Entry, Transaction Entry (Inventory), Transfer Entry, Manual Checks (Payroll) and Project Accounting Transaction Windows (except Project Closing).
2. Inactivate, Reactivate and Update Temporary Status From Navigation Lists: In the Navigation List, you can inactivate and reactive multiple records at the same time for Accounts, Checkbooks, Customers, Vendors, Items and Employees. Additionally, Microsoft has added a visual indicator to display these statuses.
3. Monthly Recurring Batches for Receivables, Payables and Inventory Batches: Microsoft has added a new checkbox called “Use last day of the month” for Monthly and Bimonthly batches. When you mark the checkbox, the system automatically will set the posting date to the last day of the month. So, if the batch below is posted, the posting date for the next batch would be set to May 31. This new feature is great because before the R2 release (and without the box checked), the system would default a posting date to May 30.
4. Option to Hide Business Analyzer: A global setting for GP Admins, Microsoft has added the option to display or hide Business Analyzer for all users on the Home page and Navigation List pages. This global setting makes it easier for companies to turn off the feature if they’re not using Business Analyzer, but individual users can still turn on the feature if they do use it.
5. SmartList Designer Favorites in Navigation Lists: SmartLists offer a great way for companies to autogenerate a price list or keep tabs on item quantities — and now, SmartList Designer Favorites will display in the Navigation Lists (meaning any SmartList that was created using SmartList Designer will now appear in the SmartList Navigation Lists).
6. Letter Writing Assistant Added to the Web Client: Dynamics has continued to improve the Web client feature since its introduction, and now the functionality leverages SmartLists. When you navigate to the SmartList window and click the Word option, the templates are available as they are in the Windows client feature. 
7. Hide Inactive Checkbooks: Additionally, users may hide inactive checkbooks in the lookup field. You can use the new option, Exclude Inactive Checkbooks, in the checkbook lookup field and set it as your default lookup field.
8. Allow/Disallow Duplicate Check Numbers Added to Three Functions: In Checkbook Maintenance, the option to allow or not allow Duplicate Check Numbers has been extended to Bank Transaction Entry, Payroll Manual Checks and Miscellaneous Checks. This means that if this option is not checked, Duplicate Checks are not allowed in these three windows.

Enhancements to Inventory Management

In addition to the ease-of-use improvement Microsoft made with the R2 release, giving users the option to use the last day of the month, you now have more control when printing the Historical Inventory Trial Balance (HITB):

9. New Options for HITB: When you’re printing the HITB report, you can now decide if you want to include/exclude items with a zero quantity or value. Microsoft has added new checkboxes — Include Items with Zero Quantity and Include Items with Zero Value — giving users the option to choose between the two functions.

Enhancements to Purchasing and Supplier Relationships

Historically, GP has had a strong purchasing module, and GP 2018 R2 adds important features that will ease the vendor and supplier relationship management process:

10. Allow a Partial Purchase on a Purchase Order: When creating a purchase order (PO) from a purchase requisition, you now have the option to change the quantity. For instance, if a requisition is for 100 items, you can change the quantity to a lower number if needed, canceling the remaining quantity.
11. Additional Formats for Emailing POs: In the Purchase Order Entry window, the Email button now has both the Blank Paper and Other Form options, so you have more flexibility in how you send a PO to a vendor.
12. Default Checkbook ID in Payables Management Now Defaults in Payables Batch Entry: When creating a computer check batch, the Default Checkbook ID from Payables Management Setup will now default in the Payables Batch Entry window for Computer Checks. The Checkbook ID also defaults in the Select Payments and Edit Payment Batch windows.
13. Display Vendor Hold Status: Following the success of the “Display customer hold status” feature in previous GP editions, GP 2018 R2 offers users the same functionality when working with suppliers. Now, users will see a red icon next to the Vendor ID field in Vendor Inquiry, Transactions by Vendor, Purchasing All-in-One View and Payables Transaction Entry Zoom. Additionally, users will receive a warning in the Payables Transaction Entry window if they attempt to complete a transaction.
14. Vendor Document Number Added to Purchasing All-in-One View: The Purchasing All-in-One View feature is great for viewing related documents, but in most cases the vendor document number is the one users know — not the GP document number. Now, Microsoft has added a field for this number in the Payments and Credit Documents columns for easy reference.

The new release includes plenty more exciting, helpful features that will further streamline the way you do business. Part II of this article will include the rest of Microsoft’s new enhancements with the R2 release. Coming soon.