Executives from all industries are keeping a close eye on the economy these days. While the Canadian economy seems to be recovering, there is no collective sigh of relief in the US.

So while some companies "hunker down" and reduce all expenses, leading companies are looking to invest in technology according to the following strategies (source Aberdeen© Reports):

• Streamline and accelerate processes to improve efficiency and productivity
• Standardize business processes
• Optimize the use of current capacity (both personnel and equipment)
• Provide visibility to business processes across functions and departments
• Modernize technology infrastructure and applications

In times of economic turmoil, those companies that invest now in preparation for a turnaround are more likely to outperform the competition after the recession is over.

Many companies are turning to "hosted" or SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions to reduce the capital expenditure typically required to purchase Enterprise software packages. Our strategy has been to support both implementation methodologies, On-Premise and Hosted. The Hosted solution can reduce a Client's investment by over 60% and accelerate the ROI dramatically.

The software acquired as a Hosted solution is identical to that of the On-Premise solution.

If you're interested in learning more, please feel free to contact us.

I encounter prospective Clients every day who ask me: why?

• Why do I need a new system?
• Why do I need to invest in new software?
• Why WebSan?

I cannot come up with "one-size-fits all" answer for everyone, but what I can tell you is the following:

• Companies that leverage Enterprise software to run their business see a significant improvement in their financial performance. This can manifest itself operationally in many ways, but typically it's a reduction in outstanding Receivables, growth in operating margin and lower overhead resources in the Finance and administration departments.
• According to a recent Aberdeen© report, best in class companies saw:
  • 22% reduction in operating costs
  • 20% reduction in administrative costs
  • 17% reduction in inventory
  • 19% improvement in complete and on-time delivery

Organizations are always looking to be more competitive and reduce costs. A solid investment in technology with the right Partner can make all the difference in the world.

WebSan Solutions Inc. is a Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner specializing in MS Dynamics GP and Hosted MS Dynamics GP. Dynamics is a top-rated Enterprise software system that has over 40,000 installs in North America.

Contact us for inquiries.

Service calls can now be escalated to additional managerial levels. The Service Type Escalation window has been modified to include a new Manager Level field.  When a call is escalated, an e-mail to the technician's manager is sent.  This can now be sent to two additional levels of management directly above the technician's manager. One can specify the number of levels to e-mail, including:

• The manager of the technician on the service call
• The manager's manager
• The manager of the manager's manager

The Service Call Escalation window also now supports multiple technicians for each call.

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

Users of US Payroll in Dynamics GP will love the new integration points from other modules within Dynamics GP.

One such integration point is with the Field Services module.  Direct & indirect labour postings that create Payroll transactions can be made in Service Call Management & Depot Management.  This integration allows for Payroll to captures the cost from the employee's pay code into the labor record in Field Service.

A Post to Payroll check box has been added to the Work Type Maintenance & Depot Station Maintenance windows that when selected, enters the value from the window's corresponding Pay Code field, representing an hourly pay code.

Field Services now allow the use of non-inventoried items.  Service Calls or POs can be entered for non-inventoried items representing labour, expenses or misc charges.  Preventative Maintenance events can even include non-inventoried items.  Contract Administration, Returns Management & Depot Management all now allow the use of non-inventoried items.

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

The Service Management module now allows for processing of Kit Items.  When a kit item is entered in the Service Parts window, the kit's components are added automatically to the Service Line table; although, they can be deleted if necessary.  Note: the quantity ordered cannot be partially allocated.  Through the Service Management module, POs can now be created for kit component items on a service call.

Kits can also be entered in Returns Management, Preventative Maintenance, on Contract Lines, or on the Parts line for Depot Management Work Orders.

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-4991235 ext. 213.

The Item Resource Planning, Site Resource Planning & MRP Order Detail windows have all been updated to incorporate a ‘Move Out’ fence.  The new logic allows for rules that determine if & when to suggest moving or canceling a purchase order or manufacturing order.  A Move Out is suggested when an item’s Projected Available Balance will be greater than the item’s Order UP To Level.

As GP calculates an item's Projected Available Balance for a specific time period, MRP will include supply order moves & cancel suggestions that impact the quantities occurring in that time period.

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

In previous versions, users would be able to view the module's Navigation Pane regardless of whether it was used or not.

In GP 2010, Administrators control which Navigation Panes are available to users and which are not.  Unnecessary navigation buttons can be limited at the user or at the company company level.

Again, join WebSan in our upcoming GP 2010 Webinar!

PS ... For Analytical Accounting users, user security can now be assigned on-the-fly!  No more setting up segments & then waiting for approval to use them.

System Administrators will find setting up new users in GP 2010 much quicker.  User Security setting can now be copied from the security of another user.

In order to help reduce the likelihood of incorrectly assigning permissions, Administrators can filter security windows in order to view only the selected:

• Operations assigned to tasks
• Tasks assigned to roles
• Roles assigned to users

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

Cash receipts may now be entered as a negative currency value within GP 2010.  This will subsequently decrease the deposit amount of the cash receipt by the value entered in the Amount field.  Furthermore, the posted receipt will show up as a deposit with a negative amount.

The negative cash receipt can be applied similar to any regular cash receipt, except the outstanding amount of the invoice will increase, instead of decrease.  Users experiencing returns, bad debt or miscellaneous fee issues will undoubtedly love this new feature.

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

When making payments in GP 2010, users will be given additional restriction possibilities in Select Checks window.  New restrictions can be place on the following fields:

• Vendor IDs
• Vendor names
• Class IDs
• payment priorities
• voucher numbers
• document numbers
• due date\discount date cutoffs
• document currency

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

GP 2010 will bring additional reporting printing capabilities.  Users can now take advantage of Word report templates as an alternative to using the native Report Writer.  Out-of-the-box there will be 22 templates available for use with endless possibilities on user customized reports.

GP 2010 will also feature added capabilities with Excel reports & pivot tables ... hum

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

GP 2010 is coming soon!  Over the next while we will be previewing some of the new features.

Also, join us during our upcoming webinar featuring the top 10 new features.

[caption id="attachment_254" align="aligncenter" width="748" caption="HST Tool-Kit"][/caption]

Did you know Directors of corporations can be held personally liable for un-remitted HST!?!

Be ready for the new HST!  Contact WebSan now to take advantage of our HST Cut-Over Tool-Kit.

Over our many years of experience with Microsoft Dynamics GP, we have developed a proven implementation methodology for companies both large & small.  Get the job done right the first time!  Let us help you with HST upgrades:

• Update company-wide sales & purchasing tax options
• Set tax settings for specific grouping of customers or vendors
• Ensure appropriate sales items are taxable or not

Adam MacIntosh is the Senior Implementation Lead with WebSan Solutions Inc., a professional services consulting firm specializing in helping companies get the most out of their ERP systems and Supply Chains. You can contact Adam at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 416-499-1235 ext. 213.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PR Log (Press Release) – Feb 01, 2010 – WebSan Solutions Inc. an Aurora, ON based Certified MS Dynamics Partner, announces expanded Salesforce.com service offerings.

"WebSan has been working with Salesforce.com as a Referral partner for a number of years and have successfully implemented the product numerous times. Our expertise in the ERP/CRM space and specifically with MS Dynamics GP, has resulted in a number of very interesting and complex integration projects between the products.  Naturally it made sense to formalize our relationship with SFDC so we can be kept abreast of the leading developments and the product roadmap at SFDC." stated Andrew King, Senior Partner.

Andrew continued that "This new SFDC offering allow us to complement and round out our other CRM service offering, such as Microsoft CRM, and provide service to a customer with which ever leading CRM solution that best fits their requirements. "

As promised from my last entry, I will be discussing SmartList functionality this time – how to use them to your advantage and how to build/modify your own.

SmartList in a nutshell is a powerful means of accessing your Dynamics GP data in simple to read form for reporting and analysis. They can be found right in the Microsoft Dynamics GP dropdown menu. There are predefined SmartLists for all modules, which means there is one for everybody. Examples of a few that come with the system are PA Cost Categories found in the Project Accounting folder and Open Purchase Orders, which is located in the Purchasing folder. Using a SmartList is as simple as clicking on the SmartList icon in the desired module. After the data is generated, you could then export to Excel for further data manipulation. There is also an option to export to Word if required.

If the standard SmartLists do not satisfy all of your analysis purposes, there is an add-on tool called SmartList Builder that allows you to customize the standard SmartLists as well as create your own to query a customized set of information. If available, the tool can be found in Micrsoft Dynamics GP-> Tools-> SmartList Builder->SmartList Builder. SmartList Builder allows you to link up to 32 tables in the system and configure your own column headings to suit your reporting needs. I will go through the steps of creating a new SmartList for my own purposes: Contract ID with Project ID and Project Name. To begin, name your SmartList and choose the Product that the data will come from. Project details are found in Project Accounting so that was the product I selected.

To start adding tables, simply click on the “+” symbol on the left panel and select “Microsoft Dynamics GP Table”. From there, you can choose and/or link up to 32 tables of your choosing to incorporate your desired set of data. There will be some research to be done in order to link the right combination of tables for your own purposes. The information I need is found in the PA Contract Master File and PA Project Master Files so I need to first add the PA Contract table and then link the Project Master table based on a common field (Contract ID):

I can then select the fields I require to be displayed in my dataset:

The Setup Checklist in Microsoft Dynamics GP is a great little tool to guide you in the configuration of a new client on the system because it provides a systematic and efficient list of tasks for a complete deployment. I found the tool to be excellent in ensuring the proper setup tasks were completed in the right order because many latter and complex tasks such as in modules such as Sales and Project are dependent on initial setup such as GL account creation and Currencies to be finished first.

When opening up the checklist using the path Microsoft Dynamics GP -> Tools -> Setup -> Setup Checklist, you will find a nifty Setup Guide that pops up right beside the Checklist. I found this to be very helpful in the explanation of the task at hand and how to find more information in the related links below the task description. Here is the Guide that appears when configuring System Security:

As you can see, after the brief task description follows a list of more information that the user can click to further learn about the task and its relationship and effect on various other functions. Since System Security is related to users directly, you would find links for personal security and security roles in links. I noted in my first entry that the Help menu does a superb job of providing necessary information when stuck on a task and it continues to be as I am continuing with my configuration duties.

One complaint that I do have so far is the inability to maximize every single setup window when doing configuration. Usually the first window in a path can be easily maximized (i.e. Account Maintenance) but say if you wanted to Lookup the accounts, the results list must be manually enlarged instead of using the window maximize button. Although a small complaint, I believe that one-click window maximization should be found on every drilldown window in the system for added convenience.

My next issue will cover the concept and handiness of Smartlists and how they can help you with your production in Dynamics GP. I will be sure to provide an example of a custom one and the type of data that can be derived from it.

As the newest member to the Dynamics GP Consulting practice at WebSan, it is my responsibility as a junior analyst to learn how the system works through Microsoft E-Learning and actual hands-on practice in QA environments. My goal with my blog entries is to take you through my learning process with the system. It is my intention to provide any new users or potential future users of the system an objective view of how I perceive and adapt to Dynamics GP.

Coming from a systems background with experience in ERP and warehouse management systems, the first thing that came to mind when interacting with Dynamics GP initially was how easy it was on the eyes. This is an attribute that many software developers neglect because they fail to think like a user. I personally believe that more appealing GUI’s are successful than their bland counterparts in the efficiency department. Nobody likes monochrome work environments.

I’ve also found the navigation to be very intuitive. I have been able to get where I need to go in my basic training exercises in usage and configuration. The help menu has been doing a great job covering any questions I had. Any challenging issues I have definitely had to inquire a senior analyst. Although the software has an accounting backbone and I don’t come from an accounting background, I did not have much difficulty accomplishing basic tasks such as setting up GL accounts or running reports.

I am currently working through the configuration of a new WebSan client on Dynamics GP. My next blog entry will describe my experience with it, including any challenges and lessons learned. Stay tuned!

Steven Lu
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
416-499-1235 x.209

Microsoft is offering significant discounts to customers who migrate from Intuit Quickbooks, Exact (Macola) and Sage (all editions) to Dynamics GP.

Contact us for more details!

In an independent analysis, Nucleus Research studied various customers who had implemented either:

• Microsoft Dynamics GP
• Oracle E-Business Suite
• Peoplesoft
• SAP

They found that :

"Microsoft Dynamics GP has a lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and delivers a positive ROI by limiting costs while delivering significant returns. Microsoft Dynamics GP takes less time to deploy and fewer resources to support than other solutions."

For more information, see the following presentation for more details:

http://websan.com/downloads/GPCompetitiveROIPositioning.pdf