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[Vanessa Halacsy]

I am new to a trucking company that uses Microsoft Dynamics GP for our accounting software, and I’m not sure we’re using to it’s full potential. Two things that I know I’d like more information on are Fixed Asset management, and Payroll/Human Resources.

Can people who use or have used one or both of those modules in GP please respond and let me know what you think? What are the pros and cons? How easy is it to convert to or away from them?

We have a variety of requirements for payroll.
– we file two SUTA returns because Ohio doesn’t allow a common paymaster arrangement, even though all our other payroll accounts are unified. 
– multiple pay types including salary, hourly, hourly except from overtime, mileage, percent of load, commissions, etc.
– segment payroll expenses by job type and company division. 

For HR, we’re looking for something very comprehensive.
– track all the licensing and certifications
– integration with our benefits programs
– electronic paperwork (incoming applicants and outgoing like sending paystubs and driver settlement reports)
– time and attendance tracking (import hours from other systems? electronic or online time clock integration? time off calendars and scheduling? manager approvals?)

For Fixed Assets we’re tracking things like tractors, trailers, and office equipment; which location they’re at, which division they’re part of (which sometimes changes), VIN numbers, and other details. We run both internal and tax depreciation (which are two different schedules), and would need only the internal to affect the books. Then we’d need to track disposal against the internal depreciation but have reports for tax.

I would really appreciate details of personal experiences; also are there videos on these modules so I can get a feel for them?

Thank you!

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Vanessa Halacsy
Controller
Wooster Motor Ways, Inc.
Wooster OH
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[Jen Kuntz]

Hi Vanessa,

I will leave it up to the others here to comment on HR/Payroll as I’m in Canada so our payroll module isn’t the same as the US Payroll module. I believe generally many of your HR requirements can be met but perhaps not all, right out of the box.

For Fixed Assets, it’s a great module but I think it’s one module that I strongly recommend working with a consultant or your partner to implement. Getting guidance on the proper configuration for your environment can make a lot of difference in your enjoyment in using this module! As a long-time consultant, I found many people struggled learning FA but once they understood how it works, they get a lot of value out of it.

Hope that helps a bit!
Jen

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Jen Kuntz, CPA, CGA, Microsoft MVP (Business Applications)
Manager, Business Solutions
Energy+ Inc.
Cambridge, ON, Canada
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[Kyle Malone, CPA]

Agreed w/ .  It’s very important to ensure the FA module is setup correctly from the get go or you’ll have a hard time getting correct information or getting the system to work properly moving forward.

GP FA Pros…
– Much cheaper than what you’ll find in the marketplace for stand-alone FA system and you may already own it.
– Ties to general ledger
– Basic reports available (depreciation, cost, retirements, etc.)
– Basic FA import utility available
– The data is actually stored in few number of tables which makes reporting fairly easy.
– Intercompany transfers available

GP FA Cons…
– No out of the box tying to physical location tracking.  Unless you get crafty or look into 3rd parties, auto-updating GP w/ an assets location is typically manual (thinking of your trucks and if that’s an issue)
– Learning curve on setup and processing
– Some quirks when comparing to rest of GP (ex.) No post through)
– Lazy SmartList reports.  There’s not much out of the box so if SmartList is your preferred tool for reporting, you will be disappointed or have to spend some time on reports.
– Windowed to death.  Not a big deal if you and/or your users are familiar w/ GP but if not, FA yields a particularly high number of windows that you go through to complete typical processes and people will get lost.
– No out of box “Forms”.  Can’t recall numbers off top of my head but let’s just say the equivalent of a vendor 1099 is NOT available to be generated for fixed assets.

In short, the module isn’t perfect but it does the essentials.  If you have time and expertise, you can make it do anything you want (pretty much like you can in the rest of GP as well).
?

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Kyle Malone, CPA
GP Admin – CGB Enterprises, Inc.
Lead Consultant/Blogger – http://ALaCarteGP.com
Chapter Leader – Louisiana (New Orleans)
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[Jo deRuiter]

Good Morning, ?

I “third” the opinion of Jen and Kyle that the FA module in GP is excellent and I further agree that the out of the box reporting is not up to par, but custom reports are easy enough to put together through SmartLists, etc.

I actually did a Fixed Assets Webinar for the GPUG Community just yesterday which you may find useful.  If you are a member of GPUG then you’ll be able to follow this link and watch it.  

https://www.gpug.com/viewdocument/fixed-assets-in-dynamics-gp-lets?CommunityKey=f5effb5c-1971-4d11-af16-0817422d8c8d&tab=librarydocuments

It should answer a ton of your questions.

Additionally, since you are exploring all the excellent options and additional modules in GP, I would suggest that you may want to attend the GPUG Summit in Phoenix in just a few weeks as one of the myriad reasons that people go is to explore in-depth the functionality that GP has to offer.

There is some activity around Fixed Assets, but there is a whole TRACK devoted to HR/PR functionality that you would benefit from.  Here are some of the classes in that track:

I’m not sure if you are planning to go or not, but it is definitely worth looking into.
https://www.gpugsummit.com/home

If you can’t get to summit, go to the recorded webinars here on GPUG and you have access to a great number of recordings around these subjects!

Best of Luck!!

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Kindest Regards,

Jo deRuiter , MCP, DCP
“That GP Red Head”
Advanced Credentialed Professional-Dynamics GP
GPUG Academy Instructor
GPUG GP Credentialing Exam Committee
Chairman, GPUG Partner Advisory Board
Dexpro Dynamics LLC
Senior Consultant
Milwaukee, WI
770-906-4504 (Cell)
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[Alex Rode]

Vanessa,

I will again echo that setting up Fixed Assets is best undertaken with guidance from a Partner or Consultant. Jo’s webinar will definitely give you some great info to get started.

From the Panatrack side, we offer a solution that allows you to add and update asset records, within Dynamics GP, from anywhere on an Android phone. This was designed to fit the missing piece of physical tracking that Kyle pointed out. If this is something you’re interested in learning more about once your team moves down the Fixed Asset road, have a look at it here: Tracking Fixed Assets in the Office and on the Road – Panatrack

Welcome to the GPUG Forum, you will find that the community here is an outstanding resource!

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Alex Rode
Panatrack
Hartland, WI
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[Blair Christensen]

?Having worked for a trucking company (which also used GP for payroll), I’ll just say that GP isn’t particularly well-equipped for the kinds of paperwork tracking mandated by State and Federal law for transportation companies.  We used a completely separate document management system for that task – and it was a major project and expense.  I’d recommend looking around, because it’s critical that you be able to set up notifications for at least 30 days notice on expiring physicals, licenses, drug testing, etc. so the driver can get those things taken care of before it becomes an issue.

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Blair Christensen
Database Administrator
Oppenheimer Companies, Inc.
Boise ID
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[Karen Wainwright]

I’d suggest speaking with Jeannette Coty Bachellor on any HR questions. She is by far one of the best HR consultants in the GP community.  Her knowledge and attention to detail would certainly be of value to you.

https://www.gpug.com/people/jeannette-coty-bachellor

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Karen Wainwright
Sales Consultant
Mekorma
Pittsburgh PA
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[Vanessa Halacsy]

Thank you Jen for the suggestion on working with our GP partner – we use TMW for our main transportation and garage software (and they are our GP partner), so we have reached out to them for advice on using more of GP in connection with TMW. Good to know that the setup can be tricky.

Thank you Kyle for the detailed listing, that’s helpful to see what items we’ll need to investigate more before we make a decision.

Thank you Jo for the link to the webinar, I’ll definitely watch that. Good to know that reports will be something we’d need to pay attention to before it does what we want. I am registered for Summit, but we are on a deadline to make the decision on a payroll software/service by Oct 12 so that we have time to implement before the end of the year. That way also, if we decide to go with GP for our payroll and HR I can spend time at Summit focusing on those tracks, but if we decide on a different payroll solution I can spend the time at Summit going through some of the other tracks. (So much to learn, and not enough time to do it!)

Thank you Alex for the link to the android solution. If we go with GP for FA, we may be looking into that.

Thank you Blair, that is super helpful to know; that’s one of the things we were wondering about, how much of the driver paperwork etc could be handled through GP. If it doesn’t do everything we need, it might not be the most efficient system in the long run.

Thank you Karen for the referral to Jeannette, I’ll send her a message.

Anyone else want to chime in?

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Vanessa Halacsy
Controller
Wooster Motor Ways, Inc.
Wooster OH
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