Happy Holidays!

Microsoft Office Tip Of The Month

If you need to run a project with a column to show the days until a task is due, you can use the “=TODAY()” function.  Then you can use the column to compare to the due date and show (by color) which activities are nearing (or past) their due date!

Successful on-site Microsoft Dynamics GP Year-End Training Session

Wrapped up an on-site Microsoft Dynamics GP Year-End Training Session yesterday. We just love to arm our clients with tips to facilitate a successful Year-End Close!

Contact us if you have questions on the steps you should be taking to prepare for Year-End Close and/or new releases.

What is ERP Software?

What does it mean when we say “At Collins Computing, we provide experienced talent and proven technologies for small to mid-sized businesses looking to automate their ERP solutions”?

Let’s start with an ‘assumed’ definition these days for “ERP Solutions”.  Originally an “Enterprise Resource System” might have meant a software package meant to automate the back office functions of a business.  But with advancements in technology, now it seems to mean more than just a back office tool.   Businesses expect a system that can act as a tool to gather critical data and generate reports that can be distributed via the web; improve efficiency so users don’t have to initiate every task; and enhance customer service to include not just billing when appropriate, but also following up with customer experience rating requests, easily track shipments and deliveries, and automate collection management processes.

An ‘adequate’ ERP solution should encompass drawing a client’s specific needs together, setting up the current requirements into a proper selection of choices, and then mapping the business processes to best distribute invoices/documents/reports.  Gone are the days of having paper checklists and batch processing done at the end of the day.  ERP Solutions need to initiate the next step of the process as soon as conceivably imaginable.  If a product is available, offer expedited shipments, credit card authorization, carrier selection, and of course offer flexible and user-designed patterns or combinations of products.

An ‘acceptable’ ERP solution should have safeguards for compliance standards for audits, regulatory scrutiny, and escalation processes for system changes by the producer of the software when the government modifies the calculations, amounts, or percentages of tax rates or levels.

In fact, here are 25 Brilliant Ideas that ERP solutions should give clients who are looking to outsmart their competition!

For a demonstration of Microsoft Dynamics GP’s latest release, contact Collins Computing, experts in implementing highly successful ERP solutions.