Consultant Archives - GUJRAT INDIA

Great Plains Sales Commission Report – Highlights For Consultant

Microsoft Dynamics GP serves vide spectrum of industries, and likely that very large percentage of Great Plains customers deploy Sales Order Processing module, especially if they also carry Inventory control and need Invoice or Sales Order itemization. In out-of-the-box Dynamics GP you should be able to setup basic commission schema for your sales persons and even sales territories, however real life is often different and requires commissions to be accrued on very complex rules. We would like to come through some commission calculation formulas and give you technical highlights:

1. Credit Card related Sales commission calculations. As credit card processor has in turn its own commission, you likely are trying to discourage your sales reps to sell on credit card. Instead, you probably encourage your sales folks to incline customer to send overnight checks or do wire transfers. However in eCommerce scenarios credit cards are often the only way to work with walk in customers and you got to accept credit cards. Complications with credit card acceptance business might be related to the gradation on preferred and less desirable credit card networks. In this scenario you would like to build sales commission report with credit card fees subtracted from the sales amount, subject to commissions

2. Project completion commission schemas. These are when you are having your sales people to be responsible for the project delivery, including manufacturing overhead and associated purchases. In this scenario you would like to calculate commission for delivered projects, meaning invoices, which are not yet delivered in the sense of production orders and drop ship purchases should be placed on hold

3. Other sales commission schemas. These might be related to sales quota for the quarter or month, discounted items versus cash cow items differentiation, just to give your real life scenarios, which would be difficult to implement in standard Dynamics GP functionality

4. How commission logic might be implemented. In our opinion, Dynamics GP, being targeted for mid-size and smaller businesses makes it feasible to do commission on reporting level with following reports results data entry into either AP or Payroll module for commission disbursement

5. Technology insights. Commission reports should be based on complex commission calculation SQL stored procedure or view. Reporting tool might one of the industry standards: Crystal Reports, SQL Server Reporting Services, Excel, Microsoft Access, Great Plains Dexterity, C# or VB.Net report web publishing

Microsoft Dynamics ERP Selection: GP, AX, NAV, SL, CRM – Notes for Consultant

Microsoft recently (in September 2005) renamed its ERP product: Great Plains – Microsoft Dynamics GP, Navision – Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Axapta – Microsoft Dynamics AX, Solomon – Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft CRM – Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The idea is probably nice – to unify future concordance product under Microsoft Dynamics name. There are multiple possibilities, however in getting all MRP systems merged into one Microsoft Dynamics and what should be taken as base and what should be phased out. We can not be judges – we will give you some facts for you to take into consideration. This article is planned as a first entry point to look “under the hood” of Microsoft ERP applications and probably compare the facts with the competition: SAP (especially SAP Business One if you are small or mid-size company or international branch of multinational corporation), Oracle E-Business Suite/Oracle Financials, also referred as Oracle Applications.

o Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0/Microsoft Great Plains. This ERP was initially architectured by Great Plains Software – Great Plains Dynamics and Great eEnterprise hit the market in earlier and middle 1990th. If you remember those old-good-days of IT boom – nobody knew which operating system will win: Unix/Solaris, Microsoft Windows, Apple MAC OS. This is why – the traditional (and pioneering way) for those days was to create a shell, written in C language to abstract you from Graphical platform. Great Plains Dexterity was this shell, programming language (sanscript). The second fundamental idea was to abstract Great Plains Dynamics from database platform, however the abstraction was done on the level of “budget” database platforms: Ctree/Faircomm, and Btrive, later on Pervasive SQL 2000, for Microsoft SQL Server 6.5/7.0/2000 Great Plains used atomic stored procs approach to speed up database access. Nowadays Microsoft Dynamics GP/Great Plains versions 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, 7.5 are available for Ctree and Pervasive, however since version 8.0 Microsoft Great Plains is available on MS SQL Server/MSDE platform only. Currently Microsoft Great Plains 9.0 is offered in USA, Latin America, Canada (including French Canadian version for Quebec), UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other countries where official language is English – such as South East Asia, for instance.

o Microsoft Navision/Navision Attain/Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Some ERP analytics believe that Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions (later renamed into Microsoft Business Solutions) bought Navision Software (est. in 1984). The fundamental ideas of Navision come to its own shell – C/SIDE, database proprietary platform: C/SIDE, etc. Navision was designed to be flexible and grow with your business – from small to upper mid-market. Navision Software had its own marketing plans prior to be purchased by Microsoft and expanded in continental Europe, UK, USA (competing with Great Plains Software and Solomon Software). When Navision was bought by Microsoft – Microsoft Business Solutions offered and promoted Navision in East Europe: Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, etc. Plus it tried Navision in Brazil (over 100 implementations – 2005). Navision is more flexible to localization challenge (than Microsoft Great Plains)

o Microsoft Axapta/Microsoft Dynamics AX – it seems to be rising star for Microsoft and it can compete with upper ERP/MRP mid-market. Axapta has modern design and its ability to expand is still in its architecture modern model (versus Great Plains or Navision – where we see integrations with MS Office, Web Fronts/Business Portal/eConnect/eCommerce type of improvements). In late 2005 we see US and UK MBS VAR activity to sign for Axapta and consultants training.

o Microsoft Dynamics SL/Microsoft Solomon – this ERP is for project-driven organizations.

o Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0/Microsoft CRM 3.0. This CRM solution from Microsoft is abreast of the majority of Microsoft recent ideas and innovations: Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory, XML Web Services driven MS CRM SDK with C# and VB.Net sample code. Currently MS CRM 1.2 and 3.0 has integration to Microsoft Dynamics GP 7.5, 8.0 (with service patch) and 9.0 (coming…)

Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Image Consultant Advice for Middle-Aged Women

THE BEST ADVICE

This article explains what middle-aged women need to know about modern style. The advice pertains to hair, wardrobe, and shoes.

MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN

Middle-aged women, from 35-65, can learn a good deal about style from a trained image consultant. This is especially important for this age group because by this point in their lives they’ve got ingrained habits of dressing and are usually more or less resistant to change. What a pity! Because an image consultant, in the space of three hours, can change your look and bring you new glamour, pizzazz, and style.

Now, wouldn’t you know it, the three areas that a consultant can help you with most are the three areas you’ve got your strongest opinions on already. No worry. Just sit back, relax, and let us introduce you to a few secrets that can make things 100 percent better. The fact is that, if you’re like most gals in this age bracket, your hair needs help, your wardrobe is dull, and your shoes… oh, do we have work to do!

HAIR SECRETS

Your biggest asset is your hair. Believe it or not, people see it first and remember it for the longest time. If you want nice hair, study married woman around twenty-six years old. They usually have the nicest hair because they work at it. They really care about it, and they keep it up. If you want beautiful hair – and who doesn’t! – you’ve got to put some effort into it. We image consultants harp on this all the time because it’s so true.

One secret is to use a conditioner with dimethicone. Another is to get your hair cut every six weeks to fix frayed ends. Still another secret is to get a new hairstyle every once in a while. Finally, carry a small mirror to check your appearance to ensure that you don’t have flyaway hair before you meet friends and family.

Our last hair secret will stun you, but that’s what we’re here for, isn’t it? You need to try some retro styles, such as a beehive or bouffant look. Men will go crazy for you if you have the nerve to do something so different.

WARDROBE SECRETS

The biggest mistake women make as they age is that they tend to wear more prints. Women become more artistic as they age, and they think that they need to have art on their clothes, in the form of prints. Please resist the temptation. Solids are sexy, prints are not. And if you don’t think a woman your age can be sexy, take a look at Suzanne Somers.

“Oh, but friends and family compliment me when I wear prints,” you say? I hate to shatter your illusions, but those closet to you probably want to avoid hurting your feelings because they love you. You might be better off talking with an objective image consultant who has no ulterior motives. Unlike friends and family, a consultant will tell you the honest truth.

So, now, are solids starting to look a little better?… We sure hope so!

SHOE SECRETS

If you’re like most middle-aged women, your footwear is a problem because you’re either wearing heels that are too high or slip-ons that are too fusty. This season, a very cute shoe is the ankle boot. In casual situations, if you want to attract men, this is the shoe to die for. Another good choice is unisex sneakers with white laces. Even better than that, wear open-toe and open-heel shoes to cocktail parties and nights out on the town. You’ll turn heads.

Please keep in mind that if you’re an attorney, a banker, or a white collar worker, the shoe advice will be totally different for your work environment. For business, never wear ankle boots. (But you knew that, didn’t you?) On the job, opt for dark shoes, not shoes that match your lighter outfits.

We want you to look your best and make a good impression, and following these simple guidelines will help you do just that.