Dynamics GP users suffer from a pretty nice problem to have: an overload of reporting options. The suite of available reporting tools for Dynamics GP includes Report Writer, SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), SmartLists with SmartList Builder, Excel Reports with Excel Report Builder, Crystal Reports, FRx, Management Reporter, Analysis Cubes for Excel and all of those ISV solutions promising to make reporting easier. Whew! Users are left wondering which reporting tool to use. I thought that I would try to help by laying out where I think the tools fit. Admittedly there is some overlap and with that overlap there is room for a company to simply define the preferred tool for a specific need.

In my mind the preferred tools break down like this:

Posting Reports/Base Reports - Report Writer - There is no good substitute for the included Report Writer reports to print posting journals or generate a basic trial balance to confirm the accuracy of another report. Don't create new Report Writer reports though. There are better alternatives. Use these only as a baseline.

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