Does Microsoft Dynamics GP Deliver One Version of the Truth to Your Organization?

As more firms running Dynamics GP move past simply issuing financial statements and into business intelligence I hear the same request over and over: "we want one version of the truth". That's not really what people want of course. It's a way of saying that they want consistent answers to their questions. The problem comes when managers ask for something like sales numbers and get different sets of numbers because their sales data is housed in multiple systems where each system has different limitations.

Getting to one version of the truth is not magic; it's a process - sometimes a long and painful process. But I've got a few thoughts on how users of Microsoft Dynamics GP can get to one version of the truth.

Decide on the critical reporting items and find where that data lives.

Figure out what truth you need to understand. Is it more accurate and timely sales information? Better cash flow projections? Figure that out first. For firms running Dynamics GP as their comprehensive ERP system, this is less important. All of the data is available.

But when companies run disparate systems that feed Dynamics GP, identifying what data you must have becomes critical. Often these disparate systems create the reporting bottleneck because they can't generate the information required or the information is not passed to Dynamics GP at a level appropriate for reporting. Frequently the information is acceptable but it's only combined with other financial data monthly or quarterly, too late to act on the information.

Eliminate the bottlenecks.

Often this costs money. Unfortunately, poor reporting costs money too and it's money that silently seeps out of the financial statements because of missed opportunities and ...