Five Questions You Need to Answer When Creating a Microsoft Dynamics GP Report Specification

Often when developing reports for Microsoft Dynamics GP users, we face what I like to call the need-to-know challenge.  No information is volunteered, you have to ask very leading questions to really understand the report's purpose, and at every step someone else needs to be consulted. 

This dynamic frequently results from the fact that the person requesting the report is two or three degrees removed from the actual users of the report and often does not know the detailed requirements.  It can also sometimes happen when users think that by giving the report designer too much information they will be wasting time, and since they're paying by the hour, time is money.

The reality is that the need-to-know approach to report specification will typically lead to a much longer lead time for your reports and most likely require more iterations before it actually accomplishes the desired results.  If you are using internal resources for report writing, this situation can cause to a lot of frustration and wasted time.  If you are using external resources, this can translate into far more expensive reports.

Next time you are the one requesting a report, be able to answer the following five questions:

1.       What is the business need behind the report?  This is an important place to start, especially when you're talking to a consultant that has already developed numerous reports for others - they may have already created a report for a similar need and might have re-usable code or an approach you may not have thought of for creating the report. 

2.       What does the report need to look like and who will be using it?  The answer may be critical in determining the tool or method used ...