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I Repeat . . . For Financial Reporting, The Client Is Excel

by Mark Polino
Director of Client Services, Fastpath, Integrated Business Group

Based on a little announcement from Microsoft recently, Dynamics GP may finally be getting a better option for financial reporting. Four years ago I wrote that Management Report had taken the wrong path by not using Excel as the client. Every other major financial reporting tool using Microsoft Excel at its core. As I said then:

"...highly respected technology speaker Richard Campbell was discussing SQL Server 2012 data analytics when he commented, ‘We've given up on building 3rd party clients. The client is Excel.'"

That's still true.

Since then many of Management Reporter's promised features haven't materialized and the product has continued to struggle. Earlier this year I added some context to that by arguing that it was time to rethink Management Reporter and I offered some options for companies feeling stuck. Meanwhile, Excel continued its dominance. Even Microsoft products like Power BI, a product arguable born out of Excel, work to ensure that they maintain their connections with the spreadsheet powerhouse.

Now Microsoft has announced a partnership with Jet Reports to provide another financial reporting option at no additional cost for Dynamics GP users. This new product, Jet Express for Excel uses Microsoft Excel as the core from which to connect to Dynamics GP and report on data using all of the power ...

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About Mark Polino

Mark Polino is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a former Microsoft MVP (2007-2018) for Business Solutions. He is the author or coauthor of 5 books related to Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Mark also maintains the Dynamics GP focused website DynamicAccounting.net. He speaks and writes regularly about ERP related topics. Mark has been a controller and CFO for a division of a publicly traded company and he has  worked as a consultant implementing ERP solutions. Mark holds additional certifications including Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) , Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). Dynamics Credentialed Professional for Dynamics GP 2015 (Core Install and Core Financials), Xero Certified. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Central Florida and an MBA from Rollins College. Mark lives with his family in Florida.

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