How I customized Dynamics SL (and made my life easier)

If you want my opinion, SQL Reporting Svcs (SRS) is the great salvation of Dynamics SL. With SRS, you can do almost anything.

Dynamics SL does a lot of great and wonderful things right out of the box. GL - works wonderfully. AP - pays vendors just like you want it to. AR - Ok, we wish it would go break the knees of those that owe us money (but 2 out of 3 ain't bad).

Also, Dynamics does a great job of warehousing data. If you've got information, Dynamics will be happy to put it you SQL Database and save it forever (or until your server crashes without back-ups). Dynamics does an ok job of retrieving data right out of the box; but with SRS, you can put your Dynamics installation on steroids!

I customized my version of Dynamics so that I could do project management better.

Here are some of the things that I did using SRS to make my life happier:

1.) A CPA-Style WIP schedule that shows jobs vertically instead of horizontally. I always hated those CPA versions that were 2 pages wide. Now, I can look at a single column on a page and see everything I need to know about a job.

2.) A way cool Job Cost Overview that shows the billing information, the job-to-date hours, the original budgeted costs, the revised budgeted costs and the actual costs. It also shows the posted transactions as well as the unposted transactions. Another cool feature is that it shows the Under/Over Billings per phase and for the entire job.

I can look at the job to date, or choose a date range for this information. I live by this report.

3.) Several different project timecard reports. I got tired of trying to manually calculating daily overtime and weekly overtime (our Unions require OT after 8 hours per day). So I created reports that show me where I need to make adjustments in payroll so that my overtime is correct. I also use this report as an attendance report, because it can show which employees don't have time on projects.

4.) B'zillion budget variance reports. I can compare labor, materials, subs, equipment, or any other cost account to budget.

5.) Daily revenue earned report. This baby shows me how much revenue I earned that day, then subtracts the costs associated with it, and then subtracts my overhead to show whether we made or lost money that day.

As you can see, if you're creative, SQL reporting services can change the way you manage your company.

John Wheeler

SRS & Microsoft Dynamics

If you're like me, you hated most of the reports that came with MS Dynamics. Either, they don't give you the information that you want, they're just plain ugly, or they're cumbersome. I still hate flexible columns, and really haven't ever got them set up to my satisfaction.

So how did I fix the proplem? SQL Reporting Services (SRS) is the solution. I've created almost every report I need in SRS and when I want to run them, I just use the report manager. Now I get good looking reports that show information in a way that makes sense to me. No more of this putting up with whatever Microsoft decided to ship with the product.

One of the other advantages to SRS is that you can subscribe to reports and have them automatically delivered to your Inbox in the morning. So if you want your A/R person to look at the A/R Aging once per week, just create the report and schedule it to be delived weekly. Then forget it about it and go to the Caribbean (at least that's the theory).

So SRS is a big part of how I customized my version of Dynamics to meet my needs. Now I've got functionality that Microsoft didn't even dream of out of the box.

If you want to know how I customized Dynamics, feel free to e-mail me.

John

SQL Reporting Services

SQL Reporting Services is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I haven't moved to Dynamics 7.0, but I use SRS all the time.

For instance, this morning I have an insurance auditor here. He's looking for some information that's not on a standard report.



THE SOLUTION

1.) jump into Visual Studio
2.) copy a current report
3.) change the query in the data pane
4.) publish the report to the Report Manager
5.) Export the Report to Excel
6.) E-Mail the Report to the Auditor

How long did this take? Five minutes or less



THE RESULT

I look like Superman (without the underwear on the outside of my pants, of course).