The new GP 18.6 release is due out Monday, 10/2/2023. Here’s a quick summary of new features and program changes included in this release:
Application Updates
Financial Summary Inquiry adding Redisplay button
Reverse Fiscal Year End Close by company vs all companies’ users being out
Customer statements display open items only
More enhancements to the Print and Email Cash Receipts from 18.5
Email/Reprint Vendor Remittance with message fields
Print Sales Order Processing blank picking ticket template
Set Unit of Measure from the PO Requisition to the Purchase Order
Letter Writing Assistant Final Notice on Collection Letters
Format Workflow emails with item decimals
Project Time and Expense Workflow My Expenses/ Delegates Nav List
Project Time and Expense Workflow My Timesheets Nav List
Payroll Year-End Wage Report Formatting
Letter Writing Assistant Expiring Test in Human Resources
ALL Payables 1099 forms will print with LINES! No need to buy any forms!
Systems Updates
Ability to completely delete document attachments from system
Shared Mailbox with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Need Help Updating GP?
Are you running the latest version of GP? CSSI’s GP team is available to help you update and migrate to the latest edition, even if you’ve fallen behind over the years. Contact us to discuss!
Are You Seeing a GP Script Error at Login?
If you or any of your GP users get a script error, like the one below, when they log into GP, it has to do with a setting on your GP Home Page.
Click on No many times until the error goes away. Then click on “Customize this page” in the upper right-hand corner of the Home Page.
Uncheck the Connect checkbox.
Or you can disable the Connect option one user at a time by running the SQL script below against the DYNAMICS database. (Replace ‘xxxxxx’ with the GP user ID.)
UPDATE SY08100 SET Visible = 0 WHERE SectionID = 6 AND USERID = ‘xxxxxx’
If you want to disable it for all users just omit the last line that filters by a specific user ID.
Get More Help With GP
We hope this helps you solve GP script errors at the login screen. For more GP support, training, or upgrade help, please contact CSSI.
As a GP / Great Plains consultant for over 20 years, CSSI keeps tabs on Microsoft’s software roadmap. You may have noticed lots of marketing around Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Business Central, and you may have felt some pressure to migrate. While CSSI will be here to support you if and when you decide to migrate, be aware that you do not need to do so in any currently foreseeable future.
Why Dynamics GP / Great Plains Remains So Popular
The community of Great Plains users is remarkably dedicated and passionate. Did you know that GP is used by over 20,000 customers?
Great Plains remains popular for many reasons:
GP meets the customer’s requirements.
Over time, the customer has integrated GP add-ons and customizations to create a highly specialized accounting system perfectly suited to its business needs.
The customer does not foresee benefits from migrating to a cloud-based ERP environment. In fact, the higher costs of cloud hosting become prohibitive.
Customers who do not regularly update to new GP versions do not want to be forced to do so.
Microsoft’s Commitment to Great Plains / GP
This past April, Microsoft made an announcement on the future of Microsoft Dynamics GP.
Their announcement states that, as of April 1, 2026 (3 years from now), there will be no new customer sales of Dynamics GP. As a steppingstone to this, from April 2025 there will be no new sales of GP Perpetual licenses. Subscription sales can still happen for the additional year.
HOWEVER, this will have no implications for existing customers! Existing customers can continue to purchase new licenses and modules after 2026. There will still be tax and other product updates for Dynamics GP, including lots of new features already planned for the next version (18.6), due to release October 2023. And this will continue with future versions 18.7, 18.8, etc.
Therefore, for existing Microsoft Dynamics GP customers, nothing has really changed. Microsoft has committed to continuing support and development of Dynamics GP to 2028 and beyond.
How CSSI Can Help You with GP
CSSI is pleased to support the community of 20,000 companies using Great Plains. We plan to continue to support GP for as long as our customers need us.
For help with Great Plains, please contact CSSI. We’d be pleased to help with friendly, practical GP support.
Getting a ‘Maximum Users Logged In’ Message?
Do you or any of your users have trouble logging into GP sometimes because the maximum number of users are already logged in? Maybe you need to review which users are performing which tasks.
The 3 Types of Users In Dynamics GP
Full User. This is the most common type of user. This user has full access to do anything in GP, but they are limited based on the security permissions assigned to them within GP.
Limited User. These users can view data only, with inquires, reports and SmartLists. They cannot post transactions or change master records. PLUS, the cost of a Limited User is 80% less than the cost of a full user.
Self Service. These users can only access the Self Service modules, which are used to enter PO requisitions, payroll expenses and timecards, and project expenses and timesheets.
You can see which users are currently logged into GP by going to Administration > Utilities > System > User Activity. Here you can remove (Delete) users who should be logged out.
Keep in mind that, with the use of refreshable Excel spreadsheets, you can have non-GP users viewing GP data outside of the system.
This is a repeat of a tip we published in February of 2022 but, with the rise in the number of check fraud cases, this may be a good time to start using Safe Pay (also known as Positive Pay).
Microsoft Dynamics GP has this built-in tool to assist in the prevention of check and ACH fraud. It’s a process that involves creating a file of payables payments (checks and EFT’s) that you submit to your bank.
Any payments presented to your bank are compared to your company’s issued Safe Pay file. If a payment does not match the information in the file, your bank will contact you for authorization.
If you do not see this option in your GP, then it either needs to be installed and/or registered.
It requires a few setup steps. You first need to contact your bank to confirm that they offer this service and then ask them for file specifications. This file format gets created in GP by going to Financial > Routines > Safe Pay > Configurator, where you select an Output file Type and define the types of records lines and record fields per line.
Next, go to Financial > Routines > Safe Pay > Upload Maintenance. Select the Bank Upload ID (Bank Format) that was created in the first step. Link it to a Bank ID and a Checkbook ID. Select the Upload Filename and Path where you want the file to be created. The same file name will be used every time. (The file gets overwritten each time you create a new file. Have no fear, though, you can always recreate a file from history.)
If you are using EFT processing in GP, be sure to check the “Include EFT Transactions” checkbox at the bottom of the window.
Once you are ready to create a Safe Pay file, after you have posted a batch of payments, go to Financial > Routines > Safe Pay >Transaction Upload. Select the Bank Upload ID. Enter a Last Upload Date and Upload Cutoff Date. Click on the Load/Reload Transactions button. The payments to be included in the file will appear. Click on Upload to create the file.
Click on Proceed when the window below appears.
Click on OK again.
If your bank provides you with a confirmation number when the file is submitted, you can enter that in the next window. If you do not have a confirmation number, just enter any number then click on Successful.
You can then print a report listing all the payments that were included in the file.
To recreate a Safe Pay file, go to Financial > Routines > Safe Pay >Transactions History. Select your Bank Upload ID. Click on the left and right arrows to scroll through previously created uploads. Click on the Upload button the recreate the file.
Need More GP Support?
For more helpful Dynamics GP support, contact the pros at CSSI. We’d be happy to help. Get GP help here.
Monitor your data with GP Home Page and a SmartList
Use your GP Home Page and a SmartList to help you monitor your data. Use reminders to view customers who have gone over their credit limit. Or use a reminder to list all inventory items that have a on hand quantity that is below the item’s reorder limit. Or keep an eye on purchase orders created that exceed a certain dollar amount.
First, create a new SmartList favorite that displays the columns you want to see and that is filtered on whatever criteria is needed.
Let’s work with the example of seeing all purchase orders over a specific dollar amount.
First create the SmartList favorite that will give you the information you need, such as what is shown in the screenshot below.
This list is filtered on
“Released” PO’s only, meaning they have been printed but not yet received or invoiced.
PO’s with a Remaining Subtotal greater than $5,000
PO Status not equal to “Canceled”
Once your new SmartList favorite is displaying the information that you want, now we can save it as a Reminder on your Home Page.
Click on the Favorites button. Enter a new Name then click on Add and select Add favorite and reminder.
In the Custom Reminder window, under Remind me when, select Number of Records, choose “is greater than” and enter 0. This means show my SmartList as a reminder only when it’s returning more than 0 records (rows). Click on OK.
Go to your Home Page. You may need to refresh it if you had been on the Home Page while creating your reminder. You can refresh your Home page by clicking on the double blue arrows in the upper right-hand corner. Or go to another page then come back to the home page.
Here is my new Reminder on my Home page. The “3” in parenthesis indicates that I have 3 records on the SmartList. I can click on it and it will take me right to that SmartList.
Here’s an easy way to handle cash received from a vendor, whether it’s a vendor rebate or a refund of an overpayment. Use the Return document type in Payables Transaction Entry.
Go to Purchasing > Transactions > Transaction Entry and change the Document Type to Return. Fill in all the header information as usual: Document Date, Vendor ID, Document Number, etc.
Enter the amount received from the vendor in both the Returns and the Check fields.
Once you tab off the Check field, the Payables Check Entry window opens where you select which Checkbook ID this payment will be deposited in. You can also enter the vendor’s check number here. Click on OK when finished.
Then, click on the Distributions window to verify the GL accounts that will be posted to. The CASH account defaults from the Checkbook ID selected above. The PURCH account defaults from the Purchases account assigned to the vendor but it can be changed. (Never change the CASH GL account as it’s assigned to the checkbook.)
Once the return is posted, it will be waiting to be deposited in the Bank Deposit Entry window.
You can see in the Payables Transaction Inquiry window that the Return transaction has been fully applied and, therefore, moved directly to History.
Did you know that Dynamics GP enables you to prevent users from posting to prior fiscal periods by closing fiscal periods? Here’s how to take advantage of the feature.
Go to Microsoft Dynamics GP > Tools > Setup > Company > Fiscal Periods.
Also be sure to close all the periods for a year that has just been closed. Because GP allows you to post back to the last closed year, you’ll want to be sure all the periods and modules are closed for that year.
You can always go back and uncheck a period to temporarily reopen it.
You also have the ability to leave just one particular type of transaction open. Click on the Mass Close button (highlighted above). Select a Series and Origin and reopen a period for just that transaction type.
For GP payroll processors, did you know that you can reprint a W-2 form from a prior year? Just go to the Print W-2 Forms window and select a prior year. Select an employee in the From and To Employee ID fields. Select to print W-2 forms and select a Form Type. Click on Print.
We hope you found this tip on reprinting prior W-2 forms to be helpful. For additional GP support on this or any GP topic, please contact CSSI.
Making Use of GP’s Quick Print
If you’re creating sales orders and printing several documents at once (sales order, picking ticket and/or packing slip), that requires a lot of mouse clicks. Instead, you can use what’s called the SOP Quick Print functionality. This is a built-in macro that you set up to print the various documents you need. In the Sales Transaction Entry window, click on Options > Quick Print Setup. Choose the documents to print, number of Copies of each, print options, and Print Destination. Click on Save when finished.
We hope this GP tip is helpful. If you need additional support, please contact CSSI to discuss.
