Microsoft Great Plains PM: Payables Management

Microsoft Great Plains PM: Payables Management

by: Vincent Ong

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for midsize companies as well as Navision (which has very good positions in Europe and emerging markets where it can be easily localized).

Great Plains Payables Management (PM) module improves control over your payables. With easy access to comprehensive vendor information, payment scheduling and tracking, and uptothe minute answer to your cash flow status, this module allows you to manage your expenses more effectively.

PM maximizes operational efficiency by empowering employees with advanced search capabilities that provide quick and easy access to the information they need. This module also simplifies expense allocation like deferring payments or costs over multiple periods with automatically managed calculations and journal entries customized to fit your business needs.

Features:

Extensive DrillDown – Crossmodule drilldown capabilities give you the ability to locate the exact details you need.

Comprehensive Vendor Information – Streamline your vendor information with vendor categories for consistent record maintenance and comprehensive data, including addresses, shipping methods, default purchase accounts, and userdefined information.

Installment Management – Automate your vendor installment payments by creating schedules, calculating interest, amortizing amounts, and forecasting the impact of variable interest rates, payment amounts, and installment changes.

Expenditure Control – Manage expenditures with full control over check runs and tracking of afterthefact payments that use manual check entries, credit cards, or cash for transactions.

Control Account Management – Manage your payables control accounts by reporting segments, such as cost center, division, department, program or fund, and display a breakdown by segment values of your central control payables account. Eliminate the need to manually reconcile reporting segments and get a true account of amounts owing by segment value.

Automatic Posting Automate posting for each vendor to designated General Ledger accounts for recurring transactions, or streamline distribution for vendors without specified purchase accounts.

Complete Payables Reporting – Create a comprehensive suite of payable reports that can be sorted by calendar or fiscal year with onscreen display and search, or combine with Microsoft® Business Solutions–Great Plains® applications such as Report Writer or Crystal Reports® for greater reporting flexibility.

Good luck with implementation, customization and integration and if you have issues or concerns – we are here to help! If you want us to do the job give us a call 16309615918 or 18665280577! [email protected]

About The Author

Vincent is a Great Plains specialist in Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) – USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving clients in Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Miami, New Orleans, Toronto, Montreal and having locations in multiple states and internationally

This article was posted on April 01

by Vincent Ong

Microsoft Great Plains customization and developme

Microsoft Great Plains customization and development – overview for programmer

by: Andrew Karasev

When Great Plains Software was designing and developing Great Plains Dynamics/Dynamics CS+/eEnterprise it placed several fundamental principles into the system

1. Computer platform independence. If you consider the situation in the computer software industry those days (earlier 1990th) nobody knew which office computer platform will be the winner: IBM PC clones with Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh with Mac OS or something like Sun SPARC. This is why graphical multiplatform idea was popular among software developers. Also there was a myth about C/C++ languages, working similar on all computers.

2. Database platform independence there was the need for future surviving. Competition on the database market was also very tough: Oracle, Ingress, Sybase, DB2, Ctree/Faircom, Btrieve (Pervasive SQL 2000 later on)

In order to realize these two principles Great Plains Software created its own development environment and programming language Great Plains Dexterity (DYNAMICS.DIC, REPORTS.DIC, FORMS.DIC are Dexterity dictionaries).

At this point customization standards were clarified:

1. If you need seamless integration with Great Plains Dynamics, working in the realm of Dynamics security and database independent data access/modification you do it in Great Plains Dexterity.

2. If your customization should be light then you appeal to the customization tools coming with your computer platform. Very soon Microsoft Windows took the market, so VBA was the way to go.

3. As soon as Microsoft Windows kicked Mac OS from the office computers market, standard third party Microsoftfriendly tools were recommended good example is Crystal Reports

4. When Microsoft SQL Server won the database market Great Plains Software began migration campaign from Ctree/Faircom, Btrieve/Pervasive SQL to MS SQL Server 7.0 and later 2000

Finally, when Microsoft bought Great Plains Software, Microsoft Business Solutions turned to be more concerned about its ERP products migration and transformation into socalled suites: Microsoft Financial, Microsoft Logistics, Microsoft Manufacturing, Microsoft Human Resources and pretty much abandoned the promotion of traditional tools: Great Plains Dexterity, VBA, ReportWriter, Continuum, Integration Manager. As a temporary patch to enable .Net programming it released such tools as eConnect.

Right now (20042005) we are in the transformation phase when old tools, such as Dexterity are still playing important role, but if you are thinking about customization, you probably better consider SQL Server scripts/views/stored procs, if you have customization budget make a research on eConnect. Try to make as much web publishing in Visual Studio.Net as possible. Use Crystal Reports design and our recommendation is to base Crystal Report on SQL View or Stored Procedure.

Good luck with installation, implementation, customization, development, upgrade and if you have issues or concerns – we are here to help! If you want us to do the job give us a call 18665280577! [email protected]

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies – USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, based in Chicago, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Washington, Minnesota, Colorado, Canada, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com), he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: [email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 23, 2004

by Andrew Karasev

Home Based Business Success and the Power of Belie

Home Based Business Success and the Power of Belief

by: Nick A. James

There was well over one million searches last month on the internet for home businesses. This means numerous people either aren’t happy where they’re at – they need more money or they want to be home raising their kids.

Think about it – people are either working so hard to pay the bills that they can’t slow down and enjoy life or they struggle to pay the bills and thus their life is stress and endless worry. Look at all the home foreclosures each month – it’s unbelievable.

However, while most people really want what a successful home business has to offer they usually aren’t prepared to make that a reality.

Let’s talk here about belief – all great accomplishments start with a seed of belief. But for that seed of belief to grow into a great accomplishment it needs a lot of water and nourishment – especially at first.

The key is to nourish that seed of belief so it grows – that seed of belief is very vulnerable at first – it can easily die as it has no roots.

Right after someone has started a home business is when it’s most vulnerable. Your brother in law Butch will say – are you some kind of moron – those home business things don’t work – my cousins Clem and Jethro didn’t make a dime in the entire 2 hours they spent working. Of course who’s to doubt a business giant like Butch – after all he just advanced to the rank of assistant night supervisor at the Quickmart after 7 short years.

Are you on fire? I heard a preacher once say – are you on fire? Or are you trying to put out someone else’s fire.

If you’re not on fire – I mean a raging fire what happens to a tiny flicker of flame – it easily goes out with the first wind.

However, a raging fire doesn’t go out with the first wind – actually when the winds blow it just serves to make the fire grow even hotter. You can go away and that fire will continue to burn where you planted it.

Actually we are all one of the following three types of people, which one of these are you.

People that make things happen People that get on board with those who make things happen and People like Butch that wonder – what happened.

As a kid why did you never have trouble getting up on Christmas morning? Two reasons really – because you knew that something really good was going to happen to you. But two you had an unshakeable belief that there would be presents under the tree. Hence the great excitement and anticipation thus creating a great positive attitude.

The secret is extraordinary people are excited to get up everyday and so should we. By believing something great will happen each day we bring together unseen forces to help us. Plus this attitude attracts the right people to aid us in accomplishing great things.

Anybody can get excited over something good that’s a sure deal – like Christmas. However, what separates the extraordinary from the ordinary are those who have the vision to see what others can’t see in the future and take action.

There are two roads in life. One is a very broad and paved road and the amazing thing about this road is that you don’t have to look for it or have directions to find it. By simply doing nothing it will find you and in 40 years or less on this giant freeway it will take you to the twin overpopulated cities of Regret and Failure.

On the other hand there is another much harder to find road as it’s simply a bare unmarked trail at the beginning and many people walk past it everyday without noticing. But once in a while to the weary, searching traveler it opens up a glimpse of the great vision it contains waiting at trails end.

The great thing about being on this second road is you meet other travelers who make traveling easier and considerably much more fun.

Everyone on this road sees something fascinatingly different ขon down the road.ข Walt Disney saw Disneyland and Epcot Center on this road. Orville and Wilbur Wright could see the future of air travel. Henry Ford could see a nation of automobiles. Our founding fathers could see a land of free men in a country that was the greatest land of freedom of opportunity the world had ever known.

So if you dare we invite you to take this path on the ขJourney of No Regrets.ข Where the hardest step is always the first.

About The Author

Nick A. James offers informative tips and information on nutrition, health and working from home. His many years of Internet Marketing expertise puts him in unique postion to help others starting a home business (http://www.healthgojijuice.com/homebusiness.html). For free newsletter, free reports and amazing info contact him at: http://www.healthgojijuice.com.

This article was posted on April 09

by Nick A. James

Nobody Reading Your Blog?

Nobody Reading Your Blog?

by: Bolger Redet

So you got a your own weblog. Everything looks great, you have nice layout, some nice pictures and last but not least excellent articles.

You also update your blog on a regular basis but nobody seems to read it ! You start to think where did I go wrong. Well if your blog is really good you just need to be patient. Also make sure you submit your blog to directories specialized in blogs and search engines.But even if you did all this you might get not the amount of readers you wished for.

Get unlimited readers for you blog !

Smart people started to notice blogs are very popular so they came up with a great ideas. Blogexplosion.com is such great idea. The concept is simple, if you read other blogs then other people read your blog. So the more blogs you read the more people will be reading yours. Sounds good you might think. Well it actually is a very good concept. Just register your blog for free and login, then pick a category blogs you would like to read and start reading. You must read each blog for at least half a minute, after that you can select another blog. For each blog you have red you recieve a credit. This credit means one other member is going to read your blog. Again great concept. But there is a downside, first you have to spend of lot of time reading blogs in order to get other people to read yours. You can choose to read only blogs in a specific category (of your interest) but it is still really time consuming. Other people who are reading your blog might do this because they only want other people to read their blog. You can imagine these are not the most interested readers you wish for. But blogexplosion.com also offers non members to search their directory for blogs. These visitors are potenial quality readers for your blog! Other downside is that you can not only earn credits by reading other blogs, you can also buy them ! If everybody is going to do this then this concept doesn’t do so well anymore.

About The Author

Bolger Redet is webmaster at http://www.bloxster.net a free quality weblog hosting service. Bolger is working on the bloxster.net website to provide their users tools to publish multimedia content

This article was posted on August 07

by Bolger Redet

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Verticals

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Verticals Wholesale Order Entry center – overview for consultant

by: Andrew Karasev

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has substantial market share and strong support by Microsoft on the US market. Currently we see the trend in the vertical markets when companies with custombuilt accounting application, usually written on legacy platform are switching to standard and proven ERP solution and customize or tailor it to fit their vertical market requirements. We’ll be publishing series of vertical articles: Logistics, Distribution Centers, Warehouse Management, Barcoding, Shipping/Receiving, eCommerce, EDI, Wholesale. Today we’ll give you Wholesale tailoring scenario

Sales Order Processing improvements to work with large number of wholesale order takers:

Sales Order Processing stand alone Great Plains Dexterity application, which works with Microsoft Great Plains SQL databases to feed in orders. This application, written as from scratch Dexterity application doesn’t requires hundreds of Great Plains user licenses and will work with SOP tables with improved functionality

Online Sales History by Customer. If you are order taker and this is wholesale business – each customer has certain level of negotiated price, which it is comfortable to pay. Also this customer is ordering known set of products from you. It is nice to have list of historical items he ordered in the past several months and their negotiated prices

Recommend Items to your customer. You can easily design items to recommend logic, when you link your new items or related items with the items your customer is usually ordered. This is how Amazon book sale works!

Sales People Competition. In addition to the above online sales tools you can have average profitability of the item per period and by sales person (assuming negotiation scenarios). Here you can have logic implemented allowing certain level of negotiation room and variable commission, related to strong negotiation and sales skills

Considering Microsoft Great Plains – majority of the logic above is implemented and could be implemented in Great Plains Dexterity. Alternative platform would be Microsoft C# or VB.Net ASPX web programming with Microsoft Great Plains at the back end. You can use such tools as eConnect to work with Great Plains object creation and retrieving or go ahead with direct SQL Stored Procedure. To certain level you could use legacy technologies, such as Great Plains Modifier with Continuum for VB, VBA scripting, etc.

Good luck and you can always seek our help in customization, implementation, integration and support. Call us: 18665280577 or 16309615918, [email protected]

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies – USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving Chicago, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, Australia, UK, Canada, Continental Europe, Russia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 25

by Andrew Karasev

กInternet Marketing Simplified! 2 Pillars For Achi

กInternet Marketing Simplified! 2 Pillars For Achieving Massive Resultsก

by: Jeff Smith

Are you confused by the flood of information on how to improve your internet marketing results?

Mastering the search engines, payperclick advertising, affiliate marketing, website design, writing articles, and on it goes.

Doesn’t it seem more and more complicated to focus in on what really works and what doesn’t?

After working to build many businesses from the ground up over the last 10 years, itกs more clear than ever that there are 2 main principles that will largely dictate your success in any business. All of the other techniques build on these first two principles.

Think of these two main principles as the cement pillars that hold up a bridge without them, no matter how well you construct the bridge, it will still fall down.

Focus your energies, time and resources around meeting these two key principles you will immediately see a big difference in your results.

PRINCIPLE #1

You must have a well positioned product, fulfilling a hot desire within a clearly identifiable and accessible target market.

Letกs break this down.

Making a profit in business is really quite a simple concept, you have to earn more revenue than your cost. Revenue minus cost is your profit.

So where does that cost come from?

The two big sources of costs are: costs associated with creating or finding your product to sell and cost of reaching your market to sell your product

It only makes sense then that identifying a hot desire within a market you know how to reach will mean much lower costs for your businss. Ultimately, this means more profit for you.

Have you ever run against the wind? Tried to swim upstream in a river? Walk one way in a crowd when everyone else was walking the other way?

Itกs a very tough lesson to learn.

Iกve been brought it to consult with companies that have burned through millions of dollars before learning this lesson.

You cannot FORCE a lowdemand product on a market no matter how much money you spend on marketing.

You cannot hope to reach enough buyers in the entire marketplace even with a very highdemand product in one segment.

In fact, Iกve seen situations where unknown entrepreneurs enter a market, quickly identify a hot desire, address it with a less than perfect product and in a very short time have created wealth 100X higher than anyone else in that market.

An old mentor of mine used to tell me all the time, กfocus on the low lying fruit thereกs far more than enough to go aroundก

PRINCIPLE #2

You must reach your market with a clear, empathetic message that instantly catches your readers attention, interest, desire and moves them to see your product as THE answer to their deepest desires.

If you were reading closely, youกll recognize Principle #2 as the same principles that underly great copywriting.

How do you become a great copywriter and master Principle #2?

1. Research, research and research. I make sure I have a pulse on my target marketกs desires, needs, emotional triggers. Focus in on WHY they want a solution to a particular problem. Research takes many forms…

speak with them

survey them

read what they read

talk to others who do business with your market

test using articles and special reports to guage the response

do what they do

By doing this you should have content for 2030 (at least) different benefits for your product.

Then….

2. Polish your benefit statements. This is where you can use books of action verbs, swap files (samples of great ads, letters and webpages), the services of a copywriter. This is the technical aspect of copywriting which can be learned by reading other great material.

Far too many people go right to #2, as a result their benefit statements seem bland, miss the mark or seem the same as everyone else.

Next time you get distracted by the latest and greatest tip, technique or strategy know that focusing on these 2 fundamental principles: Indemand product ideas and effective copywriting, will make the most difference to your pocketbook in both today and in the future.

About The Author

Discover how to create your own bestselling eBooks, Special reports or books to sell online …AND keep 100% of the profits. Limited time complimentary access to 7Part Minicourse will get you started quickly and easily. Visit: http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 17, 2004

by Jeff Smith

Offline Promotions For Your Home Business

Offline Promotions For Your Home Business

by: Dirk Wagner

Promoting your home business is obviously one of the most important aspects in terms of becoming successful. The internet is full of opportunities where you can advertise your business. But, what about offline advertising?

Offline advertising is often one of the most overlooked ways of advertising for internet based home businesses. Let’s examine some ways you can use offline promotions to better advertise your home business.

Create Flyers

This is a great way to get the family involved in your home business! Using your computer, you can create attractive looking flyers that you can get your kids or spouse to help you hand out at the local mall, post on billboards at the shopping market or place on car windshields in parking lots. You just have to be creative. This is a very inexpensive form of advertising for your home business, and can be fun when you get the family involved.

Business Cards

This is a relatively cheap way of promoting your home business. You can find companies that can make your custom business cards for you, for very little money. Some companies I have dealt with will give as many as 250 free (excluding shipping charges), the only draw backs are they use the back of your cards to put there own business logo and usually the selection is limited compared to paid or premium business cards. Still a very good way to promote. You can leave your business cards around for people to find, leave a stack by payphones, in restaurants, in mailings to your customers. You can even save more money creating your own business cards with your home computer.

Bumper stickers/TShirts

Another very inexpensive way to promote your home business offline is by making up bumper stickers and/or tshirts. This is a great way to get the word out about your product and/or service. Just give them away to everyone that wants one.

Calendars

These are great to give away as free gifts to potential customers. Other promotional items may include coffee mugs, key chains, magnets, pens, etc.

Sponsorship

Sponsor a youth athletic team, or give away free prizes at a golf tournament. Every organization is looking for sponsorship of some sort, create a plan of what you are willing to do to sponsor a organization.

Media

Using the media is a great way to promote. If you can afford it, doing a radio or television spot can bring in a ton of potential clients to your product and/or service. Classified ads in your daily newspaper is also a great way to promote your business. You may also consider sending out a press release to the editor of your newspaper about your home business.

Direct Mail

You can purchase or rent mailing lists to send out promotional material about your product and/or service.

Networking

Unless you never leave the house, networking within your community is a great way to let other’s know about your business. You can join in community groups, chamber of commerce, kids school functions etc.

Word of Mouth

Still one of the best ways to let it be known that you have your own business. Talk about your business and website as often as you can. Encourage other family members and clients to do the same.

There are many ways to advertise your home business both online and off. For best results you really should be using both forms to advertising.

Copyright 2004 Dirk Wagner

About The Author

Dirk Wagner is CEO and owner of http://team4success.biz and the free, easy to install #1 home business toolbar with automated updates. A website dedicated to helping the homebased business entrepreneur start and succeed with tthere very own homebased business.

This article was posted on March 20, 2004

by Dirk Wagner

Integrating Microsoft Great Plains Accounting/ERP:

Integrating Microsoft Great Plains Accounting/ERP: RMS, CRM, eCommerce, Lotus Domino – overview for developer

by: Andrew Karasev

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has substantial market share among horizontal and vertical clientele in the USA, Canada (including French version for Quebec/Montreal), UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spanish speaking Latin and Central America, South Africa and Middle East. Nowadays ERP can not stay as it is offtheshelf product – it requires integration with Legacy or newly implemented systems, such as CRM, Retail Management applications, custom inhouse made business systems (transportation/cargo tracking, etc). The tendency is that if company uses Microsoftdriven computer park (Windows domain, SQL Servers, MS Exchange) the rest of the ERP/CRM applications are Windowsoriented. However you can have successful bridge between nonMicrosoft ERP and Great Plains: Oracle, IBM Lotus Notes/Domino, DB2 or others), usually it involves Java/CORBA/EJB/JSP type of expertise.

Microsoft RMSGreat Plains integration. There are few options – first one is to use standard integration, coming with MS RMS. It has Dexterity interface in Great Plains, does integration to single company at the time. Doesn’t integration on SOP/AR level, however. Second option is to use integration, maintained by Alba Spectrum Technologies – it integrates unlimited number of stores, SOP/AR/POP, posts through Bank Reconciliation module and so allows to track Check Books/Credit Card balances. This integration also has Dexterity interface for StoresGP Companies mapping and could work as nightly or real time SQL Server routine

Microsoft CRMGreat Plains integration. This integration is maintained by Microsoft Business Solutions and allows you to synchronize SOP and Customers in Great Plains with Microsoft CRM Quotes and Orders. Microsoft CRM has open Microsoft CRM SDK and so you can customize and integrate Microsoft CRM at will, having C# or VB.Net inhouse expertise. The above mentioned integration could be altered and tuned by programming MS BizTalk server (it can use either BizTalk runtime or regular license)

Microsoft Great Plains as Back office for eCommerce website. Here we need to mention interesting thing, The product, created and dedicated to eCommerce developers – Great Plains eConnect is often considered as a bit expensive and licensingrestricting solution. If your company is ISV and implements eCommerce product, integrating to Great Plains – you would rather prefer set of open and simple stored procedures, moving data to and retrieving from Microsoft Great Plains Sales Order Processing (SOP) module

Microsoft Great Plains integration with Oracle. Well – you can do it either from Oracle or from MS SQL Server side – in both cases you have linking tools and heterogeneous queries mechanisms

Microsoft Great Plains integration with Lotus Notes/Domino. – If you want Great Plains documents lookup from Lotus – you typically use ODBC connection to MS SQL Server. You need to know Great Plains tables structure (Tools>Resource Description>Tables in Great Plains)

Good luck in upgrading and if you have issues or concerns – we are here to help! If you want us to do the job give us a call 18665280577, 16309615918! [email protected]

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies – USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving clients in Chicago, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Arizona, Minnesota, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: [email protected].

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 17

by Andrew Karasev

A Simple Link Creates a Win/Win

A Simple Link Creates a Win/Win

by: Kathleen Gage

As the number of websites increases by the minute, most people are seeking effective methods to gain as much visibility on the Internet as possible. A great way to do this is by offering a website link exchange, also referred to as reciprocal linkage. Reciprocal linkage is a great tool that can dramatically increase your web site ranking. The more links you have to your site the better.

For anyone who is new to this concept here are some simple tips. Even though most people don’t mind if you add their link to your site, it is a good idea to send a quick email to the Webmaster of the site and let them know you would like to provide a link from your site to theirs. While you’re at it ask them if they will also put a link from their site to yours.

When providing a link exchange on my site I prefer the site I am listing in some way benefits my readers. My primary focus is on marketing and promotions. I am more than willing to list other marketing sites and anything that is business related. The criteria are the sites must be professionally designed and the Webmaster must be willing to exchange links.

To view sites I have listed, visit http://www.turningpointpresents.com/marketingtools.htm If you would like your site to be considered for a link exchange send me an email and let’s chat.

Here is a sample message I recently receive that resulted in the sender getting their site listed on mine and mine on theirs.

ขThank you for putting together a great article. I wanted to let you know that I posted your article Titled กVisibility, Credibility and Position Through Articles and Celebrity Testimonialsก you will find your article here: http://www.businessbooksandmore.com/BusinessArticles/yh/pm1.htm

I would like to also exchange links with you. Here is my information:

URL:

http://www.businessbooksandmore.com/go/go.php/articles1

LINKED TEXT:

BusinessBooksandMore.comข

It’s that simple. When you do post the link, send a short email to the webmaster to let them know you have done so. It is common courtesy.

Even though there are many people who fully understand the value of creating this type of opportunity, more still just don’t get it. Fact is, this is one of the easiest ways to gain position on the Internet and to create a Win/Win situation. And what could be better than that?

Copyright: © 2004 by Kathleen Gage

Web Address: www.kathleengage.com

Publishing Guidelines: You may publish my article in your newsletter, on your web site, or in your print publication provided you include the resource box at the end. Notification would be appreciated but is not required.

About The Author

Kathleen Gage is a business advisor; keynote speaker and trainer who helps others gain dominance and visibility within their market. She is the recipient of the 2004 Giant Step Award for Business of the Year in the State of Utah. Call 801.619.1514 or email [email protected]. Get Gage’s online newsletter called Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions by visiting www.kathleengage.com.

This article was posted on September 25, 2004

by Kathleen Gage

Microsoft Great Plains Integration Manager – worki

Microsoft Great Plains Integration Manager – working with text file

by: Andrew Karasev

Great Plains Integration Manager advanced programming, working with text files, aggregation, unionizing, VB scripting, translation

Microsoft Business Solutions main middle market ERP application Microsoft Great Plains has multiple integration options: MS SQL Scripting (stored procedures and views), ADO.Net programming, Microsoft SQL Server DTS packages. You certainly can deploy such SDK tools as eConnect. However here we would like to show you how to program the simplest user friendly tool: Microsoft Great Plains Integration Manager.

Multiple times in our consulting practice we saw the need to integrate General Ledger transactions from one text file and here we give you this and even more complex case, when credit and debit amounts are present on the same line with their own account numbers. Let’s assume that we have tab delimited text file, GLSOURCE.txt. Here is how the line looks:

ก11242004ก (date) ก11020016000ก (debit account) 212446.68 (debit amount) ก15260005400ก (credit account) 212446.68 (credit amount)

Pretty challenging, isn’t it?

Let’s begin

First of all and this is probably easy – you need ODBC DSN, use Microsoft Text Driver, change default directory, select the file and switch to tab delimited type.

Next, open Microsoft Great Plains Integration Manager and create two new queries – one will be for the Header and the second for distribution lines in GL transaction. In both cases use Advanced ODBC type of text queries.

GL Header should aggregate by date, so in its SQL window enter this:

select F1 from GLSOURCE.txt group by F1

Now the lines – here we need unionizing and checking if amount is not zero:

select F1, F2, F3, 0 from GLSOURCE.txt

where F3กก

union

select F1 F4, 0,F5 from GLSOURCE.txt

where F5กก

The one above is the most difficult part of this article. Please understand it – we are splitting line into two by union, first we create debit part and then we attach credit part, plus we are weeding out 0 amounts.

Next – we need to link two queries – simply link them by F1 field (date). Do it in query relationship. When you are done with linking, right click on the arrow, open properties and in Select Relationship Type window change to:

There can be 0 or more records in the child for each record in the master.

This is important – we’ll have more than one line in GL distribution.

The rest should be familiar for IM consultant.

Select destination as GL Journal, assign transaction date and batch ID as F1 from Header query, switch to entries and select them from debit and credit parts of the lines query.

As additional tools in filtering your text query you could use VBA scripting and even translation.

Translation is the way to go when you need to replace account numbers from the text file with different or translated accounts in Great Plains.

Happy integrating! if you want us to do the job give us a call 16309615918 or 18665280577! [email protected]

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies – USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving Chicago, California, Colorado, Arizona, New York, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Canada, UK, Europe and Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 15, 2004

by Andrew Karasev

Discover How To Attract The Help You Need To Build

Discover How To Attract The Help You Need To Build Your Network Marketing Business

by: Fernando Soave

Positive thinkers dare to believe that the biggest and best men or woman in the world can be attracted to their cause or project. Try for the best man or woman in the world and you can secure his help.

How do you attract the help of the best man or woman you need ?

1. Be prepared to pay for the help you need.

Watch out for that negative money trap : ขYou probably can’t afford not to spend the money to hire the help.ข Be prepared to pay top price for the top man or woman. The best man or woman are usually worth more then they are getting. It almost always pays to hire the best.

2. Be a team builder, not an empire founder.

Successful man or woman are those who have a ขteam complexข, not a ขstar complexข. Positiv thinkers are team builders, not empire founders.

3. Forget about ขstatusข, credit and glory.

Statusseeking, creditgrabling and gloryhunting executers generate unimaginable jealousy. Instead of inspiring their associates to really produce, they stimulate negative emotions that contribute to a terrible letdown. The smart and successful men or woman finds joy in watching his associates get ahead. They never allow themselves to view their associates as threats to their own proud position. They know that this very thought will be the beginning of their downfall. You can surround yourself with skilled specialists if you will establish a ขsharethecreditplanข. As the proverb says : ขTake good care of your people and your people will take good care of you.ข

4. Offer your people a unique pacesetting challenge.

Promise them the chance to join in creating something bigger and better than has ever been done before. Great men or woman are attracted to great challenges.

5. Give your teammates great freedom.

The greatest men or woman are attracted by a great challenge coupled with the promise of great freedom. Promise them freedom :

to plan

to dream

to imagine.

Great freedom generates maximum energy and extracts unbelievable dedication.

6. Make up your mind not to lose a good man or woman once you have him on your team.

Any man or woman you hire will have his weaknesses. Try to strenghten them where they are weak. If that fails, fill the gap in the job by rearranging and reorganizing.

7. Learn to live with difficult people.

Learn from them and learn to work with them. Some of the people you may need to help solve you problems or develop your dreams may be the kind of people who are not always easy to go along with. These are people who seem to like to argue. Try to keep your differences with them on the plane of disagreement. Try to prevent these disagreements from becoming violent arguments.

Find and hire people who are smarter then you are. Whether your business is building a business empire, your success will be enhanced if you learn how to be a team builder.

Fernando Soave

CEO CUTTING EDGE MLM

http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter.

mailto:[email protected]

This article comes with reprint rights. Feel free to reprint and distribute as needed. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes and to be sure that the web site address http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk and mailto:[email protected] is hyperlinked correctly.

About The Author

Fernando Soave is the author of กCutting Edge MLM News.ก He has been in marketing for 20 years and is helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk or Subscribe to the Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter and receive your +$585 MLM Value Pack. mailto:[email protected]

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 18, 2003

by Fernando Soave

The Secret to Success!

The Secret to Success!

by: Fernando Soave

I must tell you about a rich manกs son at Niagara Falls. He was an indescribable specimen of anthropologic potency. He had a skullcap on one side of his head, with a gold tassel in the top of it, and a goldheaded cane under his arm with more in it than in his head. It is a very difficult thing to describe that young man. He wore an eye glass that he could not see through, patent leather boots that he could not walk in, and pants that he could not sit down indressed like a grasshopper. This human cricket came up to the clerkกs desk just as I entered, adjusted his unseeing eyeglass, and spake in this wise to the clerk. You see, he thought it was “Hinglish, you know,กก to lisp. “Thir, will you have the kindness to supply me with thome papah and enwelophs!กก The hotel clerk measured that man quick, and he pulled the envelopes and paper out of a drawer, threw them across the counter toward the young man, and then turned away to his books. You should have seen that young man when those envelopes came across that counter. He swelled up like a gobbler turkey, adjusted his unseeing eye glass, and yelled: “Come right back here. Now thir, will you order a thervant to take that papah and enwelophs to yondah dethk.กก Oh, the poor, miserable, contemptible American monkey! He could not carry paper and envelopes twenty feet. I suppose he could not get his arms down to do it. I have no pity for such travesties upon human nature. If you have not capital I am glad of it. What you need is common sense, not copper cents.

The best thing I can do is to illustrate by actual facts wellknown to you all. A. T. Stewart, a poor boy in New York, had $1.50 to begin life on. He lost 87 cents of that on the very first venture. How fortunate that young man who loses the first time he gambles. That boy said, “I will never gamble again in business,กก and he never did. How came he to lose 87 cents? You probably all know the story how he lost itbecause he bought some needles, threads, and buttons to sell which people did not want, and had them left on his hands, a dead loss. Said the boy, “I will not lose any more money in that way.กก Then he went around first to the doors and asked the people what they did want. Then when he had found out what they wanted he invested his 62 cents to supply a known demand. Study it wherever you choosein business, in your profession, in your housekeeping, whatever your life, that one thing is the secret of success. You must first know the demand. You must first know what people need, and then invest yourself where you are most needed. A. T. Stewart went on that principle until he was worth what amounted afterward to forty millions of dollars, owning the very store in which Mr. Wanamaker carries on his great work in New York. His fortune was made by his losing something, which taught him the great lesson that he must only invest himself or his money in something that people need. When will you salesmen learn it? When will you manufacturers learn that you must know the changing needs of humanity if you would succeed in life? Apply yourselves, as manufacturers or merchants or workmen to supply that human need. It is a great principle as broad as humanity.

Fernando Soave

Editor and Publisher

http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

Free Cutting Edge MLM Newsletter. mailto:[email protected]

This article comes with reprint rights. Feel free to reprint and distribute as needed. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes and to be sure that the web site address http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk and mailto:[email protected] is hyperlinked correctly.

About The Author

Fernando Soave is the author of กCutting Edge MLM News.ก He has been in marketing for 20 years and is helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 07, 2004

by Fernando Soave