It’s been a long time since I’ve found something this cool in Microsoft PowerPoint, so I had to share! Motion paths for animating objects in PowerPoint. Here’s the scenario: My manager came to me one morning with this slide and said: “I need ‘Member 1’ to be grouped and animated with 4 random ‘Subs’ and … Read more
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” For product-based businesses, whose customers rely on an efficient supply chain that connects source to end user, a stockout harms everyone—often in more ways than you’d think. Ultimately creating a ripple effect, someone has to pay to rectify it. How … Read more
Microsoft Dynamics GP has been a mainstay in the ERP community. Designed for small and mid-sized businesses who want a reliable and well-vetted solution, GP has evolved and grown to be one of the most trusted ERP vendors for this market. However, no matter how consistent this solution is, no matter how powerful, there are … Read more
Are you interested in Power BI? Maybe you’re wondering what it can do for your business and Dynamics GP data? We recommend starting with this Microsoft self-paced, hands-on learning tutorial, “Explore what Power BI can do for you.” You will learn: Understand Power BI service basic concepts and terminology. Find your content in dashboards, reports, … Read more
We ran into an issue recently where client would receive the following error when logging into Microsoft Dynamics GP even though licenses are available: “The maximum number of users are logged into the system.” Clicking OK closes Dynamics GP. What is also strange is that the “Users Allowed” and “Current Users” fields both show 0. When logging in with SA, there are … Read more
Microsoft Office 365 provides so much more than just the ability to access Microsoft Office suite (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) from any device. One important feature (that I learned about the hard way) is the ability to restore deleted files with OneDrive version control. What is OneDrive? When I first started with Crestwood, I didn’t understand OneDrive, the cloud storage service … Read more
Distribution is a complicated business. Ensuring products flow properly, people work effectively, and cash moves smoothly is a necessity, but too often, processes get gummed up and technology becomes more of a hindrance than a help. This is especially true if you are relying on outdated or undersized technology for the job at hand. Unfortunately, … Read more
Big News…this morning, Acumatica announced they have been acquired by EQT, a global private equity firm that also manages IFS, an enterprise ERP product well-known in Europe. This will give Acumatica a very significant step towards globalization of their systems, specifically to address regulatory and lingual support. At Crestwood, we see this as a positive … Read more
What happened? Remember Y2K? Well this isn’t nearly as bad, but a new Microsoft Dynamics SL bug surfaced recently (on June 6th, 2019) for many users. You could be receiving a “SQL Server Message 517” when running the Credit Manager’s Assistant screen without specifying a date range. The reason for this has to do with … Read more
Just as the 1980s NHL Edmonton Oilers needed more than the scoring prowess of Wayne Gretzky and the 1992 USA Dream Team needed more than Michael Jordan, your ERP project team needs a wide range of key players to get the job done. Following a recent blog on the importance and role of an ERP … Read more
Following our recent blog on the trends in moving to the cloud, the reasons a cloud migration offers flexibility in pricing and licensing, and the first steps of a Cloud ERP migration, we would today like to turn our attention to the process of heading to cloud ERP itself. The Move from Planning to Executing … Read more
Our very own MVP Acumatica Developer, Joe Jacob, recently published a guide to help all you developers convert Dynamics SL over to the Acumatica xRP Cloud Platform. “Joe’s Guide offers a quick reference for those already familiar with the Dynamics SL SDK and are new to the Acumatica development platform. This guide will help direct … Read more
Customer Relationship Management software is one of those necessary products for businesses, but finding the right one for yours is rarely an easy task. Whether you’re in the market for new CRM, are considering a change alongside another business management solution like ERP, or just looking to understand what options are available, it’s important to … Read more
For many fabrication businesses, back-office software is often just something that is “there.” It satisfies your basic business needs, offers finance professionals information, and may facilitate a few processes. However, much of these only meet your needs for so long before they become a hindrance. Whether your business has grown or your software has aged, … Read more
Acumatica Version 2017R2 Improved Marketing Lists and Campaigns – Marketing lists and campaigns have been significantly improved, so user can more efficiently perform marketing activities, track relevant expenses and revenue, and analyze statistical information on campaigns. Opportunity Stages for Each Opportunity Class – Acumatica ERP now provides the functionality that a user can use to … Read more
Salesforce and Acumatica have spent the better part of their history in opposition to each other. Salesforce, touted by many as the first SaaS cloud product on the market, has delivered customer relationship management solutions via the internet for the last two decades. Acumatica, on the other hand, launched in 2008 to deliver a suite … Read more
Fabrication is a tough business. Commodities prices fluctuate rapidly, offshoring creates new competition, and new technologies present additional risk. It’s a perfect storm, and to weather it, you need to balance customer-centric business practices with demand for cost optimization, speed, and flexibility. Following our last blog discussing some of the things that fabrication companies including … Read more
Acumatica web-based ERP provides the robust dashboard capability that most Clients demand. Dashboards provide access to real-time information in consumable bites. You can view dashboards when you log into Acumatica through your web browser or view them on the Mobile App. So how do you move away from reporting and make this powerful tool work … Read more
Here’s a true client story and how Crestwood helped. Customer: Lately, we have noticed that the time it takes to switch from one company to another is a lot longer. Is there anything that can be done to improve the amount of time to log on and switch companies? Crestwood: Hi, I wanted to reach … Read more
We all strive for good data entry in any ERP system. The fact that we make critical business decisions off this data means we need clean, reliable data. Input validation helps to keep your data clean as it is getting entered into the system versus having to waste time cleaning it manually. Acumatica can help … Read more
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central allows you to easily reconcile your bank accounts by importing transactions from your bank. In order to match the transactions, you need to have the proper format for Dynamics 365. Here’s how: The file format just needs to be defined and assigned to the bank account. In this example, I … Read more
When your legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution is having trouble keeping up with your business, it’s important to weigh your options carefully before you decide whether to upgrade to a new version or make the switch to different software. I recently worked with a client to determine the best course of action for their … Read more
Microsoft Dynamics SL has long been the go-to for project-based businesses in need of a focused solution that delivers financial management, project management and accounting, distribution, field service, payroll, e-business, and more. However, while it does do many things well, there are certain areas where it could be improved, better customized, or better supported. 1. … Read more
For too many businesses, the payment process is flawed—64 percent of B2B payments are still made with checks according to industry magazine PYMNTS.com. In the B2B world, paper is still present in the beginning, middle, and end of the payment process. From increased time it takes to process and pay a paper invoice using a … Read more