October 2019 Release - First Look

I admit, this is a first for me. Downloading a brand spanking new release in less than a month after its release. I don't update even my iOS for several weeks. So after a satisfactory summit, which was called User Group Summit in Orlando, FL, I got back to work and one of the things I did after my return was to download the GP 2018.2.1013 release and install the same.

I have been a customer of GP since version 6. The versioning has finally caught up with that found in other Microsoft products for example SQL Server 2017 follows a similar versioning scheme. This combined with the fact that GP is now part of Microsoft's modern lifecycle, gives us GP customers a lot of enthusiasm. 

This was one big takeaway from the recently concluded user group summit held in the middle of Disney, FL. The summit itself was fast paced and packed. The content was rich and fitted nicely into 3 full days. 

I converted a small company from GP2018R2YE to GP 2018.2.1013 aka October 2019 release. Here are the top 4 features I like.

Native workflows for security tasks, roles and users 

Imagine all the possible scenarios you can let your approvers sit from the comforts of their outlook inboxes and approve or reject the next access request that is sent. No share point needed. Just the install of Dynamics GP Webservices, at this point in time, it is still not known if web services is TLS 1.2 compliant. Hope Microsoft listens and announces the compatibility fairly soon.

Easier to use User company access window

For a GP installation that comprises of scores of companies, this will come in handy to the administrators. 

Long Description in Voucher Window

The next thing that jumped out to me was the extended description field found in the Voucher window. Its called Long description and can be found under the voucher description column.

The AP staff can now fit an entire thesis in this field.

The actual column is PM10000.LNGDESC and can take up to 201 characters.

The enable long description in Payables Transaction Entry from Payables Setup window must be checked

This is beneficial for installations that span multiple companies.

User Who Posted the Journal Entry

The journal entry inquiry window now has a new addition to its home. Find the User Who Posted field at the top right corner. This will be dearly useful for auditors and account managers. 

      Fiscal Periods Setup Window

When you first land here in all the previous editions of MS Dynamics GP, you would see only 8 periods displayed. You then had to scroll down to see the remaining fiscal periods. Microsoft listened to you and have made sure you get to see the entire window when you first land here.

     Thanks for reading my post. Do leave a comment on what I should write next.