Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2: Project Accounting Trial Balance Report, Distributions added for each transaction to reflect on report. Line Distributions & Fee Distributions You cannot change the distribution accounts at th...

Before Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2, the Project Accounting Detailed Trial Balance report and other reports in Project Accounting, would display distributions per the default accounts set up for the project\cost category combination.  If a summary change was made to the distributions on a Project Accounting transaction such as a Timesheet, there was no method for us to track which specific line on the Timesheet you were making the change for.  With this new feature, you will now have access to a ‘Line Distribution Entry’ window which allows you to make account changes per transaction line. Those changes will be saved and displayed correctly on reports such as the Project Accounting Detailed Trial Balance. (Both in GP and SSRS) 

This new functionality has been added to all Project Accounting cost transactions windows, as well as Billing and Revenue Recognition.

Note: The option for editing Fee Distribution accounts was added in version 16.00.0579 and higher. For more information on the January Hotfix 2017 for GP2016 please click here.

This is a popular request that we have had for years, and one of the great things about it is that there were no tables changes that were made. It uses the existing detail lines on Project Transactions, and updates the account index accordingly.

Below is an example of using the new Line Distributions feature.

Navigate to Project > Transactions > Timesheet Entry. Enter time against multiple projects or multiple cost categories. Notice in the lower right of the window there is a new button labeled as Line Distributions.  

Notice in the image above, that I entered time against two separate projects and cost categories. Let’s say that I want to use an account other than what was defaulted in for my distributions. Before Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2, if I made a change in the Distributions window, GP would have no idea, which timesheet line the change was for, therefore my Project Accounting Trial balance, would not reflect the distribution change against the specific Project/Cost Category combination.  

With this new feature, I can change the accounts that defaulted onto my Timesheet on a per line basis, which in turn allows GP to report specifically which project/cost category you made the change for, and automatically recalculate the distributions on the transaction accordingly. You can use the VCR buttons in the lower left corner of the window to cycle between your cost lines.

After making the account change on my desired line, you will be prompted a message “Changing the distribution will recalculate the summary distribution”. Click Continue to proceed with this change.

If I click on my Summary Distributions button I can verify my new distributions. If you try to make a change on the summary level GP will prompt you that “You cannot change the distribution accounts at the summary level. Use the Line Distributions window instead”. This will prevent a user from accidentally making a change that would not accurately reflect on your Project Accounting Trial Balance Report.

If you want to add distribution lines, for example, I want a portion of my Work In Progress Distribution to go into a different account for a business process outside of Project accounting, then the proper way to proceed would be to use accounts with a Type of ‘OTHER’. Below I wanted to take $40 from my WIP account, and put it into a another account ‘999-9999-99’.

Rather than reducing my WIP account to $120, I would want to Credit the WIP account, by $40 using an account type of ‘OTHER’ then debit my ‘999-9999-99’ account with the value that I am transferring to it.

This keeps my totals in balance, and allows for me to post without error. While this is not a common scenario that we see, it may be a slight process change for some businesses who would often change their accounts for reasons outside of the Project Accounting itself.

Fee Distributions

Below is an example of using the new Fee Distributions feature which was added in version 16.00.0579 and higher. For more information on the January Hotfix 2017 for GP2016 please click here.

Navigate to Project > Transactions > Billing > Billing Entry. Bill a Project that has a Fee attached to it. Notice in the lower right of the window there is a new button labeled as Fee Distributions.  

If I select a billing line then click the Fees Distributions button you will notice that it functions just like the Line Distributions window with VCR buttons to scroll between fees and I can adjust my accounts accordingly.

Click HERE for more detailed documentation on this feature and for all other Dynamics GP 2016 R2 features.

For the Dynamics GP 2016 R2 feature VIDEO click HERE!

Be sure to check back to the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2 Feature Blog Series Schedule page to review posted blog articles and upcoming blog posts to help you gear up for What's New in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2 with great content, documentation, and videos.