How to setup automatic processing of a Collection Plan in Collections Management

The Collection Plan feature added to Collections Management has been a big hit with users and business alike, as it takes the guess work out of the next step in the collections process. Once the system is up and running, in certain situations the plan runs so well that it does not require a human touch.

For example, let’s say we have a Collection Plan setup to remind customers that they have only 3 days left to get in a payment to apply for a discount. This is not a critical reminder, so we decide to automate this by having the GP server process this Collection Plan for us at 2 AM each night, emailing the reminder to all applicable customers.

**Macros can be finicky and so you may have to tweak them a bit. These steps are used as an example of functionality and are not provided as a supported solution**

The first step is to open the Collection Plan maintenance and choose the option to have it present the plan to us at login in:

Sales pane —> Transactions —> Collection Tasks

1. Enter the Collector ID you will be running the plan for
2. Set the Collector Access for Collections Management checkbox and set it as the user id you will be using for the server to login to GP
3. In the Environment Settings, choose the option to Check For Collection Plans That Are Due On Login
4. In the Environment Settings, choose the option to Check For Collection Plans That Are Due On Login
   

Next, create a login macro (Alt+F8 to start and stop recording the macro)of logging into Dynamics GP and clicking ok to process the Collection Plan.

In our example in the Fabrikam company, the macro looks something like this:

# DEXVERSION=11.00.0359.000 2 2
CheckActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form Login window Login
MoveTo field ‘(L) SQL_DataSource’ item 1  # ‘GP2010’
ClickHit field ‘(L) SQL_DataSource’ item 1  # ‘GP2010’
MoveTo field ‘User ID’
TypeTo field ‘User ID’ , ‘sa’
MoveTo field Password
TypeTo field Password , ‘Access’
MoveTo field ‘OK Button’
ClickHit field ‘OK Button’
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form sheLL window sheLL
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form ‘Switch Company’ window ‘Switch Company’
ClickHit field ‘(L) Company Names’ item 1  # ‘Fabrikam, Inc.’
MoveTo field ‘OK Button’
ClickHit field ‘OK Button’
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form sheLL window sheLL
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form sheLL window sheLL
# You have chosen to use the sample company, which provides data that you can use to practice procedures or learn more about the product. When you use this sample company, the date is automatically set to April 12, 2017.
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form DiaLog window DiaLog
ClickHit field OK
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form sheLL window sheLL
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘Collections Management’  form ‘CN_Plan_Notification’ window Window1
MoveTo field ‘(L) ProcessPlanPB’
ClickHit field ‘(L) ProcessPlanPB’
# Are you sure you want to process all Collection Plans?
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘Collections Management’  form DiaLog window DiaLog
ClickHit field OK
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘Collections Management’  form ‘CN_Plan_Notification’ window Window1
NewActiveWin dictionary ‘default’  form sheLL window shell

 Now that we have a macro set to login to Dynamics GP and process the Collection Plan, we can setup the server to run the macro. As the Windows Task Scheduler no longer works like it used to, we have to choose a third party product that provides the functionality.

In this example, we went to http://www.kanasolution.com/products/kana-reminder/ and downloaded the Kana Reminder, a free program that allows task scheduling and running of programs.

We opened up Kana Reminder and clicked Add to create a new task.

Name the task and set its frequency and when it will run.

Click on the Options tab, uncheck the Flash Tray Icon box, set the Auto Dismiss box, and check the Run Program box.

Within the Run Program box we need to enter three things:

• The path to Dynamics.exe
• The path to Dynamics.set
• The path to the macro

In our example, the field entry looks like the following:

“C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\GP2013\Dynamics.exe” “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\GP2013\Dynamics.set” “C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Dynamics\GP2013\Login.mac”

Note that if your path has spaces in it (as most do in recent years) to place each path in quotes. Click OK and you should be all set to have the Collection Plan do its work!

**Macros can be finicky and so you may have to tweak them a bit. These steps are used as an example of functionality and are not provided as a supported solution**

The post How to setup automatic processing of a Collection Plan in Collections Management appeared first on Professional Advantage Blog.