How to become a GP consultant???

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Hi, I know it is a random question but I'd really want to become a Dynamics or other ERP consultant.

Little about me:

I am 27 years old. I have B.A in Accounting and Finance and have been working as a senior accountant for about a year for a company that uses GP for its accounting system. I am pretty lazy and I hate repetitive work so right after the month-end, I review what I did during the accounting cycle and look for opportunities for improvements. I started self-teaching VBA for Excel, SQL and MS Access, etc,. And I get great satisfaction after making things more efficient by, say, Integration Manager, Excel Macros and formulas, SQL reports. I've been working with GP tables for only about 6 months now (no previous SQL experience) and I know most of the important tables and fields by heart.

Our company has an outside GP consultant. As much as I admire what he does, I feel like I can do what he does after lots of training and learning. And I think I'd really enjoy doing it.

So I really want to know what I need to do to be you guys: GP consultants/developers/DBAs, etcs. What kind of training, learning, certifications , etc., do I need?

Thank you in advanced!!!

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Frank Hamelly | MVP... 46,625 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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You are laying a great foundation for becoming a GP consultant. The path you take is really dependent on how quickly you would like to get there. If you want to shortest path between two points, then find a large GP partner and see if they will hire you, train you and help you earn your GP and SQL certifications.

If you want to take a more leisurely pace, go for your certifications in your spare time while gaining as much experience as you can in your present position. Microsoft offers a number of training modes - eLearning, manuals, classroom training, etc.

Join the Great Plains Users Groups (www.gpug.com) if your company isn't already a member and take advantage of the myriad learning opportunities GPUG offers.

Pick up GP books on Amazon - there are quite a few out there written by very knowledgeable GP consultants that can clue you in on some of the finer points of the software.

I'm sure others will chime in here and provide you with even more options but this hopefully will get you thinking along the right lines.

Good luck and never hesitate to ask for help!

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L Vail 65,271 on at

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Hi,

Frank hit the nail on the head. When I read your post yesterday the first thing that came to mind was "learn the software". It's not an inconsequential task these days - but if you can get someone else to pay for the training, take all of the training that's available. You'll need to make an integrity decision as to how long you will 'wait' in order to give that partner some benefit from the money he's spent. I say that if your goal is to go solo.

If you really want to do it, you'll need to spend some of your own time to learn it. I know that neither Frank nor I had the luxury of someone else footing the bill for all of the time we spent learning the software. In fact, I cannot think of a single colleague that hasn't invested a considerable amount of personal time reading and experimenting with the software. We all are probably not all that 'well rounded' though :)

Watch YouTube videos. There are some amazing training videos given by high quality consultants that are willing to share their knowledge and have recorded it for you to view for free. There are several 'series' of training videos that put anything GP ever released to shame. Do a search, you'll be amazed at what you can find.

I was lucky enough to 'grow up' with the software. As new features were released, I could learn them at the time. Being dropped into it 20 years later can be overwhelming (at least it would be for me).

We are always looking for more good quality consultants. If you are willing to do it, we will be willing to help!

Kind regards,

Leslie

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Thank you both for insightful comments. After reading your comments, I can see that you guys really like the act of helping others and providing solutions. I feel encouraged and motivated even more. Also now I feel like I know where to start. Quick question though, would it be necessary as a GP or AX consultant to know .NET framework and the language?

As for programming language, I know I should learn Dexterity for GP and X++ for AX (plz correct me if I'm wrong) as well as SQL and VBA. How beneficial would it be to learn .NET and other programming language considering time and effort needed to learn them?

Thanks again!

Best regards,

Shawn

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sueconrod 337 on at

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Shawn: If you want to be a developer, and get paid less than the consultants, than go ahead. The consulting side, knowing the product, knowing how to integrate into the product to CRM, to other programs. Doing SSRS reporting, doing Management Reporter Reporting will get you a long way. As a consultant you need to know 100% of the program. You company may be using 25% of what is available. But there are a log of modules out there to know how to setup and move forward. If anything get a Project Management course under you belt or a certification. And go find a VAR now that I is looking to hire. Eventually if you want you could go out on your own and become a VAR but with the way things are today, that is rough and a lot of the VARs are being forced into larger partnerships. When I started there were 17 modules and now there are probably over 100 that you can have and add in.

Be aware that there is a glass ceiling to this business, there is just so much a VAR is going to pay you plus a commission. It's all based on your billability. The more you know, the more you are billable, and it is also based on the quality you give to the client.

It can be a lot of fun, but it can also be stressful when something breaks and even Microsoft is sitting there with a big, well that should be working? While they figure it out, you are caught between our customer and Microsoft.

Currently, working for a customer, after working 16 years as a consultant. Started as an accountant working for a company doing trouble shooting on the software and getting data out of a system into Access or SQL but got bored easily. One thing you will never be is bored in this business, constantly changing. Left a few years ago only due to the number of hours. Once you are truly billable and running your own projects, you can get to the point that your boss doesn't understand when you don't want to work 60-70 hour weeks all the time. One of the big things is you have to be really good at time management and organization. If you aren't you will have a hard time keeping all the customers and issues up in the air and happy.

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Thank you for your comment, Susan. I feel like my company is probably using only 10% of available functions in GP. I'm planning to stay with this company for at least couple more years as I believe there are still a lot more to learn in the whole accounting cycle. The VP of our department seems to be happy with the current workflow and less interested for improvements. While I disagree, I can't get him to purchase add-ons and modules that he feels unnecessary. Is there any way for me to try and play around with add-ons and modules without purchasing them?

Thank you,

Shawn

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sueconrod 337 on at

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Only in a test environment and then in the Fabrikam company. At my office we have a Development Server, A QC Server and then Production. No one touches Production. Most ISV's or 3rd parties, you can download and use most of the software in the Fabrikam company. But you do not ever do that in a Produciton Environment. When I was a consultant, I actually had SQL installed on my laptop and then could play with anything in the Fabrikam company. Backup all your databases and client prior to doing a 3rd party install and then you can play and always go backwards.

Sue

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I really appreciate your comments, Sue. I have some questions after reading your comments though. Where can I download GP modules and add-ins? Also, if I want to install GP on my laptop to play around, would my only option be purchasing the standard license?

Thanks again,

Shawn

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Frank Hamelly | MVP... 46,625 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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IF, here's another idea for you - get a copy of Victoria Yudin's 'Dynamics GP 2013 Implementation' - www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_3.

Then download Dynamics GP and SQL Server 2012. You can download and install both free of charge. Here's the GP download - blogs.msdn.com/.../microsoft-dynamics-gp-2013-now-available-for-download.aspx. You'll need to sign in to CustomerSource with your company's credentials. You can play in Fabrikam - the demo company to your heart's content.

Here's the link to SQL 2012 Evaluation download, good for six months of use - www.microsoft.com/.../details.aspx

Use the book as a guide to help you install SQL and GP. You'll learn a ton along the way.

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KirkLivermont 5,985 on at

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Hi Shawn,

This might be a little more than you are looking for but I have learned a lot by purchasing a used server and setting it up at home to play with various configurations. I went with a VMware hypervisor (free) and a couple of different Windows Server versions (2008 eval. and 2012 from technet) and SQL 2012 (also from technet).

I learned a ton from doing this and spent about $300.00 total on the project. Search for savemyserver on ebay if you are interested. That is who I ended up buying the server from after looking at some various options.

It looks like you might also be able to get a free month of hosting on Windows Azure but I haven't tried this option out.

Regards,

Kirk

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