Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

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Greetings all,

I am the IT guy in our SMB and our membership in the Microsoft Certified Partner Program grants us access to Dynamics as a software benefit of that program. We currently use Deltek's GCS Premier package, but Finance is considering alternatives and wants to try Dynamics GP.

Last week I successfully installed Dynamics GP 2016 with the Fabrikam test data and created user accounts for our three Finance users. Now that they have logged in, they have started asking questions such as, "I know how to enter timesheet data in Deltek, but where do I begin in Dynamics GP...are there any tutorials?" I have searched far and wide, and while I have found various sources of help info and documentation (e.g., the built-in help files inside Dynamics GP), some of the info sources seem to be incomplete (e.g., 3rd-party sites with good...but not comprehensive...tutorials), while others seem to be out of date (e.g., the top hit on Amazon for Dynamics GP books--Microsoft Dynamics GP For Dummies--was written in 2008).

Since we received our Dynamics GP licenses as a side-benefit of the MS Partner Program and not via direct purchase, I don't believe we have any type of service plan or support plan along with it (I mention this because I think I've seen that some of these plans include access to training materials). With all this in mind, is there a good, comprehensive, up-to-date source of training materials and tutorials (or even just a comprehensive, up-to-date book, barring that) that would help Finance users that are already experienced with another software package translate their skills to the Dynamics GP way of doing things?

Thanks for reading!

(P.S., There doesn't appear to be a filter yet on the forum for Dynamics GP 2016 so I filed this under GP 2015 instead)

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Beat Bucher GP Gee... 28,058 Moderator on at

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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

That makes senses..

Registration keys can only be used with the Company Name they were generated for.. The slightest change in the Name and they wont work anymore.

Some modules may require separate registration keys, like the Manufacturing and Canadian Payroll module.

Nonetheless, having the registration keys doesn't mean that you will get any support for the product, but the case for the Partner Program affiliate may differ from a regular customer.
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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

Hi Béat, thanks again for the reply.

We did receive three registration keys for GP through the Partner Program and with those I was able to unlock and register all the modules.
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Beat Bucher GP Gee... 28,058 Moderator on at

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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

Hi Luke,

Creating a new company in GP Utilities will never be a problem.. you can create as much as you want.. The key is unlocking the functionalities of the system by entering a valid registration key for the companies you created..

If you're not a full registered VAR with Microsoft for Business Solutions, you'll not be able to generate those registration keys.

Our company too has been in the past added to the partner network due to the high volume of OEM licenses that we sold for Windows Server, but that never gave us access to the Partner Source portal to generate keys for GP.. We had full access to download every software we wanted, including CRM, but there was no way we could register them to unlock the desired functionalities of the product.

Administration >> Setup >> System >> Registration

Hope this helps to clarify your question.
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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

Hi Béat, thanks for your reply.

I was under the impression that we did have a fully licensed GP, so I was concerned at your comment that the Partner Program only gives us access to Fabrikam. But when I went into the GP Utilities just now I was able to successfully create a new company in addition to Fabrikam.
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Beat Bucher GP Gee... 28,058 Moderator on at

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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

Hi Luke,

Even while enrolled in the Partner Network Program, you don't have really access to a licensed GP, but only the demo Fabrikam company. In order to get a full license, you'll to contact an authorized VAR.

As you're looking for the GP2016 and that it has only been released for less than a month, it's pretty hard to find current documentation for the end-users.. As Leslie already mentioned, most PDF guides are referring to the past releases 2010, 2013 & 2015 (if at all).

Your best starting point is the Training portal as Almas suggested, and also your could reach out to the GPUG community portal (Great Plains User Group) from Dynamics Communities. You can register for a free trial period and have access to over 500 recorded webinars and tons of blog & forum threads: http://www.gpug.com

The Microsoft development team has also an excellent blog page, which for GP 2016 is probably the place to start with : community.dynamics.com/.../on-demand-learning-microsoft-dynamics-gp-2016-application-new-features

Hope this helps to get your feet wet :-)
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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

Thanks Leslie
L Vail 65,271 on at

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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

Hi,

Unfortunately, many of the training manuals have not been updated for several years, ditto for the user manuals themselves. As I understand it, you have to have some kind of enhancement plan in order to download even the existing training manuals. In any event, they never covered the topic you are most interested in. I know this isn't the answer you want, but I do not know of any resource that adequately covers the details of entering time in GP.

Kind regards,

Leslie
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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

That link just lets you download PDF versions of the help screens that are already inside GP. These are actually pretty good as they go through all the GP screens, and having them in PDF format makes them easier to read. I have sent this link to my users...thank you
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Almas Mahfooz 11,009 User Group Leader on at

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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

also try this, and you can downlaod pdf files fro various modules.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj673202(v=gp.30).aspx
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RE: Coming from other financial software...where to begin?

Thanks for the link, Almas. The GP learning portal has a lot of info there, but a lot of it is articles and presentations that are difficult to search and too narrowly focused (not broad enough to cover many general questions). The Documentation link is good...it is basically the same documentation you get when you click the help icon inside GP. I have referred my users to this and so far this is the best thing I've been able to give them.

I was curious about the Student Training Materials link on the GP portal, though. However, it looks like the only way to access the training courses there is by having an active GP service plan, which, from my initial research looks like we're talking $10K and up for that, so unfortunately that is out of the question.