Microsoft Great Plains Reporting ? Overview for Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. Small companies use Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology ? Great Plains Dexterity dictionary and runtime), Great Plains Standard on MSDE is for small to midsize clients, and then Great Plains serves the rest of the market up to big corporations. There are several reporting tools available and you definitely need to know which one to use for different types of reports.

If you are developer who is asked: how do we create report for Microsoft Great Plains ? read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.

  • Great Plains Report Writer (ReportWriter) ? this is built-in reporting tool. All the original report in Great Plains are written in ReportWriter. ReportWriter itself is Dexterity module. You should use this tool if you would like to modify existing Great Plains reports, such as Blank Invoice Form - here you can place your company logo, change the positioning, fonts, colors, etc. ReportWriter will allow you also do new reports - simple option if you want to export all the records from one Great Plains table - use it. New report, however doesn't have interface where you would enter parameters - so it is not useful for real custom reports. Another limitation of ReportWriter - you can not do cross-modules report - when you need sales and purchasing info on the same report for example.
  • FRx. This is excellent tool when deal with financial reporting - it works on the General Ledger level (Balance sheet, P&L, Cash Flow Statement, etc.). It also allows you to do multiple companies consolidation - when you do consolidated Balance Sheet (with inter-companies transactions elimination).
  • Smart List - Export to Excel ? this is nice feature in Great Plains - you could create a list with simple criteria and then export it to Excel.
  • Crystal Reports. It gives you unlimited functionality. Obviously flexibility requires you to know Great Plains table structure: Launch Great Plains and go to Tools->Resource Description->Tables. Find the table in the proper series. If you are looking for the customers ? it should be RM00101 ? customer master file. If you need historical Sales Order Processing documents ? they are in SOP30200 ? Sales History Header file, etc. Create ODBC connection to GP Company database. Use the same technique as when you create standard ODBC connection for GP workstation ? but change default database to targeted company database. Create SQL Query to probe the data ? we always recommend tuning your query and see that you are getting adequate results ? in any case ? Crystal Report is just a nice tool to show the results of your query.
  • Direct Web Publishing off Great Plains databases ? yes - it is easy now with Visual Studio.Net and you can hire good programmers. This is good - Microsoft Business Solutions products: Great Plains, Solomon, Navision and Axapta will be integrated into so called Microsoft Business Portal - which will have web interface - you can get the idea if you look at Microsoft CRM web client - so direct web publishing is good taste.
  • SQL Queries. If you have SQL background - this is great field for you. You know - with properly formatted SQL query you can realize simple EDI export/import for the integration with legacy systems.

    • Happy designing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com

    Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, based in Chicago, California, Texas, New York, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, Canada, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.

    In The News:

    pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Lotus Domino/Notes - Microsoft Great Plains Tandem as ERP with Documents Workflow - Overview for IT

    Lotus Domino/Notes ? Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with... Read More

    Windows x: Basic Windows ?Security? Issues

    Language development computer: Computer-based method for aiding language development seems... Read More

    How to Evaluate Staffing Software

    If you are in the market for new staffing software,... Read More

    Business Planning Software

    Once a business idea is selected, it is highly recommended... Read More

    Microsoft Business Solutions VAR/Partner Selection ? Overview for IT Director/Manager/Controller

    Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM become more and more... Read More

    7 Things to Consider Before Buying Small Business Accounting Software

    The world of small business accounting software can be a... Read More

    The End of Spyware?

    The US House of Representatives has recently passed the "Spy... Read More

    The Death of Windows

    I have always regretted how Microsoft price gouges and rips... Read More

    Crystal Reports for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Developer

    Microsoft Great Plains is main accounting / ERP application... Read More

    Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Collection Management ? Overview For Consultant

    Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More

    Partitioning, Formatting and Reinstalling in Windows 98

    Formatting and reinstalling windows 98 is very easy if you... Read More

    Best Spyware Removers

    Finding the best spyware removers to detect and remove spyware... Read More

    Lotus Domino Implementation and Development: Infrastructure ? Present and Future

    Domino server is a buffer between the operation system and... Read More

    Making The Decision To Automate Your Software Testing

    Not every software testing project can or should be automated.... Read More

    Crystal Reports for Microsoft Great Plains

    Microsoft Business Solutions ? Great Plains is designed to meet... Read More

    Microsoft Moves to Small Business Accounting/Retail Market ? Stakes and Thoughts

    In this small article we will be looking at the... Read More

    Enterprise Resource Planning Overview

    ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Overview covers What is ERP, Brief... Read More

    C++ Tutorial 2, Input and Variables

    This is the tutorial where we really get into programming.... Read More

    Save Your Resources - Combine Your IM Clients

    There are so many different programs that clutter up your... Read More

    The Importance of Timely Timesheets

    Whether you are a small consultancy firm, a medium sized... Read More

    Passwords Used In Microsoft Word Documents

    You would like to protect your documents, wouldn't you? Reasons... Read More

    Microsoft and Webmasters

    Does Microsoft care for WebmastersIt's always been a problem with... Read More

    Assertion in Java

    Assertion facility is added in J2SE 1.4. In order to... Read More

    How to Build a Basic CSS Layout

    Designing without tables by using CSS layouts is fast becoming... Read More

    Microsoft CRM and Great Plains Implementation: Freight Forwarding Business Automation Example

    Microsoft Business Solutions offers several ERP applications: Great Plains, Navision,... Read More

    Microsoft Great Plains Implementation & Customization: Computer Parts Retailer Example

    Microsoft Great Plains fits to majority of horizontals and retail... Read More

    Business Plan Software Review: Ultimate Business Planner?

    One of the main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs use... Read More

    10 Steps To Secure And Manage Your Passwords

    Passwords protect your most sensitive personal, financial and business information.... Read More

    Microsoft Great Plains e-Commerce ? additional considerations for programmer

    Microsoft Great Plains, designed back in 1990th as database transferable... Read More

    Microsoft Great Plains RW: Report Writer

    Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More

    Microsoft Great Plains 8.0 Brazilian Version ? Overview For International Consultant

    Microsoft Great Plains has substantial mid-market share in the USA... Read More

    Microsoft CRM Implementation for Large Corporation ? overview

    Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is now approaching the phase of... Read More

    How To Identify, Cure and Prevent Spyware/Adware Infections

    Just when you thought you were Web savvy, one more... Read More