Topic: ‘Dynamics AX’

Today’s blog takes a look at how Audit Trails can help you with data control and monitoring as well as security.  An Audit Trail is a chronological record of transactions that is automatically generated with a unique numeric ID.  In Dynamics AX 2009, an Audit Trail Inquiry shows you the details of the user who created an entry, the date of the entry, and the time of the entry.  Please read on to explore the functionality of Audit Trails.

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Discover the 10 things Distribution Leaders need to confront in their 2011 business plans!  I.B.I.S. and the Advanced Distribution Partners invite you to attend our upcoming webinar: Ten Things to Plan for in ’11, featuring distribution industry expert, Brent Grover.

Ten Things to Plan for in ’11
Featured Speaker: Brent Grover
Date: Sept. 15, 2010 2:00-3:00pm EST

Ten Things to Plan for in ’11 is designed to help distributors confront the obstacles they will need to overcome in the next year to build a profitable business plan, while providing proven tactics to accurately forecast distribution sales, skillfully execute scenario planning and efficiently link sales forecasts to cash projections.

Special Giveaway!
We will be raffling one copy of Brent Grover’s most recent book, Strategic Pricing for Distributors, to those who attend the webinar.  The winner will be announced in our webinar follow up email on 9/16/10.  Register now so you don’t miss out on this great opportunity!

 Automatic Summary Updating for Invoicing Purchase Orders

Today’s blog post will discuss automatic summary updating when invoicing purchase orders. This process can help save time and make invoicing purchase orders more efficient. Automatic Summary is an option to summarize multiple orders according to specified criteria set forth in the summary update parameters. For example, you can summarize multiple purchase orders from a single vendor into one invoice. Continue reading to find out more about automatic summary updating.

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Recently, our team was reviewing the Accounts Receivable Parameters in Dynamics AX 2009 in order to create a standard configuration and to ensure that everyone knew the consequences of enabling or disabling any one of the parameters. With the vast number of combined years of experience with Dynamics AX, this was a simple exercise with the only hiccups being parameters that dealt with European accounting rules which were quickly discarded. There was, however, one exception and that was the Order Entry Statistics checkbox on the Updates tab.

Even with our accumulated knowledge, no one on the team had used this checkbox or had the slightest idea what the checkbox did. With umpteen parameters settings to cover, the issue was set aside for investigation until later. At the end of the meeting, it was decided that, since the Associate Consultants are the lowest members on the totem pole and that this was a good opportunity to learn, we would be charged with discovering the checkbox’s purpose. Read the rest of this entry »

Simulating Exchange Adjustments is just one way that Dynamics AX 2009 can make life easier for you and your company.  Dynamics AX 2009 offers a variety of simulation and forecasting tools as well as reports.  These features filter complex data into a clear form that can be used in decision making.  A quick Exchange Adjustment Simulation will illustrate how a business issue is solved easily using Dynamics AX 2009.

What if you want to see the effects of an exchange adjustment on open customer transactions before you actually make the adjustment?

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Print management can be setup in Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and Projects at the module level. Each original record in Microsoft Dynamics AX can have default settings associated with it which are defined under the print management setup. Print Management is setup at a hierarchal level where you define original record, copy record and settings for any available documents. You can create up to one original record for each and multiple copy records for every document type. You can create up to 19 conditional settings for each original or copy record. To see more on how to setup Print Management, continue reading.

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This post will introduce the concept of period allocation keys, show how they are setup with the Period Allocation Key Wizard, and how they are integrated with the budget.  

Budgeting is important because companies need to know their actual versus predicted forecasts for the year. Period allocation keys in Dynamics 2009 make the budgeting process easier by allowing users to create budget models that can be used over several budget time frames. Not only do period allocation keys duplicate the allocation data for multiple budgets, they can also help reflect fluctuations brought on by season. 

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Discover how to drive More to the Bottom Line with Brent Grover, six-time bestselling distribution management author and 20+ year veteran/executive in the distribution industry, presented by Advanced Distribution Partners (ADP).

Move beyond the analysis paralysis to drive More to the Bottom Line!

Join us for this exclusive webinar with distribution industry expert, Brent Grover.  He provides insight on how to outperform the pack, providing distributors with practical advice to:

• Optimize margins with more accurate costing
• Make more money in this muddled economy
• Achieve a new level of sustainable people productivity

Read the rest of this entry »

We have, at a client, integrated WorldShip with AX via the export map in WorldShip writing to the ShipCarrierStaging interface table.  The ShipCarrierStaging table is an existing table in AX – its part of the standard shipping integration with AX2009 – and is designed to accept any incoming freight record from a shipping package (like WorldShip).  When you invoice a packing slip, it pulls the tracking number and freight charges from this table.  So, this table is never populated with MorphX commands – it is always being populated via a SQL insert or via an ODBC update. 

The insert trigger that intercepts the record does certain things to the inserted record, then writes it to the table.  One of the things it does, at the top of the trigger, is "set @recid = select max(recid) from ShipCarrierStaging" to set a unique value for the RECID field in the table.

All of the above is standard AX.

Here’s the problem.  Between when the "select max(recid)…" command issues and when it actually inserts the record can be anywhere from immediately to a second or two depending on the size of the table, the state of the server, etc.  When you have multiple WorldShip stations inserting records simultaneously, it is possible for Station 1 to deliver a record to the table, then have Station2 deliver a record, then the trigger writes Station1′s record, and then the trigger writes Station2′s record.  However, since the read for Station2 on the select max() happened before the Station1 write, both records get exactly the same RECID.  Therefore, the Station2 record fails on a primary key violation, since the RECID is the primary key.  I can easily replicate this as follows:

1. Write a simple insert statement to the table enclosed in a do while loop with a counter set to 10,000

declare @counter as int

set @counter = 1

While @counter <10000

begin

insert into Shipcarrierstaging (column name list) values (value list)

set @counter = @counter +1

end

You’ll have to edit the column name list to match the table (without the RECID field included) and the value list must be provided.

2.  Copy the insert statement to another query window

3.  Start the first query, go to the next window, start that one.

4.  See the error in the second window.

I can solve this in SQL by changing the RECID to an identity column and letting it increment, then modifying the trigger to avoid the RECID field entirely. I haven’t yet talked to the dev team on how to modify the trigger via AX’s development environment (if we don’t, any sync to the database will overwrite the trigger modifications).

This error is a critical issue if you have more than one shipping machine.  Its been reported to MS via the OTC and they have submitted it to queue, but no resolution has been promised.

Cheers,

Dwight

While it is technically impossible to edit a closed invoice in DAX2009, there are a few options for crediting your customers.  One popular method (and one I don’t recommend) is to issue a free text invoice.  This will credit your customer, but it will not tie back to the original invoice, and it will create havoc if you are using commissions in any way.  Remember, FTI’s were created for service items, not item items.

Instead, try one of the following:

Process a credit note for the already invoiced line in question.  (Sales Order > Functions > Create Credit Note)  Once the credit is created, you can run an invoice (Post Qty > All if you do not wish to actually return) and then rerun the invoice (again, post Qty > All if you do not wish to actually return).

Create a new service type item for each Item Group.  This will not impact inventory, and then when you need to adjust, add a new SO line for the service item on it, use the correct sale price, and post the invoice.  Then enter a FTI credit against the originally posted amount.  A bit of a work around, but may meet your requirements.