When you are new to Microsoft Dynamics GP accounting software, you can set up the home page the way it suits you best. This includes simplifying the screen by removing and adding items. In this video learn how to:
- Login to Dynamics GP
- Edit the home page role
- Simplify the home page by adding or removing items
- Add quick links to file and websites you use often
- Edit reminders
- Participate in the Microsoft customer experience program
Video Transcription:
This is Amber Bell from CAL Business Solutions. Today’s topic is, “Using Microsoft Dynamics GP for the very first time and how to clean up the Microsoft Dynamics GP home page.” We have a new user that has been set up for the system and they’ve never logged in. Make sure that they have their user ID and their password, both are case sensitive. As soon as they put in their user ID and password and click okay, GP will launch.
After it launches, it’s going to ask the user to select a home page role. Your user can pick their industry that they’re working in. Let’s say you’re in a manufacturing company and let’s say this person is an Accounts Payable person.
But they make a mistake. We’re going to have them pick Receivable. If they pick Receivable, there’s really nothing that comes up on the screen because their security set for them is to only going to get Payables. So if they realize they made a mistake, they can actually click Customize This Page, Change Role. You’ll get an alert that it is going to make some changes, and we’re going to go ahead and switch them to be in Accounts Payable.
Now I can see that there are actually some reminders that came up and some shortcuts. Now, if you look at those reminders or you look at those shortcuts, and you look at the home page in general, and there’s just a lot going on and you want to simplify or change, you can do that.
So first thing, let’s take a look at everything that is on the Home Page. I scroll all the way down and also have some reports that I can add. A lot of parts come up on this home page. Now maybe you have a user, or you’re a user, who doesn’t like a lot to show when you first log in. I’ve had some customers that come in and actually turn the whole thing off, and they have a blank home page. They simply do that by clicking Customize This Page and turning everything off. Now I don’t recommend turning everything off. But let’s turn a couple parts on that I really like. I like the To‑Go, the Quick Links, and I’m going to also turn on to My Reports for right now.
You’ll see that once I do that, it simplified the screen already. We don’t have a lot of extra things coming up. If Microsoft gave us some quick links or shortcuts that we don’t want to use, we can turn those off. Now I want to show you what those actually do. They actually jump right to the screen.
So here I’m in vendor maintenance. I’m in a check window. I’m in payables transactions all with one click. Now if my job does not include doing the check run or perhaps we don’t use the select checks feature to do the check run, we’re going to go ahead and change it. I can go back and click Customize this Page or I can even click a little pencil that pops up as I mouse over each section. We’re going to go ahead and take off select payables checks and up here I delete.
Now if I wanted to add something else, I could simply click add and I can add a GP window, a GP navigation list, a web page, or an external program or file. Let’s say I have a web page and we’re going to put the CAL web site because I like to get tips, so we’re going to go www.calszone.com and put on our web site. I’ll go ahead and click okay here.
If I want, I can actually even add a file. Go down to external programs or files, and I would browse and attach just like I would with a normal email. We’re going to go ahead and close this screen and hit save. Now right now I don’t see the changes. We’re going to hit refresh, and you’ll see now I have CAL Tips and that would even launch right to the web site and show tips and tricks; a nice way to get that.
Now, if there’s something in there that are part of the reminders and you don’t want those, you can come over and hit the little pencil again or even the hyperlink that says new reminders. You could say I don’t care about overdue invoices. We don’t really use discounts. I don’t care about who’s on hold. I don’t care about receivables. So you can kind of change those up. Click okay, and refresh, and now we’re down to just payables.
Now these link from here, right into running a smart list. We have a lot of videos and a lot of tips on our website for running smart lists.
So from our home page you get information like that. If you see a task that says customer experience improvement program, you can turn that task off by clicking on there, reading whether or not you want to participate. We’ll go ahead and on mine I’ll say yes. This just helps Microsoft know how fast it’s running and make it run a little quicker for next versions, but if your internal policy is to not allow that type of thing, you can click I don’t want to join, and then just mark it as completed.
And again, I just cleaned up another thing off of my home page. Now we do have tips and tricks on creating tasks and reminders but what I wanted to do was show you how you can turn different things off. I can make one side bigger, and I can actually even change the layout here. I can make it into one column, three columns, maybe I’ll try that one out and move this over, and now instead of having it in one column I can move those around.
Now, also my user has only access to really doing payables. You’ll see my security doesn’t show anything in sales. I don’t have anything really in HR, Payroll, but out of the box my user has all of the little dropdowns. They can click here or they can just right click right over this toolbar and go to navigation pane options. And I don’t do financial, I don’t do sales, I don’t do administration. I do some inventory because I look at things for POs perhaps. I don’t do anything here and I don’t need that.
So now I’ve got this down to just the windows I want to see, and I can move this over. Now I’ve got a window for purchasing and a window for inventory. Now looking at that, oh, you know what? No I don’t do inventory. I made a mistake, so we’re going to go ahead and make one more change. Maybe my old system I did inventory, now I won’t. Go ahead and make the change.
Now under inventory, I don’t have any security to make any changes in the routines or set up, so under that section, I can even turn those off. Set up, utilities, routines, and again, I’m just simplifying down to the windows I really need to see. Go back to my home. So there’s a lot you can do to make your navigation easier. We have other tips and tricks on customizing the toolbar across the top, we have tips on making the navigation pane easier, but hopefully this helps you see a way to make your home page and the individual area pages easier to use.
Related Training:
Dynamics GP Video Tip: How to Customize the Home Page Part 1 – Choose Your Role and Home Page Layout
Dynamics GP Video Tip: How to Customize the Home Page Part 2 – Editing Quick Links
Dynamics GP Video Tip: How to Customize the Home Page Part 3 – Using Reminders and Tasks
Dynamics GP Video Tip: How to Customize the Home Page Part 4 – Using My Reports Feature
For more great Microsoft Dynamics GP tips, visit www.calszone.com/tips and sign up for our newsletter.
By Amber Bell, CAL Business Solutions , www.calszone.com
