Between holiday parties, shopping for gifts, and closing your books for the year, accounting and finance professionals have a lot on their plate right now. But if you’re a Dynamics GP user, fear not. Our experts have collected five of their Dynamics GP year-end close tips and are eager to share them with you now. So, let’s get started. The sooner you work on your Dynamics GP year-end close tasks, the sooner you can sit back, relax and enjoy the holiday season.
Dynamics GP year-end close tip #1: Prepare ahead of time for a smoother experience.
Whether this is the first time closing your Dynamics GP books for the year or your 10th, it always helps to prepare Because we only do once a year, it’s easy to forget some small details. And when that happens, your year-end close can get derailed quickly. So, we recommend taking a little time to refamiliarize yourself with the process before you get started. To make this simple, it’s always a good idea to collect all your year-end resources in one place so you can easily get to them when you’re ready for next year. For a good starting point, check out our year-end close guide.
If your business has any specific tasks outside of the general Dynamics GP year-end close process which we lay out in our year-end close guide, we recommend you make a checklist of those and include it with your other year-end close resources for future reference.
Another pre-close consideration is whether it’s time to update your software. Remember, the year and updates for 2019 will only be available for Dynamics GP versions 2015 and later. And, this is the last year Microsoft will offer them for GP 2015. So, if you’re still using Dynamics GP 2015 or earlier, now is the time to plan for your upgrade. You don’t want to find yourself left out in the cold, scrambling to find a workaround so that you can close your 2020 books.
Not sure which version you are using? Contact your Microsoft Dynamics partner right away.
Dynamics GP year-end close tip #2: Backup your data.
This one probably goes without saying, but it’s extremely important. So I’ll say it again. Just in case something goes wrong, it’s never wise to begin your Dynamics GP year-end close process without first backing up your database. That way, you can easily undo any year-end close mistakes and start over if need be. If you’re using a hosted version of Dynamics GP, your backups are probably automatic. So, you don’t have to worry about this step. But if you’re running Dynamics GP on premise, you’ll want to ask your IT staff to plan on creating a backup right before you begin your year-end close process.
Dynamics GP year-end close tip #3: Avoid the urge to enter 2020 payables and receivables documents too early
For these modules, it is important that you enter all your 2019 documents before you add information for 2020. For best results, year-end functions should be complete before you enter data for the following year.
Dynamics GP year-end close tip #4: You must install the year-end update before you create your first 2020 payroll run
We all know closing your books for the year is at the top of no one’s list of fun things to do and it’s tempting to want to put off this task until the New Year. But here’s an important reason that is not a great idea. Dynamics GP needs you to do these tasks in a specfic order.
Keep in mind, you install the year-end update on each workstation and on the server. So, it is not a quick task. You’ll want to set aside time in your schedule during the year-end update process to do this.
Dynamics GP year-end close tip #5: Wait to install the 2020 tax table update should until after you’ve finished all 2019 pay runs
Just like with the year-end update, there is a very specific time when you should install the tax table update. Again, you should do this prior to your first payroll run in the New Year and after creating the year-end wage file for the previous year. Unlike installing the year-end update, updating your payroll tax tables is a quick process. You can install it from any workstation.
We hope you find these Dynamics GP year-end close tips useful. If you’re looking for more, download our year-end close guide. It’s filled with expert tips and tricks just like these and handy links to guide you through the year-end close process from beginning to end.
Need hands-on help to close your 2019 books, but don’t have a Microsoft partner? Contact us to find out about becoming a client and getting on our Dynamics GP year-end close schedule.
