A client was recently reviewing their sales process with the goal of better managing the allocation and fulfillment of sales orders. One of the questions to came through to our office was “What can we do to keep inventory from becoming allocated as soon as a sales order is entered?
The starting point for the answer to this question is one of the Sales Document Setup windows. From the screenshot of the Sales Order Setup window below you can see that there is an option to “Allocate by”.

There are three options available:

Line Item – with use of this choice items will be allocated as they are entered onto an order. Any quantity shortages must be addressed as the data entry occurs. This is the default setting for new document setups.
Document/Batch – with use of this choice items will be allocated as part of a document allocation or batch allocation process. There is an Allocation-Fulfillment Options window that can be accessed from either the Sales Transaction Entry window or the Sales Batch Entry window where Allocation and Fulfillment can be initiated for multiple line items. Items will only be checked for quantity shortages at the time of allocation and not during data entry.
None – the use of this choice will result in no allocation taking place and is only available for order document types. Once the order is transferred to an invoice or fulfillment order the allocation will happen in accordance with the setup of the destination document type.
Our client had all of their order and invoice types set to “Allocate by” Line Item, so my recommendation to them was to create document types that would allocate by Document/Batch. There may be a follow-up question regarding fulfillment, but that the answer to that one will be addressed separately.

When entering account transaction data in Dynamics GP, the system tries to be helpful and puts the cursor in the debit or credit column based on the debit/credit setting in account setup. This is great until you want to debit an account with a default credit balance and vice versa.

You can obviously tab or shift-tab to get to the right field or you can move to the appropriate field with your mouse. Or…

You can stay where you are and enter the item as a negative.

If you enter a negative debit Dynamics GP automatically enters it as a credit. Negative credits become debits

In the current economic downturn, more taxpayers are going through foreclosures or having property repossessed when they can’t pay debts secured by property.  The last thing these people want to think about is taxes, but things could be worse…

In Taxation of abandonments, foreclosures and repossessions, posted on The Journal of Accountancy this month, Curtis Webley explains the options facing personal and business foreclosure scenarios, of which there are many. A recourse debt is the loan on a property being abandoned.  Once foreclosure or repossession procedures are completed, the tax consequences must be accounted for and they are different for properties that are used for personal versus business use.  If a property is for business use, the gain or loss on disposition is considered either a capital or an ordinary gain or loss, depending on the nature of the asset.  After foreclosure proceedings are completed, if the creditor forgives debtor any part of the debt, the forgiven portion is called “cancellation of debt” (COD) income and may be included in debtor’s gross income and reported separately from the gain or loss realized from the sale.

Nonrecourse debt, when debtor is not personally responsible for the debt, is treated differently.  Business or investment property that is abandoned in a nonrecourse situation takes the outstanding loan balance, compared with taxpayer’s adjusted basis in the property to determine gain or loss.  The loss in this situation can be a deductible.  A gain, though rare, can be considered income if it results from a discount for loan modification that reduces the principal, a COD income, even if debtor is not personally liable for the debt.

Microsoft Dynamics® GP can bring more clarification into the other assets that are important to your business operations.  With this comprehensive business management software, you can enter, depreciate, and retire fixed assets.  Having accurate data regarding assets will help you make better business decisions, report data to financial and taxing agencies appropriately, and see the impact the assets have on your business operations.

Tracking, calculating, and reporting on any asset is important to the health of your business and can have an impact on your bottom line.  It is always best to discuss specific tax-related concerns with your tax professional.  Contact eIS Business Solutions for more information about Microsoft Dynamics GP and how it can keep your financials under control.

By Robert Smith of eIS Business Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner out of California

Original Post