Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 - Proposed Solution

Microsoft Dynamics® AX 2012 is not just the next release of a great product. It is, in

fact, a generational shift in business software, delivering new levels of capability,

unmatched agility, and a compelling and empowering user experience. At the same

time, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 sets a new standard for simplicity. This paper does

not pretend to capture every detail of the product, but instead highlights the key

innovations that make Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 powerful, agile, and simple.

Many enterprise resource management (ERP) systems have never moved beyond

managing the administrative dimension of your business, tracking general ledger,

payroll, and HR, while the real operation of the business is managed elsewhere.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is different, covering both the administrative and

operational requirements. To do this, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 delivers rich,

prebuilt, industry-operational functionality out of the box, with proven

functionality for manufacturing (process, discrete, and lean), distribution, retail,

public sector, and service industries. By delivering this capability, Microsoft Dynamics

AX 2012 gives you more value faster, and establishes a strong platform for

independent software vendors (ISVs) to more efficiently deliver the specialized

vertical functionality unique to verticals within those industries. Stronger base

functionality and a broad portfolio of specialized vertical solutions means a better fit

for the needs of your business, more value, and more rapid time to value.

For example, for the public sector Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 incorporates fund

accounting as required by public sector entities. Historically this critical capability

needed to be addressed as customization or as part of the workload delivered by an

ERP ISV focused on specific public sector vectors. Delivering this level of functionality

out of the box, as part of the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 industry capabilities,

empowers public sector customers and dramatically simplifies the work of ISVs

building for verticals in that industry. However beyond public sector, many private

sector companies look for increased accounting control and are adopting fund

accounting techniques. Because these capabilities are part of Microsoft Dynamics AX

2012 and not the addition of an ISV focused on public sector, they are available to

private sector customers as well. The ability to combine capabilities from multiple

industries for one customer is increasingly important—manufacturers often manage

their own distribution and sometimes operate their own direct retail operation, and

large numbers of customers in all industries have segments of their business that

operate with the project structure of service industries. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

industry capabilities make the power of this functionality available to all customers.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is a truly global solution, designed to scale with

your business. Simple enough to deploy for a single business unit in a single country,

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 will support the unique requirements for business

systems in 36 countries—all from a single-instance deployment of the software.

Multiple currencies, multiple time zones, multiple languages, and compliance with

multiple banking and reporting standards and legislative codes give you the global

coverage that you require. And a layered architecture and installable language packs

provide the flexibility for future growth to other markets, including options for agile,

partner-led localization.

Business software is powerful if it empowers users—increasing their productivity

and providing strong insights that help them make better decisions. This is the heart

of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, centered on the latest generation of its Microsoft

Dynamics RoleTailored user experience.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 provides a role-tailored user home page with configurable

dashboards

The base of the RoleTailored user experience is familiarity—users comfortable

with the Windows® operating system and Microsoft® Office are immediately at

home in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The Microsoft Outlook® messaging and

collaboration client–styled navigation is enhanced with navigation concepts from

Windows 7, the contextual access to relevant functionality from the FluentTM

user interface pioneered in Microsoft Office 2010, and the use of Search

metaphors to find information throughout Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

The familiar experience extends even further to drive productivity—for analysts

working with data from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, interoperability with

Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet software and PowerPivot brings that data into

those tools that analysts expect, with a native, natural experience enabling rapid,

effective access to business system data.

Workflow automation, built on the .NET Workflow Foundation, brings user tasks

to a central task pane, including tasks assigned to an individual, their role, or a

specific functional queue. Tasks and input queues of documents are combined in

the RoleTailored user experience of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to help users

quickly prioritize the work they should be doing. The system is not just there to

record transactions when users finish their work; it is helping them follow

consistent processes and focus on their most important tasks.

The value of a business system is not about putting transactions in; instead it is

about turning those transactions into information—into business intelligence

(BI)—to help users make faster, better decisions. To do this, business

intelligence must be an embedded part of the application, not a separate tool that

requires users to take extra steps and switch contexts. Rich, embedded BI is at

the core of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with:

o More than 30 Role Centers shipped out of the box, to provide the right BI

for each user’s job role

o 11 SQL Analytics Server Cubes behind those Role Centers

o Key performance indicators tailored to each process and role based on

those cubes

o Over 800 out-of-the-box reports, all delivered through SQL® Server

Reporting Services

o Rich interoperability with Microsoft Excel to surface report output and

enable analysis

o Standards-based data interoperability with PowerPivot for ad hoc slicing

and dicing

o InfoParts providing in-context BI fully embedded throughout the

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 user experience

And of course these are all developed using tools that enable extensibility to rapidly

add the unique requirements of ISV vertical solutions and individual business

customers.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 further innovates to capture business intelligence about

workflow and process together with transactional information to enable rich

analytics about process effectiveness, with a focus on empowering business process

optimization. Strong administrative ERP functionality, combined with industry-

operational functionality, a scalable global system, and a familiar, empowering user

experience with embedded BI to keep information in context, define Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012 as a truly powerful business application.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Workflow Management uses a graphical editor with drag

and drop capability to build and manage declarative workflows

Fundamental elements of the unified, natural models in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

include:

Flexible business organization modeling, allowing you to capture the physical

locations of your business, legal entity structure, and business reporting

structure.

People, with separate modeling of the person, their reporting hierarchy, and

their role.

Declarative representation of business workflow, policies, and dollar limits—and

the ability to specialize that policy for different parts of the organization model,

without writing code. For example, as a business analyst you have the ability to

grant different purchase order approval rules to different legal entities within a

graphical workflow editor, with no coding required.

Unlimited financial dimensions, allowing categorization and analysis of

transactions across multiple axes.

Date effectivity for data and models at the framework level, with additional

security control on future effective information, to streamline the definition of .to

be. organizational structures, hierarchies, processes, and policies, and to enable

before-and-after reporting across organizational changes.

Support for multiple hierarchies—for example, one based on HR reporting and

another based on legal entity, with the ability to designate one hierarchy for one

approval process and another for a different process—all without writing code.

These same capabilities that drive the agility of the core of Microsoft Dynamics AX

2012 have been implemented so that they can also be leveraged by ISVs building

solutions that extend the core product. The result: richer solutions and consistent

customer experiences spanning core product and partner extensions.

Natural models simplify system administration as well. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

manages security based on roles and tasks—users are mapped to roles and given

access to the tasks that they are responsible for. The system knows which low-level

technical assets are required to complete those tasks—administration happens at the

level that the business naturally thinks about their people, roles, and responsibilities.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is simpler to set up and simpler to change because the

software reflects the real world in a natural way.

Beyond the horizontal system, the investment in unified, natural models extends even

further into the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 industry capabilities. For example, the

system supports traditional discrete, process, and lean manufacturing modes.

Historically most applications supported only one of these models. Companies, on the

other hand, are often not purely one mode or another. A process manufacturing

company often has some operations that are discrete, and in some cases, a single

company may blend all three modes. This impedance mismatch between software

and the real world forced users to either work with multiple applications or create

awkward workarounds to use an application to represent a process that is outside its

capabilities. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 breaks through this limitation—in a single

instance it is possible to model production processes of each type. The software is

able to represent the manufacturer’s real world with high fidelity, simplifying

operation and improving results.

The model-driven layered architecture (MDLA) in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 makes

company-differentiating changes easy to execute and allows these changes to be made

without writing code

Enabling these unified, natural models, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 architecturally

provides a model-driven layered architecture (MDLA) that makes company-

differentiating changes easy to execute. As more and more of the system is defined

through models, unique requirements can be addressed declaratively without writing

code. For example, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 enables list pages—an important

vehicle for accessing system data—to be defined completely declaratively, with a

single model covering delivery of those pages on both client and portal experiences.

Beyond pages, models are used to define data, process, and policy—enabling business

users to directly express their requirements, reduce complex coding, and simplify

upgrades. Layered models enable customer-specific requirements to build on top of

vertical, local, and base system capabilities in an ordered structure. The combination

drives overall system agility—speeding the process of fitting the software to the

business at implementation, and more importantly, enabling rapid system evolution

in the face of changing business conditions and requirements.

System deployment represents another critical dimension where businesses demand

agility—growth, or even consolidation, will change a business’s needs. Evolving

technology may change the most effective way to meet those needs. Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012 enables flexible deployment alternatives that support your

business today and tomorrow. Microsoft Dynamics is committed to enabling

deployment choice—that includes on-premise deployment and partner private cloud

hosting today, and a roadmap to Microsoft cloud capability in the future—all with a

single application solution. Deployment of a model at a specific moment in time

should not lock a customer into an application that should be the heart of their

business for a very long time; customers can choose Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

because it is the right solution for their business.

SIMPLE

As business applications evolve, the natural tendency is for complexity to increase.

Instead Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 makes an intentional commitment to simplicity

—focusing specifically on explicitly engineering to simplify every aspect of the

system, from installation through deployment, implementation, customization, user

experience, and upgrade.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 web portal provides an easy to use and familiar user

experience based on Microsoft SharePoint® for employees, salespersons, vendors and

customers

For users, simplicity begins with a familiar interface that makes the

application simple to learn and intuitive to use, and continues with explicit

work to streamline every step in high-velocity transaction processes like order

entry.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 also brings the power of software to more users in

the business, adding rich functionality for supplier relationship management

(SRM) and a rich set of employee self-service functionality for HR data,

procurement, and travel expense management.

Through interoperation with Microsoft collaboration technologies from

Microsoft SharePoint, Windows® AzureTM, and Microsoft Lync TM, Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012 brings collaboration directly into context through the

application, making it simpler to connect employees, customers, suppliers,

and partners.

For system administration, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 automates application

lifecycle management, making the system simpler to deploy, manage, and

upgrade for customers, implementers, and ISVs. For example, in Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012 every step of the product installation process was examined,

and the entire process was overhauled to remove steps, eliminate opportunities

for error, and streamline the interaction between IT and application roles,

dramatically shortening and simplifying the process.

Simplicity drives adoption and ensures that customers truly get the benefit of the

system’s power and agility.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX 2012—A BUSINESS SOLUTION FROM MICROSOFT

The anchor point for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is that it is a business solution from

Microsoft. That heritage brings with it an obligation and a commitment to bring the

full breadth and depth of Microsoft research, development, and innovation

investment to business customers in a unified solution. This commitment manifests in

four key pillars for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 customers and partners:

First Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is delivered on a platform of familiar, high-

value, low-total cost of ownership (TCO) technology. Whether IT is managed

directly by the customer or by their partner, Microsoft technology means access

to a broad universe of people and resources that already understand the

technology platform.

Next the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 solution delivers pervasive

interoperability with Microsoft Office, SharePoint, and Lync, whether on-

premises or in the cloud, to bring users the familiar, productive experiences they

expect—empowered with access to Microsoft Dynamics AX data and

functionality. For example, BI accessed naturally through Microsoft Excel,

documents stored in SharePoint visualized in business context through Microsoft

Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics data available for seamless inclusion in

Microsoft Word documents, and presence and click-to-communicate capability

delivered through Lync interoperability.

In addition, Microsoft is committed to bringing the latest innovations across

social, mobile, visualization, machine learning, and natural user experiences to

business users, in context, today and tomorrow.

Perhaps most importantly, the commitment to bring Microsoft technology to

business users is not a one-time event at a single point in time—it is a

commitment to continuously renew that technology from generation to

generation. Renewable technology, delivered through an upgradable application

—power and productivity on-premises today, with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

evolving to include the cloud tomorrow with the next major Microsoft Dynamics

AX release.

Sales and Marketing (CRM)

Sales and marketing in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 delivers powerful, integrated

customer, sales, and marketing management capabilities that can help your people

build and strengthen customer relationships and increase sales.

Module Description

Role Centers Marketing executive, sales manager, super sales rep, dedicated sales

rep, account manager, marketing manager, and marketing staffer.

Sales force automation Forecast and plan sales.

Trade agreements (customer)

Manage price and multifaceted discount policies in all currencies. The price revision

process can be governed by workflows to ensure compliance with internal policies.

The generic currency agreement allows prices to be set up in a single currency and

automatically converted to the customer’s currency.

Sales agreement Manage agreements based on monetary or volume commitments.

Organizations are able to set up agreements with specific terms and conditions and

monitor the status.

Marketing automation Develop, conduct, follow up on, and analyze marketing

campaigns for any defined group of customers and prospects.

Lead and opportunity management

Manage leads and opportunities including the ability to create, review, update, and

manage information about leads. Associate employees, responsibilities, and

campaign data with stored information.

Sales management Set, monitor, and manage sales performance of sales personnel,

sales units, and sales companies.

Sales and marketing reporting

Gain insight in sales and marketing performance with predefined KPIs in the sales

and customer relationship management (CRM) cubes.

MICROSOFT® BUSINESS SOLUTIONSDYNAMICS AX® ENTERPRISE PORTAL

Microsoft Business SolutionsDynamics Ax Enterprise Portal empowers

organization’s business community, through Internet connectivity, opening new paths

to efficient e-business.

The Microsoft Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal is a Web solution that enables

organizations business community to work directly with its Dynamics Ax Enterprise

Resource Planning (ERP) system via personalized websites using the Internet. By

connecting the organization’s entire business community in new and exciting ways, it

removes traditional boundaries and sharpens e-Business edge.

Everyone who plays a role in organization’s business is a member of its business

community. That includes employees, customers, vendors and other business partners.

The days of playing phone tag with suppliers, sales and warehouse staff struggling with

mismatched stock information and a human resource department burdened with

employee hour and holiday registration are over.

Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal automates these processes.

Key Features

Anytime, anywhere access to data

One stop connectivity

Intuitive Web layout for walk-up usage

Improve communication and collaboration throughout your business community

High ROI – deploy Intranet, Extranet, and Web solution as needed without hassle

No need to buy third party software

Reduce the cost of distributing and sharing information

Every user can choose from 31 languages and local currencies

Collaboration

Using the Internet you interact with the people who have the information you need; or

need the information you have. The aim is to optimize workflow with anytime,

anywhere access to accurate data. With Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal, your business

never closes. It is open 24/7.

The basis for successful collaboration using the Internet is ease of use and Dynamics Ax

Enterprise Portal delivers. Organization’s business partners connect instantly using

only the Internet and immediately feel comfortable due to the intuitive Web layout. Only

the information and services they need are presented. Users can view relevant

information and reports, publish documents such as customer orders, register project

hours and participate in discussion forums. You decide which information you want to

share and with whom you want to share it. All of the access rights are assigned on an

individual basis. For example, information on a customer-specific product will only be

available to that customer.

New connectivity, new energy

With Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal, organization’s business is connected in ways that

were simply not possible before. By delivering cost-effective connectivity and making

the most of what the Internet has to offer, it enables novice users and external contacts

who previously worked outside your ERP system, to connect and work directly with the

ERP data. Information such as drawings and orders can be exchanged and published

within your parent company and among subsidiaries. No additional software or

hardware is required. No longer will the production staff go searching through emails

trying to locate the latest document drawing. The latest version is published on the

Internet and accessible to everyone involved.

Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal serves as the single point of entry so that there is no

flipping back and forth from various programs, the Intranet, Extranet and the ERP

system. Once signed on to the network, you do not have to worry about remembering a

username and password. You are automatically authenticated and given direct access to

the relevant information. By sharing data and putting it to work, your business

community plays a more active role in business. They are empowered to work more

effectively on an individual basis due to the high level of personalization of the websites.

At the same time, the energy of the online network and visibility of responsibilities

makes for better collaboration.

Automation

Speed and efficiency are cornerstones to improving collaboration. For example, when a

customer on the other side of the world enters a purchase order on their customer

website, that information is registered immediately in Dynamics Ax – eliminating your

need to enter it manually. The purchase order is published instantly on the personal

websites of anyone who needs to know about the transaction. They can then take the

necessary actions whether they are a member of the production staff checking

availability and placing a new order with a sub-supplier or an accountant issuing a new

balance statement.

Overall, you have better planning possibilities and the overall efficiency of your

business increases. Because you have greater flexibility, Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal

makes it easier to find new trading partners and to meet the changing needs of existing

partners - regardless of the industry they are in, the programs they use, or the

standards they require.

Employee Homepage at Dynamics Ax E-Portal

Content management

When information is moving fast over the Internet and with a lot of people involved, it is

important to have a system that can manage it. Dynamics Ax E-Portal ensures that all of

the content published and exchanged is centralized by a set of rules, processes and

workflows so that it conforms to a standardized infrastructure. Everyone creating,

editing, managing and publishing the content automatically works within the

framework. Content management ensures that there is consistency in information

creation, which everyone who needs access to specific information has the same version

and that documents do not get lost in the maze of emails, file folders, and databases.

External content and services

Dynamics Ax uses Microsoft Web Parts technology, which means that any Web parts

deployed under Microsoft Web Parts technology can be embedded in Dynamics Ax E-

Portal. That can include access to programs such as Microsoft Outlook including the

personal calendar, general news, stock and weather information as well as information

from other ERP systems. It is also possible to integrate with other third party back-end

systems because the framework supports the use of ActiveX controls, COM and XML

throughout Dynamics Ax.

Multilanguage and multi-currency support

Everyone logging on to Dynamics Ax E-Portal has the ability to choose from 31

languages and local currencies. Employees around the globe can work comfortably in

one system while customers and vendors can view item information, monitor shipping

status and make requests in their native language. Also, users can choose to view

reports and forecasts in a national currency as well as a secondary currency such as the

euro.

Walk-up usage

The consistent and easy to navigate layout throughout Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal

translates to little or no training. The interface and navigation follow all common Web

browser standards – menu bar, click functionality, GUI interface – which means that

users are able to navigate the portal as soon as they log on. Searches are performed in

the same manner as the Internet, all hyperlinks are underlined and blue and users can

bookmark pages of the Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal just like any other Internet page.

Guidance all the way

When logged on to Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal, you are guided through work

processes in a step-by-step tunnel process. It is conceived as a tunnel process because it

is virtually impossible to go in the wrong direction. The tunnel process ensures that

tasks are simple and that users are less likely to make errors. For example, customers

are guided through the process of creating a sales order. The necessary information

appears as each step is completed and the user moves on – from the first “Create a sales

order” click through to “Pick items” and “See total.” The user does not need to wonder if

the system has all of the information because it asks all the questions and the user

simply types in the answers. The order is complete once the “Finish” button is clicked

on. Detailed online help is available on every page.

Immediate connectivity

Dynamics Ax Enterprise Portal websites are fast and easy to implement. There is no

need for web programming, HTML or Active Server Pages (ASP) knowledge to set up or

maintain a website. Nor is their need for external web development tools, or an

expensive upgrade. Everything needed to create a website is available the moment the

license key is entered into the Dynamics Ax installation.

Security/ Discretion assured

Security is ensured with assigned access rights and the Record Level Security

throughout Dynamics Ax. Everyone has an individual login ID, login name and

password. No one can access someone else’s website or information due to the role

level security. For further security settings, you can refer to the SSL (Secure Socket

Layer) on the websites.

Built for connectivity

Dynamics Ax is built around the premise that the Internet is a natural part of the

development environment, and thereby your ERP system. That is why you are able to

reach out to your business community quickly and without an expensive upgrade or

extra tools. The extent you want to reach out is up to you. The three-tier architecture

provides scalability and accommodates a large number of simultaneous users and

transactions, as well as the ability to expand geographically. With Dynamics Ax, you are

also prepared for emerging technologies, such as mobile solutions and PDA, as their role

in collaboration increases.

Project Management

Project Accounting in AX 2012 has undergone some enhancements to improve the

experience of managing and working with a project. From collaboration tools, to project

budgeting and change control, to the enhanced use of Enterprise Portal, to multiple

funding and grants applied across projects, the solid functionality has been greatly

improved.

The following is a brief overview of some of these enhancements.

Beginning Balances for a Project

When implementing AX 2012, easily input existing beginning balances against

created Projects. This eliminates any effect on the general ledger.

Project Budgeting

New functionality to for overall project budgeting.

Can be copied from

o a forecast

o a previous project (actuals)

o Budget can be allocated over a period of time.

o Available at the activity level. (WBS)

o Budgets and their revisions can now be tracked through budget revisions.

o Advantages / Disadvantages between Forecasting & Budgeting

Project Contract IDs

Can be automatically assigned.

Can be created during project creation without the need to create the contract

prior to project creation.

Sales Order / Purchase Order Associations

A sales order or purchase order originating from ANY module can be associated

with a project. In prior versions, the order had to originate from a project / sub-

project.

Multiple Funding Sources / Project Contract Funding

Funding can be shared by numerous internal and external parties (funding

sources)

Funding limits / rules can apply at multiple levels including categories, category

groups, or transactions types (hours, items, expenses, fees). These rules contain

criteria for how to allocate charges to different funding sources for a project.

Note: Stock items on a purchase requisition or purchase order cannot be split. The

funding source value can only be distributed at the time of inventory issue posting. At

time, costs are distributed according to the account distribution rules for the project.

Using multiple funding sources with multiple project contracts allows the

configuration of ledger postings based on the funding source by project, project

group, category, and/or category group. Each project types can be setup with

specific accounts.

Timesheet Changes

Enter multiple projects onto one time sheet

Enterprise Portal

o Manage favorites to create new based on previous timesheet or based on

favorites

o Access to hours in fact box – prevent duplicating hours

o Key in partial activity/category IDs and the system w/find first matching

activity / category

o Timesheet displays ID & names, activity & category fields

o Preview lines without opening a time sheet

o Line-level approvals / workflow

o Zero hour lines not displayed

Projects in Enterprise Portal

Create and manage project in the web-based Enterprise Portal allowing for

remote project management. In previous versions, only time sheets were

available through the Enterprise Portal.

Allocating Project Revenue in 2012

2009 Allocations vs. 2012 Allocations:

o 2009 allocated based on:

Fixed Price can only allocate revenue for each project based on

completion percentage

Posts thru a fee transaction

o 2012 can allocate based on:

Internal sales price for each

Employee

Category

Dimensions

Posts to each hour, expense, item transaction

Two methods to allocate revenue to transaction

o By fixed rate:�

Each transaction receives a fixed sales rate based on the sales price

setting.

If no cost over/under run > estimate posts fee transaction to adjust

the contract value.

o By adjustable rates:

Each transaction receives a sales rate based on the sales price

setting.

If no over/under run, estimate will adjust each hour, expense and

item transactions based on the new profit markup rate.

Note: Illustration of how allocation of revenue occurs.

Revenue Posting Options:

o Posting based on Completion %

Revenue is only associated with the fee transaction posted by the

estimate system.

Revenue is not allocated to the individual lines or transactions.

Costs posted to a new fee transaction based on % of project

completed.

o Posting based on Fixed Rate

Each transaction is allocated revenue based on the sales price

posted in the journal.

Formula for Estimate Calculation:

Contract value – Sum of sales amount of transactions (Hours

+ Expenses + Item)

o Posting based on Markup %(All Transactions)

% applied to accrue revenue applies the same profitability for

hour, expense, and item transactions.

% change from previous estimate

For new transaction estimates calculated

Previous transactions are adjusted. Incremental sales

amount postings occur.

Formula for Estimate Calculation:

Transaction (Hour, Expense, Item) cost * Contract value /

Total estimated cost

o Posting based on Markup % per Each Estimate Line

Individual transactions maintain own profitability. Fixed price

amount allocated to the sub fixed amount associated to each cost

line in the estimate.

Formula: Transaction (Hour, Expense, and Item) cost * Sales

amount of estimate line / Cost amount of estimate line

o Posting based on Value Added Markup Percent (%)

All profits related to hours.

Expense & item transactions: Production revenue = cost accrued.

Hours: Production revenue + profit revenue posted to individual

hour transactions.

o Posting based on Value Added Hour Rate ($)

All profits related to hours.

Expense & item costs: Production revenue = cost accrued.

Hours: Production revenue + profit revenue posted to individual

hour transactions

o Posting based on Completion %

Revenue is only associated with the fee transaction posted by the

estimate system.

Revenue is not allocated to the individual lines or transactions.

Costs posted to a new fee transaction based on % of project

completed.

Revenue billed using free text invoicing can be tracked to a project.

Collaboration Workspace

Provide team members the ability to work on a project in a shared online space.

Quickly organize and share information on projects, tasks / activities, etc.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS AX FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT MODULES

- FINANCIALS I, FINANCIALS II, FIXED ASSETS

Microsoft® Dynamics Ax® Financial Management helps to effectively increase the

business while maintaining control over financial management processes.

Microsoft Business Solutions–Dynamics Ax Financial Management provides fast,

reliable and comprehensive accounting, financial reporting and analysis capabilities. It

will let organizations extend the appropriate information access appropriately within to

the business community, so that it can improve the efficiency of existing accounting

processes.

Microsoft Dynamics Ax Financial Management consists of several individually packaged

offerings:

Microsoft Dynamics Ax Financials I and Financials II

Electronic Banking

Fixed Assets

Financials I includes General Ledger, Bank Management, Accounts Receivable and

Accounts Payable, Budget functionality.

Financials II includes inter-company accounting, multiple company consolidation

capabilities, account allocations, cash-flow forecasting, and electronic banking, and an

add-on to Bank Management is available that supports the import and export of

payment files to financial institutions in several countries.

Fixed Assets allows you to manage the entire lifecycle of your fixed assets.

Key Benefits:

Helps to increase business without introducing constraints

Improves the efficiency of financial operations, enabling strategic planning

Manages cash flow effectively

Helps ensure regulatory compliance

Provides greater insight of finances and thereby improves the ability to make the

right decisions

AXAPT FINANCIALS I MODULE SUMMARY

Key Features Description

GENERAL LEDGER Flexible setup of accounting periods

Fast and reliable year-end procedure

Multiple budgets

Advanced options for transaction entry

Journal approval procedures

Recurring journals

Validation prior to posting

Automatic allocation according to predefined setup of accounts,

dimensions and percentages

Extensive tax module for different types of tax calculation and

reporting



BANK MANAGEMENT Reconcile bank accounts

Setup of checks

Monitoring deposits, payments, and bank balances

Electronic import of bank account statements available for some

countries

ACCOUNTS

RECEIVABLE

Credit assessment

Flexible terms of payment and cash discounts

Advanced payment schedules

Prepayments

Draft handling (bill of exchange)

Payment proposal

Free text invoicing (non-stock invoicing)

Extended options for interest calculation

Options to setup unlimited number of different collection

procedures

Export and import formats for electronic payments

Multiple currency handling and exchange rate adjustment

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE Export and import formats for electronic payments

Bridging accounts

Promissory note handling

Advanced payment schedules

Payment proposals

Option to match invoices to physical deliveries

Option for separate handling of approved and unapproved invoices

EASY TO USE Intuitive screen layout and structure

User-adjustable menus, entry forms and reports

Advanced sorting and filter options

Built-in user Help including an integrated manual

Option to e-mail and fax directly from Microsoft Dynamics Ax



GLOBAL

FUNCTIONALITIES

Multi-language capabilities

Comprehensive local market functionality

Multi-currency and secondary currency handling

Currency Converter

Euro conversion

Exchange rate adjustment handling

Intrastat and EU sales list

Country-specific bank formats for electronic payments and import

of bank account statements

DATA ANALYSIS Powerful financial dimensions for data analysis

Flexible report generator

XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language)

Drill to detail and drill around capabilities

RELIABILITY AND

SECURITY

Strong audit trail capabilities

System controls and transaction validations

Transaction approval

Extended options for setup of access rights

AXAPT FINANCIALS II MODULE SUMMARY


ADVANCED GENERAL

LEDGER

Intercompany accounting

Global consolidations

Account allocations based on predefined criteria for actual or

budget amounts

Cash-flow forecasting and currency requirement calculation



AXAPT FIXED ASSETS MODULE SUMMARY


ASSET MANAGEMENT Manages the full life cycle from acquisition, depreciation to

disposition

Maintains asset status information

Improves control over fixed assets to drive accuracy and timeliness

in your accounting results

Supports five depreciation methods (straight line, declining balance,

factor, manual percentage and consumption)

Forecasts using fixed assets budgets

Microsoft Dynamics Ax maintains control over financial management process.

DYNAMICS AX GENERAL LEDGER MODULE

Microsoft Business Solutions–Dynamics Ax General ledger module provides fast,

reliable and comprehensive accounting, financial reporting and analysis capabilities. It

will let organizations extend the appropriate information access appropriately within to

the business community, so that it can improve the efficiency of existing accounting

processes.

2.4.3.1 THE CHART OF ACCOUNTS (see section 5 General Ledger sheet 1.5)

The Chart of accounts is the foundation for the General ledger module. This is where

the chart of accounts is set up and managed.

Chart of accounts

Creating or making changes to the company's chart of accounts is so flexible that you

can pre-determine:

The degree of specification needed for the Account Structure

The way the chart of accounts should be structured i.e. by function or according

to category

Allowing external accountants offer suggestions on the structure of the chart of

accounts

How to create additional ledger accounts between the existing ones.

Authorization Procedures and permissions for changing the chart of accounts

User Permissions

Access to application features can be restricted for individual user groups. This

means that although a feature is generally available in the Dynamics Ax system,

some users are given partial or no access to the feature. Access is defined using

security keys on: menu items, form controls, tables, and fields. For each item or

group of items, access can be set to No access, View, Edit, Create, or Full control.

The restrictions are hierarchical. This means that groups that have Full control,

automatically have View, Edit, and Create permissions as well. By default, a user

group has No access to all menus and tables.

Record level permissions

RLS is based on User Groups and companies. The system administrator can place the

appropriate restrictions on any number of tables on a per User Group basis. Such

security restrictions are scoped by the current company, and therefore allows for

different settings for different companies. Should an employee be a member of more

than one user group, then the granted Table- and Field restrictions determine

accessibility. Being a member of a group with no RLS restrictions yields full access

rights on a given table, providing the employee has full table-rights, otherwise no

access rights are given. Being a member of two or more groups each with separate

constraints, the superset of privileges applies. For example, Group1 allowing access

to account numbers less than 1000, and Group2 allowing access to account numbers

larger than 2000, effectively gives the user access to all accounts except for those in

the 1000-2000 range.

DYNAMICS AX GENERAL LEDGER MODULE FEATURES

Multi-organization consolidation and reporting in Dynamics Ax (see section 5 General

Ledger sheet 1.6)

Dynamics Ax Financial Management enables a business with several subsidiaries,

member companies or distribution centers to set up inter-company journals.

Dynamics Ax offers a great opportunity for seamless and automated integration with

group member companies’ financial books. An inter-company transaction posted in one

subsidiary is automatically updated in designated accounts of the other subsidiary or

distribution center. An online consolidation can be done directly from Dynamics Ax.

Accounts can also be imported or exported for consolidation purposes. With online

consolidation, you can consolidate both your accounts and budgets. Both full

consolidation and pro rata consolidation are possible. Your accounts can be

consolidated according to your chart of accounts or according to special consolidation

accounts set up as a relation for each account of the chart of accounts.

Dynamics Ax Main Menu

Showing consolidation directory

Dynamics Ax capability to handle dimensions

You can work with an infinite number of dimensions across the various modules in

Dynamics Ax. Dimensions allow detailed insight into your chart of accounts. Dimensions

assist the accounting process by allowing detailed analysis without creating a very

detailed chart of accounts. They are easy to set up and maintain. They can be used for

tracking profit, cost centers, departments, regions, product lines, or any other reporting

unit.

Dimensions

Using Dimensions

You can define dimensions in order to analyze and classify financial transactions.

Financial transactions are usually organized according to voucher and account number.

Additional grouping and classification options are available by assigning several

dimensions to transactions. Dimensions allow you to view the data file from different

perspectives to be able to incubate the effectiveness with which you track figures across

accounts. Dimensions are used in numerous places throughout the system.

There are three default dimension settings: Department, Cost center and Purpose. You

can use dimensions to analyze revenue for the entire company, or by department,

employee, or activity, to name a few.

Changing or Increasing Dimension Settings

The dimension settings can be changed in the database if you want to increase or reduce

the number of dimensions. Dimensions are independent from one another. One or more

hierarchical combinations can be set up in each dimension, where individual elements

are assigned fixed positions in the dimension's number.

Documents

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 - Proposed Solution