Sep.
1
2011
I recently ran up to Dallas to give the FRx presentations at GPUG’s BIFocus event.
Today I’m going to share a very small portion of my “FRx for Beginners” presentation—the top four things that newcomers should know about FRx. Following that, I’m going to depart from business-only content and share some fun facts about Cowboys Stadium.
Without further ado, here are the top four things that beginners should understand about FRx: [click to continue…]
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Sep.
1
2011
Hey this is an FRx how-to video that I did a while back.
It’s my first screen recording, and the volume is low, so I meant to re-record it. Well…THAT never happened.
So here you go as-is. This is how to create a trend report—January through December side by side. (Definitely works just the same for a fiscal year end though.) It prints conditionally, meaning future periods don’t show up at all. Turn up the volume. :) Cheers—Jan
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One of the first steps in replacing FRx is understanding what your existing FRx reports are. And it’s really helpful to see them in a list so you don’t have to keep scrolling through the catalog.
Here’s how to create a list in Excel without cracking into the Access database (disappointing, I know, for you IT enthusiasts):
Once it’s in Excel, you can sort by company, by catalog ID, or by catalog description.
Now you can try to figure out which ones you use, and which ones you don’t. But I’ll leave ‘cleaning house’ to another day (sort of like I do at home). Cheers—Jan
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I’ve done a lot of work for nonprofits over the last couple of years, and I’ve come to one conclusion—they’re all different! Just like for-profit companies, they each have their own idiosyncracies and their own reporting requirements. What a surprise, huh.
But there are some things that you’ll see in many nonprofits, and that’s what today’s post is all about. I’ve put together 4 examples, although each example other than the first will also apply to for-profit companies.
One other thing—I’ve used FRx for these examples, but the same things hold true for Management Reporter. The syntax will be a little different in some areas, and since MR is dimension-based, there could be some significant changes there. But the principles remain the same.
So come on along; I’m going to be brief for a change. [click to continue…]
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Jun.
13
2011
A Pivot Table is an extremely powerful feature in Excel, one that is probably underutilized in many companies. It’s just so cool to be able to move ’tiles’ around and analyze your data a jillion different ways. Even though pivot tables can be sort of intimidating, they’re not hard, and today I’m going to walk you through how to take an unassuming FRx or Management Reporter report and turn it into a powerful pivot table.
Unlike most posts, I’m not going to take you through every single step. Instead, I’m going to hit the main things I’ve learned that will shortcut your experience and hopefully shortcircuit frustration.
These are year to date numbers for the P&L only for this year, last year, and 2 years ago. You can drill down on these numbers.
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Well OK—Convergence was back in April and now it’s June! Sorry—no excuses! So without further delay, here are some of the main discussion points around FRx and Management Reporter.
BTW, some discussion was official, some not so official. {smile}
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Mar.
18
2011
Heads up—that means that you won’t be able to buy more licenses. Maybe more importantly, more drilldown viewer licenses.
If you plan to stick with FRx for a while, you’ve got just a couple of weeks to determine if you need more of any of the components.
I don’t sell, so talk to your VAR if you need more.
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Mar.
18
2011
You’ve added it to your chart of accounts, and to your FRx row format. You know you have data posted to it. But it just won’t show up on the report no matter what you try.
Same thing for new budget book codes.
Here’s what to try first: rebuild the index. In the catalog, drop the report date box down, check the box to “Rebuild FRx GL indexes”, and run the report. That should do it. That forces FRx to go take a brand new snapshot of your GL chart of accounts.
If that doesn’t work, you can delete or rename the .g32 file (that’s the index file) in the sysdata directory in the FRx install. (It will start with the first few letters of the FRx company name plus some random numbers, followed by a .g32.) All users should log out of that company in FRx first.
The .g32 file rebuilds once a day the first time someone logs in to the company. It’s a picture of your chart of accounts. That’s why you might add an account one day and it won’t show up, but when you run the report the next day, it appears. And that’s why the above steps work: they reshoot the picture of the newer chart. So now you know. Cheers—Jan
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Mar.
2
2011
You’re not going to have a choice. Here’s how you can have some semblance of control over that event. And maybe even come away looking like a hero.
Just on the off-chance that you haven’t heard, Microsoft has announced end-of-life for FRx. It’s based on very old technology and is being retired. How long will it be supported? That depends on what accounting system you run and the answer varies.
Microsoft’s official FRx replacement is Management Reporter, and although it’s very cool and is definitely next generation, it only reports on GL data at the moment, it lacks some key FRx features, and most importantly, it’s not available for Microsoft competitors.
Search for a different reportwriter? Well, you don’t have to. You can just go with the official selection picked by Microsoft, Sage or Epicor as the case may be.
The “official” FRx replacements
I couldn’t help but wonder what other options are out there.
The 64 million dollar question
Go with the official replacement, or look for something else?
I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled
Since the FRx sunset was first announced a couple years ago, I’ve been getting lots of phone calls and emails asking about replacement options. I’ve been watching for products for certain individual clients. And I’ve been compiling lists of reportwriters and information about them. I think it’s time to get this information out there.
One caveat—because I’ve specialized in midmarket financial reportwriting for so long, I do know a number of folks involved with these reportwriters. But I don’t have any financial relationship with any of them.
(About me—CPA since 1984. So that makes me no spring chicken, but the upside of that is tons of practical business experience. I’ve worked with FRx since 1995.)
I’ve written a whitepaper
I want to make it easier to pick the replacement product that truly fits your needs. Whether it’s the official replacement or not. So I’ve written a paper called Whitepaper—7 Options for Replacing FRx.
The hardest part of selecting a new financial reportwriter could be just getting started. (You should’ve seen me trying to get started writing this paper. I did everything under the sun to put it off. I even resorted to working on my own accounting.)
Anyway, this whitepaper is an insanely effective way to get started on this project.
Save time and maybe uncover a gem. And be a hero to your company or your client.
Then you control your migration from FRx when the time is right for you.
Another caveat—I can just about guarantee you that there will be more work involved after you read this. This should be just the beginning of your due diligence.
Who it’s for
Who it’s not for
Content
If any of this sounds interesting, keep reading for content details. The whitepaper consists of 3 parts:
Part 1 Lists. The paper starts with the Lists. There’s a master list of the 7 options as well as list of specific options for Microsoft, Sage, and Epicor. So if you run one of these accounting systems, you can tell at a glance which of the 7 apply to you. Just so you know, most accounting systems will have fewer options than 7. I also list 5 additional reportwriters, but I don’t report detailed information for them. Lagniappe as they say in New Orleans!
Part 2 Product Reports. For each of the 7 products, I report an overview of the product and facts about the company. I also interview each company and provide Q&A coverage of several items of interest. The content includes:
BTW, I put a lot of links in this paper. Their sole purpose is to save you time. None of them are affiliate links.
Part 3 Due Diligence Checklist. This checklist provides some very specific practical items:
The checklist alone will save you a bundle in consulting if you’re an end user and a lot of time if you’re a consultant.
Pricing
If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while, you know that I create and post truly free content. It doesn’t require registration. There are no ads because cluttered sites drive me crazy! I answer off-the-top questions. And I’ll continue to post free content as long as I’m in this industry. I pull no punches and will continue to tell you exactly what I think.
But without apology, I’m charging for this whitepaper. This is really valuable information that I’ve spent an unbelievable amount of time on (once I actually got started). This research will give you a huge headstart in finding the solution that’s right for your company or your client. A leg up as we say in Texas!
Despite the time involved and value delivered, I’m charging a low price—$49—because I want a lot of people to have access to this information. (Oh yeah: gotta add sales tax if you live in Texas.)
Money-back guarantee? Absolutely. Contact me within 7 days of purchase; no problem.
Immediate Access and Other Details
I use a 3rd party secure shopping cart and accept Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover. (The system is PCI compliant for those who are interested.) After checkout, you’ll be taken to a page with a download link where you can download the PDF immediately. Then you’ll receive some emails: a receipt for the credit card purchase, a link to order details, a download link in case you don’t download right away, and an email asking you to confirm opt-in to my mailing list. (If you confirm, then I can send you an update to this report if/when I elect to edit it.)
BTW, the credit card merchant account is in my name, so the name on your credit card will be Jan Harrigan CPA and not FRxBuzz.
Currently the whitepaper is 48 pages long. And yes you can definitely view it on your mobile device.
Add to cart here:
Bottom line
Get started!
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Feb.
23
2011
Hey this is just a quick heads up that I’ve been researching FRx Replacement options, and I’m compiling lots of information into a whitepaper called 7 Options for Replacing FRx.
I’ve written this for FRx users of Dynamics (GP, SL, AX, NAV), Epicor, and Sage. There are at least 2-3 replacement options for each of these GLs, sometimes more depending on the GL. (I’m talking to you, GP!)
Anyway, I’ve covered information like this:
This will be a fantastic headstart on researching your options.
This will be a 40 to 50 page downloadable PDF; I haven’t determined pricing yet.
If you’d like to be notified via email, there’s a signup list in the bottom right hand corner called ‘Curious About Replacing FRx?’.
Stay tuned…more to come! Cheers—Jan
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