Microsoft Dynamics AX Features

Financial Managment Solutions, Accounting, General Ledger, Accounts Receivable/Payable, Fixed Assets

Take charge of your firm’s financial performance with a comprehensive financial management and accounting software platform. Microsoft Dynamics AX can address the financial management requirements of even the most complex multi-company and multi-national organizational structures.

And since our financial accounting modules are tightly integrated with the project management modules, your employees enter data once, you quickly see transactions flowing throughout the system, and your visibility is immediately improved.

Key features in the Microsoft Dynamics AX Financial Management Solution include:

• General Ledger with an unlimited number of companies and currencies
• GL Budgeting functionality for managing your departmental budgeting and planning process
• Cash & Bank Management for managing an unlimited number of bank accounts
• Accounts Receivable functionality including billing, collections, and cash application
• Accounts Payable management for 2-way/3-way matching and processing vendor payments
• Fixed Asset management to track the lifecycle of your fixed assets
• Online consolidations for rolling your entities into a consolidated reporting structure
• Financial Reporting tools to help you assess the financial performance of your overall organization, as well as any business units, practices, market segments, office locations, or other reporting dimensions

Effectively manage your financial operations with a comprehensive view of your financial data and flexible processes that adapt to the way your business works. (Click image to enlarge)

International Capabilities, Multiple Companies, Languages and Currencies, Foreign Localizations

From its initial development, Microsoft Dynamics AX was designed to meet the complex needs of multi-national organizations. As a true “multi-x” ERP platform, Dynamics AX provides a complete solution for multi-company, multi-currency, multi-language and multi-statutory business environments.

Easily Manage Your Global Business with Microsoft Dynamics AX

Ensure that your system supports your international expansion by taking advantage of the following capabilities:

• Set up an unlimited number of companies (legal entities)
• Automate Intercompany transactions across company boundaries
• Utilize an unlimited number of currencies with full multi-currency handling
• View the screens, reports, and business documents in 40 foreign languages
• Meet local statutory reporting requirements with out-of-the-box localizations for 40 countries

Dynamics AX in Chinese Language (Click image to enlarge)

Utilize an unlimited number of currencies and gain full multi currency handling (Click image to enlarge)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions, Contacts, Activities, Opportunities, Campaigns

Improve your business development activities and meet the needs of even your most demanding clients by maintaining complete visibility of your client and prospect interactions.

A comprehensive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution

Gain a 360 degree view of your clients and prospects in Microsoft Dynamics AX:

• Contact management for tracking key information about your contacts
• Activity tracking for setting reminders for business development tasks
• Opportunity Management for tracking potential project opportunities and sales
• Campaign Management to automate the execution of marketing campaigns
• Case Management for tracking customer and project issues through to resolution
• Outlook Integration for synchronizing key data with Microsoft Outlook

Improve visibility of your clients and prospects with an integrated CRM solution. (Click image to enlarge)

Opportunity Management Workspace (Click image to enlarge)

Project Accounting & Management Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics AX for Professional Services Industry

Simplify the management of even your most complex projects with a Project Accounting & Management solution that was designed to support your complete project lifecycle.

Best-in-class project management and accounting functionality

From the moment you first begin tracking a potential project opportunity, through the final billing and project close processes, our Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP solution can help your firm take control of your projects to maximize project profitability and improve project delivery success.

Choose from a full lifecycle of Microsoft Dynamics AX project management and accounting features such as:

• Project Quotations for building accurate proposals for services and resources
• Project Setup tools such as project templates and project copy wizards
• Project Budgeting tools for tracking project budgets, revisions, and change orders
• Resource Management & Scheduling for finding and scheduling the “best fit” resources
• Purchasing & Requisitions for booking purchased items and services to projects
• Time & Expense management for entering and approving time and expenses
• Client Billing tools to help accelerate billing cycles and improve cash flow
• WIP Analysis tools for analyzing WIP or unbilled revenue
• Revenue Recognition tools for determining what revenue to recognize and when
• Project Reporting & Analysis tools for analyzing project and resource performance
• Project Collaboration tools via SharePoint integration for document management and project team collaboration

Project Management Workspace (Click image to enlarge)

Work Breakdown Structure (Click image to enlarge)

Resourcing Solutions, Scheduling, Management, Track Employee Skill Sets, Real-Time Visibility

Ensuring that your firm has the right resources with the right skill sets available to deliver your services is a key to successful project delivery. At the same time, maximizing the billable utilization levels of your resources is a critical driver to the overall profitability of your organization.

Optimize Resource Management and Utilization

Our Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP solution offers an embedded resource planning module that can help your firm improve its resource management and scheduling practices. Key features include:

• A skills library for tracking employee skills, certifications, experience, and other attributes
• A resource search tool that uses the skills database and employee’s availability profile to find and schedule best fit resources
• Work plans for modelling and forecasting resource requirements for specific projects or at an aggregate level
• Resource capacity plans for identifying long-term staffing requirements
• Utilization analysis for slicing and dicing utilization performance by business unit, resource group, practice, and all the way down to individual employees

Improve resourcing practices and increase utilization with an integrated resource planning and management solution. (Click image to enlarge)

Time & Expense Management Solutions, Project Time Entry, Timesheet Workflow/Approvals, Billing Cycle

The efficient and accurate capture and approval of project time and expenses is a key to shortening your billing cycles and accelerating cash flow back into your business. Microsoft Dynamics AX offers multiple ways to enter and approve timesheets and expense reports to ensure that it’s as fast and easy as possible for your employees to submit their time and expenses. The integrated workflow engine then routes these timesheets and expense reports to Project Managers, Supervisors, or other individuals for their approval.

Timesheets and expense reports can be entered either via the Dynamics AX Enterprise Portal, which is a browser-based self-service website for employee services, or via mobile devices such as iPhones, Androids, and Windows phones.

Timesheet Entry in Dynamics AX (Click image to enlarge)

Expense Reporting (Click image to enlarge)

Inventory Management ERP Solutions, Project Accounting, Procurement, Replenishment Planning

Unlike many project-based software systems that don’t support inventory-related processes, our Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP solution offers a full Inventory Management module. Now, organizations that buy, produce, or sell Items for their projects can have complete control over the planning of their project materials with an inventory management system that is tightly integrated with the Project Management and Accounting modules.

Integrated Inventory Management for Better Project Control

Our Dynamics AX ERP solution has a comprehensive Inventory module that can improve control of your inventory management and project costing processes by helping you:

• Track inventory from purchase or production through shipping
• Integrate inventory purchasing or production processes with your projects
• Track inventory at the location, warehouse, or job site level
• Use standard replenishment rules (including MRP) to manage proper inventory levels

Use powerful inventory management tools for replenishment planning and to improve visibility of project costs. (Click image to enlarge)

Purchasing Solutions, Automate Purchase Cycles, Requisitions, Approvals, Receiving, Inventory

The accurate tracking of purchased items and outside services, and their impact on your project budget, is an important part of managing your projects.

Take Control of Your Purchasing Processes

The Dynamics AX purchasing and requisition system can help you automate your firm’s entire purchasing cycle, whether your purchases are for project-related services, products, or operating supplies such as IT systems or office supplies.

• Enter purchase orders to vendors for project and non-project purchases
• Use purchase requisitions and approvals prior to creating purchase orders
• Submit Requests for Quotations (RFQ) to solicit multiple vendor bids
• Automate approvals and ordering processes using pre-built workflow approvals
• Tie purchases directly to your projects through tight integration between modules

Improve visibility of project purchases with a purchase requisition system that is integrated with your accounting and project management modules. (Click image to enlarge)

Purchase Order Preparation Workspace (Click image to enlarge)

Human Resource (HR) Management Solutions, Employee Records, Recruiting, Reviews, Training, Payroll

As a business driven by intellectual property, the management of your human capital is a critical element to the delivery of successful projects and value added client services. Microsoft Dynamics AX offers a comprehensive Human Resource Management module that is part of the core Dynamics AX application.

Effectively Manage Your Firm’s Human Resources

Take control of your complete human resource management lifecycle, from recruiting through termination, with a system that can help you:

• Manage organization structures, jobs, and positions to create your org chart
• Track employee records such as demographic data and skill sets
• Approve time off with PTO requests and approvals
• Streamline the hiring process with a full recruiting system
• Track employee goal planning and reviews to drive performance improvement
• Build skill sets and capabilities with competency planning
• Improve employee skills through internal training course tracking
• Track employee compensation plans, bonuses, and raises
• Integrate payroll data bi-directionally with major payroll providers such as ADP, Ceridian, and Paychex
  
  

Job and Position Organization Chart (click image to enlarge)

Employee Self Service Workspace (click image to enlarge)

Manager Self Service (click image to enlarge)

Business Intelligence & Reporting Solutions, Dashboards, Microsoft SQL Reporting, Excel Integration

Having up-to-the-minute information about the performance of your business is the key to maximizing the profitability of your firm. By using business intelligence and reporting tools to quickly assess information about your finances, projects, clients, and resources, your employees will gain the insight to make informed business decisions and keep your firm performing at the highest levels.

Real-time Insight through Self-Service BI & Reporting

Microsoft Dynamics AX leverages powerful Microsoft SQL Server-based reporting and analytics technologies to provide an integrated BI and reporting solution. In addition to using SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) to deliver traditional reports, Dynamics AX leverages SQL Server Analysis Services to provide 15 pre-built data cubes for performing more interactive and multi-dimensional analyses of your business.

Microsoft Dynamics AX offers the following tools for reporting and business intelligence:

• Hundreds of standard SSRS reports spanning all areas of the system
• Integration with Excel for accessing data and generating pivot tables for ad hoc analysis
• 15 pre-built data cubes, delivered using SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) technology
• Roughly 200 pre-built Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for tracking key performance metrics
• Use of SQL Server PowerView technology for powerful visualization and graphical exploration

Project Management Dashboard (Click image to enlarge)

Financial Management Dashboard (Click image to enlarge)

Human Resources Dashboard (Click image to enlarge)

Opportunity Analysis Dashboard (Click image to enlarge)

Compliance Management Solutions, Internal Controls, Track Risks, Business Process Documentation

Today’s business environment requires that many organizations address complex regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes Oxley Compliance, ISO Certifications, Government Audits, and other mandated compliance initiatives. With Microsoft Dynamics AX, maintaining your internal controls environment is no longer a hassle.

A One-Stop-Shop for Enterprise Risk & Compliance Management

Microsoft Dynamics AX includes a series of tools to help your organization address its compliance requirements. Utilizing the integrated Microsoft SharePoint platform, our compliance management solution includes features to help your firm:

• Store and access all compliance related information in a single place
• Model internal controls to define accountability and segregation of duties
• Define and track risks to your internal controls
• Easily generate business process documentation
• Store and manage business documents including business process documentation
• Access audit trail reports and audit workflow routines
• Monitor progress towards your compliance goals using graphical indicators

Compliance Segregation of Duties Rules (Click image to enlarge)

Workflow Management Solutions, Automate Key Business Processes, New Project Requests, Budget Updates

Automating key business processes helps to ensure your processes conform to industry best practices and that key business tasks aren’t falling through the cracks. Microsoft Dynamics AX utilizes an embedded workflow engine built on Microsoft’s Windows Workflow Foundation technology to automate the creation, routing, and approval of critical information within the context of your key business processes.

Automate Notifications and Approvals for Key Processes

While literally any business process can be encapsulated within a workflow, common examples of standard workflow templates include:

• New Project Requests to request and approve new projects that need to be setup
• Project budget revisions for approving changes to the project budget
• Timesheet approvals for routing and approving timesheets
• Expense approvals for routing and approving expense reports
• Draft invoice proposals for approving pro forma invoices before they are sent out
• PTO approvals for routing and approving PTO requests

Quickly create workflows using pre-built workflow templates for key processes. (Click image to enlarge)

Effective project team collaboration is a key to successful project delivery. Microsoft Dynamics AX makes it simple to manage project documents and collaborate with project team members using the pre-built integration with Microsoft SharePoint.

Efficiently Manage Documents and Project Communications

Microsoft SharePoint has quickly become the de facto industry standard for document management and collaboration platforms. Using the tight integration between Microsoft Dynamics AX and SharePoint, you can now enable a whole new world of project collaboration capabilities.

• Automatically spawn new project team sites in SharePoint when new projects are created in Dynamics AX.
• Centralize the storage of project-related documents using SharePoint’s native document management capabilities.
• Utilize project calendars, task lists, and issues logs to communicate project information to project team members.
• Collaborate on project deliverables using embedded document sharing features and collaboration workspaces.
• Use discussion boards, wikis, and other features to communicate and share ideas.

Improve project team collaboration with Microsoft Dynamics AX and SharePoint. (Click image to enlarge)