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What's new with Dynamics GP 2016 R2?

It’s been a very exciting year for the Dynamics family of products. We’ve seen innovation with Dynamics CRM in the Spring 2016 Wave, a new version of NAV and the show stopping Dynamics 365. Whilst we’re still digesting the full functionality of Dynamics 365, Microsoft kept up the pace of new releases with Dynamics GP 2016 R2.

It’s available for use right now and we’ve got our resident GP experts on it to decipher all of the new features and functionality.

Our Initial Thoughts

This latest release follows on from the May 2016 release of GP 2016 and builds on the success GP 2016 enjoyed earlier on in May. It’s clear that this release of Dynamics GP isn’t as game changing as the base version of GP 2016 – instead preferring to refine the existing formula of GP.

But that isn’t to say that this release of Dynamics isn’t worthwhile. There’s plenty to talk about in this latest version of the product:

Deeper Power BI Integration

Power BI is Microsoft’s premier analytics package and it continues to receive fantastic support in this latest iteration of GP. It’s now been promoted to feature on the home page of the Dynamics GP web client. This small change will empower you to make important decisions on the fly.

Power BI continues to go from strength to strength and your business will be better off if you use it. Not to mention it’s very cost effective to start using it. We’ve written about Power BI in a previous blog, so please do check it out.

Connect Portal Relaunch

A huge part of Microsoft’s approach to updating GP 2016 has been derived from listening to their users. Microsoft recently relaunched their connect portal. It’s an area where you can log in and request features for Dynamics GP to be developed in future implementations. They’re fostering a very important, “user-centric” culture, with ensures the Dynamics GP will continue to develop and evolve.

Better Batch Editing

Batch editing has been vastly improved in Dynamics GP R2. In the past if someone was already editing a batch before you came to it, it’d tell you that “somebody” was editing the batch. Now, GP will tell you specifically who is editing the batch saving time and duplication of effort. It’s small changes like these that go a very long way to making GP a great product.

Human Resources and Payroll Enhancements

There’s been numerous updates to the HR and Payroll parts of Dynamics GP R2. But perhaps the headline update in this version is the introduction of “Track History on Termination/Rehire Dates”. This feature allows you to track the date an employee was hired and the date when their employment concluded. It’s going to make it far easier for you to track these records in GP and be able to access that information for situations where you need to audit this critical data.

More information to come in the coming weeks

Microsoft have only given us a snippet of what’s available. They’re teasing a series of blogs, which start on the 6th of December. You can access them all here. They’ve also got a sizable release document that accompanied GP 2016 when it launched on the 1st of December.

All of this sound interesting? Come and have a chat with us about Dynamics GP R2. We’ll be delighted to help!