No, not Jennifer Garner, these are account aliases. Account aliases are shortcuts to account numbers. They've been around forever but they seem to be rarely used. It may be that accountants just get in the habit of memorizing a select group of account and looking up everything else. I confess, I fall into that group, but I think with a little discipline, I could learn to like account aliases.
Account aliases are set when you create an account and they're optional. (Cards-Financial-Account). For example, if I want a shortcut to my bank operating account, I could call it "ops". So next time, I do an entry, rather than entering in a long account number like 1015-CA-LAXBAL, I simply hit the arrow (->) next to the account lookup and in the alias box I type: ops . When you tab off, the box closes an the account is placed in the form. There is also a keyboard shortcut, Ctrl-Q so you don't have to pickup the mouse. The CTRL-Q shortcut only works in transactions windows not inquiry windows. Go figure.
If you have really long account numbers I can see this as a time saver. You could quit remembering accounts and simply remember your shortcuts.
They are also useful when changing the chart as part of an implementation. Whenever there is a one to one correlation between and old and new acocunt, put the old account in the alias to provide a mechanism to improve the switch to a new chart.
Aliases are used system wide and you'll find them just about everywhere.
Orignally Posted by Mark at 10/16/2006 09:34:00 PM
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Showing posts with label Account Alias. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Account Alias. Show all posts
01 April 2010
18 March 2008
Weekly Dynamics: Use an Account Alias when Transitioning to GP
Lisa Price at I.B.I.S. had a nice tip today that I had never thought of. When companies are transitioning to Microsoft Dynamics GP, they often make changes to their chart of accounts to improve reporting or data entry. Lisa uses the account alias functionality to hold the old account number when possible. This eases the transition between systems because it allows users to lookup their old account in the alias and find the new account.
If there's not a one to one relationship, it's not perfect but if you're splitting or combining accounts in the chart, you probably don't want much of a link back to the old account anyway.
If there's not a one to one relationship, it's not perfect but if you're splitting or combining accounts in the chart, you probably don't want much of a link back to the old account anyway.
03 February 2008
Weekly Dynamic: Dynamics GP Account Aliases
Account Aliases in Dynamics GP are shortcuts to accounts in the chart. They are setup in the chart of accounts window (Cards-Financial-Account). Aliases are designed to be a friendlier, faster way to access accounts. Up until recently I've not been a big fan for several reasons. You still have to hit an arrow to enter the alias, you can do it in the account box. Also most companies lean toward one of two extremes, they use them so little that their useless or build so many that instead of finding accounts quickly, it's just as fast to lookup an account in the chart.
However, after spending time using Account Aliases recently, I've come to the conclusion that they can be extremely useful IF you put a little work behind them.
IF you standardize the setup of aliases to deal with all your departments, divisions, etc., you can still get a short alias that people can figure out and actually use. Alternatively, if you limit aliases to a few key accounts, you can still get a nice speed boost. However, if you simply set them up haphazard, you'll have useless mess. It won't break anything but it won't help either.
The key with aliases is changing user's habits. You need to get people to use the alias which is why it needs to be setup in a way that is intuitive for a user, not necessarily an administrator. It will take time to change people habits, but the end result is worth it.
However, after spending time using Account Aliases recently, I've come to the conclusion that they can be extremely useful IF you put a little work behind them.
IF you standardize the setup of aliases to deal with all your departments, divisions, etc., you can still get a short alias that people can figure out and actually use. Alternatively, if you limit aliases to a few key accounts, you can still get a nice speed boost. However, if you simply set them up haphazard, you'll have useless mess. It won't break anything but it won't help either.
The key with aliases is changing user's habits. You need to get people to use the alias which is why it needs to be setup in a way that is intuitive for a user, not necessarily an administrator. It will take time to change people habits, but the end result is worth it.
16 October 2006
Weekly Dynamic: Account Alias
No not Jennifer Garner these are account aliases. Account aliases are shortcuts to account numbers. They've been around forever but they seem to be rarely used. It may be that accountants just get in the habit of memorizing a select group of account and looking up everything else. I confess, I fall into that group, but I think with a little discipline, I could learn to like account aliases.
Account aliases are set when you create an account and they're optional. (Cards-Financial-Account). For example, if I want a shortcut to my bank operating account, I could call it "ops". So next time, I do an entry, rather than entering in a long account number like 1015-CA-LAXBAL, I simply hit the arrow (->) next to the account lookup and in the alias box I type: ops . When you tab off, the box closes an the account is placed in the form. There is also a keyboard shortcut, Ctrl-Q so you don't have to pickup the mouse. The CTRL-Q shortcut only works in transactions windows not inquiry windows. Go figure.
If you have really long account numbers I can see this as a time saver. You could quit remembering accounts and simply remember your shortcuts.
Aliases are system wide and you'll find them just about everywhere. My difficulty with using aliases is that everything in our organization is very departmentalized so I'd need the alias to be meaningful for both the account and the department. That makes them longer and harder to remember.
Account aliases are set when you create an account and they're optional. (Cards-Financial-Account). For example, if I want a shortcut to my bank operating account, I could call it "ops". So next time, I do an entry, rather than entering in a long account number like 1015-CA-LAXBAL, I simply hit the arrow (->) next to the account lookup and in the alias box I type: ops . When you tab off, the box closes an the account is placed in the form. There is also a keyboard shortcut, Ctrl-Q so you don't have to pickup the mouse. The CTRL-Q shortcut only works in transactions windows not inquiry windows. Go figure.
If you have really long account numbers I can see this as a time saver. You could quit remembering accounts and simply remember your shortcuts.
Aliases are system wide and you'll find them just about everywhere. My difficulty with using aliases is that everything in our organization is very departmentalized so I'd need the alias to be meaningful for both the account and the department. That makes them longer and harder to remember.
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