AXAPTA Expert Analysis, Insight & Commentary   Accounting Software Advisor                                                                          J. Carlton Collins, CPA                                                                                                  The Company Behind the Product When it comes to evaluating accounting software, too many evaluators dive right into the product without giving a second thought to the company behind the product. It is not prudent to disregard the stability and future of the accounting software publisher. Customers who have traveled this path before know that when you select an accounting software package, the resulting relationship is akin to a marriage. Once the product is installed, the customer becomes dependent upon the accounting publisher to supply updates for payroll taxes, sales taxes, and depreciation rates. The customer must also rely on the vendor to fix bugs, provide support, and continually enhance the product to run on the latest platforms and technologies. Like it or not, the continued success of the accounting software publisher has a direct bearing on the customer's continued success with the accounting software product. The bottom line is that some accounting software vendors have figured out the magical formula for producing top quality products, successfully distributing those products directly or through a profitable dealer channel, and supporting those products in an timely matter - all while remaining profitable and achieving a high level of customer satisfaction. Those companies that fall into this category should rate higher in your evaluation and selection process. With this in mind, presented below is an brief overview of Navision - the company. The Man Behind the Company On December 28, 2001, I was honored to have the opportunity to sit down with John Frederiksen, President of Navision Software, US. While my intentions were to interview John, it was really more of a case in which he interviewed me. John was very eager to listen to what I had to say about Navision, Navision's competitors, and my suggestions for improving the products, product marketing, and the reseller channel. John was very interested in learning more about the CPA community and the influence CPAs have on the software purchase decision. Before adjourning to lunch, John efficiently summarized my suggestions via a white board bullet list and checked with me to make sure that he had captured my thoughts correctly and completely. I first met John through e-mail in January, 2001. I had delivered a keynote presentation at the annual Damgaard Axapta conference and John was in attendance. I specifically remember that John was the only person who contacted me after my presentations and specifically requested a copy of my power point slide show which I presented at the conference. John had not yet been named President of Navision Software, US - but even then he exhibited the same thirst for knowledge, information, feedback, and insight. Many accounting software presidents seem to think that they have things pretty well figured out, and they sometimes give the impression that they are listening to your feedback only to appease you. Not John. He is a man with a mission - no, its more of a passion for his job, his company, and his products. I am sure that John is the recipient of some pretty wacky ideas from people like me, yet he accepts all advice with grace and proceeds to mentally sort out the credible ideas for future reference.  As far as personalities go, John is like many of the Danes I have met. Very polite, very nice, very professional, and very analytical. Without knowing me very well, John encouraged me to come to Denmark and tour the world-wide Navision headquarters. He encouraged me to bring my wife and enjoy Denmark. I have no doubt that his offer was sincere and that if I were to take him up on his offer, he would see to it that some of the locals there would show me around and lead me to some sudsy Danish brew. Internally within Navision Software, US, John has a reputation as being more of a hands off type of leader - trusting the talents and decision making ability a little more than his predecessor. Rather than getting involved in the various details of each manager's tasks, John prefers to focus on the bigger picture. He is still very approachable. About Navision Software Founded in 1985, Navision claims to be a global provider of cost-effective and adaptable integrated business solutions that help companies in their quest to grow. The company claims to have 130,000 customers worldwide, 2,250 partners, and 1,100 employees in 29 countries. In December 2000, Navision Software merged with it's Danish rival - Damgaard. Its shares are listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (CSE: NAVI). The company is headquartered in Vedbaek, Denmark.    1.   Company Name Navision US, Inc.     2.   Address, Phone, Web Address.        Navision US, Inc. 3505 Koger Blvd, Suite 400  Duluth, GA 30096 www.navision-us.com       3.   Ownership Navision is a public company headquartered in Vedbaek, Denmark. Its shares are listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange Ticker = CSE: NAVI       4.   Latest Product Version Microsoft Axapta 2.5     5.   List of all Products Sold by Navision.   Navision Attain Microsoft Axapta Navision Financials Navision XAL (Only in Europe)      6.   Navision’s Key Management: President and Chief Executive Officer President and Chief Executive Officer Executive VP, Chief Financial Officer Executive VP, Worldwide Operations Executive VP, Corporate Product Officer Senior Vice President, Organization and HR Senior Vice President, International Sales Director, Corporate Infrastructure Director, Corporate Communications US President                                              US Director, Channel Sales US Director Marketing Comm. US Director Application Center   Jesper Balser Preben Damgaard Lars Larsen René Stockner Niels Bo Theilgaard Freddie B. Jørgensen Per Pedersen Henrik Arndt Søren Møller Christensen John Frederiksen Claus Minet Susan Thompson Bill Sanders     7.      Brief History of Axapta  Axapta was first created in 1983 by brothers Erik and Preben Damgaard in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company claims that from the start, Axapta wanted to create an International product that was integrated, scalable and flexible so that they would be able to build 1 CD for all markets and platforms. It was Erik Damgaard's vision to build a platform that could evolve with technology and market demands.   8.   Total number of Navision customers  around the world 128,000 9.                Total number of customers (companies)  currently using the Axapta product 22,000 10.                Total number of users (individuals)  using the Axapta product 320,000   Financial Highlights and Other Company Highlights: ·        Navision Software and Damgaard merged on December 21, 2000. Prior to this merger, the two companies were considered competitive rivals. However this merger was a strategic move towards creating a company with the power to achieve a global leading position in the mid-market.        ·        Net revenues grew in 2001 by more than 18% to $175.9 million US (DKK 1,496 million). ·        Operating income equals approximately 15% of revenues. ·        In 2001, Excluding Scandinavia, revenue growth in Europe was 32% (up from $68 million US to $90 million US.) ·        In 2001, Revenues for the United States operations grew by 15%. ·        License revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2000/2001 grew by 61% (from $42 million US up from $26 million US. ·        The total combined growth in revenues of Navision Financials/Attain and Microsoft Axapta was 40%. ·        Cost of revenues equaled 18.0% of revenues compared to the prior year’s 17.5% of revenues. Cost of revenues is primarily comprised of support costs and royalties to subcontractors. ·        Research and development costs (R&D) as percentage of revenues was equal to 20.9% compared to 21.6% for the prior fiscal year. This is in line with the overall goal of the Group, which is to invest approximately 20% of revenues in R&D. ·        Sales and distribution costs as a percentage of revenues was equal to 34.8% as compared to 36.5% in the prior year. ·        Administrative expenses as percentage of revenues equaled 11.0% in fiscal year 2001 compared to 14.2% the prior year. ·        Cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2001 was $ 101 million compared to $97 million the prior year.    Five-Year Financial Information for Navision    Financial Figures 1996/ 1997*) 1997/ 1998*) 1998/ 1999*) 1999/ 2000*) 2000/ 2001 Income Statement (DKKt)           Net revenues 309,542 486,652 1,008,484 1,260,141 1,496,003 Gross profit 253,997 404,488 843,731 1,039,173 1,226,382 Operating income before goodwill amortization (EBITA) 33,663 64,369 189,998 127,431 229,278 Income before financials 33,277 61,107 174,353 102,654 198,903 Net income for the year before minority stockholders 26,408 48,257 116,927 64,601 158,839 Extraordinary income after tax 1,138 (7,106) - - - Net income for the year 43,215 41,151 121,501 64,316 158,445 Balance Sheet (DKKt)           Total assets 237,022 354,804 1,070,915 1,530,268 1,701,330 Cash and securities 62,415 107,531 523,114 821,522 856,954 Stockholders´ equity 87,264 130,116 695,320 859,454 1,018,155 Cash Flow (DKKt)           Cash flow from operating activities 32,926 71,648 178,415 109,604 249,338 Cash flow from investing activities (27,306) (40,651) (209,344) (64,345) (204,631) Cash flow from financing activities 14,534 147 447,904 275,358 (6,690) Key Figures and Ratios           Annual growth in net revenues (%) 34.8% 57.2% 107.2% 25.0% 18.7% Gross margin (%) 82.1% 83.1% 83.7% 82.5% 82.0% Operating income before goodwill amortization/Net revenues (%) 10.9% 13.2% 18.8% 10.1% 15.3% Operating margin (%) 10.8% 12.6% 17.3% 8.1% 13.3% Net margin (%) 14.0% 8.5% 12.0% 5.2% 10.6% Return on equity (%) 84.2% 37.9% 29.4% 8.4% 16.9% Equity ratio (%) 36.8% 36.7% 64.9% 56.2% 59.8% Research and development costs (DKKt) (80,407) (128,125) (193,116) (272,747) (313,330) Research and development costs/Net revenues (%) (DKKt) 26.0% 26.3% 19.1% 21.6% 20.9% Average number of employees 340 466 774 1,074 1,112 Net revenues per employee (DKKt) 910  1,044 1,303 1,173 1,345 Key Financial Ratios           Earnings per share - EPS (DKK) 0.92 1.68 3.79 1.81 4.41 Annual growth in earnings per share (%) N/A 83% 125% (52%) 143% Cash flow per share - CFPS (DKK) 1.15 2.50 5.78 3.07 6.92 Book value per share (DKK) 3.04 4.54 22.52 24.08 28.24 Market price per share at June 30 (DKK) - - 179 327 189 Market price per share/book value per share (DKK) - - 7.95 13.58 6.69 Average number of shares (thousands) 28,677 28,677 30,880 35,697 36,051 Source: http://www.navision.com/hq/view.asp?documentID=877&categoryID=446 Axapta’s Underlying Technology Programming Language - The Axapta kernel is developed in C++ and the object oriented nature of this language is carried on through the application that is written using the Axapta development tools and source code written in X++ (which is a Java-derivate with embedded SQL-support). According to Navision, X++ uses object-oriented programming principles such as encapsulation, inheritance, classes, objects, methods, and properties. The language has Java-like syntax, and incorporates SQL data manipulation statements.  The development environment in Axapta is called MorphX.  The architect behind the Axapta product was built on the concept that it could evolve with technology and market demands, and have 1 CD with 1 integrated solution. The initial release of Axapta was in 1998, followed by the release of version 2.0 in 1999. This version introduced the Axapta Object Server that made the product a true 3-tier offering and a COM interface to Microsoft products. In 2000 Axapta 2.1 introduced the first Web-Applications for Axapta. The current release of Axapta is version 2.5 that was released in 2001, it introduced new modules in the application, more web applications and the Commerce Gateway that provides an XML interface to Microsoft Biztalk server. The Product Builder Configurator was introduced in March 2002. Database - Axapta runs on your choice of either the Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle database. Source Code - Axapta's MorphX development environment is available to everyone. All resellers are development trained. Testing - I do not yet have details of Axapta's testing procedures. Pricing - Single User 5 Users 10 Users 25 Users 100 Users $40,041 $48,441 $58,941 $90,441 $234,441 Pricing includes the following modules: general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, inventory, order entry, job cost and system manager. Axapta’s Core Modules and Sub Modules: Please note that while Axapta has the full breadth and functionality equivalent to many tier 1 products,  Navision does not define the product in terms of dozens of modules as do their competitors. Therefore do not let the short list of modules shown below fool you into thinking that Axapta is less powerful. Instead please be aware that there is typically 3 or 4 modules worth of  functionality buried within each Axapta module. General Ledger a. Bank Management Accounts Payable a. Purchase Order Accounts Receivable Sales Orders Inventory Management Human Resources Projects Administrator Axapta’s Advanced Modules: CRM Fixed Assets Warehouse management Bills of Material Routes Work Centers Production Orders Master Planning Shop Floor Control Questionnaire Cost Accounting Knowledge Management  Product Builder Cost Purpose Calculations E-Commerce Modules: Web Applications What Makes Microsoft Axapta Different? When reviewing any accounting software solution, I think that it is important to understand how the product is different from its competitors. All products are developed with different tools, different philosophies, and with different objectives in mind. All products are targeted towards different sized customers, and different industries. When evaluating products, it is easy to get bogged down in the overwhelming complexity of the systems. The reality is that all accounting systems have a general ledger with account numbers and financial reports; they all have an average accounts payable module that works fine; they all have a bevy of standard features. Studying these common elements of an accounting system will get you nowhere. It is the key differences that provide keen insights that will allow you to effectively identify and select the right product for your needs. With this spirit in mind, presented below are the key characteristics that set Microsoft Axapta apart from its competitors:     Very Powerful - Microsoft Axapta has developed a reputation for being extremely powerful with a deep set of features. For example, when I select all of the inventory and manufacturing features in the Accounting Library tool which profiles the top 150 accounting software products in the united States, Axapta is rated as the number one product, edging out other powerful Tier 1 ERP products such as SAP (by a margin of 99% to 94%), PeopleSoft (by a margin of 99% to 93%); and JD Edwards (by a margin of 99% to 83%). Partial results of this test are shown in the screen below.   Simply put, Axapta has great features and customization capabilities. To give you an idea of how sophisticated the system is, you need only look at the extensive capabilities of each module. For example, the warehouse module allows you to set up multiple warehouses, the number of aisles in each warehouse; areas for primary storage, buffer storage, and picking locations; the number of shelves on each isle; the height, depth, and width of each self, outbound and inbound docks, etc. Axapta also asks the user to define all forklifts including the forklift's function such as whether it is equipped to move pallets, pipes or other materials. Users can even schedule blocking causes where it is known in advance that a particular aisle will be blocked temporarily for various reasons such as restocking. All of these factors are then used by Axapta to recommend where products should be stored, what order items should be picked, when items should be picked, etc. It is very impressive, not to mention complex. Very Fast - Axapta is an extremely fast product. In October 2001, a test conducted by Compaq and Oracle showed that Axapta set new records for transaction processing. In this test, more than 315,000 sales orders were processed in just one hour by 3.600 simultaneous users. Wow. Low Cost - Even though Axapta has the power and functionality of a Tier 1 ERP product, it is priced very reasonably. A typical 10 user implementation of Axapta will generally price out at $80,000 to $120,000 for the software, and approximately $150,000 for a 50-user implementation. The typical consulting fees for Axapta are usually 1.5 to 1 - or one and half times the cost of the software. This is a great price considering Axapta is equivalent to or more powerful than other Tier 1 ERP systems which typically cost millions , and even tens of millions, of dollars. Customization - Like it's twin cousin Navision Attain, Axapta is highly customizable - even more so than Attain. Axapta has a unique feature in which newly created customized fields are assigned to a category. With this assignment, the newly created field then shows up throughout the Axapta product on the appropriate user screens. For example, in both Navision Attain and Axapta the user can add new data fields. However in Attain, the user must then visit each data input screen (user form) to insert and position the new field. However Axapta has no such requirement for editing data input screens. Simply add the field to the tables and it shows up everywhere. As an example, assume that a newly created field keeps track of the name of the customer's boat (useful for boat marinas). In Axapta, that new field automatically appears everywhere with no additional customization effort. That's really cool. Multiple Databases - Axapta can be deployed on either the Microsoft SQL Sever or Oracle databases. This translates to high-end scalability. World-Wide Features - Each implementation of Axapta includes all features from around the world. If for some reason you wanted to enable the Spanish version of the order entry module or Euro multi-currency capabilities in Axapta, you need only type in the correct registration key. The Spanish version is already loaded on all Axapta installations and ready to go. All-in-One Product - 100% of the Axapta product has been developed in house and written with the Axapta tools. Many other products have been pieced together when the vendors purchase third part add on products. For example, the MAS 500 product line has incorporated the Hi-Tech add on module as it's manufacturing solution. Epicor contains similar integrations. This does not mean that Axapta's method is necessarily better, but I think that it is easy to see how this approach could result in a more consistent look and feel and tighter integration.  High Reseller Standards – Navision is well known for high reseller standards which includes extensive training and testing requirements. For example, in order to be an Attain Solution Center (reseller), you must have five people attend extensive training and they must each pass a fairly tough test. Three of these people must be trained in the Attain product, and two of them must be trained in customizing the Attain product. In 1999, Navision reportedly fired 25% of their 120 resellers because they did not pass the tests, or because they were providing shoddy work. By contrast, most other accounting vendors make little or no requirements of their reseller channel. To some accounting software companies, their reseller test amounts to seeing whether or not the reseller’s check will clear. I believe that Navision's requirements result in much higher caliber Solution Centers, which in turn translates to higher customer satisfaction. Presently, the standards described above do not fully apply to the Axapta product line, but measures are being taken to define the Axapta reseller standards to resemble those of the Attain resellers. Foreign Language and Foreign Currency – Axapta is a widely deployed product around the world. Because Axapta is deployed in so many countries, the product has developed excellent multi-currency and foreign language capabilities. By contrast, many accounting software products developed in the United States either do not include foreign currency and foreign language capabilities, or they add them later as an after-thought.  Built-in Remote Access - With most high-end accounting software systems, remote solutions such as Citrix or Terminal Services are required to provide remote access. This is not the case with Axapta because it has it's own built-in remote capabilities which is included in the price of the product. Questionnaires - Axapta's CRM solution includes a wizard that makes it relatively easy to create questionnaires that may be scheduled days, weeks, months or years in advance. At the appointed time, Axapta sends the questionnaires out to the designated recipients, and upon return, Axapta automatically computes the results and compiles a detailed report showing the number of questionnaires sent, number of responses, and analysis of responses including standard deviation. This type of tool provides is great for gathering business intelligence on your existing customers, missed customers, employees, or other targeted groups. Weaknesses - Axapta is certainly not without problems – as with any top product, Axapta contains weaknesses, missing features, missing modules and shortcomings. For example, Axapta has no payroll module, does not work with FRx, and offers few third-party add-on solutions. Axapta is not targeted towards businesses of every size, nor is it ideally suited for every industry. We have compiled a detailed list of features for this product which can be accessed by clicking here.  Additionally, we have Comparison Reports, which list the features found in Axapta that are not found in the competing products. Other comparison reports available highlight the features found in competing products that are not found in Axapta. Microsoft Axapta's Best Fit I am continuously amazed by how many people I talk to who seem to think that an entry-level product like Quickbooks should meet the needs of their sophisticated company such as a $20 million manufacturing operation. Sometimes I want to slap these people across the face with a wet mackerel. People please wake up. No product is targeted towards businesses of every size, nor is any product ideally suited for every industry. With this in mind, here is where I think Axapta fits best. Size of Company-Best Fit - Axapta is generally targeted towards companies with revenues between $30 million to $500 million; however it has the horse power to meet the needs of any company, even those with revenues well into the billions. It is typically used by companies with fourteen to hundreds of users. The largest Axapta implementation in the world has more than 750 simultaneous users.  Axapta runs on your choice of two higher-end, client server databases - Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server.  Industry Solutions Best Fit - Microsoft Axapta is best suited for the Manufacturing industry, ranging from process manufacturing at one extreme to discrete manufacturing such as engineered to order, made to order, and make to stock situations. However, Axapta is well suited for inventory and distribution situations, service companies, project costing situations, and more.  Axapta Look & Feel This document addresses the cosmetic appearance of Axapta only. To help you understand how to evaluate an accounting software product's Look & Feel, please refer to this document: http://www.accountingsoftwareadvisor.com/topics/lookfeel.htm. (We recommend that you read this document first, before proceeding below.)                      The Axapta screen shown above is used to create a sales order Likes:  The Axapta order entry screen shown above can be toggled between a simple and advanced view. As you might expect, the simple view is less complicated while the Advanced view provides access to more fields and functionality. This is a great feature and we wish more products featured similar toggles. The standard screen font and font size is fairly readable, but can  be modified by the user if desired. Any fields that are not needed can be removed from view with a single mouse click.  The hide command will remove the field and instantly adjust the remaining fields on the form. The bottom right hand border displays the current company name, user ID and system date. The data fields and field labels are snapped to a gridline which makes it easy for the eye to follow. The VCR buttons are nice, especially since they include fast forward buttons that allow the user to jump through the data a page of records at a time. Menu options and user buttons do contain keyboard shortcuts which allow you to navigate Axapta without a mouse. Column widths in the data table can be resized with the mouse. Notice also the separate accounts for customer account and invoice account which allows the user to search for transactions based on either customer number or invoice number. This use of dual search fields is common throughout Axapta. Dislikes: The icons at the top of the screen are too small - it is difficult to read them, much less click on them. This screen is missing some editable fields, for example the order date is displayed on the status bar in the bottom right hand corner but is not an editable field.  Fields that can not be edited are still accessible as a tab stop.  The screen is fairly clean and uncluttered, but the product could use colors better to wake it up a little bit. Click here to view more Axapta user screens Axapta Product Tour The following tour is designed to walk you through some of the look and feel and functionality of Axapta. The objective is to provide prospective purchasers the opportunity to learn a little bit about the product before taking that next big step of contacting a sales representative. Hopefully, this information will help you pre-qualify the product and determine whether it is a reasonable candidate for consideration. Analytics Axapta has  advanced features that position it at the high end of the mid-market.  Few other products can display OLAP integration and advanced graphical capabilities within the application.  Shown below is a customer revenue pivot table created for one Axapta customer. The pivot table can be used for internal analysis or exported to Excel for further refinement.  Questionnaires If the customer is king, what better way to know how you are doing than to survey your customers? Axapta has a built-in questionnaire generator which can be used to create questionnaires for conducting telephone interviews or to publish surveys on the web. The questionnaires can also be used to conduct employee reviews, gather product testing results, or for internal surveys.  Shown below is a sample questionnaire created to measure employee satisfaction. Survey results are captured in Axapta and can be analyzed graphically.                        Manufacturing  The heart and soul of Axapta resides in its manufacturing and inventory features. Axapta focused on  manufacturing when it began its entry into the United States market and as a result  has features rivaling those of the Tier 1 products.  Master Scheduling Master scheduling helps you  calculate what needs to be purchased and produced to fill a sales order : to deliver the amount ordered on the date scheduled, and to generate transfers between warehouses if needed. The task can be completed in many different ways, for example you can build inventories at different item levels to meet rush orders, or you can operate without inventories, where a customer order generates purchase and production orders. The principle adopted depends entirely on conditions in the company. It is often the case, however, that some items or item groups are controlled by inventory to ensure a high service level and short delivery times, whereas others are only produced or purchased when the item is actually needed.  Axapta's Master Planning module can address both situations. In order to fulfill the order below, existing inventory on hand is depleted and a planned purchase order is automatically generated for the balance. Planned Orders The planned order window enables you to display, edit, and create planned purchase orders, planned production orders, and planned transfer orders in a master plan.   Bill of Materials The Bill of Materials designer uses a graphical interface to combine components into a BOM.  The options and symbols available are displayed below: This Bill of Materials for a painted cover is being modified to include an additional item.  Once the item is selected from the bottom right pane, it is dragged to the BOM pane, and the routing is adjusted to reflect the change. Inquiry screens throughout the manufacturing process provide information on orders and status as well as costing and target dates. The screen below shows the status of production orders as well as the status of each operation in that order. Information is available in Axapta both via inquiries and graphical tools.  The graphic below illustrates net requirements for an item over time.   Inventory Axapta has more than 90 fields in the inventory item table to support the needs of manufacturers.  Here is a partial list of these fields:                         Customizable Help Text The help files can be easily edited and customized by the user.  In the screen below, I have inserted custom procedures in the area enclosed by horizontal lines.  Images can also be inserted into these files using simple, intuitive commands.                         Interface Axapta has a straightforward interface designed to look like Windows Explorer.  Sub- menu items can be also be accessed from the tool bar .   Wizards  Wizards are located throughout Axapta . There is even a "Wizard Wizard" for creating additional wizards as needed.   Detailed warehouse parameters including bin, aisle, dock and picking information as well as blocking causes and buffer locations can be recorded via a wizard. Once loaded with the appropriate information, the system can suggest the most efficient routes through the warehouse.  Picking locations are defined below.  The time invested in these setups will payoff in increased warehouse efficiency. The screens above illustrate how wizards help to simplify tasks in a product whose sheer number of features can sometimes be overwhelming.    Financial Reports   Axapta has standard financial reporting which can be modified to include additional row and column formats.   Customization Capabilities It is interesting to note that like its sister product and former competitor, Navision Attain, Axapta is extremely easy to modify.  In fact, Axapta has taken user customization to a new level.  Here’s hoping that the folks at Microsoft learn a few things from these products. Customize the tabs and buttons on any form with this interface.  In addition, Axapta's "Morphx" technology  means that you can hide any field on a form and the other fields will automatically be repositioned. Fields can later be returned to the form by selecting "show all". There is no need for programming to make these kinds of changes, which are stored by user.     Multicurrency The Trial Balance displayed below is shown in US dollars (note the USD on the bottom right corner of the status bar.)  Double clicking this currency notation will generate a list of other currencies for this company, choose one and the trial balance will be immediately restated as shown below (in this case amounts are now reflected in British Pounds).                   Selected Screen Shots for Axapta:   When it comes to evaluating accounting software, sometimes I like to start with a quick look at some representative screens. Unfortunately, too often a quick glimpse of these screens usually means that you have to get a reseller involved, they give you the third degree, they eat hours of your time, and eventually you are able to get that sneak peak you have been waiting for. By then, you are beaten down and made weary by the process. Maybe you know what I am talking about. To help you out, I've provided some representative screens below. Enjoy. Main Menu Screen Chart of Accounts Screen General Ledger Menu Screen Sample Report Printed to the Screen Sales Order Screen Entering A Sales Order   Sales Order Help Screen Customer Set Up Screen Master Scheduling Report Master Scheduling Set Up Screen Work Center Set Up Screen Production Planning Calendar (Sorry – no data) Company Set Up Screen Trial Balance Set Up Pallets in the Warehouse Set Up Fork Lifts J. Carlton Collins, CPA is a nationally recognized author, lecturer, and analyst in the accounting systems industry.  He has installed more than 200 accounting systems, and delivered 1,800 lectures around the world on the subject of accounting systems and technology. Mr. Collins has published extensive accounting system reviews which can be seen at www.accountingsoftwareadvisor.com. Contact Information Accounting Software Advisor J. Carlton Collins, CPA carlton@accountingsoftwareadvisor.com Accounting Software Advisor 4480 Missendell Lane, Norcross, GA 30092 770.734.0950

- END -