Sunday, August 13, 2006

SAS 99 in Microsoft Dynamics GP

As the administrator of our ERP system, Microsoft Dynamics GP, I spent about 20-25% of my time dealing with our external auditor either to:
a) comply with a report request
b) walk them through the system security
c) audit the database to find historical data submitted to them during the audit
d) other audit requirements for private companies

I found that the audit season had changed a lot after Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) started in 2002. Although we are a private company, somehow we are still affected by the Act because of Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS).

What is SAS 99?

Statement of Accounting Standards 99 or SAS 99 (Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit) provides needed guidance to auditor charged with providing assurances that clients have not committed fraud. Some experts say " The easiest way to think of SAS 99 is that it's Sarbanes-Oxley for everybody." SAS 99 applies to audits of privately help companies as well.

SAS 99 defines fraud as an intentional act that results in a material misstatement in financial statements. There are two types of fraud considered:
1) misstatements arising from fraudulent financial reporting (eg. falsification of accounting records) and;
2) misstatements arising from misappropriation of assets (eg. theft of assets or fraudulent expenditures)

How to create SAS 99 report in Great Plains?

To comply with the auditor, I had to create a Crystal Report that would:
a) show historical GL data
b) create a parameter for historical year
c) include the Journal Entry Nbr, Account Nbr & Description, Source, Document Type, Transaction Date, Posting Date, Debit/Credit Amounts, Reference and User ID

SQL Tables and linking them:
Step 1
My main table was GL30000 then linked GL00105 by ACTINDX. Last table was GL00100 which was linked to GL00105 by ACTINDX as well.

Step 2
Drag all required fields to the report details including Journal Entry Nbr, Account Nbr & Description, Source, Document Type, Transaction Date, Posting Date, Debit/Credit Amounts, Reference and User ID

Step 3
Create your parameter using GL30000.HSTYEAR field then value type should be Number. Remember to create descriptions for each year since GP would year with comma likie 2,001.00 so you should use 2001(Description).

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