Logistics Trucking Company Outgrows QuickBooks and Needs Integrated Solutions Featuring Microsoft Dynamics GP

Through diversity of growth, successful management, and the acquisition of other companies, this logistics trucking company specializing in transportation management had vastly outgrown their QuickBooks accounting software. The company’s progress has been explosive, and they now fill both floors of the new facility that they moved into in 2010.

After fully assessing their situation, this organization realized that they needed to work with a partner who had the industry and product knowledge to provide a superior solution for their business needs. Based on a referral from their logistics partner, the company determined that The TM Group would provide the product, industry, and local market expertise they needed to fundamentally evolve their business operations based on current business and market demands. After the discovery phase was completed, The TM Group was confident that an efficient business process for this trucking firm could be architected utilizing the Microsoft Dynamics GP platform.

This logistics company was using a combination of software applications before switching to Microsoft Dynamics GP. Some of the many systems being used included QuickBooks for their financials and GPS Networking for their logistics management. They were eager to move to Microsoft Dynamics GP to replace their QuickBooks accounting system.

The TM Group worked closely with the company’s CPA firm, Franklin Advisors, to ensure a smooth and seamless transition from an accounting standpoint for the company’s finance team. Mr. Unruh made sure that both teams had the training and education needed to be comfortable working extensively within this product. Mr. Unruh stated, “As a trusted advisor, we wanted to ensure the company had exactly what they needed to make this work and to leverage the technology they had already invested in.”

This logistics company has received many benefits from the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP, including:

• An integrated company-wide solution with Microsoft Dynamics GP and its logistics solution GPS Networking
• Efficient and timelier financial reporting
• A stable product with the ability to grow as Load One grows
• Improved bank reconciliations with Nolan Business Solutions Advanced Bank Reconciliation*
• 1099 Management with GreenShades Payroll and HR Solutions**

After the implementation of the new accounting system, The TM Group’s development team designed an integration of Microsoft Dynamics GP with a transportation management system (TMS) that provides transportation intelligence software to logistics firms. Using the TMS, customers are able to log into a portal to view shipments and invoices, and truckers can log in to ascertain their clients’ shipments and calculate their commissions. The TMS is a hosted solution and segregated from the logistics company’s environment, so they wanted a local copy of the TMS data for reporting and billing, integrating it to Microsoft Dynamics GP financials. As Carmen Tuzzolino, development manager for The TM Group, explains, “The project consisted of reverse engineering the TMS software to provide reporting and a bi-directional integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP. We also reverse engineered the system based on the XML and could successfully import the third-party software into the ‘staging’ area for future integration and reporting.”

The TM Group was successful in helping the logistics company gain better financial insights with Microsoft Dynamics GP, integrating GP with their logistics solutions, and expanding their reporting capabilities with TMS.

Published originally on www.erpsoftwareblog.com.