What are Great Plains Financials?

Definition

Great Plains Financials refers to the financial management capabilities within Microsoft Dynamics GP, formerly known as Great Plains. The financial series brings together accounting functions such as General Ledger, budgeting, financial reporting, account management, and transaction processing. It provides a structured environment for recording business activity, maintaining account balances, and producing financial statements.

The system is designed around an accounting framework that connects transactions with the company's chart of accounts and fiscal periods. This allows finance teams to maintain financial records while analyzing current activity and comparing it with prior periods and budgets. Microsoft documentation describes General Ledger as supporting chart-of-accounts setup, budgets, transactions, inquiries, reports, and financial maintenance routines. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

Table of Contents

Core Components of Great Plains Financials

The financial capabilities cover the main activities required to maintain an organization's accounting records. General Ledger provides the central accounting structure, while related financial functions support reporting, budgeting, reconciliation, and transaction management.

  • General Ledger: Maintains posting accounts, journal transactions, account balances, fiscal periods, and historical information.
  • Accounts Payable: Records vendor-related transactions and supports the flow of payable information into the General Ledger.
  • Accounts Receivable: Tracks customer-related transactions and their corresponding accounting entries.
  • Budgeting: Supports budgets and comparisons between budgeted and actual account activity.
  • Financial reporting: Produces statements and reports using account categories, balances, transaction information, and reporting periods.
  • Reconciliation: Helps finance teams compare subsidiary-module activity with General Ledger distributions and identify unmatched transactions.

How Great Plains Financials Works

The process begins with a defined chart of accounts, fiscal periods, posting rules, and transaction sources. Business transactions are then entered or transferred from relevant financial modules. When transactions are posted, the resulting debits and credits update the appropriate accounts and become available for inquiries and reporting.

Account structures can include posting, unit, and allocation accounts. Posting accounts track financial categories such as assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and equity. Account categories group these accounts for financial statements, helping organizations organize information consistently across reports. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

Finance teams can also maintain account history and transaction history. This makes it possible to review summarized balances for historical periods or examine the detailed transactions behind an account balance.

Great Plains Financials and Financial Reporting

Financial reporting is a central use of the system because General Ledger information can be organized into standard financial statements. These include the Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, and Statement of Cash Flows. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

Reporting can be structured around account categories and customized layouts. Finance teams can use current-period information alongside historical figures to analyze changes in revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity. This supports period-end reporting, management review, budgeting decisions, and broader financial analysis.

For planning and analysis, it is also useful to distinguish Historical Financials, which describe previously recorded financial performance, from current accounting information used to monitor the business.

Great Plains Financials for Planning and Analysis

Great Plains Financials can support planning by connecting accounting data with budgets and financial reporting. Budget information can be maintained for different account types and compared with actual activity by period. This helps finance teams identify material differences and investigate the accounts or transactions behind those differences.

Planning teams may also distinguish Forecast Financials from historical accounting records. Forecast financials represent expected future results, while the General Ledger provides the underlying accounting information needed to understand actual performance. Comparing the two gives finance teams a basis for evaluating expected revenue, expenses, cash requirements, and other financial outcomes.

Another useful distinction is Great Expectations Finance, which focuses on the broader financial expectations and workflows surrounding business planning and financial management. Keeping historical results, current accounting data, budgets, and forecasts conceptually separate helps finance teams interpret performance more effectively.

Practical Uses in Finance

Organizations can use Great Plains Financials to support recurring accounting and finance activities throughout the fiscal year. Typical applications include maintaining the chart of accounts, recording journal entries, reviewing account balances, preparing financial statements, comparing actual results with budgets, and reconciling subsidiary information with General Ledger balances.

For example, during month-end close, a finance team can review posted transactions, reconcile accounts payable and receivable activity with the General Ledger, investigate unmatched transactions, and generate financial statements for management review. At year-end, retained earnings and beginning balances become important parts of the closing and reporting process.

Best Practices for Using Great Plains Financials

  • Maintain a consistent chart of accounts: Use account structures and categories that align with financial reporting requirements.
  • Control fiscal periods: Define and manage periods carefully so transactions are recorded in the appropriate reporting window.
  • Review reconciliations regularly: Compare subsidiary-module activity with General Ledger balances to identify differences promptly.
  • Preserve useful history: Maintain appropriate account and transaction history for period comparisons and financial analysis.
  • Align budgets with reporting: Structure budgets so actual-versus-budget analysis provides meaningful information for decision-making.

Summary

Great Plains Financials provides the core accounting and financial-management capabilities associated with Microsoft Dynamics GP. Its financial functions organize transactions through the chart of accounts, fiscal periods, budgets, and General Ledger while supporting reconciliation and financial reporting. By connecting accounting records with historical analysis and planning information, finance teams can use the system to monitor performance, prepare reports, and support informed financial decisions.