The top accounting systems and ERP solutions help reduce errors from improper data entry and Great Plains is no exception. The screen below entitled Field Definitions allows the user to apply detailed criteria even at the data field level to prevent, or at least reduce the amount of erroneous data entered into the system.

As you can see, the system allows the user to control various attributes of a data field such as trailing blanks, leading blanks, uppercase, alphanumeric, etc. Each field can be set to automatically display decimals, currency symbols, commas, etc. Even the size of the field and number of decimals places can be controlled by the system.

Consider the number of decimal places supported by an accounting system. Assume that a manufacturer purchases a box 100,000 screws at a cost of $27.00. In this example, the actual cost per screw is just .00027 cents a piece, but a system that supports only two decimal places would be forced to value each screw at 1 penny each. The result would be that the value of each screw used in the assembly process thereafter would be overstated, and once the entire box of screws are used, costs would be overstated by $973. These results would lead to improper costing and, if not corrected, to the filing of an inaccurate financial statements and tax returns. The IRS would certainly be interested in pursuing a company that over stated expenses and under the new Sarbanes-Oxley rules, the top management of the company could be held liable for this error.

You could also use the Field Descriptions window to find out which tables contain a particular field, or information about specific characteristics of the selected field. These additional characteristics can be useful when using tools such as the Report Writer or Modifier.

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