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CMU Frequently Asked Questions 

What are the Dynamics GP modules supported by Company Merge Utility?

CMU supports the following Dynamics GP modules:

  • System and Company
  • General Ledger
  • Bank Reconciliation
  • Fixed Assets
  • Payables Management
  • Receivables Management
  • Inventory Management
  • Purchase Order Processing
  • Sales Order Processing
  • Invoicing

Can I perform a merge when my source company comes from different SQL instance than the SQL instance of the destination company?

No. The standard procedure for running a merge is that all source companies and the destination company must exist in the same SQL instance.

I have multiple SQL instances that contains different source companies that I would want to be merged to a company that is on different SQL instance.  Will that work?

CMU cannot merge companies across two or more SQL instances.  All source companies must be under the same SQL instance as the target company.  As a workaround, you can perform a GP migration to transfer the source companies to the same SQL instance where the target company resides.

Is there a database size limitation on the companies that can be merged in one merge project run?

A single merge project is limited to no more than twenty (20) companies at a single run. 

What configuration or setup of source companies should be aligned to the configuration or setup of the destination company?  

The source and destination companies' fiscal period, functional currency, and account format (number of segments and segment length) must be the same. If there are discrepancies, the configuration in the source company needs to be adjusted using tools like PSTL before merging.

How does CMU behave and treat duplicate master files such as Chat of Accounts, Customer, Vendor, Checkbooks, etc? 

During the pre-merge validation process, duplicate master files are recognized by CMU. This allows the user to validate the uniqueness of the master files and modify the records before a merge is carried out. When a duplicate record is found, the record from the source company will be combined with the destination company, and the attributes of the target company will remain unaffected, maintaining their original state; except for Checkbook and Bank IDs, which should be unique IDs from the destination company. Otherwise, the pre-merge validation will fail, and the merge run will not proceed and you would need to modify the Checkbook and Bank IDs via PSTL before performing a merge run. Refer to the Company Merge Utility – Implementation Checklist document for more information.  

Duplicate Budget ID will remain as is when merged with the target company. However, if the GL codes from the source company within the budget are unique from the Target company, the budget amounts per unique GL account code from the source company will be copied over to the target company using the duplicate Budget ID in the target company. The budget amounts in the Target company will remain as is and will not be updated.      

What are the recommendations and best practices when combining GP companies? 

An Implementation Checklist is available to serve as a guide when performing merge projects. The recommended hardware requirements are identified and required pre-and post-merge activities like reconciliation, banks, and check links. The documentation will be provided upon purchase of the product. 

Is CMU capable of keeping the original transaction number of the source company when it merges to the destination company?

Yes, use the Append renumber transformation method.  When using the Append transformation method, the original document number is kept, and a suffix or prefix is added to the document number when merged to the destination company.  

Is there a report to refer old values to transformed value in the Target company? 

Yes, use the Export Mapping Table report to produce the CSV file of the mapping tables of0 a merge project. Each mapping table contains the Old Values from the Source Company and the New Value from the target company. You may refer to the CMU User Manual for further details on generating the report. 

Is it possible to automate and schedule company merges, allowing them to run unattended?

Yes, the capability to schedule the execution of merges is available. You can specify the merge schedule within the Setup Execution Plan phase while creating the merge project. This allows you to define when the merge process will occur. By incorporating this scheduling functionality into the merge project setup, teams can efficiently plan and automate the merging of companies.

We are utilizing Binary Stream's Multi-Entity Management module. How are records assigned to its rightful entity ID?

An Entity Assignment script from Binary Stream is often needed in order to implement the MEM moduled. The script is project specific and can be can be executed within CMU. Because each project is tunique, you need to work with Binary Stream to define your requirements.

In CMU, the Enable Entity Assignment can be set to Yes, allowing you to define the Entity IDs for each source company. Binary Stream's Entity Assignment script will retrieve the Entity ID value from the ALBS_Mapping tables to map out the entity ID of the source company records.

How do you generate the mapping tables and display a list of mapping tables from CMU?

Below is the step-by-step guide on how to export mapping tables.

  1. In CMU, the Enable Entity Assignment can be set to Yes, allowing you to define the Entity IDs for each source company. Binary Stream's Entity Assignment script will retrieve the Entity ID value from the ALBS_Mapping tables to map out the entity ID of the source company records.
  2. Highlight your merge project and click on the highlighted button.
  3. In the next screen, highlight all the tables or focus on the mapping tables you are concerned about. 
  4. Click on the Export button. The application will produce a CSV file. If for example, you export the ALBS_MAP_ACTINDX, it will perform a renumber transformation. You will see the following fields in the CSV file.
  • SRC_COMPANY – identifies which source company the ACTINDX belongs to
  • OLD_VALUE – identifies the ACTINDX of the source company
  • NEW_VALUE – identifies the ACTINDX it was transformed in the target company

When is the Append or Renumber transformation used?

The “Append” transformation method can only be applied in the following modules and fields.

Modules   Field  
 Fixed Assets   ASSETID 
 Invoicing   INVCNMBR 
 Purchase Order Processing   PONUMBER 
 Sales Order Processing   SOPNUMBE 
 Payables Management   CNTRLNUM (Only for Payment Type) 
 Receivables Management   DOCNUMBR 

 

If Append transformation is preferred for other fields or document numbers, please get in touch with Alba Spectrum.

What preparations are needed before doing a merge?

The preparations are layed in the Implemantion Checklist that will be available upon purchase of the product. Take note of the Pre-Merge section in the Checklist to avoid any issues during the merge.

In CMU, the Enable Entity Assignment can be set to Yes, allowing you to define the Entity IDs for each source company. Binary Stream's Entity Assignment script will retrieve the Entity ID value from the ALBS_Mapping tables to map out the entity ID of the source company records.

How does the “Renumbering” transformation work?

There are two kinds of “Renumbering” transformation: 

  1. Overwrite transformation – this is the default transformation of CMU. This involves changing the document numbers from source companies during the merge. The new value of the document number will depend on the Next Number of the target company. 
  2. Append Renumbering transformation – this transformation can preserve the document number from the source companies. The user can prefix the document number with Company ID, DB ID (database ID), or Entity ID. This can be selected in the Edit Transformation window. The Entity ID option will only be visible if entity assignment is enabled on the merge project.

Why do I encounter a “Space not Enough” error during the pre-merge validation?

This error occurs if the length of the transformed document number exceeds the maximum allowable length defined in CMU. The transformation process follows the defined length in CMU instead of the field length in the SQL Table.
The document number should follow the Next Number format in the module's setup window, a standard GP format (i.e., IVC00000002). Defining different formats on the document number can cause the transformation process to fail.
If you have different formats on the document numbers, please get in touch with Alba Spectrum for further data analysis.

I encounter “Duplicate error” during the pre-merge validation, what should I do?

Check the Next Number setup in the target company. It needs to be higher than what is set up in the individual source company. Otherwise, duplicate errors will be encountered.
If the issue persists, it might be a data Issue. Re-run Check links to fix any broken records. If the issue persists, contact Alba Spectrum for assistance.