Dynamics GP Tip of the Month: Exclude inactive customers and vendors from lookups

If you’re like many Dynamics GP administrators and power-users, you’ve probably found yourself scrolling through long lookup lists filled with Vendors or Customers who are inactive, cluttering your views and slowing you down. This tip of the month blog will help you streamline those lookup windows, reduce noise, and make your day-to-day data entry just a little bit smoother.

There’s a built-in option in GP to exclude inactive Customers/Vendors from lookup screens. By using this setting, you can hide inactive records by default, so when you open a Vendor or Customer lookup, you will only see active ones unless you specifically choose otherwise. This is a simple tweak that improves user efficiency and reduces error risk.

For GP 2010 or later

1. Open the Vendor or Customer lookup window.
2. At the top of the lookup window, click the View drop-down menu.
3. Select Exclude Inactive Vendors (or Exclude Inactive Customers if applicable).
4. Once filtered, click the drop-down again and choose Set as Default View to save this preference.
5. Close and reopen the lookup window to confirm that inactive records no longer appear by default.

For Older Versions (e.g., GP 10)

1. Open SmartList (Reports → SmartList) and expand either the Vendors or Customers folder.
2. Create or duplicate a SmartList and apply a search filter, such as Inactive = No.
3. Save your SmartList and mark it as a Favorite, naming it something like Active Vendors Only.

4. When performing lookups, select this view from the drop-down list in your lookup window.

Keeping your lookup lists clean is more than a convenience, it’s a productivity and data quality best practice. By hiding inactive customers and vendors you increase efficiency, reduce opportunities for errors, enhance you user experience, and boost more accurate data. At Rand Group, we help organizations make the most of their Dynamics GP systems, from quick usability improvements to larger system optimizations, integrations, and upgrades. If you’d like help implementing this feature, optimizing your workflows, or ensuring your GP system is performing at its best, contact our GP team today. And don’t forget to check back next month for another Dynamics GP tip blog to help you get more value out of your ERP investment.