Steve Endow
This blog post summarizes the key takeaways from day two of the Dynamics 365 Financials training course held by Liberty Grove.
http://libertygrove.com/services/training/dynamics-365-for-financials-training-ndpm/
Training Day 2 Summary: Information Overload
Here are my observations from Day 2:
1. User Interface Updates
The user interface is visually appealing, but the web version has a few minor issues. The website’s responsiveness can be inconsistent, with occasional pauses, lags, or delays of several seconds after certain actions. This inconsistency varies between users, with some experiencing significant delays while others have none. It appears that Microsoft is currently fine-tuning the backend system to address this.
Here are a few additional observations about the user interface:
- When multiple windows are open, only the topmost window is visible.
- To close the top window, you can click the “X” in the upper right corner or press the “Esc” key.
- It’s also possible to close the top window by clicking anywhere on the left-side gray bar.
- The gray bar method is the most efficient option for closing multiple windows quickly.
- Dynamics 365 Financials saves data at the field level as soon as you tab out of a field.
- When saving, you might see two arrows next to the field indicating the save is in progress. Sometimes the save is almost instantaneous, while other times it can take several seconds.
- While some windows allow you to continue working in other fields during the save process, others require you to wait for the save and refresh before proceeding.
2. Dimensions
Dimensions are a crucial aspect of Dynamics 365 Financials, potentially even more significant than posting groups. Dynamics GP users need to approach this concept with an open mind and avoid drawing comparisons to GP’s functionality, as the design philosophy behind the chart of accounts and general ledger is entirely different.
While my understanding of Dimensions is still developing, I will explain the concept as best I can. It’s essential to avoid directly comparing Dimensions to any specific GP features, as they operate under a distinct framework.
Let’s take a common Dynamics GP segmented general ledger account structure as an example. Consider Fabrikam’s structure: Division - Natural Account - Department, with account segment sizes of 3-4-2. This setup represents a conventional general ledger account design used across numerous systems.
Dynamics 365 Financials (NAV) takes a different route with its general ledger accounts. Here, the general ledger account only consists of the natural account segment. Other segments are managed through Dimensions. For instance, instead of using a full account string like 200-6170-00 for “Repairs & Maintenance - Accounting,” you would solely have a natural account of 6170 in your general ledger chart of accounts.
This streamlined approach simplifies the chart of accounts by removing the need for division and department permutations within the account list.
With a concise chart of accounts, you can define Dimensions to represent Divisions, Departments, and any other tracking needs. When defining Dimensions and Dimension Values, you have the flexibility to use alphanumeric labels instead of being limited to numbers.
This means you can create a “Division” dimension with values like “Administration”, “Accounting”, “Sales”, “Service”, “Consulting”, and so on. You can also create a “Department” dimension with any label values you need.
After setting up Dimensions, you can link them to customers, vendors, and items, and you can also set default values for each master record. In the example shown, a Customer Group and Department are assigned to a customer record.
This way, when you create a sales order, the order header can have Dimensions automatically populated based on the Customer, and the order lines can have Dimensions based on the item.
Furthermore, you can go into your general ledger accounts and, for each natural account, define whether dimensions are mandatory when using that account.
Dimensions are a fundamental concept in D365 Financials that require further exploration to fully grasp, but I hope this provides a basic overview.
3. Financial, Sales, and Purchasing Setup
While the setup for Financials, Sales, and Purchasing was relatively straightforward, a few points are worth noting.
- In Dynamics 365 Financials, the general ledger setup window is where you manage valid posting dates.
- Unlike Dynamics GP, which utilizes pre-defined fiscal periods, D365 Financials allows you to specify a date range for posting.
This date range functionality offers flexibility by allowing for variations from the standard fiscal period. For example, you can permit posting to the last day of the prior month during closing without keeping the entire period open. You could set a date range of February 28th to March 31st or even February 28th to March 15th to restrict postings beyond a specific date.
Adding to this, it seems you can even define different allowed posting dates at the user level. This means the general ledger setup could have allowed posting dates of March 1st to March 31st for most users, while specific accounting personnel could have an extended range of February 26th to March 31st to accommodate final entries for the prior period.
UPDATE: Payment terms are more robust than initially perceived. Dynamics 365 Financials offers greater flexibility and capabilities than described below. Refer to this updated post about D365 Financials Payment Terms.
Initially, Payment terms seemed surprisingly basic. Given the application’s other features, I anticipated more sophisticated payment term options and configurability. However, the current D365 terms lack the functionality to handle non-standard payment terms, such as payment by the 5th of the month, which some customers may require.
The Inventory Setup window raised some concerns. There are only four options available in the main Inventory Setup window, and the Item level doesn’t offer many options either.
Currently, it seems that D365 Financials only supports FIFO valuation. However, according to this forum post, average costing is expected to be available soon, and BOMs have been recently introduced.
4. Financial Reporting
Dynamics 365 Financials introduces a relatively new financial reporting tool called “Account Schedules.” Despite its name, it functions as a fundamental row and column-based financial reporting tool.
As this feature is also new to NAV, its adoption might be limited at this stage. It has been suggested that JetReports is the prevailing financial reporting tool within NAV, with Account Schedules potentially being a distant second and Power BI playing a minor role.
While Account Schedules might have certain constraints, its strength lies in its complete integration within D365. Modifying, viewing, printing, scheduling, and drilling down within reports is seamless and integrated.
Those are the main points from Day 2.
You can find a review of Day 3 of the training here:
https://dynamicsgpland.blogspot.com/2017/03/dynamics-365-financials-training-day-3.html
Steve Endow is a Microsoft MVP for Dynamics GP and a Dynamics GP Certified IT Professional in Los Angeles. He is the owner of Precipio Services, which provides Dynamics GP integrations, customizations, and automation solutions.
You can also find him on Twitter, YouTube, and Google+
http://www.precipioservices.com
