When choosing your next or even upgrading your existing ERP system, there are normally key “must have” business management system requirements.  When we discuss ERP Evaluations, one of the more popular systems is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, formerly Microsoft Dynamics NAV “Navision”.  Microsoft Business Central is a true Enterprise Resource Planning System with vast business functionality around advanced financial, inventory/supply chain management, sales/CRM, project management, service management, warehousing, manufacturing, and more! This post will highlight ERP Financial Management in Microsoft Business Central.

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can keep track of numerous financial management capabilities: everything from Multiple Currencies, Fixed Assets, Cash Flow Forecasts, Budgets, Check Writing, and much more which are described below.

General Ledger:  Set up companies and how to post to the general ledger through general journals. Use features for VAT and sales tax, recurring journals, and background posting of journals. Posting and reporting can be done in one additional reporting currency. Use built-in reports, customized reports (both RDCL and Word), refreshable data in Excel, and Power BI reports and charts. View and edit the data on most pages using Microsoft Excel.

Dimensions:  Use unlimited dimensions in transactions in all ledgers for important parts of your business, such as your departments, projects, sales channel, and geographical areas. Set up rules for how to combine dimensions and dimension values. Control the use of dimensions and increase the reliability of output based on dimensions. Assign default dimension values to master data such as general ledger accounts, customers, vendors, fixed assets, resources, and items. Set up rules to prioritize the use of default values.  Use data from dimensions in reports for filtering, account schedules to analyze your general ledger, and data sent to Microsoft Power BI.

Multiple Currencies: Conduct business with customers and vendors in any number of currencies. Use multiple currencies on sales and purchase documents and in bank transactions and payments in payables and receivables. Store currency details for transactions in receivables and payables are stored in local and foreign currencies. Adjust currency values in local and foreign currencies for unrealized gains and losses to keep aging reports correct for receivables and payables.

Budgets: Track business progress using budgets in the general ledger. Use budgets in financial reports, user-defined analysis in account schedules, or in data sent to Power BI for data sharing and analysis. Import budget information to and from Excel for enhanced calculation capabilities when you prepare budgets.

Accounts Schedules: Use account schedules as a powerful financial reporting tool. Accountants and controllers can include essential business data from the chart of accounts, budgets, cash flow accounts, and cost types in financial reports. Use the data to efficiently monitor the health of the business and provide valuable input for business decision-makers. Define row and column layouts and combinations to generate the report you need. Calculate totals and sub-totals and control the print output, for example, to compare current and historical budget figures.

Consolidation:  Consolidate companies from the same Business Central tenant and pull data directly into the consolidation company or use XML files to pull data from other Business Central tenants, databases, or third-party business management applications. Use multiple currencies, dimensions, and budgets for the consolidation.

Intercompany Postings: Manage accounting for more than one company in a posting process that includes one or more Business Central tenants or databases. Send sales and purchase documents to partner companies and post journal transactions through a mapping to shared charts of accounts and dimensions. Control the document flow through an Inbox/Outbox feature that automates sending and receipt. Use sales and purchase documents with multiple currencies to reconcile intercompany balances.

Cash Flow Forecast:  Predict how your company’s liquidity will evolve over time. Forecast expected cash receipts and disbursements plus available liquid funds.  Create basic cash flow forecast setups that you can extend and adjust. Use an assisted setup guide for help completing tasks and take advantage of automatic daily or weekly data updates. Include data from jobs and taxes as sources for the cash flow forecast. Use Azure ML capabilities to let Business Central generate cash flow prediction.

Fixed Assets: Track fixed assets such as buildings, machinery, and equipment. Post fixed-asset transactions such as acquisitions, depreciation, write-downs, appreciation, and disposal. Assign one or more depreciation books to define methods and conditions for calculating depreciation. Use depreciation books to meet managerial, internal accounting, and legal reporting requirements. Register maintenance costs, insurance coverage, and cost allocations for assets.

Fixed Assets Allocations:  Use allocation keys to distribute percentages of fixed asset transactions, such as acquisition cost and depreciation, to departments or projects.

Fixed Assets – Insurance: Track insurance coverage and annual insurance premiums for fixed assets and easily determine whether they are under or over-insured. Attach assets to one or more insurance policies and index insurance amounts.

Fixed Assets – Maintenance:  Record maintenance and service expenses for fixed assets. Get detailed information to analyze and make decisions about fixed asset renewal and disposal

Cost Accounting:  Get insight into costs through the visibility of actual and budgeted costs of operations, departments, products, and projects. Combine base data in general ledger transactions with dimensions with known future costs and define a hierarchy of cost centers and cost objects. Allocate costs using allocation runs with different allocation keys and methods. Analyze general ledger actuals and budgets in user-defined scenarios. Explore the scenarios to gain insight into the business that is not immediately reflected in your chart of accounts.

Deferrals: Set up deferral templates that automate the process of deferring revenues and expenses based on a schedule. Recognize revenues and expenses in periods other than the period in which the transaction is posted.

Your organizations can streamline and effectively manage financials along with other vast features included in this powerful Business Management/ERP System.  Importantly to also mention; Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is built to integrate with other popular cloud business productivity tools such as Outlook, Power BI, CRM, Office. and 365/Microsoft 365.  Furthermore, Microsoft AppSource is a growing business application (Apps) resource to add specific functionality to your Business Central system.  Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a highly customizable ERP solution that can integrate with other common and specific business application that allows your company to scale as your business grows to meet demands.

Next Steps:

Learn more about Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Download the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Capabilities Guide

Posted by iCepts Technology Group, Inc. a Microsoft Business Central ERP Partner in Pennsylvania