From the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations Blogs: Reporting; Accruals; Table permissions; Date and time

This week on the Dynamics 365 Finance and Operation blog roundup:

• Reporting in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations
• Purchase order generated accruals explained
• Securing a menu item is not enough: understanding table permissions
• More options to personalize the date and time format in D365FO

Reporting in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

Writing on the Encore Business Solutions blog, Gale Dallyn explained that accessing and reporting data from on-premises versus accessing data from the cloud has changed.

He noted that the SQL database used to be on a server, enabling the administrator to directly access the data to build a report. However, there is no direct access to the database in a cloud-hosted environment and there are new tools to build the reports you need.

In his blog post, Dallyn stated that many of the reports generated from D365FO are now generated using the SSRS engine. He noted that SSRS is really good for reporting transactional data and is still available and familiar. He also stated that the electronic reporting tool is good for dynamically populating forms and can be used for importing and exporting document information.

When it comes to reporting, Dallyn stated that using the right tool for the right job is important. He noted that:

• SSRS is really good for reporting transactional data and is still available and familiar.
• Electronic reporting is good for dynamically populating forms, and you can use it for importing and exporting document information.
• Excel, with the Microsoft 365 (Office 365) integration, can be used for exporting user-filtered data, or data collection.
• Financial reports are available for your financial statements.
• Power BI Desktop or Embedded is great for reporting analytics for workspaces and external viewing.

In his blog post, Dallyn offered brief explanations as well as embedded videos pertaining to each of these reporting methods.

Dynamics 365 purchase order generated accruals explained

An author writing on the Ellipse Solutions blog pointed out that it's pretty confusing to figure out where an accrual came from. However, the author noted that D365FO and Supply Chain enables you to configure entries to the general ledger so they're not so vague.

The author noted that one of the most confusing ledger entries are the postings made at receipt of a product or service. To post a receipt, you have to ensure that you enable the accounts payable parameter on the general tab, which is called the post product receipt.

The field notes explain it clearly.  The product receipt account and the product receipt offset account on the Purchase order tab determine where the posting is made.

The author then discussed posting profiles, accrual reversals, and journal descriptions. To summarize the author noted:

Understanding the posting types and which ones are used for which transactions and knowing how to create descriptions for voucher entries will make the analysis of ledger entries easier and less stressful.

Securing a menu item is not enough: the role of table permissions

Writing on his Dynamicspedia blog, André Arnaud De Calavon noted that in previous posts he talked about missing parts and controls when you create privileges from scratch. In this post, he explained the reasons for missing elements on forms due to table permissions.