How Human Expertise Reshapes AI: A Solution for Reallocating Costs in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

When faced with the challenge of reallocating general ledger entries in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the natural first step is to ask: What is the best way to structure reallocations across dimensions, especially when those reallocations need to be based on actual consumption data?

At first glance, this looks like a technical question for artificial intelligence (AI) to solve. But the process of working through this scenario revealed something more valuable: AI accelerates exploration, while deep knowledge of Business Central by a person is what delivers the right solution.

The Initial Problem

The requirement itself was straightforward:

Reallocate costs posted with dimension value MFG across several other dimension values (EXT, INJ, THRM, ROTO) each month, using a statistical measure (pounds consumed) as the basis for allocation.

This is a classic driver-based allocation problem, where financial costs must be distributed according to non-financial activity measures.

Exploring AI’s First Recommendation

AI’s first recommendation was to use Recurring General Journals with Allocation Lines in Business Central.

This method works in principle:

• It can reallocate already posted entries.
• It allows costs to be split across multiple dimension values.

However, one limitation quickly became clear: the allocation percentages must be entered manually each month. Even though this tool works, it becomes inefficient without a direct connection to actual usage data since there is no native statistical account integration for allocations.

Interjecting Human Expertise

At this point, human expertise began to shape the conversation more directly.

By asking “Can I use standard Allocation Accounts for this?” I was provided with another set of options. While the AI assistant had not raised this newer feature initially, my knowledge of Business Central’s product roadmap brought it into the discussion.