The "back door" to Item, Customer, and Vendor Templates in Dynamics 365 Business Central that is worth another look

July 22 2020

Author's Note (January 2022): 

With the general availability of Business Central 2021 Release Wave 2 in October 2021, the functionality of templates has changed. To learn more about templates in Business Central after this update go to Oh no! Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central "shut the back door" on Customer, Vendor, Item, and Employee Templates. If you are on an older version of Business Central, the content of this article may still apply.

Are recent changes in how you work forcing you to take a second look at the tools and controls you use to ensure accuracy in master data setup? Do you find yourself constantly tracking down the source of entries posted to the wrong general ledger account because the posting groups are not properly defined on newly created Items, Customers or Vendors? Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Configuration Templates, if implemented properly, may provide the answer. 

Maybe you tried to use “Save as Template” and “Apply Template” but stopped because you found it lacking due to the limited number of fields in these templates. Well, let me share a little-known secret. There is a “back door” that allows you to turbo boost template functionality!

The setup I am going to show you 1) does not require a developer, 2) takes minimal setup, 3) does not require you to be super technical, and 4) is a change you can make today. Word of caution - since master data impacts multiple functional areas (sales, purchasing, finance, warehousing, etc.), I strongly recommend you coordinate your templates with everyone that uses these records.

Let’s set up an item template as an example.

1. Begin by determining how you might classify the different types of items in your system. For example, you may have items you purchase and make, inventory and non-inventory, or finally domestic and imported. I think you get the idea. Often how you classify your items may directly correlate to the Item Category or Service Item Group, or maybe it is more financial and correlates to the Inventory Posting Group, General Product Posting Group or a specific set of Dimensions assigned. Regardless, determine if more than one item classification exists, and thus, more than one item configuration template may be needed.

About Cynthia Priebe

Cynthia is a Senior Trainer and Consultant with New View Strategies, the go-to source for actionable training and process efficiency in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Cynthia is recognized for her ability to look at operational and reporting challenges with a fresh take and propose solutions using core features and functionality. Focused for close to 20 years on Dynamics NAV and now D365 Business Central, she adores helping clients and partners with solving problems, enhancing productivity, and finding The Righter WayTM to work in Business Central. She is a regular presenter at industry conferences, on the original team to write the MB-800: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant certification exam, a Microsoft Certified Trainer, and a certified Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant. You can reach Cynthia on LinkedIn.

At New View Strategies, all our experts have “been there, done that” – we are experienced, former users who have walked in your shoes. We  work with frustrated Business Central/NAV users who struggle to use their system and find the answers they need. We teach them to truly understand how the system can support their business processes to make immediate and lasting improvements, and as a result get more done in less time, make better business decisions, and even love their system. In addition to helping end users, New View Strategies offers Consultant Accelerator programs to help get new-to-BC consultants up, running, and billing as soon as possible. 

We can help, drive real change via a custom class delivered remotely or at your site, or choose from over 40 online and in-person classes at  https://getyournewview.com/complete-curriculum/

More about Cynthia Priebe

Comments

genns's picture
On July 24th, 2020 Greg Enns said:

Thanks for sharing this valuable tool with the community!
One important thing that is worth mentioning...It's important that if you have multiple templates for a table, you want to be sure the same fields are set in each template.
Here's why:
Sometimes users apply the wrong template, realize their mistake, and then apply the correct template. If the first template puts a value in a field but the 2nd template expects to leave that field blank, then that field will be left with the "bad" value from the 1st template.

You can't currently use a template to blank a field, so I added a tiny mod so that when a template was applied, if a field had data in it, and the template was blank/zero, then the template would overwrite the data to blank/zero.
We also have a report which makes sure that every template has the same fields listed. That way we either set a value or we blank/zero the same fields--regardless of which template is selected. I highly recommend doing this too.
If you like this idea, please vote for it here:
https://experience.dynamics.com/ideas/idea/?ideaid=6a8cb0f5-b3cd-ea11-bf...

If you are in BC14 or earlier you can make the change yourself by commenting out row 21 in Codeunit 8617.

Cpriebe's picture
On July 28th, 2020 Cynthia Priebe said:

This is an excellent point Greg. Thank you for sharing!

sebastiendb9's picture
On July 8th, 2021 Sébastien D B said:

Hi Cynthia, this article/functionality was exactly what I was looking for!
However, since the activation of a preview-feature this functionality broke :-(

Please help me raise awareness, and let your post still be relevant:
https://experience.dynamics.com/ideas/idea/?ideaid=37bc53d5-dbdf-eb11-ba...

Maybe you could include the link in post?

Cpriebe's picture
On August 2nd, 2021 Cynthia Priebe said:

Here is where the confusion could set in! We no longer go to Customer Templates, Item Templates or Vendor Templates. These list pages and their related tables (1381, 1382, 1383) are no longer used. Any additions or changes to templates through these pages will have no effect on the templates users select from customers, items or vendors. I would suggest disabling access to these tables through permissions so that these can no longer be selected. You must go to either Templates (to use the template card,) or Configuration Templates to open the “back door.” Both lists use the Config. Template Header (Table 8618) giving us one place to manage all templates regardless of master data source. My tests were done using Version: US Business Central 18.3 (Platform 18.0.27224.28437 + Application 18.3.27240.27381.)

Cpriebe's picture
On August 2nd, 2021 Cynthia Priebe said:

Here is where the confusion could set in! We no longer go to Customer Templates, Item Templates or Vendor Templates. These list pages and their related tables (1381, 1382, 1383) are no longer used. Any additions or changes to templates through these pages will have no effect on the templates users select from customers, items or vendors. I would suggest disabling access to these tables through permissions so that these can no longer be selected. You must go to either Templates (to use the template card,) or Configuration Templates to open the “back door.” Both lists use the Config. Template Header (Table 8618) giving us one place to manage all templates regardless of master data source. My tests were done using Version: US Business Central 18.3 (Platform 18.0.27224.28437 + Application 18.3.27240.27381.)

sebastiendb9's picture
On January 13th, 2022 Sébastien D B said:

I'm sorry but this is simply not true in my BE Business Central 19.2 (Platform 19.0.32956.34472 + Application 19.2.32968.33612). Just like my first comment, this functionality is broken since they changed it with the preview feature and it is now generally available, but the problem isn't solved.
When creating a new item you get to chose an "Item Template" table 1382, you DO NOT get to chose a configuration template.

The functionality in this blog post doesn't work any more.

Please vote to fix it:
https://experience.dynamics.com/ideas/idea/?ideaid=37bc53d5-dbdf-eb11-ba...

Cpriebe's picture
On January 21st, 2022 Cynthia Priebe said:

Check out my follow-up article explaining the changes made to templates and how to find them. I think you will find it helpful!

"Oh no! Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central "shut the back door" on Customer, Vendor, Item, and Employee Templates"

https://msdynamicsworld.com/story/oh-no-microsoft-dynamics-365-business-...

dhoward911's picture
On November 4th, 2021 Dale Howard said:

I created a template as you explained above. In the template I marked 4 fields as mandatory. After enabling the template, I added a new customer and it didn't require me to populate the fields that I had marked as mandatory. Does this Mandatory option not work or did I do something wrong?

Cpriebe's picture
On November 5th, 2021 Cynthia Priebe said:

So I think this setting is very misleading. Mandatory in the configuration template tool tip indicates that "Mandatory" specifies whether it is required that there be data in the field in the data template not the record you are creating using the template.

dhoward911's picture
On November 4th, 2021 Dale Howard said:

When I go to add a customer, it shows me a list of all of the enabled templates. How do i add a customer if I don't want to use any of the templates?

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