Reporting

Intro to Configurable Business Documents – Part 1 of 3

How do we generate configurable business documents for our customers in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations? You will find only very basic documentation on Microsoft Docs, so you will need to watch quite some available webinars on the internet to get a bit of an idea.

The big advantage of configurable business documents lies clearly in the word “configurable”. Configurable business documents are not part of the software anymore, they are not a matter of development but rather of setup. Creating and updating business documents is no longer part of the software development and release process. Adding or removing fields, adjusting the document layout and formatting, changing the document data sources and designs, it can all be done at any time directly from within the D365FO production environment itself. So configurable business documents provide much more flexibility than SSRS reports and there is no more need for deployments!

The business document management audience targeted by Microsoft are business users. No knowledge of the Electronic Reporting (ER) framework is supposed to be required and as usual it is all very simple and fast… OK, back to reality! The out-of-the-box business documents hardly ever meet the customer’s requirements and the layouts usually need to be completely turned upside down. Because generating configurable business documents proves to be a quite complex and therefore time-consuming process the business user will soon hand it over to a functional consultant, who in turn will seek help from a developer because a deep understanding of the data structure is needed. Apart from that, the user experience is not yet very friendly, the design is difficult, troubleshooting is not easy and some of the features are still unstable resulting in errors like “Something went wrong, but we were able to recover your session”. Let us say there is room for improvement…

In this small series of blogs I will share my first experience with configurable business documents on a customer project and summarize and briefly explain the necessary steps to be taken. But before doing so I will try to answer the following question.

What are Configurable Business Documents?

Configurable business documents are built on top of the ER framework and basically consist of ER configurations plus templates. The following three types of reporting configurations are always involved, working closely together:

Data Model

This defines the logical data tree structure with the necessary data fields as required by the business domain for which it will be used. Good examples are the Order model, Waybill model, Invoice model and Reminder model.

Data Model Mapping

This connects the data model elements with its data sources in database, classes, calculated fields, etcetera, from where the data will come at runtime.

Format

This defines the output data tree structure for the template and its mapping to the data model. It includes templates in Excel and Word.

The data model is in fact in the center, with on the one side the mapping with the data sources and on the other side the output mapping with the format template. The flow looks like this:

At execution time the configurable business documents still use the known Print Management functionality and the SSRS execution pipeline. But instead of generating an SSRS report and sending it to an SSRS print destination, the configurable business documents flow as depicted above is executed, generating an output document and sending it to one or more ER destinations.
The main purpose of configurable business documents is to replace the SSRS reports and to make customization of business documents like order confirmations, invoices, collection letters, etcetera much easier and less costly.

Required setup

Before we can make our hands dirty, we must first do some minimal configuration activities:
• Make sure that in the Feature Management workspace the following features are enabled:
o Business document management.
o Convert Electronic Reporting outbound documents from Microsoft Office formats to PDF.
• In the Electronic Reporting workspace, we create a configuration provider for our customer besides the one for Microsoft. After this we set it active and define a configuration repository for the newly created configuration provider via the Repositories link on the new tile (see picture below).

My favorite type of repository used to be LCS, because it worked fine for me to do maintenance and distribution to other environments. But recently Microsoft decided to deprecate LCS as an ER configuration storage type and now recommends us to use the Global repository instead. Via the below link in the ER workspace a special Regulatory Configuration Services environment (RCS, nothing more than a stripped down D365FO environment) can be provisioned in which the customer’s ER configurations will have to be maintained.

This forces us to move all existing business document configurations to this new provisioned environment. A migration option like for example importing these configurations directly from LCS does not exist. Another thing is that the new environment does not contain any D365FO metadata. So, in addition to the business document configurations also metadata configurations need to be created and moved over to the new environment. Hopefully, Microsoft will come up soon with a solution to support this imposed migration to RCS.
• Setup the following ER parameters:
o Set Enable design mode to Yes, otherwise we cannot do anything.
o Define a File document type and assign it on the Attachments tab.

After this has been done, we should be ready to go!

In the next blog of this series you will learn where to start and how to derive configurations, we discuss repositories and take a look at the format designer. Till next time!

Please read the other related articles on this link https://kaya-consulting.com/category/Business-Documents/

ERP: Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning, a different Approach (Part 4)

This is the fourth blog in our series regarding Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning processes as we experience them at our customers and how these processes can be done in a different way.
As we stated earlier Kaya has selected Board International as her preferred CPM/EPM tool. In this blog we will elaborate on the reasons why Board International (hereafter called Board) is our preferred tool and why Kaya became implementation partner of this tool.

The research

As mentioned in our previous blog following functionality can be expected in a typical CPM-tool:
● Financial budgeting and planning
● Integrated financial planning
● Financial forecasting and modelling
● Management and performance reporting
● Financial consolidation
● Financial reporting
● Reconciliation management
● Close management
● Intercompany transactions
● Disclosure management

There is some overlap with functionality of Dynamics AX/365 for F&S (for instance financial consolidation, reconciliation management and intercompany transactions). However as it turned out, and what we hoped for, functionality is in various areas richer or more flexible than the functionality of the Microsoft ERP stack and CPM tools are focussing on analysis/reporting of data.
As mentioned before all CPM tools we compared where measured against below criteria
● To what extent is above functionality present in the solution
● To what extent adds the tool functionality for a user also using Dynamics AX/365 (functionality which is good in Dynamics AX/365 doesn’t have to be present or can be somewhat mediocre)
● How user friendly is the solution
● To what extent is coding necessary to implement the solution
● Can a power user/key user extent the solution if and when needed
● Link/interfacing with Microsoft products, like Microsoft Office (Excel)
● Can data easily imported in /exported from the solution
● How is maintenance organized

Strengths and capabilities of Board

As Board is a complete CPM-tool we don’t go in all the details below, we will only focus on key capabilities that really caught our attention.
The Board solution comprises of one (Cloud)platform which covers all functionality listed above. As mentioned some functionality is not necessarily needed alongside Dynamics AX/365 but it is good the functionality is present. We found that various other CPM solutions consisted of different modules that had to linked/configures/installed in order to be able to work as “one” solution.
The reporting capabilities of Board are extensive and sufficient to cover all reporting needs as mentioned above. In case an organization already uses Microsoft PowerBI in connection with Dynamics AX/365 there is no need to use Board instead for reporting, but Board can supply comparable reports.
A very nice feature of Board is the Office add-on. This ensures that end users still can use Excel to upload data to Board. However the add-on ensures that only relevant fields can be changed/updated by users, so the possibility to create multiple truths by end users is delimited in this way. Also data from Board can be used in Powerpoint and Word. This gives the opportunity to create in a very fast way reporting at the end of a fiscal period (literally with the press of a button).
Configuring of financial models and creating apps (in Board term capsules) can be done without coding. This ensures that key-users at customers can create and extend apps themselves and are not, or at least very limited, dependent on their implementation partner for the implementing and maintaining of their Board solution. This also means that there is not one solution to be used by every customer but a solution tailored upon the (changing) needs of an organization.
As a result of the above, an implementation of Board is an Agile undertaking. Prior to the start of an implementation a customer, or more specifically the key-user(s) of the customer, are trained in how to use the Board platform and how to create an app. In a number of iterations/cycles the solution for the customer is created and can be used. Implementations go swiftly and what usually happens is that after introduction of Board an increasing number of departments start using Board but not all departments right from the start (the customer grows into Board).
Another benefit of Board is that multiple data-sources can be uploaded into Board, so not only transactions from an ERP system, but also CRM information for instance. “Every” database can be uploaded and used within Board. This gives enormous opportunities to analyse various data within the Board platform. The Board database is a so called in memory database, so performance of the database is outstanding.
Also predictive analysis capabilities are available in standard, which can help making forecasts an even more interesting exercise (comparing a forecast made by humans to a forecast made by “the system”).
As mentioned earlier, these are some highlights, but they gave us the assurance that Board can help our customers succeeding to achieve a higher level as an organization.

What’s next

If you are interested, Kaya can discuss (and demo) what Board can do in your situation. As the COVID pandemic has shown that organizations really need a tool which can help them to have a proper understanding of how they are doing and what the influence is/will be of certain circumstances to their business. In our next blog we will go deep dive into the concept of integrated (or intelligent) business planning and how this can be achieved with Board and how this can benefit an organization in times of a severe crisis or market disturbance.

Look for other related blogs at https://kaya-consulting.com/category/board/

ERP: Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning, a different Approach (Part 3)

This is the third blog in our series regarding Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning processes as we experience them at our customers and how these processes can be done in a different way.
As we concluded at the end of our previous blog Kaya has selected Board International as her preferred CPM/EPM tool or CFPA/CFC tool as Gartner would call it. In this blog we will elaborate on what a CPM tool is and how we conducted our research which led to the conclusion that Board International (hereafter called Board) is our preferred tool and why Kaya became implementation partner of this tool.

The competition

As mentioned in our previous blog Kaya selected a number of US and/or Europe based solutions to be analysed and compared. We selected following solutions :
• Adaptive Insights
• Anaplan
• Board International
• CCH Tagetik
• Host Analytics
• Jedox
• Workiva.

Adaptive insights, Anaplan, Host Analytics and Workiva are US based solutions, while the others have an European origin. All of these solutions are used “globally” and vendors have offices in various countries. Most of these vendors are already many years active in the EPM/CPM market.

What functionality to expect of a CPM solution

Typically, below functionality will be present in a CPM solution (first 4 bullets are specifically financial planning and analysis, the other ones are more related to financial close process)

• Financial budgeting and planning. The financial budgeting process sets short-term targets for revenue, expenditure and cash generation, usually with a one-year horizon. Most of the times it uses financial classifications found in the general ledger to classify financial goals and targets. Its normally acts as a fixed control mechanism and is performed by the CFO.
Traditional office-of-finance-oriented planning and forecasting processes consist of a financial modelling engine, with integrated profit-and-loss balance sheet and cash flow forecasting. These capabilities support the creation, review and approval of financially focussed plans and forecast, as well as their associated workflow. These capabilities should also maintain an audit trail of all associated activities.
• Integrated financial planning. This area joins the financial planning components of other business domains, such as workforce and sales, with those of corporate finance. More-innovative initiatives can also be used to meet organization-wide requirements in specific areas, thereby improving overall performance management needs.
• Financial forecasting and modelling. Capabilities in this area are enabled through corporate planning and modelling and “point” solutions that provide best-practice capabilities, especially for the more-flexible, end-user-driven corporate planning and modelling initiatives.
• Management and performance reporting. Performance reporting takes management reporting to a new level of inclusion and ease of use. Its collaboration capabilities transforms traditional management accounting reports into “performance playbooks” that take a more inclusive approach to explaining results. Performance reporting incorporates operational results, financial results and enhanced narratives (narrative reporting).
• Financial consolidation. Bring together financial information from multiple General Ledger sources, while providing eliminations of intercompany accounting and booking for joint-venture and non-General Ledger business units. It may include support for developing a financial consolidation instance, for the purpose of tax data provisioning, to help the tax organization prepare returns and plan. Even with a single General Ledger, an organization may still have complex financial consolidation needs, but small and midsize organizations with limited legal entities may not require complex financial consolidation capabilities.
• Financial reporting. This component provides financial-accounting-based reporting to meet the demands of regulators, investors and tax authorities, and to inform the organization’s operational and strategic financial management.
• Reconciliation management. This component manages the financial accounting reconciliations between feeder systems, bank accounts, subledgers and the General Ledger. It is not inclusive of vertically focused operational reconciliations (that is, financial services operational reconciliations).
• Close management. This component confers the ability to manage the financial close, including activities spanning accounting cycles. Capabilities include functions of close management, close “cockpits” that span ERP and post-ERP processes, and journal entry control.
• Intercompany transactions. This component confers abilities to approve at a voucher level and to handle accounting transactions across multiple General Ledgers and legal entities. This function works closely with intercompany reconciliation.
• Disclosure management. This component confers the ability to support multiple regulatory requirements for disclosure reporting, including eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and in-line XBRL (iXBRL) tagging. It may also provide “board book” capability and form the foundation for performance reporting within financial planning and analysis.

When one looks at this list the idea can arise that there exist an overlap with some functionality of Dynamics AX/365 for F&S. To some extent this is true, but bear in mind that usually the functionality of a CPM solution is “deeper” than the functionality in these ERP tools. Besides from that the focus of an ERP tool is registration of (financial) transactions, where in a CPM tool the focus is on analysis of (financial) transactions and prediction of (financial) transactions.

Criteria used for selecting Kaya’s CPM partner

Given the task to compare the various solutions we needed some criteria to determine which of the solutions would best fit the needs of our customers and prospects. This led to following list (most important criteria are listed):
• To what extent is above functionality present in the solution
• To what extent adds the tool functionality for a user also using Dynamics AX/365 (functionality which is good in Dynamics AX/365 doesn’t have to be present or can be somewhat mediocre), for instance predictive analytical capabilities
• How user friendly is the solution (for example how easy is it to create a rolling forecast, ease of data input)
• To what extent is coding necessary to implement the solution (low coding/no coding)
• Can a power user/key user extent the solution if and when needed
• Link/interfacing with Microsoft products, like Microsoft Office (Excel)
• Can data easily imported in /exported from the solution
• How is maintenance organized

Outcome of our analysis

The result of our analysis is known. Kaya found Board the best tool to combine with Dynamics AX/365 compared to other solutions investigated. In our next blog we will go more into the details of our preference for Board and why we think this application is a good extension to implement next to Dynamics AX/365.

Look for other related blogs at https://kaya-consulting.com/category/board/

ERP: Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning, a different Approach (Part 2)

This is the second blog regarding Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning processes as we experience them at our customers and how these processes can be done in a different way.
As mentioned in our previous blog when making plans, budgets and forecasts there is a need for flexibility like Excel offers, but reports based on these should not give the opportunity of “multiple truths” like is experienced often in organizations relying on Excel for reporting as well.

So what kind of solutions are available to fill the need described above where the organization is using an ERP solution for (most of) its back-office processes? When challenged by this question we went on a quest to find these solutions

Solutions for forecasting, budgeting and planning (CPM/EPM)

As the processes we wanted to support had a primary financial focus we started looking for financial planning and analysis solutions. It appeared that solutions that were labelled as CPM/EPM (Corporate Performance Management/Enterprise Performance Management) solutions contained the functionality we, and our customers, were looking for. Nowadays these solutions are labelled as CFPA (Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis solution). It also appeared that (most of) these solutions also had functionality on board to be classified as CFC (Cloud Financial Close solution).

The solutions that are already longer on the market have offered their functionality in the past on premise, but the major vendors now offer all a cloud based solution. The underlying technology can be Microsoft based, but there are also solutions based on Oracle technology. As Kaya is an organization which implements and supports ERP systems from the Microsoft stack we focused on CPM tools based on Microsoft technology, This meant that solutions of Oracle and SAP were out of scope for us.

Major vendors of CPM software

During our analysis of the various vendors of CPM software we focussed on a number of major players (as identified by Gartner) with the exception as mentioned before. In order to limit the number of solutions further we only looked into solutions that were, preferably, both listed as CFPA and CFC solution. This made that solutions like Blackline were out of scope. We added this extra criterium, not only to limit the number of solutions to analyse, but also to ensure we should end up with a solution which can be used for multiple purposes in order to be able to support our customers in a more “ERP” like way.

Following US and/or Europe based solutions have been analysed by us (in alphabetical order):
• Adaptive Insights
• Anaplan
• Board International
• CCH Tagetik
• Host Analytics
• Jedox
• Workiva.

Which solution did Kaya select for a partnership

After comparing the various solutions mentioned above Kaya decided to apply for a partnership with Board International. After training of Kaya staff (both technical as functional), Kaya was awarded the status of implementation partner. In our next blog we will elaborate on the reasons why Kaya wanted to become a partner of Board International and why Kaya thinks that the combination of Dynamics AX or D365 for Finance & Supply Chain and Board international is a winning combination.

Look for other related blogs at https://kaya-consulting.com/category/board/

ERP: Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning, a different Approach (Part 1)

This is the first blog regarding ERP Forecasting, Budgeting and Planning processes as we experience them at our customers and how these processes can be done in a different way.

Kaya’s customers are using predominantly an ERP application of the Microsoft stack, being Dynamics AX or D365 for Finance (and Operations/Supply Chain); given the size and complexity of processes to be supported Business Central and its D365 successor are not common at our clients. As ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning one could, and should, expect that an ERP solution can be used to (easily) plan resources (financial, human, material) of a company/enterprise. In reality this appears to be not so easy and user friendly as one would hope and expect.

Functionality for forecasting, budgeting and planning in D365/Dynamics AX

In Dynamics AX and its successor D365 for Finance & Supply Chain there is functionality present to do forecasting and planning like MRP, production planning, project planning (Work Breakdown Structure), cash flow prognosis, forecasts on purchase and sales, project and ledger budgets. When using this functionality, it appears that configuration is not easy (initially) and requires quite an effort. After that, the forecast/budget/planning in many cases must be created with a periodic option.
For some of this functionality like MRP this is not a problem as input for such processes is based on inventory transactions which are registered in the solution and form a solid basis for the MRP run. This is however not applicable for all functionalities mentioned above. Especially where financial planning is involved D365 and its predecessors are lacking flexibility. Creating an additional scenario and calculate that is cumbersome and error prone and results in additional transactions in the system.

Common forecasting and budgeting process

So, what usually happens is that a financial forecast is calculated outside D365, mostly in Excel (Excel is still widely used at financial departments in conjunction with accounting software for the standard financial activities). Usually various scenarios are calculated, and one scenario is designated to be the (next) budget. After this has been done the result is uploaded into D365/AX.
Once the budget is uploaded transactions are posted and reporting is done on actuals versus budget (on multiple periods, comparing previous periods to present periods, year to date etc.) In some cases, this reporting is even done outside D365/AX by exporting transactional data to a Data warehouse or to Excel (there are lots of organizations who still rely on Excel for their reporting needs). Organizations that rely on Excel for their reporting needs often experience internal conflicts as staff/departments create their own reports which are supposed to report on the same issue, but the data reported on is open for multiple interpretation or uses a slightly different data set.

The challenge

So, where does this come down to? There is a need for flexibility in planning and budgeting (like present in Excel) but the reporting should be more rigid (like the transactions stored in D365/AX). How to realize that? That will be the subject of the next part of this series of blogs.

Look for other related blogs at https://kaya-consulting.com/category/board/