Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the cloud-based ERP solution that delivers the latest, online, evergreen platform with a depth of functionality built over 20 years.
At its core, Dynamics 365 Business Central enhances the user experience, streamlines business processes and gives real-time insights to help organisations of all sizes be more productive and efficient.
That said, the benefits of this cloud-based solution aren't limited to the main operational challenges; it offers additional benefits that may be smaller but are just as powerful. Here are five D365 Business Central features that make life easier for your finance team:
Access Anywhere on Web Browsers, Tablet or Phone
As a cloud-based ERP, Dynamics 365 Business Central gives greater flexibility to users. All that's needed to access applications is a modern browser with an Internet connection – no VPNs or downloads required! The Dynamics 365 Business Central App from the Google Play or Apple App Store offers the same functionalities as the desktop, which make it ideal for users and teams to work from any device, anytime, anywhere.
Teams outside of the finance department can also benefit from the increased convenience to self-serve and have read-only access to the relevant data (available at £6 per user per month) which significantly reduces the need for ad-hoc financial reports.
And thanks to Microsoft's Azure Active Directory, users accessing the application on their devices will enjoy a seamless, automatic sign-in (Single Sign-On) experience that comes with a secure, encrypted connection.
Improved Audit Trail and Efficiency While Maintaining Control
Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Business Central has two workflow engines, and within it, are standard templates that users can easily configure. This allows the finance department to delegate work whilst keeping control.
In a real-world environment, for instance, salespeople can create new customer master data – filling in the information they have gathered during their sales process. However, until finance approves the workflow, the salesperson cannot commit the company to working with them. Finance ensures that T&Cs are in place and that credit checks are done to reduce the risk for the company – and workflow means that they'll only need to focus on their key areas: financial information and risk management.
Easy Ad-hoc Reporting With Filters
Filters are at the heart of Business Central, and this user-friendly functionality offers a robust, sophisticated and versatile selection of ways to efficiently find information.
Whether it's a list of large invoices or items in a particular category with an inventory balance, D365 Business Central's filters can quickly generate a list for ease of auditing and, of course, exporting to Excel in just a few clicks.
As a bonus of this feature, you can also choose to save the generated 'report' (view) to save time when you want to create a quick filtered list.
"Mini Excel" in Dynamics 365 Business Central
Account Schedules and Analysis by Dimensions are often overlooked within Dynamics 365 Business Central. Yet, these two tools deliver insightful reporting and analytics by allowing users to take a subset of data, 're-format' the layouts of their chart of accounts and presenting it in a summarised manner – all of which are especially useful for financial reporting.
And as the values shown here are also live, this functionality within D365 Business Central can quickly drill down and confirm the underlying transactions.
In the same manner, users can add different columns to show the difference on a monthly, yearly or annual basis, among others as comparable to Excel.
Effortless Implementation and Compliance with Legislation
Using a cloud-based solution like D365 Business Central means it will always run on the latest available version. And complying with the newest government legislation is as easy as adding a new extension or 'add-on' from the Microsoft AppSource platform.
One great example of this was during the most recent Making Tax Digital legislation. Here, users of Dynamics 365 received smooth implementation and immediate compliance with the new rules in place thanks to the readily available extension offered by Microsoft.
To find out more about how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can help you accelerate, optimise and improve your business processes, get in touch with one of IT Lab’s specialist ERP consultants today.
