How to Create & Manage Budget in Dynamics 365 Business Central

Creating budgets in Dynamics 365 Business Central

The term ‘budget’ refers to a financial document that describes in detail the earning and expenditure of an individual or an organization. In the arena of business intelligence budget refers to the actual financial actions taken based on the forecast. Dynamics 365 Business Central provides multiple advantages to user organizations in the form of Finance reports.

These can be listed as follows: –

• Designing more than one budget for the same period.
• Designing simple or complex budgets by choosing a combination of several dimensions.
• Copying the previous budgets to revise the financial numbers. This is done with the use of an adjustment factor.
• Exporting or importing budgets from Excel.

Budget dimensions are used by users to customize the budget or add dimensional information into the entries in the budget. The method of setting up a budget in Business Central follows the below-mentioned steps-

1. Go to the search for the page icon in the top most corner of the page on the right hand side. Here type G/L Budgets. Then select the provided link.
2. Click on new.
3. The name field appears. Here provides a unique title for the budget.
4. In the description field, write a brief description of the budget.
5. The budget dimension code field appears. Click the drop-down list. Then choose the dimensions as required.

Finally, a new budget is created for the user organization.

Configuring financial reports using account schedules:

An account schedule page is a prerequisite to be fulfilled before customizing financial reports in Dynamics 365 business central. This can be created in the below mentioned manner-

• Click on the search icon and type Account Schedules. Then click on the related link
• The Account schedules page appears. Click on new. This creates a fresh name for the specified account
• Complete filling the fields as required
• Select the edit account schedule option
• Then design a row for every financial element
• Click on overview. This displays the created financial report.
• Click on the OK option

After the account schedule is created, customization can be made in the fiscal report. These customization are done in the column layout. This option states the columns that will be visible in the report. The edits to the report can be performed in the following manner-

• In the account schedules page, click on the desired schedule of account.
• Select edit column layout setup action
• The column layout page opens. Design a row for each column in which financial data is displayed
• Click on the OK button
• Click on the account schedule Overview page at times to check whether the customization to the report function well

Applying Dimensions in the Financial Reports of Dynamics 365 Business Central

Organizations use dimensions to analyse financial information. This gives the company a deep understanding of the financial status and the extent to which the business is successful. Companies can also get an idea of whether or not the resource allocation patterns are delivering optimum results. The page of dimensions creates a G/L balance and gives the analysis of the financial entries in a dimensional method.

The format for this analysis can be pre-determined by the user. The dimension can be added to the existing fiscal report in the following manner :-

1. In the search for the page icon, type a chart for accounts. Then open the given link
2. Click on navigate
3. Then select balance
4. Next click on G/L balance by dimension
5. The general fast tab appears. Here specify the lines and columns to be depicted.
6. In the filters, the tab enters the filters related to date, account and other information.
7. Within the options tab enter options like amounts to be displayed, closed entries and others.
8. In the matrix options, the fast tab the period length and the method of displaying amounts can be entered.
9. Finally, click on the shown matrix

Forecasting Cash Flow using Dynamics 365 Business Central:

The cash flow forecasting feature in Dynamics 365 is very useful for the business industry. An organization can use this feature to predict the flow of revenue into its accounts in the future. The pattern in which cash flows within the company is representative of the financial stability of its business.

This helps the company to understand whether it’s commitments will be met in time. Along with this, to maintain the financial stability of the organization, a predictive application is needed. The application uses the currency data models of the past to create a prediction of future revenues.

In addition to this, the method is used to identify the surplus or deficit revenue earned. As a result, companies can easily scale their business performance through this simple method. Multiple sources can be used to create predictive cash flows. Some of these include: –

• Cortana Intelligence
• Expenditures
• Liquid funds
• Assets that have been fixed
• Tax amounts

The cash flow forecast can be created using a specific three-tier method. It is as follows: –

Step 1– Creating a Cash Flow account

The following steps lead to the creation of a cash flow account :-

1. Click on Search for the page icon on the top end corner on the right-hand side of the page. Type chart for creating an account to store the flow of cash. Select and open the given link
2. Click on new
3. The number field is displayed. Type a no
4. In the field of name, enter a name
5. The account type field appears. Click one among the following-
6. Entry
7. Heading
8. Total
9. Begin-total
10. End-total
11. The source type field appears. Click on one of the sources from balance, budget or both.
12. The customization for the G/L account needs to be specifically mentioned if the G/L assimilation is fixed.

Step 2 – Designing the terms for the terms of paying the cash flow:-

The following points will lead to the creation of cash flow payment terms-

1. Open the search for page icon. Type the customers and open the related link.
2. Click the customer card.
3. Open the Payments Fast Tab
4. Select the option show more to view the other fields.
5. Type and fill the cash flow payments terms code

Step 3 – Customizing the cash flow set up a page

The following customization need to be made final before the cash flow projections are created-

1. Automated update frequency
2. Financial Accounts
3. Series used in the forecast
4. Payment frequency for taxes
5. Period of filing taxes
6. The account type for the tax balance
7. The account used for filing the taxes
8. Cortana Intelligence

Setting up XBRL reports in Dynamics 365 Business Central:

eXtensible Language is used for reporting purposes in the business industry. It is a commonly availed language used by several business organizations. This is abbreviated as XBRL and is a language framework acceptable worldwide. The basic aim of the language is to aid the exchange of information.

XBRL helps to understand the logic of the information at hand which is a primary requirement in business functions. Generally, the language is used by companies to perform the perfect analysis and sharing of organizational data. In the contemporary era, financial reporting has become simpler and effective through the use of XBRL.

The basic aim behind designing the language was to set a generalized standard in the field of financial reporting. The set standard helps financial institutions like banks and government authorities to create optimum financial reports. The financial reporting functions within organizations can include the following:

• Statements of finance
• Information regarding current financial status
• Data beyond the finances
• Filing of annual financial reports and tax accounts

There are some terms attached to the XBRL in Dynamics 365 Business Central. They are as follows: –

1. XBRL Instance Document.
2. XBRL Schema
3. XBRL Specification and
4. XBRL Taxonomy

In this context, XBRL Instance Document is a type of document of finance or a report. This document is designed according to the specifications of the XBRL. The user of Dynamics 365 Business central is required to create financial reports in the XBRL format.

This means that the report can be accessed with the in business central. The document created in this format would contain the required data about the company’s finances. The document can be created in the below-mentioned manner : –

1. On the right-hand side of the page in the top corner, choose the Select for Page icon.
2. In this type XBRL Spec.2 Instance Document. After this click on the link provided.
3. The XBRL Taxonomy Name field appears. Here select one of the displayed taxonomies.
4. The Label Language Field appears. Type en.
5. Click on the Create File to create a report.
6. Type a beginning date.
7. Select the number of periods.
8. Type a period length. For instance, type 2Y for a length of 2 years.
9. Click on the Document Complete checkbox.
10. The XBRL Taxonomy Line Fast tab appears. The customization regarding dimensions and business tabs have to be completed.
11. Choose Preview to check the document.

Finally, save this newly created document in the desktop.

Budget Reporting in Business Central:

Companies in the modern world require advanced analytics to perform various business-related functions. Along with this, they require advanced financial technologies that assist them in understanding their current financial status. This can further contribute to devising methods to tackle financial risks in the future. Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed to help organizations in creating budgets and creating forecasts for their cash flows. This is a viable replacement for the manual budgeting techniques employed earlier.