The Complete Guide to Business Central Reporting

Companies use reports for multiple purposes, including communicating the current financial state of the company. To achieve this, they require business tools that can accurately organize data, enabling quick access to vital information. Dynamics 365 Business Central supports all aspects of reporting, including financial and sales. The platform also integrates with third-party tools like Jet Reports, used to create reports directly in Excel. Let’s look at different aspects of Business Central and some best practices for effective reporting. 

How Reporting Works in Business Central

Business Central covers multiple organizational functions, including:

Financial analysis: Business Central provides various reports, including income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. You can also use the Dimensions capability to analyze financial data at multiple levels. Business Central also supports budgeting by allowing organizations to import and export information from Excel and set up multiple budget variations to examine different scenarios. 

Operational insights: You can set up standardized reports across departments for sales, purchasing, inventory, and the warehouse. Business Central also integrates with Power BI, allowing operational teams to create visuals that track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as inventory turnover, customer satisfaction metrics, and delivery timelines.

Compliance and auditing: Business Central offers robust reporting features to support compliance and auditing, including audit and change logs. You can set up field-level auditing to track specific fields in tables. Additionally, organizations can establish detailed general ledger (GL) reports to track transactions across customer and vendor ledgers, bank accounts, and the General Ledger.

Strategic decision-making: The reports generated in Business Central enable decision-makers to make informed decisions supported by data. For example, a Vice President might decide to move forward with authorizing a new product based on feedback from a report indicating that a similar product is performing well. 

Business Central Report Types

Every company has unique needs, which is why Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a range of options. Companies can work with reports right out of the box or set up a Business Central custom report. Let’s take a closer look at the reporting options available in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. 

Standard Reports

Business Central standard reports are ideal for companies that require immediate insights without the need for a lot of customization.

• Aged accounts receivable and payable: You can review analysis of any receivables or payables grouped by due date. A finance manager might pull this type of report to follow up on how many overdue payments are on the books or to assess the risk of extending additional credit to a customer.
• Trial balance: This report summarizes general ledger accounts and balances for a specific period to confirm that debits equal all credits. Many companies use this type of report as part of their month-end closing process. Accounting also uses a trial balance report to validate Business Central financial reporting data integrity and generate a financial statement.
• Customer and vendor reports: You can look at details of transactions for customers and vendors, including payments and invoices. Your sales team can analyze consumer buying patterns to determine how to approach potential leads.
• Inventory valuation: These reports help inventory managers track stock levels and inform their purchasing decisions. Inventory valuation reports are helpful when performing year-end inventory reconciliations.
• Sales and purchase reports: Sales managers rely on these reports to review details and track individual sales KPIs, including those by customer and vendor.
• Cash flow forecast and statement: Businesses analyze these reports to assess their current financial status and project their future liquidity based on current cash flows. 

Custom Reports

If your company needs something not covered by Business Central’s standard reports, the platform allows for custom reports. Businesses can obtain tailored insights by building reports using AL code in Visual Studio Code, report extensions, or other reporting tools. 

Examples of custom reports you can build in Business Central include:

• Department-specific reports: You can set up a custom dashboard to display information, including sales trends, top-selling products, and regional growth.
• Project cost analysis: A warehouse company can create a report that allows managers to quickly view time sheet summaries, current purchase orders, and job ledger entries.
• Shipping documents: If customers request an invoice or require specially formatted quotes, you can create custom reports in Business Central to fulfill their needs. Companies can use specific fonts, layouts, and item descriptions. 

In addition to AL code, developers can use RDLC files or Word layouts to change up the presentation. 

Jet Reports in Business Central

You can integrate Jet Reports, an Excel-based reporting solution, into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. This integration allows analysts to use Business Central information to build financial and operational reports in Excel. It’s a nice alternative for users who are accustomed to Excel but would like to leverage the more powerful capabilities available in Business Central. That way, they can still perform functions like creating Business Central sales reports in a platform they’re more comfortable with.

To work with Business Central Jet Reports, you’ll need to install the Jet Report add-in from the InsightSoftware site. From there, you can use the Jet Admin Console to connect to Business Central. Once that’s done, you can use familiar jet functions like GL() and NP() to pull data from Business Central. 

In addition to sales reports, you can use Jets Reports with Business Central to:

• Create customized income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements
• Monitor inventory levels
• Review data at a department level, including HR and operations, using KPIs from Business Central

Best Practices for Business Central Reporting

Before you begin, have a clear understanding of the report's purpose. Who is the report meant for, and what decisions will it drive? Is it a report that must be run daily, weekly, or quarterly? If you don’t understand the goal of a report, you may end up adding clutter to an overindexed report base. 

Don’t use a capability because it’s there. Dimensions are great for categorizing data. However, be careful to create structures that align with your current reporting needs. Make sure you tag transactions correctly to keep your reports accurate.  

Finally, tap into the standard reports provided by Business Central. They may be sufficient for everyday tasks. Only tap into Business Central custom reports if there is a unique scenario not covered by the provided reports. 

Make Reporting More Efficient With IES

Internet eBusiness Solutions (IES) can guide you in creating a reporting infrastructure that helps your organization make more informed decisions. Learn about our services by contacting one of our representatives.