Customer Service is one of the essential segments of any business if they want to become successful. Every single thing about it does matter. Dynamics 365 for customer service is one of the tools that a business can use to improve brand loyalty and also to improvise the value that the companies offer to their clients. Any company that wants to improve in this segment needs to work on this thing. D365 Customer Service will set your company apart from the rest of the firms out there. This software will help you stay ahead of the customer’s expectations and to resolve their concerns a lot faster. Customers can reach out to the company a lot quicker and get resolutions for the problems they are facing at a much faster pace. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE streamlines the way your employees communicate with customers and enhances their ability to collaborate. Problem Statement Clients implement D365 CE for all departments also need home/landing/default page for each department. This blog will help you to configure default URI for each department in D365 CE implementation for Company. Configuration Steps 1.       Open Dynamics 365 Sales app 2.       Navigate to “My Apps” in Settings group 3.       Open Manage Roles Click on ellipses(…) and pop-up open, click on Manager Role 4.       Setup App URL Enter URL Suffix e.g. SL and automatically URL is generated. 5.       Setup Roles Roles are assigned to URL, Users with specific roles can only access App. 6.       Copy URL and click Save button also share with Users for opening. Conclusion After following above configuration steps, we can share App URL with Sales Department similarly we can configure for Customer Service, Project Service, Field Service or any custom App share with the respective department. Hope this blog helps you to configure Department-wise or based on App for a group of people.

Introduction This blog explains how to use “startswith” filter query in MS Flow. Use Case Using MS Flows to retrieve the bunch of students who’s mobile numbers begin with +91 and send them a text (using Twilio connector) regarding the Top Indian Universities. The “starts with” filter query in MS Flows allows to easily achieve this functionality. Steps to be Followed: We will use “Dynamics 365 – List records” Actions. Enter the Organization Name and select the entity. Filter Query: startswith(new_phonenumber,’+91′) “new_phonenumber” is the logical name of the field which stores the phone number of students. ‘+91’ is the value of phone number by which we want to filter the retrieved student list. Enter the above query in Filter Query: Run the flow to test.It will return all the students whose phone number starts with “+91”

Creating a pro forma invoice on dynamics 365 for finance and operations is a pretty straightforward task. A pro forma invoice is a crucial financial document that people use in businesses. In a nutshell, a pro forma invoice is more or less like an estimate that companies share with their client before sending them the actual invoice. The actual amounts can change if there is a difference in the quantity of material as well as the labor before preparing the final bill. Many people struggle to locate, view, or to print this document on dynamics 365 as it can be confusing. In this article I am going to demonstrate how to view/print  pro-forma invoice. A pro forma invoice is an invoice that is prepared as an estimate of the actual invoice amounts before the invoice is posted. You can print a pro forma invoice either for a customer invoice for a sales order or for a free text invoice. Step 1: Configure Print management from  Account receivable>Setup>Forms   Step 2: Right click on Customer invoice and click New Step 3: Go to All sales orders, Select an order which is in Open state.     Step 4: Go to Invoice tab and click on Pro forma Invoice     Step 5: In Quantity select All and in Print options enable Print Invoice     Step 6: You may click on Export to save the document or print it   Hope this helps!

Introduction This blog explains how to use “contains” filter query in MS Flow. Use Case Retrieve all the Accounts whose name contains ‘cloud’. Steps to be Followed: We will use “Dynamics 365 – List records” Actions. Enter the Organization Name and entity.Filter Query: contains(name,’cloud’) name is the logical name of the field which stores the account name. ‘cloud’ is the value of account name by which we want to filter the retrieved account list. Enter the above query in Filter Query: Run the flow to test.It will return all the account whose name contains “cloud’.

Problem Definition: Post upgrading to V3 I faced issues while importing the time entries from my Resource bookings. This was not the case with V2. In V2 when I went to Import Time Entries from Resource Bookings, it used to pick up all the time entries that were in Active State. Resolution: The resolution to this was simple, but, little tricky. Below are the steps to be followed to get the issue resolved. Step 1: Go to the D365 – Custom App as shown in the below image. This will take you to the classic interface of D365 CRM as shown below. Step 2: Navigate to Settings à Customizations Step 3: Click on Customize the System This will open a screen as shown below. Step 4: Navigate to Entities- Bookable Resource Bookings – Views and open the view named Resource Bookings for Time Entries Import Step 5: Click on Edit Filter Criteria and add a condition Status  – Equals  –  Active These conditions ensure that only Active bookings are to be selected. Then click on OK and Save and Close. Finally, click on Publish All Customizations. Now when you try to import the time entries from Resource booking it will import only the Active time entries and leave behind the canceled time entries. This blog reflects my personal findings and based solely on my experience of using PSA for the last 3+ years. For those who are looking for a platform that can track and manage the entire procedures of sales and project management, I would highly recommend them to try Microsoft dynamics 365 for project service automation.

There is good news for people who were using Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation (PSA) with the latest update. Microsoft allows it’s users to make adjustments to time entry using the plain journal entry in the past. For example, if a user wants to adjust the time entry from one to three hours, they have to make a new journal entry for the three hours. But, the only problem is that you cannot track it against a particular time entry. Now, if you are using PSA V3.7, you can make the correction or adjustments on the existing time entries with ease. Here are the steps you need to follow: Problem definition: With the previous releases, PSA could allow adjustment of Time Entry hours via mere plain Journal entries. That means, if we need to adjust a couple of hours or adjust a time entry worth 4 hours, we needed to make a 4 hours journal entry, which could not be tracked against a Time entry. Problem Solution: With PSA V3.7 there is a Journal correction for Time Entries which can be done against a Time Entry done. How do we do it is shown in the below steps: Suppose we a do a Time entry of 1 hours for a Project and Submit it for approval as shown in the below screen shot. 2. Approve the same via Time Entries for approvals. 3. As soon as the time entries are approved, they get converted to Actuals. This can be validated by going to Project Contract – Select the appropriate Contract – Actuals. You will see there are 2 records that get created: 1.Cost 2.Unbilled Sales. 4. In order to get the same adjusted via Journals, go to Journal Entries, SalesàJournals and click on +New 5. Write the Description and select the Journal Type Equals “Time Correction” and Save the record. 6. Click on Browsers back button, Open the Record from Active Journal view and click on Time Entry Corrections Tab. 7.Fill in the fields: Project Project Task Time Entry Date Bookable Resource Resource Role 8. From the below grid select the Time Entry for which the correction is needed, by clicking on the Add Existing Time Entry and then select the time entry from the quick create form that opens and click on Add. 9. Post Step 7 and Step 8 is done, click on Preview Button from the Ribbon control as highlighted in the screen shot below. 10. It will highlight the Journal Lines Tab and show you the Journal Entries with negative values of the value of the time entry and there will be 4 records that can be seen. 2 with a positive value of the time entry and 2 with negative that is the Adjustment value. This is how we can do the adjustment of the time entry which indirectly creates a Journal entry against the time entry done. This blog reflects my personal findings and based solely on my experience of using PSA for last 3+ years. For those who are looking for a platform that can track and manage the entire procedures of sales and project managements, I would highly recommend them to try Microsoft dynamics 365 for project service automation.

Introduction: This blog explains how to Count No of files in SharePoint folder using MS Flow. Steps to be followed: Select “Send an HTTP request to SharePoint” from Actions.  Enter below details:Site Address: Select the site address from the list. Method: GETUri: _api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl(‘LibraryTitle/foldername’)/ItemCountExample: _api/web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl(‘account/CFS Organization_584732FD1267E911A997000D3AA2C8D1‘)/ItemCount-> It will count the no of files in “CFS Organization_584732FD1267E911A997000D3AA2C8D1” folder. Output of above request:  Accessing value of ItemCount: Add Compose Action. Add below expression in Inputs: body(‘Send_an_HTTP_request_to_SharePoint_’)[‘d’][‘ItemCount’]

Project management teams use an array of products to manage different projects that they manage. They also use various tools or software to take care of tasks such as time tracking, raising invoices, etc. It is wise to use a PSA or Professional Service Automation software instead to do all the activities mentioned above with ease. There is so much action in a CPA or Certified Public Accountant Firms than in any other firm. Many companies have developed PSAs or Professional Services Automation Software for CPA Firms these days. Selecting the best product will help you to manage the tasks better. With the evolution of Technology, every industry is getting process oriented and so are CPA firms getting more organized and professional in their way of working. The software provides the immense capability for CPA’s to look into there Books of Accounts, manage their allocation for clients, Create Project Plan, Perform accurate Invoicing and what not. Impact on CPA firms with PSA As CPA firms complain about process orientation and adoption of software tools, as per our existing New York-based CPA firms, Project Service Automation (PSA) has helped them streamline the process and the inter-communication between the departments have becomes seamless and more optimal. Organized Central Repository of Data PSA being the data source and a single point where the data is stored makes it more powerful. System Administrators have a full view of the data and can provide access restrictions to who should have access to the data, what is visible and what can be modified. This is impossible without the central repository of data. The power unleashes itself, with solid reporting and dashboard, that allows you to take a dive in how and what’s of the business. Seamless Mobile Experience With the era of Smart Phones, applications are becoming smart enough to be accessed from mobile phones. PSA has a seamless mobile experience and when clubbed with Power BI reporting makes it one of its kind. A lot of strategic decisions can be made based on these Power BI reports. People while driving back home on the signal can do their time entries, raise expenses, access their opportunities, type in notes and what not via Mobile phones. Allocations Vs Time Entry & Expense Entry needs Technology keeps a business structured and so is Resource Allocation a good example of what PSA offers in its bucket. While the management can take a decision as to which employee is more billable and who is busy working on a client project, who is billable can all be taken out if the CPA’s are well allocated. While CPA’s do not believe in allocation, but this is the only way to run a result and data-driven the organisation. This is a proven fact with one of our CPA based firms. Along with Allocations by default comes the Time Entries. CPA’s if they do their Time Entries regularly are more likely to save 10% – 15% of revenue loss per annum. Also, what I heard from a CPA firm was even shocking “We do expense approvals based on trust”. PSA allows you to remove that factor as already mentioned, doing time and expense entries is a matter or seconds and can be easily done via mobile phone even when you are waiting at a signal. The receipts of the expenses also can be uploaded right at that time via your camera phone to make it more user-friendly.   Project Management and Accounting makes PSA a choice of CPA firms Right from the sales cycle i.e. OpportunityàQuoteàContract and then from there to Project in PSA, CPA firms get benefitted since PSA guides them the processes at various levels as to keep the business organized. Like for e.g. our existing clients, a CPA firm, used to initiate the work even without the contract getting signed by the customer. Wherein PSA asks you to confirm the contract, post the same is signed by the customer. With the integration of SharePoint Online, CPA’s can access the signed contract directly from the Opportunity. All of the above drills down to how effectively CPA’s can Invoice it to the customer and this can be done with the practise of Time Entries and Expense Entries in the system religiously. PSA caters to all Fixed Bid and Time and Material projects which CPA firms make a choice between. Improvised Skill Selection and Schedule view Every allocation, before getting done asks for a variety of questions like, where can the Resource Manager see the schedule of all the Team. Which Resource bears what Skills. All such typical allocation questions are well addressed via PSA. Every Hour counts Yes, it true a thing as to every hour, in fact even a minute spent of CPA advisors are precious. It is Technology that can only help them get it converted into effective revenue. With PSA the effective way of working and dedicating time to a client gets better with time. A Happy CPA firm will only be when they will be able to offer enhanced services to the clients, offer stability and reduce errors. It is tough for a CPA firm to walk aligned with software as getting the right value from the same needs complete streamlining of processes. The opportunity is abundant if utilized well. CPA’s being not technically sound can rely on what is dictated by PSA to get a better outcome and indirectly improvise billing. This also helps the clients as the service offerings improve and hence the billing so too.  

Problem Definition: I have observed a fact in PSA that when the task in PSA Schedule (WBS) is deleted, the corresponding Resource Requirement doesn’t get deleted. Hence, it keeps on appearing in the Schedule Board to allocate. Resource Managers face difficulties in order to understand whether to allocate them or not. Hence, it is a job of Project Manager to ensure they are not appearing on the Schedule Board to allocate. Solution: Following are the steps with which the Resource Managers can ensure they do their job end-to-end post the task is deleted from the Schedule (WBS). Step 1: Check in the Schedule Board in the Project Tab whether the task appears to schedule. If not, then the job is done. Else, do an advanced find on the Resource Requirement with the below-mentioned criteria shown in the screen shot. See the results of the Advanced Find shown below. Open the task from Advanced Find by Double Clicking on it and check the status of the task. Change the Status of the Task to Canceled and Save the form. The task will now not appear in the Resource Requirement. You are done with the solution. This blog reflects my personal findings and based solely on my experience of using PSA for last 3+ years. For those who are looking for a platform that can track and manage the entire procedures of sales and project managements, I would highly recommend them to try Microsoft dynamics 365 for project service automation.

Introduction: This blog explains how to create folders in SharePoint when new record is created in D365 CE. Use Case: When new account is created in D365 CE create “Contact Documents” and “Documents” folders in SharePoint. Pre-Requisites: D365 CE SharePoint Online Microsoft Flow Steps to be followed: Sign in to the Microsoft flow. https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/ Go to My flows -> “+New”-> “+Automated-from blank” 3. Select “When a record is created” trigger and click on create. 4. Select “Organization Name” and “Entity Name”. 5. Click on “+New Step” and select “Compose” Action. 6.   a. Add “Account Name” from Dynamics Content in Input. b.  Add underscore “_” c. Click on Expression enter below formula: toUpper(replace(triggerBody()?[‘accountid’],’-‘,”)) d. Compose should look like below: 7. Now we will create “Main folder in SharePoint” for this account. 8. Click on “+New step” and select “Send an HTTP request to SharePoint” Action. 9. Enter below details: Site Address: Select the site address from the list. Method: POST Uri: _api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl(‘account/Output of Compose‘)/Folders Headers: Content-Type application/json;odata=verbose Accept application/json;odata=verbose Body: { ‘__metadata’: { ‘type’: ‘SP.Folder’ }, ‘ServerRelativeUrl’:’account/ Output of Compose‘} 10. Now we will create sub folders inside the main folder. 11. Click on “+New step” and select “Send an HTTP request to SharePoint” Action. 12. Enter below details: Site Address: Select the site address from the list. Method: POST Uri: _api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl(‘account/Output of Compose/Contact Documents‘)/Folders Headers: Content-Type application/json;odata=verbose Accept application/json;odata=verbose Body: { ‘__metadata’: { ‘type’: ‘SP.Folder’ }, ‘ServerRelativeUrl’:’account/ Output of Compose/Contact Documents‘} NOTE: “Contact Documents” is the sub folder which we want to create in main folder. 13.  Repeat “step no 12” to create “Documents” folders. Uri: _api/Web/GetFolderByServerRelativeUrl(‘account/Output of Compose/ Documents‘)/Folders Body: { ‘__metadata’: { ‘type’: ‘SP.Folder’ }, ‘ServerRelativeUrl’:’account/ Output of Compose/ Documents‘} NOTE: “Documents” is the sub folder which we want to create in main folder. Complete Flow: Testing Flow Create new account record in D365 CE. Check Documents in SharePoint.