In today’s fast-moving world, keeping track of inventory is incredibly important for businesses of all types and sizes. Proper inventory tracking ensures that businesses can maintain product quality, comply with industry regulations, and deliver better customer experiences. Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365F&O) offers powerful tools to simplify this process, including the use of batch and serial numbers. These features allow businesses to track and manage products accurately, from the time they are manufactured or received to when they reach the customer. Let’s take a closer look at what batch and serial numbers are, how they work in D365F&O, and why they are essential for efficient inventory management. What Are Batch and Serial Numbers? Batch Numbers: Batch numbers are unique identifiers used to group items that were manufactured or received under similar conditions, such as during the same production run or shipment. These numbers make it easier to track and manage items collectively. Batch numbers are particularly useful for businesses that deal with perishable goods or need to maintain strict quality control. For example: Serial Numbers: Serial numbers are unique codes assigned to individual items, allowing each product to be tracked separately. Unlike batch numbers, which apply to groups of items, serial numbers provide item-level traceability. This is especially important for businesses dealing with high-value or complex products. For example: How to Configure Batch and Serial Numbers in D365F&O D365F&O makes it simple to set up and manage batch and serial numbers, ensuring smooth inventory operations. Here’s how you can configure these features step by step: 1. Set Up Tracking Dimensions: 2.Assign Tracking Dimensions to Items: 3.Enable Automatic Numbering: 4.Test and Train: Why Are Batch and Serial Numbers Important? Batch and serial numbers play a crucial role in modern inventory management, offering a range of benefits that streamline operations and reduce risks. Some key advantages include: To conclude, this blog is Part 1 of our detailed guide on batch and serial numbers in D365F&O. We’ve explored what batch and serial numbers are, why they’re important, and how to set them up in the system. By implementing these features, businesses can improve traceability, enhance inventory accuracy, and ensure compliance with industry regulations. In the next part, we’ll take a practical look at how to use batch and serial numbers in day-to-day operations. This will include real-world examples, step-by-step processes, and screenshots to help you better understand how these features can streamline your inventory management. Stay tuned for more insights and practical tips to make the most of D365F&O’s powerful inventory tracking capabilities! That’s it for this blog. Hope this helps!! We hope you found this blog useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfonts.com.

Managing inventory is an important part of any business, and keeping track of stock levels is key to smooth operations. Negative inventory happens when your system shows that you have less than zero items in stock. This can cause problems like delays, mistakes in finances, and unhappy customers. Luckily, Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365F&O) has tools to help you avoid negative inventory. In this blog, we’ll share simple tips and tricks to keep your inventory accurate. What is Negative Inventory? Negative inventory means your system says you have less stock than zero. For example, if you sell or use more items than you have in storage, the system might show a negative number. This can happen because: Negative inventory can cause confusion, financial mistakes, and problems in planning and ordering stock. How to Avoid Negative Inventory in D365F&O Here are some easy steps to prevent negative inventory in D365F&O: 1. Set Up Item Model Groups Item model groups control how inventory is managed. Setting them up properly helps avoid negative inventory. 2. Use Inventory Reservations Inventory reservations make sure stock is set aside for specific orders, so you don’t overcommit. 3. Track Inventory Dimensions Inventory dimensions, like site, warehouse, batch, and serial number, help you track stock accurately. Make sure these are used correctly for each product. 4. Do Regular Cycle Counts Cycle counts help you check if the stock in your system matches what you actually have. Fixing any mistakes quickly avoids negative inventory. 5. Post Transactions in Order Posting transactions in the wrong order can cause temporary negative inventory. For example, issuing stock before recording receipts. 6. Check Inventory Transactions Often Review inventory transactions to catch and fix issues early. 7. Train Your Team Training your team is key to preventing mistakes that lead to negative inventory. Benefits of Avoiding Negative Inventory Preventing negative inventory can make a big difference for your business: Avoiding negative inventory in D365F&O is about using the right settings and following good processes. By setting up item model groups, using reservations, doing regular cycle counts, and keeping an eye on transactions, you can prevent negative inventory and keep your stock levels accurate. These steps will improve your operations, make customers happy, and help your business run smoothly. Start using these tips today to get the most out of Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations for inventory management! So, that its for this blog. Thanks for reading!! We hope you found this blog useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfonts.com.

In Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365F&O), the concepts of physical and financial posting are at the core of inventory and transaction management. Understanding how these two processes work and their impact on inventory valuation and ledger updates is crucial for maintaining accurate financial records and operational efficiency. The Physical and Financial posting Checkboxes are in the Item Model Group. The pathway for which is: Inventory Management>Set Up> Inventory> Item Model Group. So, what is Physical Posting? Physical Posting refers to recording the movement or status change of Inventory Items without affecting the Financial Ledger. If this option is cleared, packing slips, product receipts, and production orders that are reported as finished are not posted in the ledger, regardless of the settings in the parameter setup pages. These transactions track physical inventory levels and ensure operational accuracy. Examples of physical postings include: Physical postings are essential for operational teams to track stock levels and manage logistics effectively. However, they do not impact the financial statements until a corresponding financial posting occurs. What is Financial Posting? Financial Posting occurs when a Transaction affects the company’s General Ledger, impacting financial accounts such as Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and Accounts Payable/Receivable. If this option is cleared, the way accounting entries are handled changes significantly to simplify the process. When a purchase order is invoice-updated, the value of the items is posted only to the item consumption account and not to the inventory receipt account. Similarly, when a sales order is invoice-updated, no entries are made in either the item consumption account or the issue account. This option is especially helpful for service items, where posting item consumption during sales order invoicing isn’t necessary. By clearing this option, the journal lines for these items do not generate any ledger postings, keeping your financial records clean and focused without unnecessary complexities. Examples of financial postings include: Financial postings ensure that all inventory transactions are accurately reflected in financial records, enabling proper accounting and compliance with regulatory standards. Key Differences Between Physical and Financial Posting Aspect Physical Posting Financial Posting Impact Tracks inventory movement/status. Updates financial accounts. Ledger Update No impact on the general ledger. Impacts general ledger accounts. Use Case Operational purposes (e.g., stock tracking). Financial reporting and accounting. Examples Product receipts, stock transfers. Invoices, COGS postings, sales revenue. Configuring Posting in D365F&O D365F&O allows businesses to control how physical and financial postings are handled using parameters and setups. Here’s how you can configure them: To encapsulate, Physical and financial postings in D365F&O are fundamental to achieving a seamless connection between operational processes and financial reporting. They ensure that inventory movements are accurately tracked and that financial records reflect real-time business activities. By configuring these setups correctly, organizations can enhance their decision-making capabilities, reduce errors, and maintain compliance with accounting standards. Moreover, understanding the nuances of these postings allows businesses to streamline operations. For example, leveraging features like item model groups or automated posting parameters ensures that teams can focus on strategic growth rather than manual corrections. This integration of operational and financial data also supports better collaboration between departments, paving the way for improved efficiency and transparency. Ultimately, D365F&O empowers businesses to not only track their inventory effectively but also align their financial records with operational realities, creating a robust framework for sustainable growth and success. That’s it for this blog. We hope you found this blog useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfonts.com.

Are you struggling with deploying extensions from the sandbox to production in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations? I’m going to show you how to do it step by step for a smooth and error-free transition! In this guide, we will walk through the process of moving an extension from a sandbox environment to production in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (F&O). This process involves exporting the extension from the sandbox, importing it into production, and ensuring that it functions as expected in the live environment. 3. Mark as Release and Sign Off: Once the extension is confirmed to be deployed, click on “Mark as Release” and ensure that you sign off on the extension. Signing off is crucial, as failure to do so will prevent the extension from appearing in the production environment. 4. Navigate to LCS and Open the Production Environment: Go to Lifecycle Services (LCS) and access the production environment. 5. Update Environment: Click on the “Maintain” and “Update Environment” option and select the sandbox environment. Wait for a few seconds to allow the system to load all the signed-off extensions that have been deployed in the sandbox. 6. Select the Latest Extension: Your extension will appear at the top of the list as the most recent signed-off version. Click on it and schedule the deployment for the desired time to update the production environment with the extension. Validate the Deployment – After deployment, test the Production environment to ensure the new logic works as expected. – Run key processes to validate the customizations and confirm no errors. Resolve Issues if Necessary – If there are any deployment errors or issues, review the error logs and fix them before re-deploying. Following the outlined process ensures that your extension is successfully migrated from sandbox to production, minimizing deployment errors and maintaining the integrity of your customizations in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. By adhering to these steps, you can confidently deploy your extensions to the production environment with minimal disruptions, ensuring a smooth transition and operational efficiency. Conclusion Successfully migrating an extension from the sandbox to production in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations is a critical step in ensuring your customizations are properly implemented in the live environment. By following the steps outlined above, you can seamlessly transition your extension while maintaining control over the deployment process.If you’re facing challenges deploying an extension in the sandbox, check out our previous blog for a step-by-step guide. Here’s the link: Step-by-Step Guide: Deploying a Package from the Asset Library to UAT – CloudFronts Happy deploying!

  Have you ever encountered the error:“The underlying connection was closed: Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TLS secure channel”while deploying from Visual Studio to Finance and Operations. This error is often linked to an expired or invalid SSL certificate in your environment.  This also shows up as an expired SSL Certificate warning when you open your Finance and Operations environment from the browser. Certificates are critical for securing communication channels, and an expired certificate can disrupt services and integrations.In this blog, we’ll explore the cause of the error and provide steps to resolve it. References Eugene Dmytriienko – Onpremise Certificate Rotation Said Nikjou – Rotate Secrets via LCS MS Docs – Certificate Rotation Configuration In a new cloud hosted environment, the SSL Certificate stays valid for one year by default.Post that, it expires at which point it is essential to renew the SSL Certificate. For Cloud Hosted environments, it is really simple to do via the LCS. Go to LCS and open the environment which has the expired SSL. Click on Maintain and then “Rotate Secrets” In the pop-up menu, select the change type as “Rotate SSL Certificates” After that the environment will go into servicing and the status will reflect “Rotating Secrets” This entire process should take less than 15 minutes. The documentation suggests secrets rotation should show up in the enviroment history however in my attempt it didn’t so I’m not sure if that’s reliable or not or whether that is only for Tier 2 and above environments though that doesn’t make much sense. Anyways, once this is done we can see that the SSL error has been resolved. Conclusion SSL certificates are the backbone of secure communication in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations environments.An expired certificate can disrupt critical functionalities, but with proper certificate management, such issues can be avoided.Regularly monitor your SSL certificate validity to ensure uninterrupted operations. We hope you found this article useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com

In manufacturing industry, there are scenarios where there is need to change some bill of materials items due to various reasons. i.e. due to lack of availability of original material, or there may be increase in price of original material. & once production order is scheduled then it is not possible to change raw materials. As a result, Microsoft has added a new feature that allows users to switch out BOM items for other items on planned or estimated production orders. This feature is useful for production manager to keep production running as well as to business personnel to keep business running in absence of or lack of required material, provided that alternate material is available. Prerequisites for altering BOM items on production orders: – system must meet the following requirements: Also note that, one can change BOM items only for production orders that have a status of Estimated or Scheduled. 1.Now, will consider finish good L0001 for this example. Finish good number L0001, as per original BOM has raw materials M0001, M0002, M0003, M0004, M0005, M0006 & P0002. 2.Create production order for item L0001. 3.Change status to Estimate. 4.Now check estimation from Manage cost -> View calculation details -> original raw materials are considered for production order. 5.Now to change BOM item go to Production order -> Change BOM item 6.Now select raw material which needs to be replaced “From item” & “To item”.  & “To item quantity” specify required quantity of new item. Or if “To item quantity” indicates how much of the new item is needed. 7.In Production order lines Tab, select required production order / Orders in which needs to replace BOM item. Click Ok. 8.Now if we check estimation from Manage cost -> View calculation details -> New raw material is considered for production order. M0007 is considered for production order instead of M0006. & consumption is same as original material as “To quantity” was kept as 0. Conclusion – By activating “Change BOM item” feature on system version 10.0.38 or later, can change BOM item on Estimated or scheduled production orders. We hope you found this article useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com

Integrating Shopify with Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (FnO) requires structured data management and seamless automation.  This blog covers how to create a setup table and page in FnO to securely store API credentials and endpoints.  In the next blog, we’ll create an automated batch job to push product data from FnO to Shopify, automating product creation on the e-commerce platform. If you are new to this series, you can refer to my blog here for setting up the necessary Shopify components for getting started. Pre-requisites Shopify API credentials (API Key, API Secret, Auth Token)Access to the development environment in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. References MS Docs – Create a table MS Docs – Create a form Configuration Step 1: Create the model and project I’m going to be starting from scratch so I’ll create a new model for this. If you already have a model you’ll be using, you can skip this part. Open Visual Studio and click on Continue without Code. Click on Extensions > Model Management > Create Model. Give your model an appropriate name. After everything is selected, click on Next. Give your solution/project appropriate names and click on Create. Step 2: Create Extended Data Types Right click on the project, click on Add > EDT > String. I’ve also created a Label file to store the labels. In the properties of my EDT, I’ll set the string length to 40 and set the label. Similarly I create 2 more EDTs, with the Shopify Auth Token with string size 50. Step 3: Create Table Right click on the project, click on Add > Table. Give it an appropriate name and click on Add. Then, we’ll drag the three EDTs into the fields section of table and set the label to the table. I’ll also add a Parameters Key from the Application Platform Module Next, we create an index on the basis of the ParametersKey (renamed to Key) Drag the Key field into the newly created index and be sure to set the “Allow Duplicates” property to “No” Then we set the necessary properties. This is useful as this will prevent multiple records in our setup table. Then right click on the Methods and click on “New Method” Then add this method logic. Step 4: Create Form Right click on the project, click on Add > Form Give it an appropriate name and click on Add. Right click on the Pattern > Apply Pattern > Table of Contents Right click on the Pattern > New > Tab. Next drag your table onto the Data Sources tab. Select the datasource you just created and set the below properties. Next right click on your Tab and click on “New Tab Page” Right click on the newly created tab page, click on New > Group Right click on the Group > Add > Static Text. Then, right click on the “GeneralTabPage” and add another tab.Inside that, add another tab page (as prescriped by the pattern) and set the pattern of the inner tab page to be “Fields and Field Groups” Inside this tab page, you can directly drag and drop your fields. For the “Shopify Auth Token” set the “Password Style” property to “Yes” Right click on Methods > Override > init. Call the find method of the Integration Parameters in the init method of the form. This ensure that the record is created if it doesn’t exist already. Step 5: Create the menu item for the form Right click on the Project > Add > New Item. In the menu click on User Interface  and select Display Menu item. Give it an appropriate name and click on Add. Assign the appropriate label and set the form we just created into the object field. Step 6: Extending standard menu Go to Application Explorer > Click on User Interface > Menus > right click on “System Administration” and click on “Create Extension” Go to Solution Explorer > Click on the newly created Menu Extension. Right click on the title and click on New > Sub Menu. Give it an appropriate name and an appropriate label. Drag and drop your display menu item into the submenu. Step 7: Configure Security Right click on the project > Add > New Item Go to Security and select Security Privilege. Give it an appropriate name and click on Add. Drag and drop your menu item into the “Entry points” tab of the Security Privilege. Similarly create a Security Role and give it an appropriate name. Then drag your privilege into the role. Set a label to this role. Build the entire project, sync it with database and deploy it. Search for”Assign users to roles” to assign the security role to yourself. Select the role and click on “Manually assign / exclude users” Select your User and click on Assign to role. Click on Modules > System Administration > Shopify Integration > Shopify Integration Parameters. Conclusion This blog demonstrated how to create a setup table and page in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations for securely storing Shopify API credentials.In the next blog, we’ll focus on handling product updates and synchronization between Shopify and Finance and Operations. We hope you found this article useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com

In the previous part of my blog, I explained about the Credit Only process. In this part of my blog, I will go through the Physical Return process. The Physical return process is determined based on the Disposition Code that is assigned to that Return Order. Disposition Codes in D365 Finance and Operations: Disposition codes in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (D365FO) are essential tools used to categorize and manage returned items. These codes help businesses decide what to do with products that customers send back, whether it’s restocking, repairing, or scrapping them. By using disposition codes, companies can streamline their return processes, maintain accurate inventory records, and ensure that returned items are handled efficiently and appropriately. This not only enhances operational efficiency but also helps in improving customer satisfaction by managing returns in a clear and organized manner. Below is the List of Dispositions Codes that are available in D365 FNO: These Disposition codes are available as Standard Functionality in D365 FNO.  You can also create new codes based on the business requirements. In this part of the blog, I will walk you through the Replace Item and Credit Customer scenario. Let’s take a scenario where we have sold 5 items to the customer and after delivery the customer does the Quality check in which 2 products fail due to quality issues. The customer has Scrapped those products on our behalf and now we will provide the customer with the replacement items. For that: Go to Sales and Marketing>Sales Returns>All Return Orders. On the All return orders page click New to create a New Sales Return Order. Select the Customer for which the Return Order is to be created. Enter the Site, Warehouse, RMA number and other details and click OK. In the first part of the blog I created the Return order using the Find Sales Order function so in this part I will directly add the line with negative quantity. In the below screenshot you can see that I have added a line for the Product P-000015 with negative quantity. The next step is to register the Line with the Replace and Credit customer Disposition code. For that click on the Update Line option in the Lines tab then from the drop down click on the Registration option. Then from the Disposition Code drop down select the Replace and Credit Customer option. Then add the registration line then click on Confirm Registration. In the below screenshot you can see the Line status is changed to Registered and the Return order status is changed to Open. Now if you go to the All-Sales Order Page you can see that a New Sales Order is created with the Order type as Returned Order with the Status as Open Order. Now if you open the Sales Order and check the lines the quantity of the line will be exactly same as that of the Return order. The next step is to create a Replacement order as we have selected the Disposition Code of Replace and Credit. For that click on Update Line and Click Registration which will change the Line status from Registered to Expected. As you do this you will notice that the Post Packing Slip button is now disabled, and you can see that the Replacement Order button is now available. As our disposition code is Replace and credit Customer the next step is to create a Replacement Order. For that click on the New Replacement Order button. Add the same site and Warehouse as Return order and click Ok this will create a Replacement Order. After Replacement Order is created go back to the Return Order again and Click Registration and select the Credit disposition code which will Credit the Amount back into the Customer’s account. Now after that Post the Packing slip for the Return order which will change the Return Order status to Received. Then go ahead and Invoice the Return Order from the All-Sales Order page which will again change the Return Order status to Closed. Then go ahead and process the Replacement Sales Order. If you go to the Customer transaction and check, you can see that the Amount is credited back in to the Customer Account. So, this completes the Sales Return Process of Return and Credit to customer. We hope you found this article useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com

Leasing refers to a contractual arrangement where one party (the lessee) pays the other party (the lessor) for the use of an asset, such as property, vehicles, or equipment, for a specified period. Lease accounting is the process by which companies record the financial impacts of their leasing activities. It has become increasingly important due to new accounting standards that require most leases to be recognized on the balance sheet, enhancing transparency and providing a clearer picture of a company’s financial obligations. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance can help companies (CFOs, Finance & accounts team) to set up, operate and manage multiple lease accounting. The work around goes as listed below : 2. i. Create Lease Books: Asset Leasing =>Setup=> Lease Books ii. Define Interest as Expense Type iii. Define Lease rate of interest as Index rate type. iv. Define General Ledger mapping, number sequences and journal types in Asset leasing parameters. 3. Create New Lease in Lease Summary by giving unique Lease ID and update details in Open Books : Lease start date, Vendor Details, Lease Term 4. Run each schedule to ensure that journal entries are made for the chosen period and schedules are generated for the lease period. 5. For any modification in lease terms, termination or revaluation use the Maintain function. 6. Using the Inquiries and Reports – all lease related reports can be used to review and monitor the financial impact of leases. This way the entire lease accounting can be automated whether asset leasing is part or core business of the company. It takes care of the increasing number of leases with comfort and avoids risk of errors and miscalculations. We hope you found this article useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com

Purchase department plays very crucial role in any company to maintain right inventory at right time & at right price. So to keep business running efficiently purchase orders are released to suppliers accordingly. But there might be changes in confirmed purchase orders due to various reasons & it’s impacts on business will vary case to case basis. It is very important to quickly assess the impact of changes & respond to mitigate the challenges. D365 F&O has released workspace “Confirmed purchase orders with changes” to review and accept changes to confirmed Purchase Orders. This feature is useful to purchase manager, sourcing manager to take quick actions on changes. On this workspace summary is shown for all orders with no. of “Low impact changes”, “High impact changes”, “Impacted downstream orders” sales, production or service orders which will be affected due to changes in purchase orders. List of “All purchase orders with changes”, change details i.e. item no., quantity change, date change, impacted order details as below – Now selected PO is 000039 in “All purchase orders with changes” list in 1st table in lower half. In 2nd table details of changes are provided with item number & changed quantity. As in this PO quantity of item M0007 is reduced from 100 to 10 because of which production order P000169 & P000171 will be affected which is shown in 3rd table in lower half. In 2nd table in upper half M0007 is part of list which are “High impact changes” means changes in this purchase order is going to impact production orders which will affect business. Similarly selected PO is 000038 in “All purchase orders with changes” list in 1st table in lower half. In 2nd table details of changes are provided with item number & changed quantity. As in this PO delivery date of item M0002 is delayed but this change is not going to affect any downstream order. As there are no details in 3rd table in lower half. In 1st table in upper half M0002 is part of list which are “low impact changes” means changes in this purchase order is not affecting any production order or sales order even if it is delayed upto new date. Similarly, all confirmed orders which has changed will be displayed in this list. Once these changes are reviewed by purchase department personnel, they can discuss with suppliers to mitigate the changes. & then confirm the finalized changes by selecting purchase orders on list & click on confirm purchase orders button. Conclusion – Hence using “Confirmed purchase orders with changes” workspace purchase manager can review changes in 1 screen with details of impact on downstream orders & can approve these orders & take required action to reduce the impact on business. We hope you found this article useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com