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Discover Next-Generation Financial Analytics and Reporting in Dynamics 365 Business Central
Today's highly competitive and data-driven business world requires organizations to be able to access, interpret, and act on financial information accurately. Businesses that want to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and, most importantly, make informed decisions based on solid and reliable financial data should certainly choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as their solution. Small and medium businesses can benefit from this comprehensive ERP system, which facilitates easy data sharing, increased financial visibility, and the ability to devise business strategies based on in-depth insights.
Today, in this article, we will examine what are the next-generation capabilities of financial analytics and reporting in Microsoft Dynamics D365 Business Central for CFOs and finance leaders, and how can Business Central help them make data-driven decisions and optimize business performance. In addition, we will also explore how Business Central can help organizations make better use of financial data. Before we dive into the latest updates and enhancements, let us first understand the financial features offered by D365 Business Central.
Understanding the Core Financial Features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Business Central takes care of all aspects of accounting and financial tasks, like tracking assets, managing cash flow, handling accounts payable and receivable, and overseeing general ledger activities. These functions help businesses stay on top of their finances and improve overall efficiency.
Business Central helps keep businesses and their finances on track by performing essential tasks. Using it, businesses can handle everything from day-to-day accounting, billing, and payments to tracking assets and monitoring cash flow. As a result, they have all the tools they need to remain financially healthy and profitable.
Today’s CFOs do much more than just managing financial reports and crunch numbers. They’ve become key visionaries and strategic leaders, guiding their businesses toward success. Beyond managing their team, they make sure everyone in the organization has the insights and analysis they need to make smart decisions—all while keeping everything secure.
Managing Economic Fluctuations - This is a big issue right now. With constant changes in the global economy, CFOs need to make quick, informed decisions. Detailed financial reports can offer valuable insights into market trends, making it easier for CFOs to forecast and plan more accurately.
Evaluating Performance Metrics - Keeping an eye on how different departments and projects are performing is crucial for strategic planning. Internal reports provide CFOs with a clear view of key performance indicators (KPIs), helping them track progress and make informed, data-driven decisions.
Accurate Forecasting - Many companies are now updating their financial plans more frequently. Scenario modelling has become crucial as CFOs work to prepare for unexpected events. Manual processes and spreadsheets can drag out these planning cycles. As a result, finance leaders are turning to advanced financial planning tools that use AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics. This makes more accurate and faster forecasting.
Smart Cost Management - Keeping track of costs is essential to keeping your business profitable. Internal reports can show where you're spending too much and help you find ways to cut costs without sacrificing quality.
So, using the right tools, you can make data a key part of daily decision-making for your CFO or financial team. Explore how different tools can meet your team's diverse needs and help them in becoming more data driven.
Accurate, up-to-date data and the right tools play a key role in helping CFOs and their teams make informed decisions. Today’s software solutions are designed to address many of the common challenges that CFOs deal with. Especially, when it comes to managing back-office tasks. One of the main challenges is finding the best way to collect, understand, and present data that aligns with the business’s needs.
A reliable ERP system like MS Business Central with solid financial management features can help solve this problem. CFOs might require different tools and report formats depending on their role to get the most useful insights. There is a wide range of analytics tools available from Business Central that can address the different needs and preferences of finance leaders:
Microsoft Power BI: Financial Reporting and Analytics: Using Power BI’s easy-to-understand visuals, automated features, and customizable dashboards makes analysing your data simpler and helps you get more accurate reports. You can easily access these reports, which come ready to use, with built-in smart data models and engaging visualizations. Power BI lets you see key financial metrics briefly. You can explore your data in detail, build personalized dashboards, and share your findings with others.
Financial Reporting: This feature lets you produce financial statements that precisely look the way you want, using no-code financial reporting.
Advanced Ad-Hoc Data Analysis: There are situations when you need to study data in Business Central in a way that isn't supported by the default reports. A common term for these analyses is "ad-hoc." This provides you the direct power to pivot, group, and filter data in Business Central. Use this feature to dig into details, export data to Excel, and get insights into scenarios that regular reports might not cover.
Excel Finance Reports: This reporting method is perfect for quickly summarizing data in a clearer way than Business Central. Excel reports make use of the well-known and popular spreadsheet tool from Microsoft. This tool is the favourite of financial professionals, considering all the powerful features it offers for calculations, analysis, and formatting. If you want to work with your financial data in Excel for easy manipulation, create charts and tables, use formulas, or analyze outliers with Copilot in Excel, built-in Excel reports provide you with the flexibility to present your data just how you like.
Now, financial leaders can use these best tools for different tasks based on the audience and scenario. If there is a need, they can also switch between these tools. This becomes possible because all of these are integrated with Business Central and use the same data source.
Analyze your Business Data and Acquire Deeper Insights with the New Power BI Reports
Microsoft Power BI can improve how your organization analyses and reports data, turning complex information into useful insights for better decision-making. With Power BI reports, you get a range of new and improved reports tailored for Business Central, covering everything from finance and sales to purchasing, inventory, and projects.
These reports are readily available right out of the box and can be seen in Power BI or Business Central. Another benefit of using Power BI reports is that you can access your data and insights while on the go from different devices. Using the Power BI app on your phone or tablet, you can browse and interact with your reports, receive notifications and alerts, and monitor your business performance whether you're at work, on the go, or at home.
Make the most of Power BI to understand your data. With the 2024 release wave 2, Dynamics 365 Business Central will add over 70 new reports covering areas like finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, and projects. These reports will help you make better decisions, spot new trends, and grow your business.
Monitor Finance KPIs with Power BI and Receive Alerts in Microsoft Teams when they Cross Thresholds
Using Power BI with Business Central data makes it simple to track the KPIs and metrics that matter most to you. You can easily set up and monitor these key indicators to see how your business is progressing toward your goals. This feature helps cultivate a strong data culture by promoting accountability, alignment, and transparency across teams and projects.
You can effortlessly set up and monitor metrics for any data in your Power BI finance reports, setting targets and thresholds to track performance. Watch these metrics on your Power BI dashboard to see how they evolve and how they stack up against your goals. Plus, you can link your KPIs with Microsoft Teams to get alerts if anything goes off track, like if expenses go over budget or revenue falls short of forecasts. This keeps you in the loop and ready to act quickly.
Generate Executive Summaries of Financial Data with Copilot in Power BI
Looking to get more out of your data with AI? Copilot in Power BI is here to help. It’s a conversational AI assistant that lets you ask questions and get insights from your data using simple, natural language. For example, you can request an executive summary of your financial overview. With Copilot, you can quickly analyze data, create detailed reports, and generate charts and graphs. Essentially, Copilot makes data analysis easier and more intuitive, turning it into a smooth, AI-driven conversation.
With Copilot in Power BI, you can ask specific questions about your data like, “What’s my net income for the last quarter?” or “How does my cash flow compare to last year?” Copilot enhances and increases the potential and capabilities of Power BI when it integrates with it.
It analyses your data and gives you clear, concise answers through charts, tables, or text. You can also get executive summaries by asking things like, “Summarize my financial performance for the last month?" Copilot will generate a summary report that shows the main insights from your data in an easy-to-understand and engaging way.
So, integrating Copilot with Power BI provides finance professionals a complete set of tools to manage data more effectively. Whether it’s simplifying complex calculations, generating custom reports, or crafting clear and engaging narratives, this will change how you understand and use financial data.
Additional Ways How Business Central Empowers Data-Driven CFOs?
As your role grows, having the right digital tools becomes crucial. They help CFOs manage, analyze, and present data in ways that drive real business value. Business Central is a standout ERP solution with many useful features. Beyond Power BI, which excels at data analysis, Business Central offers other powerful tools to help you handle and use your data effectively. Here are some examples:
Generate Financial Statements with No-Code Financial Reporting
This feature makes it easy to create and customize your financial statements, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, with a user-friendly interface. You can select from various templates, modify accounts, columns, and rows, and style your statements to meet your needs. New templates will be available in the 2024 release wave 2, providing you even more flexibility. Plus, you can explore the details of your data or quickly export your statements to Excel or PDF for easy sharing.
Use Copilot Analysis assistance in Dynamics 365 Business Central and Analyze Finance Data the way you want
This feature lets you ask questions in natural language and receive personalized suggestions about your financial data. You can dig deeper into your data to spot trends, patterns, and important insights. You can also switch to analysis mode in Business Central, where you can group, filter, and pivot the data however you want. After you're done with it, you can save your results or share them with your team for easy collaboration.
Utilize Out-of-the-box Excel Reports for Financial Analysis
Business Central comes with pre-built Excel reports for key finance areas like Trial Balance by Period, Aged Account Receivables, and Aged Account Payables. You can use these reports to easily view and work with your data in Excel, create charts and tables, apply formulas, and even use Copilot in Excel to spot any unusual data patterns.
Conclusion - Unlock the Full Potential of the Analytical Tools within Business Central
As a CFO, you’re leading the charge in digital transformation and innovation for your organization. With the evolving role of finance teams, using data for strategic decisions is essential. You need a solution that helps you manage financials, operations, and reporting in one integrated platform. That’s where Business Central comes in. Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a range of powerful and flexible analytics tools to help you make data-driven decisions and improve business performance. Whether you need a straightforward way to view and explore data, a powerful tool for analysing and visualizing data, or a familiar tool for manipulating and presenting data, Business Central has what you need.
As AI continues to improve, CFOs need to adapt their skills and guide their companies into a future where AI boosts financial reporting. With Business Central, you can use AI and cloud technology to access your data from any device, even when you’re on the go. You can ask questions in natural language and get quick answers and summaries. Plus, you can link your data with other Microsoft tools, like Teams, to collaborate and communicate more effectively with your team.
If you are looking to maximize your ROI with Business Central or want to experience new-generation financial analytics and reporting in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Cynoteck is here to serve as your trusted partner for Microsoft Business Central consulting and implementation. As a full-service Dynamics 365 Business Central provider and Microsoft Solutions Partner, we use our expertise and resources to drive best results for your business. With a strong client base across multiple countries, we've developed industry-specific solutions addressing unique business challenges. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and see how we can support your business goals.
Want to learn more about how Business Central enables you as a data-driven CFO to leverage the latest technologies and innovations, visit the link below:
Today’s highly competitive and data-driven business world requires organizations to be able to access, interpret, and act on financial information accurately. Businesses that want to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and, most importantly, make informed decisions based on solid and reliable financial data should certainly choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as their solution. Small and medium businesses can benefit from this comprehensive ERP system, which facilitates easy data sharing, increased financial visibility, and the ability to devise business strategies based on in-depth insights.
Today, in this article, we will examine what are the next-generation capabilities of financial analytics and reporting in Microsoft Dynamics D365 Business Central for CFOs and finance leaders, and how can Business Central help them make data-driven decisions and optimize business performance. In addition, we will also explore how Business Central can help organizations make better use of financial data. Before we dive into the latest updates and enhancements, let us first understand the financial features offered by D365 Business Central.
Understanding the Core Financial Features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Business Central takes care of all aspects of accounting and financial tasks, like tracking assets, managing cash flow, handling accounts payable and receivable, and overseeing general ledger activities. These functions help businesses stay on top of their finances and improve overall efficiency.
Business Central helps keep businesses and their finances on track by performing essential tasks. Using it, businesses can handle everything from day-to-day accounting, billing, and payments to tracking assets and monitoring cash flow. As a result, they have all the tools they need to remain financially healthy and profitable.
Today’s CFOs do much more than just managing financial reports and crunch numbers. They’ve become key visionaries and strategic leaders, guiding their businesses toward success. Beyond managing their team, they make sure everyone in the organization has the insights and analysis they need to make smart decisions—all while keeping everything secure.
Managing Economic Fluctuations – This is a big issue right now. With constant changes in the global economy, CFOs need to make quick, informed decisions. Detailed financial reports can offer valuable insights into market trends, making it easier for CFOs to forecast and plan more accurately.
Evaluating Performance Metrics – Keeping an eye on how different departments and projects are performing is crucial for strategic planning. Internal reports provide CFOs with a clear view of key performance indicators (KPIs), helping them track progress and make informed, data-driven decisions.
Accurate Forecasting – Many companies are now updating their financial plans more frequently. Scenario modelling has become crucial as CFOs work to prepare for unexpected events. Manual processes and spreadsheets can drag out these planning cycles. As a result, finance leaders are turning to advanced financial planning tools that use AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics. This makes more accurate and faster forecasting.
Smart Cost Management – Keeping track of costs is essential to keeping your business profitable. Internal reports can show where you’re spending too much and help you find ways to cut costs without sacrificing quality.
So, using the right tools, you can make data a key part of daily decision-making for your CFO or financial team. Explore how different tools can meet your team’s diverse needs and help them in becoming more data driven.
Accurate, up-to-date data and the right tools play a key role in helping CFOs and their teams make informed decisions. Today’s software solutions are designed to address many of the common challenges that CFOs deal with. Especially, when it comes to managing back-office tasks. One of the main challenges is finding the best way to collect, understand, and present data that aligns with the business’s needs.
A reliable ERP system like MS Business Central with solid financial management features can help solve this problem. CFOs might require different tools and report formats depending on their role to get the most useful insights. There is a wide range of analytics tools available from Business Central that can address the different needs and preferences of finance leaders:
Microsoft Power BI: Financial Reporting and Analytics: Using Power BI’s easy-to-understand visuals, automated features, and customizable dashboards makes analysing your data simpler and helps you get more accurate reports. You can easily access these reports, which come ready to use, with built-in smart data models and engaging visualizations. Power BI lets you see key financial metrics briefly. You can explore your data in detail, build personalized dashboards, and share your findings with others.
Financial Reporting: This feature lets you produce financial statements that precisely look the way you want, using no-code financial reporting.
Advanced Ad-Hoc Data Analysis: There are situations when you need to study data in Business Central in a way that isn’t supported by the default reports. A common term for these analyses is “ad-hoc.” This provides you the direct power to pivot, group, and filter data in Business Central. Use this feature to dig into details, export data to Excel, and get insights into scenarios that regular reports might not cover.
Excel Finance Reports: This reporting method is perfect for quickly summarizing data in a clearer way than Business Central. Excel reports make use of the well-known and popular spreadsheet tool from Microsoft. This tool is the favourite of financial professionals, considering all the powerful features it offers for calculations, analysis, and formatting. If you want to work with your financial data in Excel for easy manipulation, create charts and tables, use formulas, or analyze outliers with Copilot in Excel, built-in Excel reports provide you with the flexibility to present your data just how you like.
Now, financial leaders can use these best tools for different tasks based on the audience and scenario. If there is a need, they can also switch between these tools. This becomes possible because all of these are integrated with Business Central and use the same data source.
Analyze your Business Data and Acquire Deeper Insights with the New Power BI Reports
Microsoft Power BI can improve how your organization analyses and reports data, turning complex information into useful insights for better decision-making. With Power BI reports, you get a range of new and improved reports tailored for Business Central, covering everything from finance and sales to purchasing, inventory, and projects.
These reports are readily available right out of the box and can be seen in Power BI or Business Central. Another benefit of using Power BI reports is that you can access your data and insights while on the go from different devices. Using the Power BI app on your phone or tablet, you can browse and interact with your reports, receive notifications and alerts, and monitor your business performance whether you’re at work, on the go, or at home.
Make the most of Power BI to understand your data. With the 2024 release wave 2, Dynamics 365 Business Central will add over 70 new reports covering areas like finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, and projects. These reports will help you make better decisions, spot new trends, and grow your business.
Monitor Finance KPIs with Power BI and Receive Alerts in Microsoft Teams when they Cross Thresholds
Using Power BI with Business Central data makes it simple to track the KPIs and metrics that matter most to you. You can easily set up and monitor these key indicators to see how your business is progressing toward your goals. This feature helps cultivate a strong data culture by promoting accountability, alignment, and transparency across teams and projects.
You can effortlessly set up and monitor metrics for any data in your Power BI finance reports, setting targets and thresholds to track performance. Watch these metrics on your Power BI dashboard to see how they evolve and how they stack up against your goals. Plus, you can link your KPIs with Microsoft Teams to get alerts if anything goes off track, like if expenses go over budget or revenue falls short of forecasts. This keeps you in the loop and ready to act quickly.
Generate Executive Summaries of Financial Data with Copilot in Power BI
Looking to get more out of your data with AI? Copilot in Power BI is here to help. It’s a conversational AI assistant that lets you ask questions and get insights from your data using simple, natural language. For example, you can request an executive summary of your financial overview. With Copilot, you can quickly analyze data, create detailed reports, and generate charts and graphs. Essentially, Copilot makes data analysis easier and more intuitive, turning it into a smooth, AI-driven conversation.
With Copilot in Power BI, you can ask specific questions about your data like, “What’s my net income for the last quarter?” or “How does my cash flow compare to last year?” Copilot enhances and increases the potential and capabilities of Power BI when it integrates with it.
It analyses your data and gives you clear, concise answers through charts, tables, or text. You can also get executive summaries by asking things like, “Summarize my financial performance for the last month?” Copilot will generate a summary report that shows the main insights from your data in an easy-to-understand and engaging way.
So, integrating Copilot with Power BI provides finance professionals a complete set of tools to manage data more effectively. Whether it’s simplifying complex calculations, generating custom reports, or crafting clear and engaging narratives, this will change how you understand and use financial data.
Additional Ways How Business Central Empowers Data-Driven CFOs?
As your role grows, having the right digital tools becomes crucial. They help CFOs manage, analyze, and present data in ways that drive real business value. Business Central is a standout ERP solution with many useful features. Beyond Power BI, which excels at data analysis, Business Central offers other powerful tools to help you handle and use your data effectively. Here are some examples:
Generate Financial Statements with No-Code Financial Reporting
This feature makes it easy to create and customize your financial statements, such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, with a user-friendly interface. You can select from various templates, modify accounts, columns, and rows, and style your statements to meet your needs. New templates will be available in the 2024 release wave 2, providing you even more flexibility. Plus, you can explore the details of your data or quickly export your statements to Excel or PDF for easy sharing.
Use Copilot Analysis assistance in Dynamics 365 Business Central and Analyze Finance Data the way you want
This feature lets you ask questions in natural language and receive personalized suggestions about your financial data. You can dig deeper into your data to spot trends, patterns, and important insights. You can also switch to analysis mode in Business Central, where you can group, filter, and pivot the data however you want. After you’re done with it, you can save your results or share them with your team for easy collaboration.
Utilize Out-of-the-box Excel Reports for Financial Analysis
Business Central comes with pre-built Excel reports for key finance areas like Trial Balance by Period, Aged Account Receivables, and Aged Account Payables. You can use these reports to easily view and work with your data in Excel, create charts and tables, apply formulas, and even use Copilot in Excel to spot any unusual data patterns.
Conclusion – Unlock the Full Potential of the Analytical Tools within Business Central
As a CFO, you’re leading the charge in digital transformation and innovation for your organization. With the evolving role of finance teams, using data for strategic decisions is essential. You need a solution that helps you manage financials, operations, and reporting in one integrated platform. That’s where Business Central comes in. Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a range of powerful and flexible analytics tools to help you make data-driven decisions and improve business performance. Whether you need a straightforward way to view and explore data, a powerful tool for analysing and visualizing data, or a familiar tool for manipulating and presenting data, Business Central has what you need.
As AI continues to improve, CFOs need to adapt their skills and guide their companies into a future where AI boosts financial reporting. With Business Central, you can use AI and cloud technology to access your data from any device, even when you’re on the go. You can ask questions in natural language and get quick answers and summaries. Plus, you can link your data with other Microsoft tools, like Teams, to collaborate and communicate more effectively with your team.
If you are looking to maximize your ROI with Business Central or want to experience new-generation financial analytics and reporting in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Cynoteck is here to serve as your trusted partner for Microsoft Business Central consulting and implementation. As a full-service Dynamics 365 Business Central provider and Microsoft Solutions Partner, we use our expertise and resources to drive best results for your business. With a strong client base across multiple countries, we’ve developed industry-specific solutions addressing unique business challenges. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and see how we can support your business goals.
Want to learn more about how Business Central enables you as a data-driven CFO to leverage the latest technologies and innovations, visit the link below:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an all-in-one ERP business management solution that helps you connect your financials, sales, service, and operations to streamline business processes. Connect our team if you are interested in implementing Dynamics 366 business central in your business.
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