How to Configure and Navigate the D365 Financial Period ...

Configuration: Closing Roles · Click +New; Enter a Closing Role and Description ; Resources · Click +New; Select an Employee from the drop-down ... Article April13,2020 Share Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Print WitheveryoneworkingremotelyduetoCOVID-19,itcanbedifficulttomonitorprogresswithouttheusualin-personcollaborationandcommunication.Thiscanbeespeciallychallengingforfinanceandaccountingorganizationswhoareapproachingmonth-endandquarter-endclosecycleswithoutateamthatcanconnectinperson. WithinstandardDynamics365forFinanceandOperations (D365F&O)liesaworkspacethathelpscompaniesmanageandmaintaintheirfinancialperiodclose.Fromonescreen,youandyourteamwillbeabletotracktasks,assignresponsibilities,identifyblockersandprovidemorereal-timeprogresstowardthefinalizationofthefinancialstatements. ThisblogcovershowyoucanconfigureandusetheD365financialperiodcloseworkspacetohelparemoteteamworkmoreeffectivelytogether. Financialperiodclosescansometimescausestressandanxietywithinorganizationsbecausetherearemultipletaskstotrack,taskswithvariousdependenciesandoften,alackofvisibilityintowhichtaskshaveorhavenotbeencompleted.ThefinancialperiodcloseworkspaceinD365F&Oprovidesaone-stop-shopexperiencefororganizationstomoreeasilytracktheclosingprocessthroughvisibilityoftasks,whohasbeenassignedtoatask,taskstatuesandmuchmore. GettingstartedwiththeD365FinancialPeriodCloseWorkspace First,let'snavigatetoGeneralLedger>PeriodClose>FinancialPeriodCloseConfiguration.Fromthisscreen,wewillworkontheconfigurationsfromthebottomupandstartwithdefiningclosingroles.   Configuration:ClosingRoles Closingrolesarenotthesameasthesecurityrolessetupinthesystem.Theseareuser-definedandparticulartotherolesyouthinkyouwillneedforyourclosingprocess.Thisishelpfulbecauseitwillallowyoutofilterthroughtasksbyroles. Click+New EnteraClosingRoleandDescription ClickSave Resources IntheResourcestab,youcanthenassigntherolesyou'vejustcreatedtoanemployee.Thereisnolimittohowmanyrolessomeonecanhave.However,rolescanonlybeassignedtoonepersonpercompany.Lastly,youcanalsoselectbetweenallowingtheemployeetoviewAllTasksandStatusorOnlyAssignedTasks. Click+New SelectanEmployeefromthedrop-downmenu SelectaView ExpandtheClosingRolesfasttab ClickAdd SelectClosingRole SelectCompanies TaskAreas Taskareasareuser-defined.Itisuptoyouandyourorganizationtodeterminehowyouwouldliketogrouptaskareas.SomeexamplesareAccountsPayable,AccountsReceivableandGeneralLedger. Click+New EnteranAreaandDescription ClickSave Calendars IntheCalendarstab,youwillcreatecalendarsthatdefinetheworkingdaysofyourfinancialperiodclosingprocess.Thesewillbeusedfortheschedulingoftasks.Afteryoucreatethecalendaritcanbeedited,soyoucangobackandmakeanyadjustmentsforholidays.Forexample,ifJuly4thlandedonaMonday,whichwouldnormallybeindicatedasaworkingday,itcanbeadjustedtonotethatitisnotaworkingday. ClickNew EnteraCalendartitle EnteraCalendarname ChooseStartDateforcalendar ChooseEndDateforcalendar Templates Afinancialclosetemplateisacompilationofallthetasksthataredefinedtobecompletedduringthatperiod'sclosingprocess.Ifyouhaveseparatechecklistsforamonth-endcloseorquarter-endclose,youcanuploadorcreatetwoseparatetemplatesofthoselistsinthesystem.Youcanalsocreateseparatetemplatestousefordifferentlegalentitiesiftheclosingprocessisdifferent. Ifyou'vealreadycreatedatemplateandhavetocreateanewonethatwillbequitesimilar,withtheexceptionsofafewtasksthatyoueitherneedtoaddordelete,youcancopyanexistingtemplate,giveitanewnameandaddordeletetaskswithouthavingtostartcompletelyfromscratch. Aspartofsettingupatemplate,tasksneedtobedefinedandgivenarelativeduedateandtime.Dynamicsdefinesaregularduedateasthenumberofdaysbeforeorafterthedefinedperiodenddatethatthetaskwillbedueeachperiod. TIP:Ifyouhavedifferentpeopleassignedtocompletethesametasksbutindifferentlegalentities,itmightbehelpfultocreatemultipletasksforthesamejobandassignthemtoeachoftheindividualsseparately. TheTaskLinkcolumnallowsyoutolinktheassociatedpageinD365,wherethetaskshouldbecompleted.Forexample,ifthetaskrequiresyoutoFinalizePeriodBilling,youcanlinktheAllSalesOrderspagetothattasktomakecompletingthetaskmostefficientforthepersontowhomitisassigned. CreateanewTemplateandclickthe+ AddTasksandclick+New SelectArea EnterTask EnteraDueDaterelativetotheperiodenddate(+/-days).Zerowouldindicateaduedateoftheperiodenddate,whichyouwillspecifywhenyoucreatetheclosingschedule.Onewouldindicateaduedateofthedayaftertheperiodenddate. EnteraDueTime SelectClosingRole SelectCompanies SelectMenuItem.ThisistheformorpageinDynamicsyouwouldliketolinkthetaskto. Toaddattachmentsornotes,clickonthethreedots(€¦)andclickAttachments. ClosingSchedules Lastly,youneedtocreateaclosingschedule.Closingschedulesareusedtoassignatemplatetoafinancialperiodthatneedstobeclosed.Whenthisiscompleted,thenewclosingschedulewillbereadytobeviewedintheworkspace. ClickNew EnteraNamefortheClosingSchedule EnteraDescription EnterthePeriodStartDate EnterthePeriodEndDate SelectaTemplatethatyouhavecreated SelectaCalendar SelectCompanies Whenalltasksinaclosingschedulehavebeencompleted,youarereadytoselecttheLockedoption.Thenewly€œlocked€schedulewillthenberemovedfromtheworkspace,butthecompletedtaskswillremainaccessibleforvisibilityintheAllFinancialPeriodCloseTaskslistpage. Navigation SimilartootherworkspacesinDynamics,thefinancialperiodcloseworkspaceisbrokenupintothreesections.Thefirstissummarytilesthatprovideinsightintohowmanytasksarestilloutstandingataquickglance.Youcanclickonthesetilestodrilldownfurtherandviewthosetasks.Thetilesshowpastdue,remainingandblockedtasks.Blockedtasksaretasksthatareduetodaybut€œblocked€becauseofdependencies.Thesesummarytileshelpmakeactionitemsimmediatelyvisiblefortheentiregroupandunblockkeytasks. ThenextsectionistheTasksandStatussectionthatcontainsfilteredlistsofyourtasks.Asauserwhocanseetheentirechecklist,youcanseethetasksandtheirstatusbycompany,areaandperson.Ifyourresourcesettingsonlyallowyoutoseeyourtasks,thiswillbeapersonalizedlistofwhatyouwillworkonduringthisclosecycle.Lastly,thethirdsectionincludeslinkstootherpagesthatmaybehelpfultoyou. Ifaftercreatingaclosingschedule,yourealizethatyouaremissingafewtasks,youwillneedtoaddthosetasksontheworkspacedirectly.Ifyouaddthosetaskstothetemplate,theywillnotupdateandshowuponpre-existingclosingschedulesthatyouhavecreated.Anotheralternative,ifyouhaven'talreadybegunusingorupdatingthetasksonthatclosingschedule,istodeleteitandaddthenewtaskstothetemplate.Then,recreatetheclosingschedule. IntheTasksandStatussection,youcanclickonShowDetailstoexpandthemenuandrevealthetasks.Tasksthataremarkedwithexclamationmarksarepastdue.Iftasksaremarkedwithpadlocks,itmeanstheyaredependentonanothertask.Tasksthataredependentonanothertaskcannotbemarkedcomplete.TheworkspaceallowsyoutoAdd,Remove,Edit,attachAttachmentsandSetDependencies. ThisstandardD365F&Ofinancialperiodcloseworkspaceisessentialfunctionalityforanyorganization,butespeciallynowwiththeneedforbetterremoteenablement. FindmoretipsandtricksonmaximizingyouruseofDynamics365throughouttheArmaninoDynamicsresourcesandvisitourCOVID-19ResourceCenterformoreinsightsintoremoteworkforceenablementandmore. StayInTouchSignuptostayup-to-datewiththelatestaccountingregulations,bestpractices,industrynewsandtechnologyinsightstorunyourbusiness. 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