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BUSINESS CENTRAL

Timing is Everything: How Deferrals Improve Revenue and Expense Recognition in Business Central
08
Jun

Timing is Everything: How Deferrals Improve Revenue and Expense Recognition in Business Central 

In the field of accounting, cash reigns supreme, while accuracy rules the roost. For most organizations, especially those involved in selling subscription models or maintenance plans. There can be a significant difference between when the cash comes in and when the task gets completed. You may get the revenue for an annual subscription plan in the month of January; however, the fact remains that you have not earned that income yet till December. Booking it all in the month of January would mean presenting financial statements that show rapid growth in January followed by stagnancy in the following ten months. That is why deferrals become very important, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central comes to the rescue here.  The Challenge of Matching  Matching is the heart of the accrual accounting system where the concept says that revenue should be accounted for when the related expenses have been incurred. Thus, if you make the sale of an annual software license, the income arising from that sale must be spread over the life of the license. On the other hand, payment of insurance premiums on a yearly basis should be expensed in monthly instalments.  Lack of a suitable deferral tool forces finance professionals to take recourse to cumbersome and risky manual processes involving spreadsheet-based calculations. The finance team will need to estimate the amount of recognition on a month-on-month basis. Followed by preparation of journal entries that will see funds transferred from a Balance Sheet Account like Unearned Revenue to the Profit and Loss Account.  Automation of the Process in Business Central  Through automation, Business Central makes the dependence on spreadsheets redundant by recognizing the income and expenses automatically. Create the “deferral templates,” to determine the way transactions recognition.  While creating the sales invoices and purchase invoices in Business Central, it becomes possible to assign deferral codes. At that moment, the income is recognized automatically, but it does not go into the Profit & Loss (P&L) straight away. Instead, most of the income goes to a deferral account on the Balance Sheet side. The accounting process then continues based on the plan that you have defined (monthly, quarterly, or yearly).  Eliminating Financial Uncertainty  What’s important about this feature is the visibility it brings. By postponing income and expenditures, you give a realistic representation of how your business functions to your investors.  Let’s take a manufacturer, who buys an expensive shipment of materials in one quarter for the whole year at once. This means that in Q1 there will be an immense drop in profits, which might scare off potential investors. Whereas quarters two, three, and four will look exceptionally profitable. By taking advantage of expense deferrals in Dynamics 365 Business Central, you distribute the cost equally, making profitability less variable and comparing figures monthly easy.  Compliance & Confidence  Aside from management convenience, expense deferrals make you compliant with standards like GAAP and IFRS. Come audit time, you won’t have to scramble looking for Excel sheets or calculations scattered across the board. You have all your data built into Business Central. Log every schedule and automatic post right back to its source.  Conclusion  Financial reporting involves not only making sure accounts balance but telling the real story of what goes on in your company. With an economy that depends on subscriptions and agreements that span for years, accurate accounting becomes an essential part of business processes.  With the help of deferred functionality in Business Central, one can leave the uncertainty of manual estimates behind. You will be able to make sure you recognize your expenses and income at the correct time. As a result, you can make the necessary decision and scale your busine
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From Click to Ship: How E-commerce Businesses Automate Orders with Business Central
25
May

From Click to Ship: How E-commerce Businesses Automate Orders with Business Central 

In the world of e-commerce today, speed and accuracy have become the key battlegrounds. Customers expect an Amazon-style experience: immediate order confirmation, quick delivery, and up-to-date inventory. For expanding e-commerce businesses, the largest hurdle that prevents growth may well be the Order Gap the gap between your customer’s shopping cart and your warehouse.  Today, many businesses still conduct their orders manually. Printing orders from a web-based portal, entering the order details into the accounting system, and sending the shipment data via email. Not only does this process take time, but it also sets the stage for inevitable human error.  Enter Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. By seamlessly connecting your e-commerce storefront with your powerful ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, you can completely automate your entire order-to-cash process. Here’s how top-tier e-commerce companies leverage Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to transform manual madness into automated efficiency.  1. Seamless Order Integration Across Channels  Regardless of whether you’re selling your products on Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, or even on third-party sellers such as Amazon or eBay. Keeping up with multiple sales channels by handling each channel separately can be extremely hectic. Business Central provides support through its pre-integrated connector as well as its integrating capabilities with all the above-named sales channels.  The moment a customer clicks on the “buy” button, the order does not sit and wait until an employee exports it into a CSV file. Instead, it flows directly into the Business Central system, eliminating the need for any manual data input at all.  2. Real-Time Stock Synchronization   The most frustrating thing for any customer is making an order and then receiving an email after a few days that the product he or she ordered is out of stock. This is due to inconsistencies between the inventory level on the online shop and that of the physical inventory in the warehouse.  Business Central solves this problem by serving as the “single source of truth” for inventory. When a customer makes an order, Business Central automatically reduces the inventory stock. This data is synced in real time to the webstore, making fewer stock levels available to other customers.  When the stock level rises in the warehouse, this information is immediately shared with the online shop through automation.  3. Automated Fulfilment and Shipping  After the order is placed in Business Central, the system will automate the physical process of fulfillment of the order. This means that you can create the list of items for picking by workers, or you can connect the Business Central with WMS to show where the item located within the warehouse.  However, even better is the shipping integration. The system works with UPS, FedEx, and DHL. After the order is packaged, the system will calculate the rates of the shipping, print the labels and pack slips with just one click.  The tracking number will be entered into the sales order automatically and will be forwarded to the customer via email.  4. Financial Automation and Reconciliation  The last missing link here is money. In the traditional setting, the accounting department would spend many hours reconciling payments received via payment gateways such as Stripe or PayPal against the invoices in their accounting software.  With Business Central, an automatic posting of the invoice occurs once the shipment of the order goes through. Thanks to the integration with the payment gateway, the transaction is automatically reconciled, thus providing business owners with an instant overview of their cashflow while saving significant time at the end of the month.  The Bottom Line  Automation is key to the success of any online retail operation nowadays. Using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as an example of software capable of automating orders, we see that by doing so, companies will save themselves from costly mistakes, keep track of inventory more effectively, and ship orders faster.  Creating a bridge between e-commerce businesses storefront and office operations will allow organizations to concentrate on the right things.
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The Distributor’s Edge: Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Leads the ERP Market
18
May

The Distributor’s Edge: Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Leads the ERP Market 

In the competitive environment that is wholesale distribution, the line between making profits and losses is a very thin one indeed. Today’s wholesaler operates under a business climate where margins are slim, the supply chain is unpredictable, and customer demands are always on the increase.  Wholesalers, therefore, have no choice but to adopt a more sophisticated ERP system. There may be many systems available in the marketplace, but the best is without doubt Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Here is how it is surpassing all competitors.  1. Effective Stock Control and Warehousing  In distribution, stock is money in the shelves. Poor stock control will lead to the death of the company. Business Central allows for extensive and detailed control over the stock, which is much more than mere counting.  It has sophisticated warehousing functions, such as bin control, pick/put-away operations, and guided pick/ship. Also it allows for various unit-of-measure conversions, and this means that no matter whether you purchase at pallets or sell at units, everything will tally up. It also uses smart forecasting to predict future demand from past sales. This helps minimize dead stock and avoid stockouts, which may lead to strained client relations.  2. The Strength of the Microsoft Ecosystem  The second very convincing advantage that makes BC the market leader is its easy integration with familiar applications used by company employees. There are many ERP systems out there, which seem to be alien to employees who need a lot of time to learn how to use it.  Business Central resembles familiar Office applications like Outlook and Excel. Users can see business information right in their email or manipulate financial information in Excel and automatically publish the data back into the ERP system. Integration with Power BI provides opportunities for creating impressive, up-to-date dashboards showing sales performance.  3. Flexibility and Scalability in the Cloud  Traditional legacy ERP applications tend to be both costly to own and tough to upgrade. Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) application. What this means is that the distributor will have the luxury to access all the information regardless of his location whether it be in the warehouse, meeting clients on-site, or even working remotely.  Another important characteristic of a good software is scalability. When an organization is growing, either through additional warehouse facilities or geographical expansions, the software must have the capacity to grow with the business, without incurring any hardware upgrades or costs.  4. Smooth Integration into the Supply Chain  A contemporary distributor is one link among many in a complex chain. One of the key advantages of Business Central is its seamless integration. It comes with powerful APIs, which make the system seamlessly connect with eCommerce platforms (such as Shopify or Magento), CRM tools, and leading carriers (like UPS and FedEx).  Such automation helps cut out any manual entry. As soon as an order is placed by a customer, it goes straight into the ERP system, inventory allocation happens, the shipping label is printed out, and the customer is notified without any involvement of a person who enters all this manually.  Conclusion  Wholesale distribution is all about efficiency, and Business Central is on top of the pack due to its ability to offer specific functions in an easy-to-use Microsoft cloud environment.  If distributors want to improve their business by enhancing efficiency and empowering their employees, then Business Central will be more than an ERP; it will be the way forward.
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From Chaos to Clarity: How Manufacturers Improve Production Planning with Business Central
11
May

From Chaos to Clarity: How Manufacturers Improve Production Planning with Business Central 

In today’s complex environment of manufacturing, what makes or breaks a quarter can often be summed up in just one word, production planning. Manufacturing has long depended on spreadsheets and hunches when it comes to scheduling jobs. While that approach may have been acceptable years ago, the current state of manufacturing has made manual management untenable. Volatile demands, disrupted supply chains, and increasing material costs demand flexibility. This is precisely why manufacturers now look to solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. As an all-inclusive ERP system tailored for manufacturers of smaller scale, it helps manufacturers turn production planning from a problem into a strategy.  The following is a brief look at how leading manufacturers are leveraging the capabilities of Business Central.  1. Centralized Data for Precise Forecasting  Lack of information flow is one of the greatest obstacles in production planning. What is the point of having sales data and warehouse statistics disconnected when there is nothing but chaos?  With Business Central, you have a “single source of truth” all your financials, sales, service, and operations are now integrated into a centralized system. When salespeople enter their orders, the system calculates available inventories and material at hand, enabling precise forecasting and helping you to produce what should be produced, without any extra costs for maintaining unnecessary stocks.  2. Efficient Supply Chain Management  A production plan will be useless without adequate material management. With Business Central, you have access to powerful Supply Planning tools, which streamline the entire requisition process.  No more manual estimations of how many materials will be necessary for a future run. Business Central takes care of all the calculations based on your sales forecasts and open production orders. It even suggests purchase orders automatically, depending on lead times and reordering parameters. In case of delays from your suppliers, you get a timely notification and can change your production plans accordingly.  3. Visualizing Capacity Using Agility  A bottleneck in a business environment results in lost profits. The Business Central allows visualization of work centre utilization and utilization of machine centres. There is precise information regarding the amount of available capacity compared to the demand for such capacity.  In case a particular machine is overloaded, then there is an option for conducting a “what-if” scenario. Production orders may be reallocated by scheduling in another shift or outsourcing the order. This ensures that the deadlines are achieved without overstressing employees.  4. Optimization of Shop Floor Processes  The planning process takes place in the office; however, the implementation occurs at the shop floor. Through digital solutions, Business Central closes the gap between the two.  Real-time information can be generated when collecting data at the shop floor using touch screen, barcode, or IoT technology. This helps to track the production and scrap numbers for continuous improvement. In case the production time is higher than the planned one, the standard routing data is updated. Therefore, all plans will be accurate according to reality, not theories.  5. Enhanced Version Control and Quality  If you are a manufacturer that deals with complex BOM’s, even an engineering change may spoil everything without a proper communication among all involved parties. Using Business Central, you can ensure that everyone works with the latest BOM version. Any engineering change will be reflected immediately at the shop floor level.  Conclusion  Production planning is not simply about making sure the machine runs smoothly but making the best use of resources for increased profitability. By adopting Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the manufacturer will be able to improve their operations by reducing lead times, lowering their inventory cost, and responding to customers’ needs more effectively.  Given the nature of manufacturing, the adoption of ERP becomes inevitable. 
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04
May

Top 10 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Spreadsheets 

No one is denying the fact that Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets have made the life of start-ups much easier. However, when the company is growing up, these applications become increasingly difficult to manage. Spreadsheets can take care of the inventory, payrolls, lead management, and a lot more. Yet, like how training wheels prevent further development in cycling, spreadsheet use becomes an obstacle at some point.  The companies experience the moment when “making do” with the spreadsheets starts doing them more harm than good. If you experience the pain of manual data entry and dread the month-end reports, then it might be high time for you to consider the alternative. Here are the 10 signs that indicate your business needs to grow beyond spreadsheet use.  1. Managing Versions Is a Headache  If your filenames resemble Q3_Report_Final_FINAL_v2.xlsx, then you need to consider other options. It is hard to keep track of all these versions of your document when many departments are working on their own copies of the same spreadsheet.  2. No “Single Source of Truth”  When the sales team needs statistics from marketing, and finance provides another set of numbers to operations, trust goes out the window. With spreadsheets, there is a tendency to develop information silos, and important data remains on employees’ computers instead of being stored in a single database.  3. Your Data Is Vulnerable  It is not easy to secure your spreadsheet. Although you can encrypt your document with a password, it is impossible to control who views each row or column. If an employee leaves your company, your confidential documents will end up in the wrong hands.  4. It Crashes or Slow down  As you keep adding hundreds or even thousands of rows, complicated formulae, and macros, your software starts to slow down considerably. What used to be a calculation that takes minutes to load may now take hours, and the software tends to freeze frequently. Your teams will spend more time looking at the loading bar than they would on analysing the data.  5. Human Error Has Become Expensive  The fact that spreadsheets are manual makes them highly susceptible to human errors. One misplaced decimal point and all your financial statements can go for a toss. Automated software does have validations to check for such problems beforehand.  6. No Access to Real-Time Data  To run an efficient business, real-time data is necessary. Spreadsheets cannot offer real-time data, as it only tells you about past data, data from the previous day or week, etc. If you do not know your status, you may end up making bad decisions.  7. The Challenge of Working Remotely  In this age of hybrid working, teams need to gain access to data anywhere. Even though cloud-based spreadsheets exist, they do not have the capability to handle multi-user editing. If your remote team cannot get access to a file because someone else is already “editing” it, then your process fails.  8. You’re Wasting Time with Data Entry Tasks  Are you or some of your highly paid managers copying data from one sheet to another to complete their work? Such activities are called “busy work” and have nothing to do with generating profits. Your time is far too precious to waste on such mundane tasks.  9. Your System Is Not Scalable Enough  A business environment changes constantly. When you begin adding new products, services, or client segments, your spreadsheet logic becomes exceedingly complicated. Ultimately, the rigidity of your system becomes the reason it fails.  10. Poor Quality of Customer Service  If the customer needs information regarding their order status, do you need to place them on hold while checking three different spreadsheets? If there is a lack of integration within the data, providing a quick and personalized experience for customers becomes quite difficult.  The Takeaway  Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are nothing to be embarrassed about; in fact, it is an integral part of business development. Knowing when to move away from outdated solutions is critical to taking back control of your time and protecting your sensitive data. You are ready to remove the training wheels and embrace a professional business management platform.
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How Predictive Analytics in Business Central Improves Business Decisions
27
Apr

How Predictive Analytics in Business Central Improves Business Decisions 

Have you ever felt like you’re driving your business blind by only looking through the rear-view window?  Traditional business reporting gives you visibility on what has happened over the last month, last quarter, or last year. While historical data is certainly important, it is often historical or “rear-view window” data. It is often too late to react to a trend or opportunity revealed by a standard report. By the time you identify a trend or opportunity through a standard report, it may be too late to capitalize on it or avoid a catastrophe. This is where Predictive Analytics within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central shifts the paradigm.  Here is how Business Central’s Predictive Analytics empowers you to make more intelligent decisions, sooner, and more profitably.  1. Optimizing Inventory with Demand Forecasting  For companies with inventory levels, it is a constant balancing act between having too much in stock and tying up cash flow and incurring additional costs for storage and having too little in stock and risking losing sales and alienating customers.  Business Central utilizes its capabilities in predictive analytics to examine historical sales data and current market conditions to create Demand Forecasts for companies with inventory levels.  The Decision: Instead of making educated guesses on how many of something to order based on historical sales data, you use artificial intelligence to predict future demand.  The Result: You save costs and maximize the effectiveness of your purchasing budget.  2. Mastering Cash Flow with “Smart” Predictions  Cash flow is lifeblood to any business. One of the most stressful things about being a business owner is worrying whether you are going to have enough cash to meet those bills and taxes that are coming due next month.  Business Central offers a Cash Flow Forecast chart that goes beyond simple due dates. With Azure AI, it can learn the payment patterns of your unique customers.  The Insight: Perhaps it recognizes that “Customer A” is a Net 30-day customer but pays in 45 days.  The Decision: Cash Flow Forecast automatically takes this into account and updates the payment date.  The Result: With this information, you can secure financing or put off expenses before a cash shortage occurs, rather than scrambling when checks start bouncing.  3. Mitigating Risk with Late Payment Prediction  Offering credit to your customers is an essential part of sales. However, it is also an area of risk with “bad debts.” Hunting down late payments is a tedious task. In fact, at times it may even harm your relationship with the customer if you end up chasing the wrong one.  What Business Central Does  Late Payment Prediction is an extension available on Business Central, developed by Azure AI. It analyses all your outstanding invoices and assigns a “risk score” to each of your customers based on its prediction of late payment.  The Decision  With Business Central, you have an opportunity to be strategic with your collections. If a customer has a “high risk” score, you may send a friendly reminder a few days before the payment is due. Conversely, if a customer has a “low risk” score, you may wait a few days after the payment is due to avoid annoying your customer.  The Result  With Business Central, your accounts receivable team becomes efficient, and your cash flow improves without annoying your customer.  4. The Competitive Advantage: Data-Driven Agility  The ultimate advantage of using predictive analytics with Business Central is agility.  In a changing marketplace, the companies that succeed are those that can change direction quickly. If your ERP system is warning you about a potential drop in sales or cash flow problems weeks in advance, then you have time to react.  You are not fighting fires; you are preventing them from happening.  Conclusion  Predictive analytics is no longer something only the titans of industry with the deepest pockets for IT can afford. With the integration of these features directly into Business Central, Microsoft has put the power of big data into the hands of SMEs.  If you are ready to stop looking in the rearview mirror and start looking through the windshield, then it is time to tap into the predictive potential of your Business Central solution. 
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