Microsoft provides a robust connection between SSRS reports and Dynamics 365, allowing a user to run a report providing a summary of defined records. To create custom reports though, you will need to have a high-level knowledge of SQL/XML, or hire a consultant to build the report for you.

Why not take matters into your own hands and build your reports using out of the box components in Dynamics 365? Dynamics 365 offers both Excel Templates and Word Templates, empowering you to create reports which best suit your business needs, using the application that fits the bill.

Excel and Word templates allow you to create and share templates, so documents always have a consistent look and the necessary details included. Excel and Word templates are easily configured by selecting fields from your starting entity (i.e. Opportunity) to use as dynamic values in both Excel and Word. Not only can you select fields from the entity you began from, you also have the ability to select fields from related entities which have either a 1:N or N:N relationship with the starting entity.

With the help of Excel and Word templates, you can prepare beautifully crafted reports, which include data elements dynamically pulled in from D365. Should needs change, you can always modify and upload the revised template into D365, allowing you and your colleagues to always have the most current templates at your disposal.

Some benefits of using Excel and Word templates:

How many products/services do you sell? How many pricing structures do you have for each? Do you offer volume discounts? A no-nonsense, structured approach which can be seamlessly applied (every time and without a second thought) can improve your sales strategy and have everyone on the same page.

The Product Catalog in Dynamics 365 makes it easier for your sales reps to increase their sales by having an authority by which to work when talking to potential customers about products/services offered. The product catalog is a combination of the products themselves, and the underlying pricing mechanism.

Below are the components which form the Product Catalog:

• Families & Products – Products are the items which you sell and product families provide a way to group, classify and categorize products for streamlined product management. Both bundles and individual products can be included in a product family tree.
• Price Lists – Price Lists are product groupings with associated pricing. Sales operation managers can link Dynamics 365 territories to price lists. This directly benefits salespeople by defaulting the appropriate price list to opportunities, quotes, orders and invoices.
• Discount Lists - Discount lists are optional and are used in conjunction with price list items for volume pricing offers.
• Unit Groups - Unit Groups define the quantities by which a product or service is sold. For example, mouse pads may be sold in lots of 50, 100, or 200. Or Services sold by the hour may be grouped by day, week or month.

As you begin configuring your product catalog, add components in the following order: Discount Lists (if needed), Unit Groups, Price Lists, Products. When adding Product, you can define bundles, which allows you to combine multiple products into a group, to be sold as a package. Product relationships can also be defined, allowing for the suggestion of product substitutions; accessory recommendations; highlight cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.

Once the Product Catalog is setup, salespeople will have the ability to select and add products to their Opportunities, Quotes, Orders, and Invoices.

Finding the data you are looking for may be far easier than you realize in Dynamics 365. There are many out-of-the-box elements in D365 which enable you to quickly (and easily) locate just what you need. Not only that, once you pinpoint the data, there are features that give you the ability to save the filter and create valuable metrics. This session will provide end users with valuable tips to efficiently and effectively find just what they need!

Topics to include:

• Maximizing Views
• Charts and how they interact with Views
• Effective Use of Global Search and Quick Search
• Creating Advanced Find Queries

Date: Thursday September 27, 2018
Time: 11:00AM - 11:30AM EST

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

Learn how to read the data from Microsoft Dynamics GP in Power BI. In this webinar, we’ll be sharing great reporting ideas for Dynamics GP and demo our favorite dashboards. The dashboards that will be presented in this webinar are:

• Financials Dashboard
• Sales Dashboard
• Project Accounting Dashboard

Date: Wednesday September 26, 2018
Time: 2:30PM - 3:00PM EST

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

This Power BI 101 webinar will go more into detail than a simple introduction. This webinar will provide all the fundamentals needed in building a Power BI dashboard for your business. Join our webinar and learn the following:

• Connecting to Data Sources
• Creating Reports using Visualizations
• Some Examples of Popular Power BI Reports

Date: Wednesday September 26, 2018
Time: 1:00PM - 2:00PM EST

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

Everyone knows that Dynamics 365 has many great ways to link entities together, however once they are linked what controls do we have over their behavior? Enter, Cascading Rules. Cascading rules are a set it and forget it setting which controls the behaviors between two related entities. Cascading rules in D365 allows users to control what actions are passed down from one entity to another.

A great example where cascading rules come in handy is when users want to reassign the owner for a specific account record. However, they do not want its related activities such as emails, tasks and appointments to change owner when this happens. This is when you would go into cascading rules and update the assign setting to prevent the assign action from being passed down to its related activities.

In D365 the out of box settings for cascading rules, for a good majority of relationships, is Set to Parental (Cascade All), which means the action taken on the parent entity will be passed down. Now this may be suitable for some relationships, but in the case of the assign action being applied to Activities, this typically causes some undesirable results.

Toggling the Type of Behavior to Configurable Cascading allows you to customize each of the relationship behaviors individually.

Below are the possible cascading options you can select for each action.

Global Search is one of the most widely used features in Dynamics 365 since everyone needs to lookup records on a regular basis. Global search makes finding records easy because it allows users to query the entire D365 database in a quick and easy way. The main difference between global search and entity search is that global search checks multiple entities in the system while entity search only looks through records for a specific entity type.

Global search is great for looking up records if you only have a rough idea or small piece of information to go on. This is because global search checks multiple entities and multiple key fields in those entities for your search word. Global search casts a wide net and finds anything with a close match. With that said, global search does not check every field for a match because that would simply take too long.

With the above in mind, do you know which fields are being checked in your company right now when you perform a global search query? To find out, you will need account admin privileges, allowing you to look at the system backend and customize your global search setup.

To start, let’s check which entities are currently enabled for global search. To do so, go to Settings > Administration in the navigation menu.

Within the Administration screen click on System Settings.

Do you find that the data shown in your Dynamics 365 environment is not reflective of the business data which is relevant to you? There are a variety of out of the box tools in Dynamics 365 which can be used to achieve this vital need. Such tools include Views and Charts which can be brought together into Dashboards to give an overview of data components captured in Dynamics 365.

For Dashboards, Views, and Charts there are two definitive types, Personal and System.

Personal Dashboards/Views/Charts

You, and anyone else, who has at least User level access to the system can build their own personal dashboards, views and charts based on their privileges in the system. The system administrator can modify the access level for each action in the security role to control the depth to which people can create, read, write, delete, assign, or share personal views.

All three components are owned by individuals and because of their default User level access, they are visible only to that person or anyone else they choose to share them with.

Is Microsoft Dynamics GP Dead?

Is Dynamics GP dead? For 20 years Dynamics GP has helped business become digital. Rest assured Microsoft Dynamics GP has made its mark in the Dynamics ecosystem, and it’s here to stay. Join our webinar and find out where Microsoft Dynamics GP is headed.

This webinar will cover

-The future of Dynamics GP
-What it means for your business

Date: Wednesday August 29, 2018
Time: 11:00AM - 11:30AM EST

Key Differences and Comparison:
Dynamics GP & Dynamics 365 Business Central

Microsoft Dynamics GP has been around for over 20 years and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft’s newest accounting system. Both systems are geared to manage core finances for small and medium-sized businesses, but they also have some key differences. This webinar will be comparing the differences between Business Central and Microsoft GP, topics will include:

-Multicurrency
-Financial Reporting
-G/L Account Structure
-Project Accounting
-Manufacturing

Date:  Wednesday August 22, 2018
Time: 11:00AM - 11:30AM EST

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

Dynamics 365 Teams are a great way to manage records and tasks because teams can own records and have a definitive security role associated outside the scope of a Users default role. This provides enhanced visibility to managers regarding which group is responsible for which objective; extends a Users reach enabling them to access and work with records they otherwise would not have privileges for; and allows for a simplified security structure, particularly when managing a large group of users.

A few examples of situations wherein teams are best utilized include:

• When Users span multiple business units but share a logical association
• Security Roles within a Business Unit are primarily restricted to User Access Only
• In Customer Support where work is routed to a Support Queue and the management of the Cases is best done through team ownership

To setup a new team in D365, go to the Settings tab in the navigation menu and select Security.

In the Security section click on Teams.

In the team view window, click the New button on the command bar. This will open a new team form.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers the ability to streamline your business process through an often overlooked and underutilized feature called Business Process Flows. Business process flows are displayed visually in Dynamics 365 as a heading across the top of an entity form, and can carry from one entity to another, and can be configured for both out of the box and custom entities. Not only that, you are not limited to a single business process flow; you can configure one or more distinct business process flows, allowing different departments to have a flow unique to their daily requirements.

A business process flow is composed of Stages (highlighted in red below), which contain multiple Steps (highlighted in green below). In the business process flow heading, a user can see which stage they are currently working through (which is indicated by the flag), and the steps they need to complete (what fields need to be filled in) before they can advance to the next stage in the process.

Business process flows enable you to require users to complete certain steps before advancing to the next stage of the process. They also allow for branching logic based on data elements collected which may require a different path. There are a couple out of the box business process flows pre-configured for system entities, but you can modify these and create your own business process flows to meet the particular needs identified for your organization.

Create a Business Process Flow:

1. Go to Settings > Processes to create a new Process

Office 365 is one of the most popular applications to make any business go paperless. Companies that use Microsoft O365 suite don’t have to worry about, documents or files getting misplaced. Here are three ways that any business can leverage Microsoft O365.

Flexibility and Scalability

Microsoft O365 is both flexible and scalable for any business. Microsoft O365 is available on a monthly or annual plan and can be scaled to cater to your business. It is very easy to add and remove users. Here at Websan, it can be done by filling in a form on our support page. Microsoft O365 has customized packages available so the right employees and departments access the best tools.

Moving to the Cloud

Microsoft O365 is in the cloud which means updates are done quickly by Microsoft with little to no interruptions. This will ensure that your business is using the latest versions of O365 and your business email and mailbox will never go offline. When O365 is deployed in the cloud, all the licenses will be active at once, making updating quick and secure by Microsoft.

Dynamics 365 is a sophisticated Microsoft business application, it grants the ability to better manage the relationships of your Sales, Customer Service, Field Service and Operation processes. But how can you access your data while you are out in the field, the internet is down or you are not anywhere near your PC? Dynamics 365 for phones and Dynamics 365 for tablets apps are the solution when you're on the go. These apps give you immediate access to accounts, contacts, opportunities, cases, and so much more!

How to get the App:

Go to the app store on your device and download either Dynamics 365 for phones or Dynamics 365 for tablets, depending on the device you are working with. Both phone and tablet users alike will appreciate the new Unified Interface. The Unified Interface provides an optimized viewing and interaction experience, relative to screen size, device, and orientation.

 Accessing the App:

Once you have the app installed, open the app on your device, enter your Dynamics 365 URL (web address), and click the arrow to continue. Next you will be prompted for your user name and password. If you are unsure of any of these values, contact your Dynamics 365 administrator.

WebSan Solutions Inc. is proud to announce that our team has won the 2018 Microsoft Canada Modern Marketing Innovation award.  These annual awards recognize Microsoft partners who demonstrate excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Microsoft prides on having the largest partner ecosystem in the industry, with over 14,000 partners across Canada. Each of these partners play an integral role in unlocking new opportunities for Canadian companies and Microsoft is committed to helping their partner ecosystem build profitable businesses and successfully take their solutions to market.

Microsoft Canada presented these awards in 16 categories on July 16, 2018 at the Microsoft Inspire conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Winners were selected based on the outstanding work the companies provided to their customers and community.

“This year’s IMPACT award winners represent the best and most forward-thinking innovators coming out of our partner community in Canada,” said Suzanne Gagliese, Vice President, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Canada. “Microsoft’s partner ecosystem plays a fundamental role in driving Canada’s innovation agenda forward, and ultimately strengthening our position as a globally competitive and prosperous country. We congratulate all of the winners on this amazing achievement and their continued dedication to bringing cutting-edge solutions to complex business challenges and providing digital transformation opportunities for our shared customers.”

“To be among great company and win the Modern Marketing Innovation award is such a great honour. For me, it validates the hard work and tireless efforts of our marketing team to achieve outstanding results.

Our accomplishment illustrates our ability to stay ahead of the curve and serves as a testament to all our marketing efforts.” stated Andrew King, Managing Director at WebSan Solutions Inc.

WebSan Solutions Inc. is proud to announce that our team has won the 2018 Microsoft Canada Modern Marketing Innovation award.  These annual awards recognize Microsoft partners who demonstrate excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Microsoft prides on having the largest partner ecosystem in the industry, with over 14,000 partners across Canada. Each of these partners play an integral role in unlocking new opportunities for Canadian companies and Microsoft is committed to helping their partner ecosystem build profitable businesses and successfully take their solutions to market.

Microsoft Canada presented these awards in 16 categories on July 16, 2018 at the Microsoft Inspire conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Winners were selected based on the outstanding work the companies provided to their customers and community.

“This year’s IMPACT award winners represent the best and most forward-thinking innovators coming out of our partner community in Canada,” said Suzanne Gagliese, Vice President, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Canada. “Microsoft’s partner ecosystem plays a fundamental role in driving Canada’s innovation agenda forward, and ultimately strengthening our position as a globally competitive and prosperous country. We congratulate all of the winners on this amazing achievement and their continued dedication to bringing cutting-edge solutions to complex business challenges and providing digital transformation opportunities for our shared customers.”

“To be among great company and win the Modern Marketing Innovation award is such a great honour. For me, it validates the hard work and tireless efforts of our marketing team to achieve outstanding results.

Our accomplishment illustrates our ability to stay ahead of the curve and serves as a testament to all our marketing efforts.” stated Andrew King, Managing Director at WebSan Solutions Inc.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Inventory Planning

Do you know what items you currently have on hand? Do you know which items are needed? Join our webinar to see how the inventory planning system works in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

This session will include:

• Extensive inventory planning capabilities for procurement and manufacturing
• Reorder point planning and full MRP
• Planning combination of location and item (stock keeping units)
• Dashboard/Reporting in Power BI

Date: Thursday July 26, 2018
Time: 11:00AM - 11:30AM EST
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

Microsoft Flow, your simple solution for synchronizing data!

Looking for a simple way to synchronize data between the various business applications which you run your business on? Attend our webinar on Microsoft Flow to learn how you can create automated workflows bridging the gap between your business-critical apps and services. Microsoft Flow currently offers over 200 connectors, with new ones being added all the time.

This session will include:
• What is Microsoft Flow
• Available Connectors
• Use Cases
• Creating/Managing a Flow

Date: Wednesday August 1, 2018
Time: 11:00AM - 11:30AM EST
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE WEBINAR TODAY!

Analyze Dynamics 365 data to gauge performance. Recognize trends. Mass edit thousands of records. Share data with someone that is not a D365 User. These business requirements and so much more can be accomplished when you export your data to Excel or Excel Online from Dynamics 365. Plus extracting a large number of records is a non-issue because you can export up to 100,000 records in a single export file.

The Export to Excel feature has proven to be a vital asset in the D365 application over the years due its ease of use, and its obvious connection to Excel. With the continued enhancements in Dynamics 365, and the technology which can be integrated with the application, you can certainly do so much of your data analysis without ever leaving the environment, thereby reducing the need to export your data. Fact is though, so many have come to know, love and depend upon the tools and functions in Excel which bring data to life, thereby making the Export to Excel feature a much-coveted feature still.

Besides the need to extract data for data analysis, the Export to Excel feature carries another extremely valuable purpose. What if you have a query of 10,000 Account records, for example, and want to update the Industry field on all of them to the same value? Sure, you could select a maximum of 250 records per page and mass edit them. But consider this, 10,000 divided by 250, you would need to repeat the process 40 times. And let’s be realistic, out of the 10,000 records, chances are slim you would be modifying the Industry field value to the exact same value for all.

By leveraging the export to Excel function, not only can you view thousands of rows of data at once, you can also update all of them at once too. Data is exported in the same format as you see in your View, so text remains text, numbers remain numbers, and dates remain dates. The cell format in Excel may change for some formatting types, so you will need to be aware of this and be sure to update the affected rows accordingly.

Make any necessary changes in the exported file, and then import the file back into Dynamics 365. Just like that, your 10,000 Account records have been updated in a fraction of the time, and you have significantly reduced the risk of making an error.

Out of the box, Dynamics 365 has many great out-of-the-box entities such as accounts, contacts, leads, and opportunities. However, it is often the case, that the out of the box entities may not be the right fit or the only fit for every business. Businesses often have their own special requirements, and when these requirements do not fit the D365 mold, we look to custom entities to accomplish the desired result. Through the configuration of custom entities, D365 can be tailor fit to meet any business’ unique needs. That means custom forms, fields, business process flows, views, charts, and dashboards, all based on your specific requirements.

D365 out-of-the-box is like a good suit, you purchase it because you like the suit, but know that to get the “right fit,” your next stop will be your tailor. Custom entities are your D365 tailor. With custom entities you can construct entities based on your organizational needs. These custom entities can drastically elevate your D365 experience. By creating custom entities you’ll have a unique, one of a kind system, unlike anything on the market. This could be as simple as an entity to capture employee data in your organization, to a collection of custom entities working together to bring you a whole new experience.

The following is an example of some custom entities built to manage human resource activities. The below demonstrates a custom navigation tile built to clearly distinguish the custom entities which have been built to fall within the Human Resources component of the system, thereby easily distinguishing it from the out-of-the-box areas of the environment.

The Candidate entity in the collection had fields created and a custom business process flow built to manage the hiring process. This entity had relationships built which further tie it to the other custom entities which fall within the human resources collection. Being this is all custom built, the skies the limit. If you can imagine it, you can make it a reality.

Custom entities truly transform your D365 environment to fit your business requirements, so you never have to compromise. D365 out of the box is a great base to get started, but one size does not fit all, and that is where the ease and flexibility of the system is best recognized and where custom entities shine. Talk to your team and determine how you can leverage custom entities in D365, then email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to discuss your ideas and get started on the path to building your perfect D365 environment.