You work too hard, I work too hard, we all work too hard
“Work smarter, not harder,” is something we’ve all heard time and again. However, that is difficult to accomplish when you are swamped with tasks, under deadlines, and short on time and staff. When you are working to get things done, do you ever and wonder how this task could be done easier, or quicker?
Business Central has features that can help with this, and here are a few quick things to try and a list of other features that may be helpful.
Saved Views
Saved views are so simple to set up and use, yet we don’t take advantage of them. When reviewing ledger entries by resource, I would apply one filter, then another. One day, I had the though that I could save these filters! The next time I did my analysis, I had saved the filters and could click on the resource I want to review and when done, I could easily switch to the next resource.
Better yet, I have more visible fields because I use the view from the top of the screen, as opposed to the filter pane:
You may be thinking that this is not a lot of time saved, but you can save effort on decision making with each filter application. Week after week, that time adds up!
Reporting
Do you take data from Business Central and then manipulate it to give you the data that you are looking for? We all do! Take some time to review this process; there are many, many features today that can improve or eliminate this process.
Some of my favorites are:
- Saved Views
- Analyze Views
- Excel Layouts
Saved Views? But you said don’t export to Excel and manipulate. That’s right! Have that Saved View filtered and displaying just want you want in your report so you export but don’t have to manipulate the date. Can’t quite get the fields you want? Customize your page(s) or turn to Analyze Views or maybe both.
Analyze Views have the ability to hide fields that may not be beneficial to your report. But your manager may want other fields, so have an Analyze View with their fields. Don’t forget that you can save and share views. And yes, I still export to Excel, but I’ve eliminated the manipulation required. If you aren’t comfortable with creating views, Copilot is available to help and Microsoft documentation gives you a headstart. The time you invest will yield dividends.
Excel Layouts are amazing. You can take any report from the system, open with Excel (data only), create extra spreadsheets with graphs, merge data and then save back into Business Central for reuse as desired. For example:
Now let’s talk some newer features… first, Preview Reports. There are over a dozen reports listed on the main role center under Excel Reports that have (Preview) in the title. When you choose them, there is no option to print only to download. This is because they are pre-built Excel spreadsheets.
Quick note: If you’re like me and tried to use these reports and they came up empty, make sure that you Enable Content and then your report will have data.
These reports provide the raw data and typically several spreadsheets, many with slicers already available. Check out the documentation from Microsoft on these reports, see the explanation of the data, the spreadsheets and even use cases for your staff.
Last and definitely not least, Power BI Reports. 74 reports were added in version 25.1, and WOW, what a gift from Microsoft! Very little setup is required to start using these reports. Financial KPIs and financial ratios do require a bit more setup, but Manufacturing, Purchasing, Sales and others need little-to-no setup.
Take a look at these features as they might be your answer to saving time.
There are several other features that can save you time on an ongoing basis. Check out documentation, articles, blogs and videos to learn more:
- Deferrals (Purchasing, Sales, GL)
- Bank Rec with Copilot
- Recurring Purchase Lines (also Sales Lines)
- New features in Financial Reporting
To repeat, the time you invest in utilizing more of the awesome features in Business Central will pay off with significant time savings. Continual improvement is the key, always strive for more!
The post Continual Improvement is Key: Save Time in Business Central With These Features appeared first on Dynamics Communities.