The Ultimate Guide to Business Central Productivity
If you're looking to increase your Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central productivity to be more productive during work hours, you're not alone. In fact, numerous polls over the past decade have shown 80% of Americans want to be more efficient and most have turned to popular, simple strategies such as focusing on one task a time. However, most of these lists tend to leave off one of the most effective if not the most effective strategy to becoming more productive, learning how to use your business software more efficiently.
Business Central users need to know best software productivity steps to finish their job without making costly mistakes.
But between strategy, work process, and organizational requirements Business Central productivity tips can still be pretty complicated. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about productivity in Business Central.
Business Central
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the most comprehensive, end-to-end, connected ERP software solution available for small to midsize businesses (SMBs). With both on-premise and cloud versions available you can connect operations, improve customer service, unlock productivity, sort out your financials, optimize inventory and supply chain management and much more.
Business Central Connectivity
Business Central does not follow other ERP software by simply connecting to popular Microsoft software. Yes, you can push and pull data through these connections but it's very slow, very complicated, and error prone. Instead, Business Central utilizes pre-built integrations and the Common Data Service to provide a fully integrated experience. This allows for 100% accuracy and the ability to have real-time information flowing between multiple Microsoft software products.
What is Productivity?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, productivity is a measure of economic performance that compares the amount of goods and services produced (output) with the amount of inputs used to produce those goods and services. In short and for purposes of this article, let's define productivity as the amount of energy expended to achieve a goal.
Business Central Productivity Benefits
Less Stress
Improved Time Management
Better Focus
Less Procrastination
Less Distraction
Increased Mental Energy
Better Clarity
More Intentionality
Business Central users can often times feel intimated by the complexity of the software. However, the rewards of being trained to be productive within Business Central are worth the effort and time.
Become Productive in Business Central
1. Locate pages and information with Tell Me.
Tell Me in Business Central is an advanced search feature that helps you to do things quickly by making it easy for you to find exactly what you need.
In the past, out-of-the-box search functionality was basic at best and If you wanted advanced search capabilities a developer would use custom code to create an add-on. However, these search capabilities still failed in comparison to the out-of-the-box Tell Me feature in Business Central.
2. Run and print reports with ease.
Reports gather specific sets of data and present that data in an organized fashion to help decision makers develop future forecasts, marketing plans, budget planning, and more. Accurate reports are a critical asset for any organization.
Within Business Central you can find reports in the Reports menu on selected pages, lists, and cards or you can use the Tell Me feature to find reports by name. There are many pre-built reports to choose from:
Key Financial Reports
Accounts Receivable Reports
Accounts Payable Reports
Sales Reports
Purchase Reports
Inventory and Warehouse Reports
Project Reports
Fixed Assets Reports
Assembly Reports
Production Reports
3. Optimize your report and document layouts view.
Business Central users know the importance of having accurate reports but often times they overlook the importance of having their data arranged correctly. Business Central allows you to control: which data fields to see and in which order you can see them, font type, size, color, images, which layout is used on a report, whether or not you want to create a new layout, whether or not you want to modify an existing layout, and much more.
Also, you have the option of using report layouts to add content to email messages.
4. Personalize Your Software Experience
Personalize your Business Central workspace to see the information you need when you need it. Remove and add fields, hide columns, move columns, hide entire sections, move sections, and more. Most pages can be personalized including the Role Center (Home) page.
5. Manage your notifications.
Receive notifications about certain events or changes in certain statuses. For example, you may receive an overdue balance notification upon invoicing a customer or you may receive a notification letting you know that your inventory is too low when selling a product.
6. Change Basic Settings
On the My Settings page in Business Central you can select a role that has predefined settings specific to that role, change the company you are currently working in, and change many more options that you can see in the picture below. The changes you make will only affect your workspace and not others.
7. Manage attachments, links, and notes, on cards and documents
In the FactBox located on the side of the Business Central card or document there are options to attach files and links and to create notes.
8. View and edit data in excel
Microsoft Excel is the most popular spreadsheet software available and people truly enjoy the flexibility of editing their data within the software. On most Business Central pages there is an option to view and edit the list of records in rows and columns by exporting to Excel. Once you are finished editing your records in Excel you can then publish your information back into Business Central.
9. Entering data.
Business Central offers many features to help you enter data more quickly and accurately. These include having editable fields, an ability to check data in documents and journals as you work, keyboard shortcuts, quick entry data entry, clearly marked mandatory fields, and much more.
10. Sorting, searching and filtering.
Business Central can store as much data as you need it to. With such large amounts of data being stored a user must be able to quickly find what they need through sorting, searching, and filtering.
To sort a list: Choose the heading of the column and switch between ascending or descending order.
To search: Choose the search action at the top of the page and enter the text that you are looking for.
To filter:
Some popular filtering criteria:
Taking the First Step to Become More Productive in Business Central
Business Central Productivity is a learned trait through a discovery process filled with ups and downs. You need to know very little to take the first step in the right direction, and when using Business Central, the best way is to learn by doing.
You now have information to start and all that's left is to try.
Do you need a little extra help getting Business Central setup for your organization? Reach out to us below.
