Now that Microsoft Dynamics SL is has been retired, many businesses still operating on the long-serving solution are considering their next move. Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) is the logical successor for most, if not all, businesses still using SL. Having been on SL for so long, however, many businesses are hesitant to commit to a new solution until they understand how it compares to the platform they are used to. This article will look at eleven different areas and functions, explaining how SL and BC compare.
Posting Accounts and Posting Groups
The ability for the ERP platform to auto-populate important info such as general ledger (GL) account numbers while setting up new items, vendors, or customers, is a key time-saver. Both SL and BC offer this ability, though they do so in slightly different ways. Different posting groups can be created to filter vendors or customers by region or industry, and are highly customizable. For example, a new customer being added into the system can be classified in the “business” posting group, indicating that they are buying on behalf of a business rather than an individual customer.
Functionally, the two systems are very similar, the biggest difference being the level of customization and detail offered. BC, as a more modern, agile solution, offers users far greater customization to their posting groups, including the ability to filter based on industry, whether the customer (or vendor) is buying or selling, product lines, or region, essentially combining the “who” of who the customer is with the “what” of what they do, all within the same system. This enables more in-depth and accurate auto-population of data when entering new customers, vendors, or items.
Trial Balance and Aging Reports
Dynamics SL offers the ability to create and print trial balance and aged information reports for accounts and sub accounts, to assist with balancing general ledgers. Users are able to see balances in overview or a more detailed look, with customization options included. Much like the posting groups, BC offers similar functionality, improved with more customization options and detail.
In addition to greater detail, BC also offers users the ability to export the reports to Excel for easier viewing or mass customization, as well as to PDFs or Word, for users more comfortable in those formats. BC also offers options such as comparing the data in the report to previously entered budgets, as well as comparing year over year. Users of SL will find BC’s functionality familiar and easy to pick up, and will find their job even easier thanks to the expanded reporting options.
Correcting and Reversing Journal Entries
Both SL and BC offer the ability to pull back already processed transactions to reverse or correct them via the journal entry function. In SL, this is done through the General Ledger module and “Journal Transactions”. Users have the ability to reverse, reverse and create a corresponding correcting entry, or reverse, copy the entry data, and make manual changes. In BC, this process is simplified, with users selecting the general ledger, then journal entry they want to correct, where they are presented with options to reverse. BC also offers the ability to correct entries by adding or correcting missing or incorrect data, known in BC as dimensions, all within the same intuitive workflow.
General Journal Entries
Another area where SL users will recognize most, if not all the workflow in BC is in the general journal entries. The functionality is highly similar between the systems, with BC having all the data and detail SL users are used to, with quality of life improvements such as auto-completing account numbers worked seamlessly into the framework. BC also gives users more control over how their entries appear in the system- such as the option of having credit and debit entries appearing on separate lines or together. This workflow is another that showcases BC’s ability to integrate with Excel, which is ideal for large entries that need mass updating.
Classes and Templates
To better manage customers, vendors, and items, good ERP platforms allow users to create groups to manage and auto populate default settings for similar entries. In SL these are called customer classes, and can be customized however the users wish, such as region, industry, or type of purchases (or sales) expected. These classes are then used when entering new customers (or vendors) into the system, as they auto-populate the selected GL accounts, saving users from the time-consuming tedium of having to enter information for every new customer. In Business Central, users set up Customer Templates, which function almost identically, and select which template to use when adding in a new customer or vendor. Templates are even more customizable in BC, with users having the ability to add, delete, or edit fields during setup. Users can also use an existing customer card to create a new template, which is handy for duplicating customer information with slight changes. Like many other features, SL users will feel right at home with BC’s Template system, the differences being cosmetic and access-based.
Segments and Dimensions Setup
Businesses utilize different categories or classes of accounts to help organize and keep track of transactions within their larger GL account. Larger businesses can have so many categories and sub-categories, such as department, market, project, or region, that they have to create Account Charts to keep track of them. Both SL and BC offer the ability to create, organize, and monitor sub-accounts, though they do so slightly differently.
In SL, these categories are called sub-account segments, and users have the ability to define up to eight different ones within their GL, and can drill-down to see the values associated with each from within the setup screen. These categories are used to define fields for auto-population, mainly account numbers.
In BC, they are called dimensions, and are used to decrease the number of unique accounts and sub-accounts businesses have to keep track of. With dimensions, transactions can be parsed and organized far easier, without the need for complicated charts of accounts. BC features two different categories of dimensions- global and shortcut — with the ability to set up two global dimensions and an unlimited number of shortcut dimensions. Dimensions can be created at any time, or edited at any time, from within the Dimensions tab of GL setup.
SL users will be happy to know that their existing Segments can be imported into BC as Dimensions with the SL Migration Tool.
Segments and Dimensions Transaction Reporting
Following the above, SL users will be pleased to see nearly identical reporting functions for their segments and dimensions in SL and BC. Both systems offer the ability to create reports such as trial balances or account detail reports for individual segments or top-level overviews. Both systems are intuitive and require no coding knowledge to create these reports, the major difference being BC’s greater level of detail and reporting options.
Customer Cash Receipts
In Dynamics SL payments are entered into the system via the Accounts Receivable screen under the Payment Application tab. Users select a customer, enter a payment number and amount, and have the option to attach it to an invoice already in the system or auto-applied to a vendor’s account.
In BC, there are two ways to enter customer payments. First is via Cash Journals, which, like most functions, is accessed via the search bar or shortcuts. As in SL, a customer is selected and a payment amount entered, and a drop-down populates with available invoices and balances to apply the payment to. Alternatively, there is a Customer Register Payments window where users can see all outstanding invoices, filter by individual customer, select an invoice, and apply payment. Regardless of which path you take, BC populates data such as invoice amount and date automatically, a small yet helpful quality of life improvement over SL.
Payables Transaction Entry
Much like the cash receipts functionality, in BC, users have two different ways to enter Payables Transactions, compared to one in SL. This is because BC offers more control over organizing payments and account types. For inventory items, users will select Purchase Invoices, while for non-inventory items such as services or consulting, they will choose Purchase Journals. This allows for cleaner record keeping and increased visibility into cash flow.
Both options are set up similarly to SL, with users entering the vendor, invoice number and amount before selecting the GL account to pull from. Users of SL will have no trouble adapting to the options in BC, as they are highly customizable and can fit nearly any work style.
Pay Vendor Process
In BC, users can use an automation called “Suggest Vendor Payments” to streamline the process of paying vendors, which has to be done manually in SL. When entering vendors into the system, details can be entered to help speed up the payment process, such as how often they’re expected to be paid, and vendor priority. The suggest vendor payments wizard will use parameters the users set up to populate a list of vendors who need payment imminently, populating the payment and associated info automatically. This list can then be edited by the user for precise control of payments. The list can also be filtered to exclusively create payments for high-priority vendors, for when users do not wish to pay all outstanding vendors. This automation is huge for businesses that pay a high volume of vendors, or certain vendors more often than others, freeing up users to focus on other critical tasks.
Entering Receivables Transactions
In SL, entering receivables transactions can be a time-consuming, multi-step process. They must navigate to the AR module, then invoice and memo. There, they enter the invoice information, then save and release the batch. Credit memos have to be attached separately, creating more work for users. Payments must be applied through a separate window in the AR module, which requires its own multi-step process to create and release. In BC, this process is simplified, using the sales invoice and sales journals’ functions outlined above. Regardless of which option users pick, credit memos are created and applied through one screen, rather than separate multi-step processes.
Dynamics 365 Business Central, the Logical Successor
As these eleven topics illustrate, Dynamics 365 Business Central is the obvious choice for businesses who have been operating on SL as they move into the future. BC’s functionality will be intimately familiar to SL users, with enhanced quality of life improvements and deeper customization options across nearly every workflow there to power them into the future. Take our free Dynamics SL assessment to see what a move to Business Central would look like for your business.
