One of the key reasons for the widespread acceptance of Management Reporter 2012 in Dynamics AX is its capability of creating financial statements in real time and allowing users the flexibility to access, modify, and store files in a secured way.
However, in its recent release of the new Dynamics AX, Microsoft has not only given this feature a new name, but also offered a host of modifications and functionalities to Management Reporter. With Dynamics 365 for Operations, Management Reporter is now referred to as Financial Reporting. To begin with, it includes twenty-two default financial reports including income statements, balance sheet reports, cash flow statements, and general ledger reports, which can be modified depending on your company’s requirements.
Not sure if you are ready to take the next steps towards Microsoft Dynamics 365? Here are 5 reasons that you should consider before moving forward.
Simplifying the Financial Reporting Process
With custom reporting structures, ledger accounts, and dimensions mapping, creation and the capabilities to publish reports to multiple channels and formats from the desktop, and embedding transactional and analytical reports into a customizable dashboard, Financial Reporting in Dynamics 365 for Operations is all set to simplify the financial reporting process, providing instant insight into your financials.
Management Reporter vs Financial Reporting
The following comparative analysis between the capabilities of Management Reporter and Financial Reporting will help you understand why Financial Reporting is more than a mere name change:
| Capabilities | Management Reporter | Financial Reporting |
| Installation | The web viewer does not require a separate installation of Management Reporter server components | The web viewer requires a separate installation of Financial Reporting server components |
| Browser compatibility | There is a need for a separate browser window to launch the Management Reporter | Financial Reporting can be launched from within the same browser window in which AX 7 is running |
| Report group | This functionality exists in Management Reporter 2012, but report segmentation based on roles is not possible | Yes, report grouping has been provided along with appropriate privileges to the users based on their roles for making any report edits |
| Filtering the reports | Users can filter the reports based on dates, dimensions, attributes, and a new customized report is generated | Similar functionality has been provided in Financial Reporting for creating filtered reports |
| User rights | Does not allow users without the designer access to make any variations to the report | Financial Reporting in AX 7 allows the users having no designer rights to apply filters for attributes, scenarios, date, and ultimately generate fresh customized reports |
| Report viewer/Library | Yes, report viewer functionality exists | Report viewer functionality has not been released currently however it’s included in the future roadmap |
| Integration with the parent application | As it exists | Identical to the integration between MR 2012 and AX 2012 |
| Publishing of reports on third party SharePoint applications | This functionality does not exist | The AX 7 team is working to provide the functionality in a future release |
| Monitoring the projected budget vs actual expenditure | This feature is not available | Through the AX 7 dashboard, a unified workspace can be created which includes links to a number of forms such as budget summary, budget plans, and budget entries |
| Layouts for budget plans and forecasts | The budget plan is viewed in a tabular form with effective dates and amounts, however, to view as a “pivot” the form has to be exported to Excel | Multiple layout options are available for budget plans and forecasts with the flexibility to change the layout option and edit the document on the fly |
| Vendor invoice transactions and Detailed Due Day List information | Two separate reports need to be generated – “Vendor Invoice Transactions” and “Detailed Due Day List” | A consolidated report is generated containing the information of both the forms, and the redundant “Detailed Due Day List” report has been dropped |
Final Thoughts
With mobility and business insights in terms of visualizing personalized dashboards and reports anywhere, instantly acting on data-driven alerts, and sharing discoveries through live reports and dashboards with your team through Power BI as key ingredients to the new, enhanced Financial Reporting, adopting or upgrading to Dynamics 365 for Operations means a stronger grasp of financials across your entire company.
Looking for more information about the many capabilities and features that Dynamics AX has to offer? Click the link below and learn more.
