Customers

Dynamics 365 Business Central – How to automatically block all new customers

Gavin WhittakerLeave a comment

Introduction

When creating new Customers it may be necessary to automatically set them as “Blocked” to prevent them from being immediately used. Additionally, this would give you the option to create a workflow that is triggered when a user changes the status from “Blocked” to “Unblocked” (blank).

This post will show how you can automatically set any new Customers to “Blocked” using Customer Templates and a Number Series.

Step 1 – Create a Customer Template

To streamline the creation of new customers, Business Central provides the capability to create “Customer Templates”. You can set certain defaults on a Customer Template, like Posting Groups, Currencies, payment terms, and notably the “Blocked” status along with a Number series.

To implement this solution we need at least one Customer Template, so I’ll create one called “DEFAULT”. I’ll also set the Blocked status to “ALL” and a Number Series of “CUST” as per below

Step 2 – Number Series

Next, we need to ensure “Default Nos” is switched ON on the Number Series we selected on the Customer Template above.

Step 3 – Test Creating a New Customer

With all the components configured, we can now test the creation of a new customer. Since the customer template includes a number series with default numbers, the template will be applied automatically, resulting in the customer being blocked.

Conclusion

In summary, two key factors are enabling the functionality. Firstly, you need a number series with the “Default Nos” option activated. If default numbers aren’t activated the template won’t be applied automatically. Secondly, a customer template is required, configured to automatically set the “Blocked” option to “All.”

You could now improve the customer onboarding process by implementing an approval workflow that triggers when the status changes from “All” to blank, allowing you to enforce customer approval.

Thanks for reading!

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Dynamics 365 Business Central – How to prevent the Template pop up window when creating new Customers or Vendors

Gavin WhittakerLeave a comment

Introduction

Templates can be used to make adding static data quicker and easier however I found that after creating templates I was then forced to use one for any new customers or vendors I added. This post shows one way you can get around this.

The Issue

To highlight the issue when I click “New” in the customer list I’m presented with the template pop up.

The only options I have here are “OK” and “Cancel”. If I click “Cancel” I’m taken back to the Customer List and if I hit “OK” a new customer is created using the template defaults.

So how do I create a new customer without a template?

The Workaround

Firstly, if I check the Sales Setup window I can see the number series CUST is used for new Customers

If I go to the Number Series page and check the Number Series for CUST its currently set to “Default Nos.”.

If I untick “Default Nos.” and go back to the “Customer List” I’m no longer prompted for a Template.

I can still use the Number Series by clicking the ellipse button as highlighted above and selecting the CUST number series. This is shown below:

I can also apply a template by click “Actions > Functions > Apply Template” as per below

I can use the same technique on the Purchasing side by editing the number series used for Vendors.

Conclusion

There may be scenarios where you have templates but don’t necessarily want to use them when first creating the customer. This is one way of avoiding this.

Thanks for reading!