Purchases

Dynamics GP Vs Dynamics 365 Business Central – Class IDs and Templates

Gavin WhittakerLeave a comment

Introduction

This is another blog in a series I’ve been writing comparing functionality in Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

In this post I’ll compare Dynamics GP Class ID’s to Dynamics 365 Business Central Templates. Both offer a method to quickly setup static data like customers and vendors however as usual both offer slightly different features and functionality.

Dynamics GP – Class ID’s

When creating static data like customers or vendors in Dynamics GP you can use Class IDs to make the process more efficient. As the Class ID is stored on the customer card, we also generally advise to create Class’s as a way to group together similar customers or vendors.

Below is the Debtor “Class ID” that can be used for defaults when setting up Customers in Dynamics GP. (this is accessed via the “Tools > Setup > Sales > Debtor Class” menu option)

As you can see various options can be set on the Class that the customer will then inherit if its assigned this Class. Things like the payment terms, the credit limit, currency and so on. We also specify the default GL codes that can should be used.

Once its setup you physically assign the Class ID to your customers as per below and the customer will inherit the settings from the Class ID.

You can then make any tweaks to the customer setup after the settings from the Class have been copied. For example you may wish to have slightly different discount on this debtor to what was on the Class ID.

One interesting feature of the Class ID is, if you make a specific change on the Class ID you can then roll this down to all Customers that are assigned this Class. (or not if you prefer). For example you may change the Sales Person on a Class and roll this change down to all Customers in the Class and only this change will be rolled down. (therefore other tweaks you had made on the Customer would be unaffected)

As the Class ID is physically stored against the customer you can also run certain reports by Class ID such as the various trial balance reports.

Dynamics 365 Business Central – Templates

In Dynamics 365 Business Central we can use “Templates” to assist in creating static data such as customers and vendors.

To do this I can select “Actions > Functions > Templates” when in a customer page.

Next I can click “Actions > New Document > New”

This would present me with a “Customer Template” I can create as per below:

In this page I can set things like default payment terms, currency codes and also posting groups for GL codes.

Once I’ve entered the default information on the template I can select this when creating new customers so those settings are inherited. I can also then edit and tweak any settings that are specific to this customer.

**Please note the template you used to create a customer isn’t saved on the customer.

Also, if I’ve accidentally assigned the incorrect template to a customer I can reapply another template via the option below whilst in the customer page

I can also create a new template based on the settings of a customer that’s already been created (or any existing customer). To do this I’d select the option below in the customer page:

Conclusion

Both Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central offer great solutions to improve the efficiency of entering static data.

The difference with Dynamics GP is the Class ID stays with the customer enabling you to group certain debtors and run reports based on certain Classes whereas the template is just used to copy information to the customer.

Another interesting feature of Class Ids in Dynamics GP is the ability to change the Class and roll down any changes to the associated debtors.

Thanks for reading!

Dynamics NAV \ Business Central – Thoughts on the Direct Costs Applied and Purchases Accounts

Gavin WhittakerLeave a comment

Background

One thing I’ve noticed when posting Purchase Invoices with Inventory items in Dynamics NAV \ Business Central are the additional distributions to the Direct Cost Applied and Purchases accounts?

I’ve never been quite sure what the Direct Cost Applied account is, and when I’ve looked into it, I can’t find much information out there either. While researching for a previous post (here) a theory struck me for why the system might be posting to this account. Therefore, in this post I’ll detail my thoughts as to why Dynamics NAV \ Business Central posts to the Direct Costs Applied and Purchases accounts when posting Purchase Invoices using Inventory Transactions.

Purchase Invoicing in Dynamics GP

Firstly, I’ll go back to my roots – let’s see what distributions Dynamics GP creates when posting a Purchase Invoice with an Inventory Item. In this example we are receiving the Item and posting the invoice at the same time. Dynamics GP calls this a Shipment \ Invoice.

Dynamics GP – Shipment\Invoice Distributions

As you can see the distributions created are as follows:

Debit: Inventory

Credit: Accounts Payables

Debit: VAT

This would also create one General Ledger Journal in Dynamics GP (G/L Register is the NAV\BC equivalent) with one Source Document (Source Code is the NAV\BC equivalent).

I’m not an accountant but this makes sense to me. We bought something for £6 so we have a Credit postings to Accounts Payables. We have increased our Inventory so we have a £5 Debit to Inventory, and finally a Debit to VAT.

As this is not an expense invoice there are no P&L implications at this point. We will have Cost of Goods Sold postings when we sell the item.

Purchase Invoicing in Dynamics NAV \ Business Central

When I post a Purchase Invoice for an Inventory Item in Dynamics NAV \ Business Central the distributions created are below. (*Please note I have Automatic Cost Posting switched ON in Inventory Setup)

General Ledger Entries – Purchase Invoice – Automatic Post to GL switched OFF

There’s a couple of things to note here. Firstly, there are two more distributions when compared to Dynamics GP. We have distributions to the Direct Cost Applied account (7191) and the Purchases account (7110). Secondly, some GL Entries have a Source Code of PURCHASES and others have a Source Code of INVTPCOST.

Why the extra distributions?

If we dig deeper and go to the G/L Registers for this Purchase Invoice we can see the system has created two separate G/L Registers.

This G/L Register for the PURCHASES portion of the transaction:

G/L Register for PURCHASES

And this G/L Register for the INVPTCOST portion of the transaction

G/L Register for INVPTCOST

The system has created two G/L registers because in Dynamics NAV \ Business Central you can defer the INVPTCOST portion of the GL postings via the “Automatic Cost Posting” option in the Inventory Setup.

Because of this each of these separate G/L Registers needs a balancing entry in order for the debits and credits to balance and the posting to work. In the case of the PURCHASES G/L Register of the transaction the 7110 Purch, Retail account is used and for the INVPTCOST G/L Register the 7191 Direct Cost Applied account is used.

One Possible Conclusion

Based on these findings one theory I have for the postings to the Purchases and Direct Costs Applied accounts when dealing with Inventory Items is to accommodate the Automatic Cost Posting option in the Inventory Setup. (the ability to defer the posting of the Inventory portion of the transaction). It could also be because for other aspects of the costing engine that I haven’t delved into yet.

If this option didn’t exist, and Inventory postings were always posted in real time, I can’t see why there would be a need to post to these additional accounts.

This is just an observation. I have no clear evidence to back this up. I’m just a Dynamics NAV \ Business Central newbie wondering why this works differently to Dynamics GP.

Above all I’m here to learn so if there are other reasons for the additional distributions I’d love to hear them.

Thanks for reading