If you’re familiar with using Dynamics 365 Business Central to generate your P&L reports, chances are you’ve probably encountered problems with getting your report the way you want it. That’s why you should use Account Schedules in BC to enhance your reporting.

Account Schedules in Dynamics 365 Business Central are to use to get insights into financial data which is stored or recognized in your chart of accounts. This helps you analyze figures in G/L Accounts, displaying the results in the Chart section on your Role Center, or incorporating such data into reports like Income Statement, Balance Sheet, or Profit & Loss.

In the standard Dynamics 365 Business Central version, there are a few sample ‘plug-and-play’ account schedules that you can use right away, use them as a base to edit or change according to your own rows and columns, and specify the data to compare.

In this article, we will demonstrate how to design an account schedule and generate P&L reports in just a few minutes.

Creating a new account schedule

 The Account Schedule Overview page is where you can preview the financial report that the account schedule defines. It is important to understand how to set up the account schedule rows and columns in the Account Schedule page and have it shown and validated on the page by clicking on the Overview action button.

Now, let’s get started!

Firstly, upon logging in to your Dynamics 365 Business Central account, navigate to the Finance section and select Account Schedules as per the sample illustration.

Once on the Account Schedules page, click on the New action button to create a new account schedule. Alternatively, you can start by selecting Copy from an existing account schedule.

Next, fill in the details accordingly and select an existing layout or edit it if needed in the Default Column Layout field. The image below shows the steps to edit or design the column layout.

Illustration showing the column layout using Fiscal Year on the Comparison Period Formula.

Illustration showing the column layout using alternative way on the Comparison Date Formula.

Notes:

FY = Fiscal Year

CY= Current Year

If using CY, remember to minus the number of months as per illustration.

Then, design the Account Schedule layout. Select the selected Account Schedule name and click on Edit Account Schedule.

You can either use the Insert G/L Account function. Alternatively, manually add in the row number to design your own Account Schedule report.

Now, generate that P&L!

Finally, click on Print or Overview to check the results.

Designing Account Schedules and column layouts take a bit of time during the setup. But this one-time setup is well worth the effort. You’ll love it when your financial reporting becomes an absolute breeze.

Need help with your Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central? Get in touch with our friendly consultants via  sales@crt-insights.com.

Or read more from our Useful Features series:

Deferral Accounting: Why & How on Microsoft Dynamics

Dimension Filter Builder in Microsoft Dynamics 365 BC