Improved Project sales tax capabilities now available

Improved Project sales tax capabilities now available

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Dynamics 365 Project Operations has made significant improvements to consistently apply tax calculations and expanded support for scenarios including sales tax across the application. This new functionality standardizes behavior and establishes common rules to simplify how taxes are calculated and ensures consistency in how cost price, sales price, and taxes interact together. Read on for more information.  

Streamline cost price and sales price calculations 

With the 10.0.32 release, the Streamline cost price and sales price calculations feature is available to be enabled in your Dynamics 365 environment. With this change, improvements have been made to project-related scenarios in the following areas: 

  • Purchase orders and vendor invoices created in combination with the general ledger parameter for applying taxation rules 
  • Purchase orders and vendor invoices in combination with posting with amounts including sales tax 
  • Tax involving use tax 
  • Funding source limits 
  • Committed costs 
  • Purchase order corrections 
  • Adds support for “amount include sales tax” in the Purchase Order header 

Let’s dive into the basics of how sales and costs interact. This feature and scenarios are targeting the Dynamics 365 Project Operations for production/stocked deployment model. For any project expense type transaction, Dynamics 365 can modify the sales price dynamically based on one of several factors defined in the sales price – expense form. One of the commonly used methods is to apply a charges percentage markup, to mark up all costs by a set amount. For example, a 5% markup on all expenses which makes a $1000 expense invoiceable at $1050 by defaulting that sales price in the vendor invoice which will later transfer to our customer invoice.  

Next, we want to understand how taxes impact costs. The two scenarios below are situations where taxes should be included in the project cost.  

  • Legal entities with the sales tax parameter Sales taxation rules is enabled. Typically, this is US-based legal entities.  
  • Legal entities with non-deductible tax percentages. This non-deductible tax is always included in the project cost. 

Let’s look at some specific examples to understand how prices and taxes are calculated. For these examples, the tax percentage is set to 5% and there is a sales price 5% markup on cost price. We will follow the document flow of a purchase order through to a vendor invoice and review the financial impact in the posted project transactions form.  

Apply sales taxation rules  Amounts including Sales Tax  Non-Deductible %  Cost Price in Document  Sales Price in Document  Posted 
Project 
Cost 
Posted Project
Sales Price 
Notes 
No  No  1000  1050  1000  1000 x 1.05 markup = 1050   
Yes  No  1000  1050  1000 + 50 tax = 1050  1000 x 1.05 markup x 1.05 tax = 1102.50   
No  No  20  1000  1050  1000 + 10 tax – 1010  1000 x 1.05 markup x 1.01 tax = 1060.50  5% tax multiplied by 20% non-deductible = 1%.  20% of 50 tax amount = 10. 
This table shows a variety of configuration options where amounts do not include sales tax and the results of how taxes and prices are calculated.

Similarly, these same rules apply when determining the project cost and sales price when entering a purchase order with an amount that already includes sales tax. In the case of the purchase order or vendor invoice, there is an option in the header that prices include sales tax to indicate the amount entered should be inclusive of tax and the base amount and tax need to be calculated from the entered amount. Since the actual cost and sales price may include a markup of tax, the amounts entered for sales price and cost will be recalculated and different values will be posted in the final voucher. Consider the examples below with the same 5% tax rate and 5% markup described earlier: 

Apply sales taxation rules  Amounts including Sales Tax  Non-Deductible %  Cost Price in Document  Sales Price in Document  Posted 
Project 
Cost 
Posted Project 
Sales Price 
Notes 
No  Yes  1000  1050  1000 / 1.05 = 952.38  952.38 x 1.05 markup = 1000    Divide the original amount by 1 + tax rate for cost without tax. 
Yes  Yes  1000  1050  1000 / 1.05 = 952.38 + 47.62 tax = 1000  952.38 x 1.05 markup x 1.05 tax = 1050   Divide the original amount by 1 + tax rate for cost without tax. 
No  Yes  20  1000  1050  1000/ 1.05 = 952.38 + 9.52 tax = 961.9  952.38 * 1.05 markup x 1.01 tax = 1010  5% tax multiplied by 20% non-deductible = 1%.  20% of 47.62 tax amount = 9.52. 
This table shows a variety of configuration options where amounts do include sales tax and the results of how taxes and prices are calculated.

Check it out for yourself 

In conclusion, this new feature is available in Dynamics 365 10.0.32 and later releases. Enable the Streamline sales tax calculations with project cost and sales price feature in your test environment and look for yourself.  

Additional documentation 

For more information, see https://aka.ms/ProjEnableStreamlineCostAndSalesPriceCalcFeature.

The post Improved Project sales tax capabilities now available appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Improved Project sales tax capabilities now available

Improved Project sales tax capabilities now available

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Dynamics 365 Project Operations has made significant improvements to consistently apply tax calculations and expanded support for scenarios including sales tax across the application. This new functionality standardizes behavior and establishes common rules to simplify how taxes are calculated and ensures consistency in how cost price, sales price, and taxes interact together. Read on for more information.  

Streamline cost price and sales price calculations 

With the 10.0.32 release, the Streamline cost price and sales price calculations feature is available to be enabled in your Dynamics 365 environment. With this change, improvements have been made to project-related scenarios in the following areas: 

  • Purchase orders and vendor invoices created in combination with the general ledger parameter for applying taxation rules 
  • Purchase orders and vendor invoices in combination with posting with amounts including sales tax 
  • Tax involving use tax 
  • Funding source limits 
  • Committed costs 
  • Purchase order corrections 
  • Adds support for “amount include sales tax” in the Purchase Order header 

Let’s dive into the basics of how sales and costs interact. This feature and scenarios are targeting the Dynamics 365 Project Operations for production/stocked deployment model. For any project expense type transaction, Dynamics 365 can modify the sales price dynamically based on one of several factors defined in the sales price – expense form. One of the commonly used methods is to apply a charges percentage markup, to mark up all costs by a set amount. For example, a 5% markup on all expenses which makes a $1000 expense invoiceable at $1050 by defaulting that sales price in the vendor invoice which will later transfer to our customer invoice.  

Next, we want to understand how taxes impact costs. The two scenarios below are situations where taxes should be included in the project cost.  

  • Legal entities with the sales tax parameter Sales taxation rules is enabled. Typically, this is US-based legal entities.  
  • Legal entities with non-deductible tax percentages. This non-deductible tax is always included in the project cost. 

Let’s look at some specific examples to understand how prices and taxes are calculated. For these examples, the tax percentage is set to 5% and there is a sales price 5% markup on cost price. We will follow the document flow of a purchase order through to a vendor invoice and review the financial impact in the posted project transactions form.  

Apply sales taxation rules  Amounts including Sales Tax  Non-Deductible %  Cost Price in Document  Sales Price in Document  Posted 
Project 
Cost 
Posted Project
Sales Price 
Notes 
No  No  1000  1050  1000  1000 x 1.05 markup = 1050   
Yes  No  1000  1050  1000 + 50 tax = 1050  1000 x 1.05 markup x 1.05 tax = 1102.50   
No  No  20  1000  1050  1000 + 10 tax – 1010  1000 x 1.05 markup x 1.01 tax = 1060.50  5% tax multiplied by 20% non-deductible = 1%.  20% of 50 tax amount = 10. 
This table shows a variety of configuration options where amounts do not include sales tax and the results of how taxes and prices are calculated.

Similarly, these same rules apply when determining the project cost and sales price when entering a purchase order with an amount that already includes sales tax. In the case of the purchase order or vendor invoice, there is an option in the header that prices include sales tax to indicate the amount entered should be inclusive of tax and the base amount and tax need to be calculated from the entered amount. Since the actual cost and sales price may include a markup of tax, the amounts entered for sales price and cost will be recalculated and different values will be posted in the final voucher. Consider the examples below with the same 5% tax rate and 5% markup described earlier: 

Apply sales taxation rules  Amounts including Sales Tax  Non-Deductible %  Cost Price in Document  Sales Price in Document  Posted 
Project 
Cost 
Posted Project 
Sales Price 
Notes 
No  Yes  1000  1050  1000 / 1.05 = 952.38  952.38 x 1.05 markup = 1000    Divide the original amount by 1 + tax rate for cost without tax. 
Yes  Yes  1000  1050  1000 / 1.05 = 952.38 + 47.62 tax = 1000  952.38 x 1.05 markup x 1.05 tax = 1050   Divide the original amount by 1 + tax rate for cost without tax. 
No  Yes  20  1000  1050  1000/ 1.05 = 952.38 + 9.52 tax = 961.9  952.38 * 1.05 markup x 1.01 tax = 1010  5% tax multiplied by 20% non-deductible = 1%.  20% of 47.62 tax amount = 9.52. 
This table shows a variety of configuration options where amounts do include sales tax and the results of how taxes and prices are calculated.

Check it out for yourself 

In conclusion, this new feature is available in Dynamics 365 10.0.32 and later releases. Enable the Streamline sales tax calculations with project cost and sales price feature in your test environment and look for yourself.  

Additional documentation 

For more information, see https://aka.ms/ProjEnableStreamlineCostAndSalesPriceCalcFeature.

The post Improved Project sales tax capabilities now available appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Empower agents to draft case-based knowledge articles with Copilot

Empower agents to draft case-based knowledge articles with Copilot

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Knowledge is the lifeblood of customer service organizations. Timely access to the most accurate and relevant knowledge articles critically influences agents’ productivity and ability to deliver exceptional customer support and boost CSAT scores.  

Agents rely on the availability of an up-to-date knowledge base. Additionally, they bring a wealth of tacit insights and personal competency to troubleshoot and resolve customer cases. However, once resolved, these valuable knowledge insights remain trapped unless documented by someone—whether knowledge authors or agents. This process requires additional effort, time, and specialized writing skills. It may also be outside the agents’ core priorities, especially in high-velocity support operations. 

Harvesting such tacit knowledge insights from resolved cases into mainstream knowledge articles can significantly help other agents discover and reuse them, accelerating overall knowledge sharing.    

Introducing knowledge draft assist in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of knowledge draft assist, now in preview. This Copilot feature helps agents generate knowledge draft proposals from resolved case data. 

How does it work?

As the agent resolves a case, they can now click the Propose new knowledge using this case checkbox. This triggers Copilot to auto-generate an initial knowledge draft from a set of important case data. Copilot uses case descriptions, email exchanges, summaries, and agent notes to quickly draft a knowledge article. The agent can further revise the article using multi-turn prompts in natural language. 

graphical user interface, text, application, email

This auto-generated knowledge draft encompasses symptoms, root causes, troubleshooting steps, and insights. The draft adheres to industry-standard Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) format. The agent can validate the draft and send it for further content quality and compliance checks to downstream reviewers for approval and publishing.  

Next-generation AI that is ready for enterprises 

Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service offers a range of privacy features, including data encryption and secure storage. It also allows users to control access to their data and provides detailed auditing and monitoring capabilities. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is built on Azure OpenAI, so enterprises can rest assured that it offers the same level of data privacy and protection. 

AI solutions built responsibly 

We are committed to creating responsible AI by design. Our work is guided by a core set of principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability. We are putting those principles into practice across the company to develop and deploy AI that will have a positive impact on society. 

Learn more about drafting knowledge articles with Copilot 

Watch a quick video introduction.

For more information, read the documentation:

 

The post Empower agents to draft case-based knowledge articles with Copilot appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Empower agents to draft case-based knowledge articles with Copilot

Empower agents to draft case-based knowledge articles with Copilot

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Knowledge is the lifeblood of customer service organizations. Timely access to the most accurate and relevant knowledge articles critically influences agents’ productivity and ability to deliver exceptional customer support and boost CSAT scores.  

Agents rely on the availability of an up-to-date knowledge base. Additionally, they bring a wealth of tacit insights and personal competency to troubleshoot and resolve customer cases. However, once resolved, these valuable knowledge insights remain trapped unless documented by someone—whether knowledge authors or agents. This process requires additional effort, time, and specialized writing skills. It may also be outside the agents’ core priorities, especially in high-velocity support operations. 

Harvesting such tacit knowledge insights from resolved cases into mainstream knowledge articles can significantly help other agents discover and reuse them, accelerating overall knowledge sharing.   

Introducing knowledge draft assist in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of knowledge draft assist, now in preview. This Copilot feature helps agents generate knowledge draft proposals from resolved case data. 

How does it work?

As the agent resolves a case, they can now click the Propose new knowledge using this case checkbox. This triggers Copilot to auto-generate an initial knowledge draft from a set of important case data. Copilot uses case descriptions, email exchanges, summaries, and agent notes to quickly draft a knowledge article. The agent can further revise the article using multi-turn prompts in natural language. 

Work smarter with Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central

This auto-generated knowledge draft encompasses symptoms, root causes, troubleshooting steps, and insights. The draft adheres to industry-standard Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) format. The agent can validate the draft and send it for further content quality and compliance checks to downstream reviewers for approval and publishing.  

Next-generation AI that is ready for enterprises 

Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service offers a range of privacy features, including data encryption and secure storage. It also allows users to control access to their data and provides detailed auditing and monitoring capabilities. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is built on Azure OpenAI, so enterprises can rest assured that it offers the same level of data privacy and protection. 

AI solutions built responsibly 

We are committed to creating responsible AI by design. Our work is guided by a core set of principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability. We are putting those principles into practice across the company to develop and deploy AI that will have a positive impact on society. 

Learn more about drafting knowledge articles with Copilot

Watch a quick video introduction.

For more information, read the documentation:

The post Empower agents to draft case-based knowledge articles with Copilot appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Work smarter with Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central

Work smarter with Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

In the quickly changing world of AI, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is leading the way with innovations that have equipped more than 30,000 small and medium-sized businesses to succeed. Powered by next-generation AI, Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central introduces new ways to streamline workflows, boost productivity, and unlock creativity. At a time when nine out of ten people want simpler ways to automate daily tasks, Copilot helps to free time so employees can focus on their most meaningful work.1 

Copilot in Business Central is your everyday AI companion, helping you to speed through tasks, build momentum, and improve the way work gets done. With Copilot, you can:

  • Get answers quickly and easily using natural language.
  • Spark creativity with creative content ideas.
  • Save time by automating tedious, repetitive tasks.
  • Anticipate and overcome business challenges.

Reclaim time for important work

In a small or medium-sized business, there is often a lot to do and not enough people to get it all done. Everyday activities like tracking down documents and bringing new employees up to speed can drain your valuable time. Conversational chat using Copilot in Business Central helps you answer questions quickly and easily, locate records faster, and even learn new skills—all using natural language. Save time and effort by navigating to documents without having to use traditional menus, and rapidly onboard new users with answers to questions on how, when, or why to do things.

Unlock creativity with marketing text suggestions

Copilot in Business Central helps product managers to banish writer’s block and drive sales with compelling AI-generated marketing text suggestions. Using key attributes already in Business Central like color and material, Copilot can create product descriptions in seconds tailored to your preferred tone, format, and length. Once you’ve made any adjustments, you can easily publish to Shopify or other ecommerce platforms with just a few clicks.

Simplify the sales order process

Creating or updating customer orders can be a tedious process, often requiring repetitive lookups or navigating through extensive product catalogs. To quickly add items to a sales quote or order, Copilot enables you to describe the goods or services needed, paste in relevant details from an email, or reference a previous order. Based on your prompt, Copilot then suggests line items from your product catalog. By streamlining the order taking process, Copilot frees time for sales teams to focus on building relationships and delivering exceptional customer experiences. 

Automate workflows quickly and easily

Streamlining business processes is easier than ever with Copilot helping to create Microsoft Power Automate flows using natural language. Users can simply express their needs directly in Business Central, and Copilot drafts an initial automation flow for you. You can continue refining the flow in Power Automate with Copilot by your side, streamlining the process of tailoring best-practice workflows to your business.  

Nine out of ten people want simpler ways to automate daily tasks so they can focus on the work that matters.1

Streamline month end with enhanced bank reconciliation

Reconciling bank transactions has traditionally been a time-consuming monthly task, especially with complex scenarios where multiple charges consolidate into a single transaction. Copilot in Business Central makes bank reconciliation easier by analyzing bank statements that you import into Business Central, matching transactions, and proposing entries for transactions that weren’t auto-matched. By comparing and interpreting transaction descriptions, amounts, dates, and patterns across fields, Copilot can help you improve the accuracy of your financial records while reducing manual effort.

Keep finances organized with e-invoice matching

Say goodbye to hours spent manually merging incoming e-invoices with outstanding purchase orders. Using rule-based matching and assistance from Copilot, you can quickly compare and map incoming e-invoices to your open orders. Save time and keep your accounts payable current, all while building positive supplier relationships with on-time payments

Make data-driven decisions with analysis assistance

Business Central has powerful built-in capabilities to create analytical views of data, but manually constructing those views requires time and skill. Copilot simplifies analysis by transforming raw data into clear views with totals, grouping, pivots, and filters—all from simple text instructions and without ever leaving Business Central. Prompted by just a simple sentence, Copilot can identify trends and anomalies in your data, helping you make data-driven decisions that propel your business forward.  

Boost customer service with inventory forecasting

Effective inventory management is crucial in a competitive business environment as it can significantly influence a company’s success and customer retention. This process involves balancing customer service with cost control. Maintaining low inventory reduces working capital, but risks missing sales due to stock shortages. Using AI, the sales and inventory forecast extension uses past sales data to forecast future demand, helping to prevent stockouts. Once a shortfall is identified, Business Central streamlines the replenishment process by generating vendor requests, helping you keep your customers happy by fulfilling their orders on time.  

Reduce risk with late payment prediction

Managing receivables effectively is vital for a business’s financial wellbeing. With the late payment prediction extension, you can reduce outstanding receivables and refine your collections approach by forecasting if outstanding sales invoices are likely to be paid on time. For instance, if a payment is anticipated to be delayed, you could modify the payment terms or method for that customer. By proactively addressing potential late payments and adapting accordingly, you can minimize overdue receivables, reduce risk of non-payment, and ultimately improve your financial performance.

Improve financial stability with cash flow analysis

Powered by AI, Business Central can create a comprehensive cash flow analysis to help you monitor your company’s cash position. Cash flow is a critical indicator of a company’s solvency, and cash flow analysis is an important future-focused planning tool that helps you maintain control over your financial health and make proactive adjustments to meet your financial commitments. With insights from Business Central, you can pivot quickly to safeguard your company’s fiscal wellbeing, such as by obtaining loans to cover cash shortfalls or cutting back on credit when you have surplus cash.

Transform the way work gets done with Copilot in Business Central

Copilot gives your company an edge with AI-powered innovations that are a catalyst for unleashing human potential, fostering creativity, and driving efficiency in ways previously unimaginable. The integration of AI into everyday business processes is not just about staying ahead in a competitive market, it’s about redefining what’s possible in the workplace. With Dynamics 365 Business Central, your company is empowered to navigate today’s complex business environment with agility, precision, and a renewed focus on what truly matters.

A person sitting at a desk talking to another person

Dynamics 365 Business Central

Work smarter, adapt faster, and perform better with Business Central.


Sources

1  Four Ways Leaders Can Empower People for How Work Gets Done, January 2023

The post Work smarter with Microsoft Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

AI brings new life to flexible work with Microsoft Places

AI brings new life to flexible work with Microsoft Places

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Microsoft Places—available today in public preview—is an AI-powered app that coordinates when you’re planning to come in and where you’ll work, enables improved connections with coworkers, and optimizes the effectiveness and engagement of the workplace. Importantly, Places features are accessible across surfaces you regularly use for coordination and collaboration, like Outlook and Microsoft Teams, so flexible work coordination and connection can happen within your normal flow of work.  

The post AI brings new life to flexible work with Microsoft Places appeared first on Microsoft 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.