Connecting the sales and purchase sides in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central using the item reservation method is a smart strategy to ensure that your sales orders (SOs) and purchase orders (POs) are aligned. However, maintaining the link through to the invoicing stage requires a clear understanding of how Business Central handles these transactions. Let's explore how you can maintain the association between POs and SOs and discuss the reporting capabilities available for tracking these transactions.
Associating POs and SOs with Invoices
When you create a PO from an SO, the link between them is usually maintained through the reservation system or direct linkage fields. However, when invoices are posted, this connection can become less transparent, as posted invoices are historical records that don't always maintain a direct, editable link to the orders they originated from.
To ensure a connection remains clear:
- Direct Linking: When you convert a PO to a Purchase Invoice or an SO to a Sales Invoice, the original document numbers should ideally be referenced in the invoice. Custom fields or notes might be used to maintain this link explicitly.
- Customization: You might need a customization or an extension that keeps the association between the sales and purchase documents through to the invoicing stage. This could involve additional fields on the posted invoices that reference back to the original SOs and POs.
Tracking Open and Closed Transactions
Regarding your second query on correlating Posted Sales Invoices and Posted Purchase Invoices, Business Central doesn’t typically offer a built-in report that directly shows open and closed transactions based on the associated sales and purchase documents. However, you can explore a few alternatives:
- Custom Reports: You can develop custom reports or utilize Power BI to create dashboards that fetch data from Business Central. This report can be designed to show the relationships between posted sales and purchase invoices, their payment status, and any links back to the original sales and purchase orders.
- Analysis Views: Use the G/L & Item Ledger Entries to track the flow of transactions. Although this might not give a direct correlation in a single view, with some setup, you can analyze the sales and purchase cycles.
- Existing Reports: Explore existing reports like the "Aged Accounts Payable" and "Aged Accounts Receivable" reports to monitor open invoices. While these might not directly correlate SOs and POs, they are helpful for tracking payment statuses.
Alternative Solutions
- Integrated Extensions: Look for extensions in the Business Central marketplace that might offer advanced reporting capabilities that fit your specific needs.
- Power BI Integration: Utilize Power BI to create detailed reports by pulling data from Business Central. This allows for flexible report creation that can include various data points, potentially linking SOs, POs, and their respective invoices and payment statuses.
To implement these solutions effectively, consider working with a Business Central partner or a developer familiar with the system. They can help tailor the solutions to fit your exact business processes and reporting needs. Always ensure that any customizations or new report creations are tested thoroughly to align with your business requirements and data integrity standards.
