Embedding a PowerApp in a Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations Workspace

One of the best things about Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (D365FO) is the ability to embed PowerApps – especially in a workspace.

To embed a PowerApp in a workspace simply go to the Options menu point in the ribbon and select Personalize this form. Clicking on the … button allows you to add a PowerApp. You can place the PowerApp in an existing placeholder in the workspace.

The following screenshot shows an example where I have embedded a PowerApp called Transaction entry in the General journal processing workspace.

In the above example I have added a PowerApp that allows a user to quickly enter a general ledger journal transaction using a simple form. The Main account, Offset account and  Currency fields are drop-downs bound to OData data sources (data entities) in D365FO with some filtering to show the correct options. When the Save icon is pressed, data captured in the app is stored in a SharePoint list using Microsoft Flow.

A second flow is automatically kicked off when a new item is created in the SharePoint list and a ledger journal transaction is inserted into D365FO using the Create record action in the Flow connector.

When inserting into a ledger journal transaction, it is worth noting that the Account and Offset account fields require a syntax similar to the account-picker in the normal form. The format is picked up from General ledger / Chart of accounts / Dimensions / Financial dimension configuration for integrating applications. The active ledger dimensions format is used for this type of integration. In this example the format is:

MainAccount-BusinessUnit-CostCenter-Department for instance

110101-010–2000

Make sure to include the “-“.

Also, you need to implement the logic for creating a new ledger journal header to provide the ledger journal batch number if the PowerApp is not called from the ledger journal header screen.

That is about all you need to be able to provide users with simple guided data entry of ledger journal transactions using PowerApps. This is just a great and simple way to augment workspaces with even more relevant functionality.