Dynamic 365 Business Central users can make basic customizations for reports in Word format, including posted sales invoices, sales orders, purchase order reports, etc.

Although it is simple to customize your files, mistakes are easy to make and difficult to correct. I have helped dozens of clients customize their files and streamline their invoice templates.

In this article, I will show you how to make basic customizations to Dynamics 365 Business Central reports using Microsoft Word and how to avoid some of the most common issues I see clients run into.

Table of Contents

·       Default Reports in Business Central

·       Custom Report Layouts in Business Central

·       Exported Layout in Microsoft Word

·       Import Layout to Business Central

·       Setting Up the New Layout

·       Troubleshooting

Default Reports in Dynamics 365 Business Central

Business Central has default report formats created for each model. For example, if you print your Posted Sales Invoice report in Business Central, it will have a default Word report assigned to it.

For modules such as Sales Orders and Purchase Order reports, Business Central defaults to using an RDLC reporting format. However, you can change this format by selecting the Word format in Business Central.

Below is an example of how the default report appears in Business Central. I will show you how to change the report to any format. The steps below can be used to change the format of any report in Business Central.

Search “Posted Sales Invoice” in Business Central and select a posted invoice to print.

Once you select “Print,” a new window will open.

Note that the format of this Sales Invoice Report layout defaults to an RDLC report layout, which is completely different from Word.

To change the layout to a Word format layout, click on the 3 horizontal dots on the right-hand side of the “Report Layout” option. Business Central will display all default report layouts that are available for you to use or customize further. In this example, notice that by default, Business Central has one report layout in RDLC format and three other report layouts in Word format:

To preview a particular report, click on the three horizontal dots at the top of the window and click “Run Report.” A new window will pop up, and you can select which Posted Sales Invoice you would like to preview. Then, select “Preview” to view the final report.

Custom Report Layouts in Dynamics 365 Business Central

In Dynamics 365 Business Central, users cannot edit a built-in report; they must first copy a built-in report and then edit the copied version. To start customizing invoices via copies of Word layouts, the user should go to the “Custom Report Layouts” page to copy and create new layouts.

Business Central has many pre-built default templates for each report. For example, the Sales Invoice, Report ID 1306, has multiple report types available. In the Custom Report Layouts window, the Report IDs not checked in the “Built-in” column are user-generated.

We also have the option to add the report in a custom report layout by using the “New” option. This way, Business Central adds a default report layout on this page that we can export and edit.

On top of the screen, once you press “New,” a window will open. In this window, enter your Sales Invoice Report ID, toggle on “Insert Word Layout,” and press “OK.”

Once you have pressed “OK,” you will see that Business Central has created a new layout named “Copy of Built-in Layout” for you. You can customize this layout and rename it as required.

Note: It is very important that you rename your templates to differentiate them from the original or make copies to have as backups to avoid overwriting your templates, which is a common error I often help clients address.

After copying/creating a (new) layout, select the new layout line and click “Export Layout.” This file can be saved in another location to make edits to before uploading it into the system immediately or later.

Exported Layout in Microsoft Word

When the copied layout is exported, after saving and opening the Word document, the layout will appear similar to the screenshot below:

You can hard code text by simply typing it into a blank space available. This would appear on each invoice selected. To make basic edits, such as the modification, addition, or removal of selected out-of-the-box coded fields, the user needs to bring in the Developer tab in the Word ribbon at the top, via “Customize the Ribbon”:

Then in the Developer tab, click “XML Mapping Pane”:

On the right-hand side pop-up, change the “Custom XML Part” to Microsoft Dynamics report selection:

The user can move fields around, delete fields, and add basic fields (if the fields are not there, the user will not be able to add via Word invoice formatting). There are two types of fields, one that includes _Lbl on the end and one without. The Lbl indicates the label and not the value of the field itself.

Now, the user can open each tab and choose header level fields, line level fields, and other fields:

To add a field, click on the report area intended to add the field. Then in the XML Mapping pane, highlight the line, right-click, and choose from an array of options that best suits the field:

You can also change the formatting of the fields, for example, the color, size, font, bolding, underlining of labels, or field values.

Note: Some reports have no custom report layout selection, such as the Purchase Invoice (Report 406). This is because an open Purchase Invoice is typically an internal document and is not required to be sent externally; the Purchase Order confirmation could be used instead.

Import Layout to Dynamics 365 Business Central

Once you have made your desired edits to the report, be sure to save and close the report. Navigate back to Business Central, import the layout, and then update the layout for the changes to take effect.

You can then choose to run the report to view a sample of the layout:

After clicking “Run Report,” specify which Posted Sales Invoice report you would like to run. Afterward, click “Preview” to view the report.

Setting Up the New Layout

Once your newly edited layout is ready to use, make sure to set it as the default report each time you print Posted Sales Invoices.

To do so, search “Report Layout Selection” and type the report ID in the search bar of that window. In this example, our report ID was “1306.”

Then, under the “Layout Type” column, select “Custom Layout.”

A new window will open when you select the “Custom Layout.” Be sure to select the newly edited report.

Once this has been done, this new layout will appear each time you print a posted sales invoice report.

Overwriting Old Templates

A common error I often see is that many users accidentally overwrite their old report files when making changes to their layouts. Once users realize they’ve made incorrect changes in the new file and want to revert to the old report version, they find themselves in a difficult situation because this cannot be reversed.

The option in this scenario is to manually edit the new layout to match the previous one that has been overwritten, which can be challenging.

To avoid this common situation I recommend two different rules to follow when editing reports in Business Central:

1. Create a Copy and Rename It:

·       Always create a copy of the layout before you make changes.

·       Rename the copy so that it is clearly distinguished from the original.

·       Export and import the new changes into the renamed copy.

·       This way, you’ll still be able to print your old report from the original layout if needed.

2. Keep a Backup:

·       Export two copies of the layout to your computer.

·       Only make changes to one copy, keep the other copy as a backup.

·       This ensures that you will always have an original version.

What if My New Format Doesn’t Show Up in the Window?

Another scenario I often see users run into is that after making the changes in the report, they are unable to print it from the relevant page.

If, for example, you made changes to your Purchase Order report using the report ID 10122, and after making these changes, you try to print the report but notice that it prints a default word layout report instead of your updated one, you can follow the steps below:

1. Selecting the Correct Layout

·       After making changes in your report layout, search “Report Layout Selection.”

·       Select the correct custom layout that you’ve set up (as shown in the section above “Setting up the New Layout”).

2. Verify the Default Report Layout

·       Next, ensure that the default Purchase Order report layout is using the correct report ID that you were working on.

·       Search “Report Selection Purchase.”

·       Select the Usage as “Order.”

·       Type in the correct Report ID (in this case, 10122).

Report layouts in Business Central offer many advanced features; I recently wrote an article for the feature that allows for adjusting email body layouts.

Contact us  if you have any questions about customizing Word invoice formatting in Dynamics 365 Business Central.