Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance Financial Operations Training Course

Course overview

Finance teams need more than correct postings: they need a controlled, traceable system for managing legal entities, general ledger structures, budgets, payables, receivables, cash, fixed assets, and period close. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance provides these capabilities, but poor configuration choices, inconsistent master data, and weak approval workflows can create reconciliation effort, delayed reporting, and avoidable control risk. This course helps finance professionals translate accounting processes into practical Dynamics 365 Finance workflows and understand how daily transactions affect financial statements and management reporting.

Participants work through the core financial management capabilities of Dynamics 365 Finance, from organisational structures and chart of accounts design to journal processing, financial dimensions, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash and bank management, budgeting, fixed assets, and financial reporting. They learn how to configure and use posting profiles, workflows, settlement functions, allocations, period-close controls, and inquiry workspaces. The course also addresses how to investigate posting issues, maintain audit trails, and use Excel integration and Electronic Reporting to support controlled finance operations.

Instructor-led demonstrations are followed by guided configuration and transaction exercises in a Dynamics 365 Finance training environment. Participants complete a structured finance operations case, setting up core controls, processing transactions through the ledger, and reviewing the resulting balances and reports. They leave with a completed financial operations workbook containing configuration decisions, process steps, control checkpoints, and a practical action plan for applying the methods in their own organisation.

The programme suits finance professionals, ERP project team members, and operational managers who need working capability in Dynamics 365 Finance rather than purely conceptual ERP knowledge. It is particularly valuable for organisations implementing, upgrading, standardising, or improving financial controls in Dynamics 365 Finance.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Configure legal entities, fiscal calendars, chart of accounts segments, and financial dimensions in Dynamics 365 Finance
• Process general ledger journals using journal names, voucher controls, posting validation, and approval workflows
• Apply posting profiles to control how customer, vendor, bank, tax, and fixed-asset transactions reach the general ledger
• Manage accounts payable and accounts receivable transactions through invoice posting, settlement, ageing, and payment processing
• Perform bank and cash management activities including bank account setup, payment journals, and reconciliation workflows
• Create budget plans, budget register entries, and budget control rules for monitored spending
• Run period-close activities using financial period controls, ledger settlement, allocations, and balance review inquiries
• Produce a finance operations workbook documenting configuration choices, transaction flows, control points, and reporting outputs

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Finance Managers — who need reliable controls, close processes, and reporting from Dynamics 365 Finance
• Financial Accountants — who post, reconcile, investigate, and close ledger transactions in the system
• Accounts Payable Managers — who oversee vendor invoices, payment controls, and supplier account settlement
• Accounts Receivable Managers — who manage customer invoicing, collections, cash application, and ageing
• ERP Finance Consultants — who configure finance processes and translate accounting requirements into system design
• Finance Systems Analysts — who support users, troubleshoot postings, and improve financial workflows

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic financial accounting concepts, including debits and credits, general ledger accounts, accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliation, fixed assets, and month-end close. Experience using any accounting or ERP system is helpful, particularly when entering journals or reviewing financial reports, but prior experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance is not required. Participants should be comfortable working with Microsoft Excel and navigating browser-based business applications. This is a foundation-to-intermediate course: complete beginners can attend, but should expect to spend time connecting accounting concepts to Dynamics 365 Finance terminology and workflows.

Training methodology

The five-day programme combines instructor-led explanation with live Dynamics 365 Finance demonstrations, guided configuration tasks, and transaction-based workshops. Participants work in a training environment to create finance structures, post journals, process customer and vendor transactions, configure controls, and review system-generated financial results. Short case studies examine realistic issues such as incorrect posting profiles, unreconciled balances, blocked budget transactions, and close delays. Group discussions compare control options and operating practices. On the final day, participants consolidate their work into a finance operations workbook and workplace application plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Finance foundations and organisational setup

• Dynamics 365 Finance navigation, workspaces, role-based access, and inquiry patterns
• Legal entities, operating units, business units, and organisational hierarchies
• Fiscal calendars, accounting periods, period status, and year-end considerations
• Chart of accounts structure, main accounts, account categories, and account types
• Financial dimensions, dimension values, account structures, and advanced rules
• Ledger setup, accounting currency, reporting currency, and exchange-rate concepts
• Financial governance through security roles, workflow principles, and audit trails

Workshop: Configure a legal entity finance structure with a chart of accounts, financial dimensions, fiscal calendar, and account structures for a multi-department business.

Day 2: General ledger and controlled journal processing

• General ledger parameters, voucher numbering, and journal control options
• Journal names, journal templates, financial journal entry, and document attachment practices
• Posting validation, default dimensions, fixed dimensions, and ledger account combinations
• Journal workflows, approval limits, segregation of duties, and posting restrictions
• Recurring journals, accrual schemes, allocations, and intercompany accounting concepts
• Ledger settlement, transaction reversal, correction journals, and voucher inquiry
• Trial balance, account analysis, financial inquiries, and Excel add-in integration

Workshop: Post, approve, correct, and settle a set of operating journals, then investigate the resulting vouchers and trial balance movements.

Day 3: Payables, receivables, cash, and bank operations

• Vendor and customer master data, payment terms, methods, and posting groups
• Accounts payable invoice journals, invoice approvals, payment proposals, and vendor settlement
• Accounts receivable free text invoices, customer payments, collections, and cash application
• Posting profiles for customers, vendors, sales tax, charges, discounts, and cash discounts
• Credit management, customer ageing, vendor ageing, and open transaction analysis
• Bank account setup, bank transaction types, payment journals, and electronic payment concepts
• Bank reconciliation workspace, statement matching, reconciliation adjustments, and exception handling

Workshop: Process vendor invoices, customer invoices, receipts, and supplier payments, then reconcile a bank statement and resolve unmatched items.

Day 4: Budgeting, fixed assets, and financial control

• Budget planning process, budget planning scenarios, and budget plan documents
• Budget register entries, transfers, revisions, and budget balance inquiries
• Budget control configuration, budget intervals, thresholds, and workflow responses
• Fixed asset groups, asset books, depreciation profiles, and posting profiles
• Fixed asset acquisition, capitalisation, depreciation, transfer, disposal, and adjustment journals
• Cash flow forecasting inputs from payables, receivables, budgets, and liquidity accounts
• Financial control reporting through budget analysis, asset transactions, and exception reviews

Workshop: Create a departmental budget control scenario, acquire and depreciate a fixed asset, and analyse the resulting budget and ledger impact.

Day 5: Period close, reporting, and workplace application

• Financial period close workspace, close task lists, dependencies, and task ownership
• Period closing controls, user access restrictions, and temporary posting exceptions
• Subledger reconciliation for customers, vendors, bank, inventory, and fixed assets
• Foreign currency revaluation, consolidation concepts, and elimination considerations
• Financial reporting row definitions, column definitions, reporting trees, and report generation
• Electronic Reporting configurations, data sources, formats, and controlled output concepts
• Posting issue diagnosis using voucher transactions, audit history, inquiries, and drill-down analysis

Workshop: Complete a simulated month-end close by reviewing reconciliations, resolving posting exceptions, producing a financial report, and finalising a workplace application plan.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services, Dynamics 365 Electronic Reporting

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions