Getting Hands-on with Electronic Reporting (ER) in D365 F&O: A Practical Guide for Functional Users

In the previous articles of this series, we explored the big picture of Electronic Reporting (ER) - how it lets Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations users configure electronic document formats without code. Now, let's roll up our sleeves and dive into the actual screens and tasks involved in using ER day-to-day. This guide shows functional users (like power users and consultants) where to find ER in D365 F&O and how to navigate its most important screens, with practical tips along the way.

Finding the Electronic Reporting Workspace in D365 F&O

Where is Electronic Reporting in the menus? Don’t worry - you don’t need developer tools or coding to use ER. Everything happens via standard F&O menus. To open the main ER interface, go to Organization administration > Workspaces > Electronic reporting. This opens the Electronic Reporting workspace - the central hub for all ER activities. Alternatively, you can use the search bar (the global search, aka “Search for a page”) and type "Electronic reporting". That should surface the Electronic reporting workspace link as well.

Electronic Reporting workspace in D365 F&O menu.

Once opened, you'll see sections and tiles for managing ER content, like Configuration providers, Reporting configurations, Repositories, and ER parameters in the workspace. Workspace gives you quick access to ER features across modules (Finance, Supply Chain, etc.) since ER is a shared tool for all domains.

The Electronic Reporting Workspace Layout

The Electronic reporting workspace page is broadly divided into sections:

• Configurations - Section with tiles leading to related pages, where your configuration artifacts are organized. Most frequently accessed tile is shown as Reporting configurations. This tile leads you to the list of configurations, where you can view and edit most of your ER data models and formats.
• Configuration Providers - Each ER configuration is owned by a provider (like Microsoft, other ISVs or your company). This section contains tiles for each ER provider existing in your environment.
• Related Links - Links like Electronic reporting parameters, which open settings (for enabling design mode, document type defaults, etc.), and Electronic reporting destination (for output destinations configuration, more on that later).

Electronic Reporting workspace.

Think of the workspace as a dashboard: It doesn’t itself show all details of configurations, but it gives you quick entry points. Most of your actual design work will happen in the detailed pages accessible via this workspace (like the Configurations list page, designers, etc.).

Navigating the ER Configurations List (ER Configuration Page)

The Configurations page is the heart of ER where you see all available ER configurations in a tree view. To get there, click the Reporting configurations tile in the workspace. Alternatively, go through Organization administration > Electronic reporting > Configurations. Either path takes you to the Electronic reporting configurations page.

On this page, the left side shows a hierarchical tree of ER configurations. The tree organizes configurations by data model and their related formats. For example, in a Collection Letter domain you might see a top-level Collection Letter model (a data model), which can have child configurations like Collection Letter (a format based on that data model). Data model configurations define the abstract business data structure, while format configurations define the layout/format for output (or input) files. The tree structure shows these relationships - formats are usually listed as children under their corresponding data model.

ER Configurations with active areas highlighted.

When you select a configuration in the tree, on the right side of the Configurations page, you will see details and actions, including a Versions list. Each ER configuration can have multiple versions (Draft, Completed, etc.), similar to how templates or code have versions. The latest published version is typically marked Completed or Shared, whereas a Draft is an editable version you might be working on. Select the version you want to work with from the list. If it’s a Draft, you can edit it; if it’s Completed, you might need to create a new Draft version first (by clicking Edit or creating a derived version if customizing a Microsoft-provided format).

💡 Tip: Activate Your ER Provider Before Editing

To create or edit ER formats in D365 F&O, make sure your organization’s provider is active in the Electronic reporting workspace. Only the active provider’s configurations can be edited. Configurations from other providers (not active) are visible as read-only, draft version will be hidden. Microsoft’s out-of-the-box provider should not be set active in production, to avoid accidental changes to standard formats.

When you open the ER workspace for the first time, check the Configuration Providers section for your own organization. If it’s not active, select tile and click Set active. This ensures you can work on your organization’s configurations.

As you can see on screenshot above, the interface is divided into parent-child sections. Be careful, when using actions. Part of them is related to entire configuration (red highlighted), while others are executed on selected version of the component (blue highlighted).

Key actions on the Configurations page include:

• Create configuration - to create a new Data Model or Format configuration. In the dropdown panel you will find options to base it on an existing configuration or create from scratch.
• Exchange > Import/Export - to get configurations from a repository or file, or export them. Note that top Exchange menu allows only importing action. Export is available in Versions fast tab, but it will be enabled only after selecting Completed or Shared version.
• Designer - actual place, where you can create or adjust model or format for selected version of configuration. There are several different designers, each related to type of configuration currently selected.
• Configurations > User parameters - where you can adjust your settings related to run mode, designer preferences & debugging of configurations. We will dive into some useful options in future articles.
• Configurations > Setup - which is active for format components. This action allows to tailor parameters specific per each legal entity separately. Not every format is utilizing this functionality, but keep it in mind. It will become important on many regulatory required formats, that rely on externally defined mappings (e.g. recognizing CoA main accounts as reporting categories, tax code mappings, etc.).

Practical tip: If you plan to test a configuration that’s still in Draft, you don't need to Complete it every time. Alternatively you can enable “Run Draft” for it. On the Configurations page, go to User parameters (in the toolbar) and set Run settings = Yes. Now you can select the Draft configuration and flip the Run Draft toggle to Yes. This allows that draft version to execute when the ER format is run (otherwise only Completed/Shared versions run by default). Remember to flip it off once done testing.

Takeaway

Electronic Reporting in D365 F&O empowers functional users to design and run regulatory reports and business documents with no coding, using an intuitive interface.

• Workspace is your starting point to access ER configuration and settings.
• The Configurations page lets you browse and manage ER configurations (data models & formats) in a structured way.
• Using ER in day-to-day tasks involves running formats via standard business processes (with options for immediate or scheduled batch execution) and retrieving outputs, e.g. via the Electronic reporting jobs page or configured destinations.

By understanding these screens and tools, a functional user can comfortably navigate ER. Keep this guide handy for a refresher on where to click, and leverage the official Microsoft documentation for deeper details on each capability. In next articles we will continue exploring our engine room, in order to understand designers. Happy reporting!