Springer Vieweg
Preface
When looking for a business management solution supporting business processes in mid-sized and large companies, Microsoft Dynamics AX is likely to be your favorite. Because of its deep functional and technological integration, it is also a good choice for universities teaching ERP systems.
Reading this Book The primary purpose of this book is to provide you with a good knowledge of the standard application concept and functionality, enabling you to run business processes in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. This book applies to you, if you are an end user, student, or consultant interested in learning how to use Dynamics AX.
Going beyond the operations on the user interface, you will also learn how the different parts of the application work together. As a result, you will also take advantage from learning the end-to-end application concept, if you are a system administrator, developer, IT executive or experienced consultant not knowing the complete application already.
Actually working in an application is the best way to learn it. This book therefore includes exercises building up on each other in a comprehensive case study. If you need support for the exercises, a free download of sample solutions is available.
The current edition of this book is based on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 and includes the core changes of Dynamics AX 2012 in the initial version and in R2. It is an update of previous editions of the book “Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012”published in 2012 and 2013.
Since Dynamics AX is a very comprehensive business solution, it is not possible to cover all parts of the application in a single book. In order to provide a profound understanding of the core application, this book addresses the primary
functionality in supply chain (including trade, logistics and production control) and finance management. It shows the application, but does not cover tasks in system administration and development. If you want to learn more about the
concepts and options for implementing Dynamics AX, the book “Implementing Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with Sure Step 2012” by Keith Dunkinson and Andrew Birch might be interesting for you.
Applicable Settings
In Dynamics AX, you can individually choose the language of your user interface. Descriptions and illustrations in this book refer to the language “EN-US”. Whereas it is obvious that the Dynamics AX client displays different labels when choosing languages like Spanish or Russian, there are also differences when selecting British English. For example, the label for the field “Sales tax” is “VAT” in British English.
Other differences between your application and the descriptions in the book are possibly caused by your permissions, by applicable local features, or by specific modifications and features implemented in your Dynamics AX system.
In order to benefit from the explanations, it is recommended to access a Dynamics AX application. A separate test application for executing the exercises minimizes the risk of affecting actual company data.
The exercises and illustrations refer to a sample company “Anso Technologies Ltd.”, which shows a simple setup limited to the described functionality. In order to grant flexibility for selecting the training environment, the tasks in the exercises are specified in a way that you can also use the Microsoft standard demo environment (“Contoso”) or any other test environment.
This book has been updated for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3. If you are using Dynamics AX 2012 R2 or the initial version of Dynamics AX 2012, a limited number of features and settings work different. Notes in the book show the
differences of the initial version and R2, enabling you to use this book in all versions of Dynamics AX 2012. If you want to know in which version you are working, click the button Help / About Microsoft Dynamics AX in the command
bar of the Dynamics AX client – the dialog then shows if you use R2 or R3.
Table of Contents
1.1 Axapta and the History of Dynamics AX 1
1.2 Dynamics AX 2012 Product Overview 2
1.2.1 Functional Capabilities 3
1.2.2 Business Intelligence 4
1.2.3 Collaboration Features 4
1.2.4 Implementation 4
1.3 Technology and System Architecture 5
1.3.1 Development Environments 5
1.3.2 Layer Technology 6
1.3.3 Three-Tier Architecture 7
1.3.4 Data Structure 8
1.3.5 Voucher Principle 8
2.1 User Interface and Common Tasks 11
2.1.1 Logon and Authentication 11
2.1.2 User Interface 12
2.1.3 Navigation 20
2.1.4 Home Menu 24
2.1.5 Working with Records 26
2.1.6 Filter, Find and Sort 33
2.1.7 Help System 39
2.1.8 Case Study Exercises 41
2.2 Printing and Reporting 42
2.2.1 Printing Reports 42
2.2.2 Copy/Paste and Microsoft Office Add-Ins 47
2.2.3 Case Study Exercise 49
2.3 Advanced Options 49
2.3.1 User Options and Personalization 50
2.3.2 Record Information and Templates 52
2.3.3 Case Study Exercises 56
2.4 Global Address Book 57
2.4.1 Parties and Addresses 57
2.4.2 Address books 58
2.4.3 Case Study Exercise 60
3.1 Business Processes in Purchasing 61
3.1.1 Basic Approach 61
3.1.2 At a Glance: Purchase Order Processing 64
3.2 Vendor Management 66
3.2.1 Vendor Records 66
3.2.2 Payment Terms and Cash Discount 71
3.2.3 Ledger Integration 73
3.2.4 Case Study Exercises 75
3.3 Product Management for Purchasing 75
3.3.1 Procurement Category Management 76
3.3.2 Product Master Data for Purchasing 78
3.3.3 Purchase Price and Discount 82
3.3.4 Case Study Exercises 86
3.4 Purchase Orders 87
3.4.1 Basics of Purchase Order Processing 87
3.4.2 Planned Purchase Orders 89
3.4.3 Purchase Requisitions 92
3.4.4 Requests for Quotation 94
3.4.5 Purchase Order Registration 96
3.4.6 Change Management and Purchase Order Approval 103
3.4.7 Canceling and Deleting Purchase Orders 105
3.4.8 Purchase Order Confirmation and Printing 106
3.4.9 Purchase Agreements 109
3.4.10 Case Study Exercises 110
3.5 Item Receipt 111
3.5.1 Basic Steps for Item Receipt 112
3.5.2 Receipts List 112
3.5.3 Inventory Registration 113
3.5.4 Product Receipt 116
3.5.5 Receiving a Deviating Quantity 118
3.5.6 Order Status and Inquiries 120
3.5.7 Case Study Exercises 123
3.6 Invoice Receipt 124
3.6.1 Different Ways for Processing Vendor Invoices 124
3.6.2 Posting Vendor Invoices 126
3.6.3 Order Status and Inquiries 130
3.6.4 Case Study Exercises 132
3.7 Credit Notes and Item Returns 133
3.7.1 Crediting Purchase Orders 134
3.7.2 Inventory Valuation for Separate Credit Notes 136
3.7.3 Case Study Exercise 136
4.1 Business Processes in Sales and Distribution 137
4.1.1 Basic Approach 137
4.1.2 At a Glance: Sales Order Processing 140
4.2 Customer Management 142
4.2.1 Basic Data and Comparison to Vendors Records 142
4.2.2 Case Study Exercises 146
4.3 Product Management for Sales 146
4.3.1 Product Records and Categories in Sales 146
4.3.2 Sales Price and Discount 148
4.3.3 Case Study Exercises 153
4.4 Sales Orders and Quotations 153
4.4.1 Basics of Sales Order Processing 154
4.4.2 Sales Quotations 155
4.4.3 Sales Order Registration 157
4.4.4 Sales Prices and Discounts 163
4.4.5 Managing Charges 165
4.4.6 Sales Order Confirmation 167
4.4.7 Case Study Exercises 168
4.5 Distribution 168
4.5.1 Basics and Setup for Picking and Shipping 168
4.5.2 Pick Form and Picking List 171
4.5.3 Picking Workbench 173
4.5.4 Output Order and Shipment 175
4.5.5 Packing Slip 177
4.5.6 Case Study Exercises 179
4.6 Invoicing 180
4.6.1 Invoicing Sales Orders 180
4.6.2 Collective Invoice 182
4.6.3 Free Text Invoices 184
4.6.4 Credit Notes and Item Returns 186
4.6.5 Case Study Exercises 189
4.7 Direct Delivery 190
4.7.1 Processing Direct Deliveries 191
4.7.2 Case Study Exercise 192
4.8 Trade Allowances and Incentive Management 192
4.8.1 Trade Allowances 193
4.8.2 Vendor Rebates 200
4.8.3 Broker Contracts 200
4.8.4 Royalty Agreements 201
5.1 Business Processes in Manufacturing 203
5.1.1 Basic Approach 203
5.1.2 At a Glance: Production Order Processing 206
5.2 Product Data and Bills of Materials 208
5.2.1 Product Master Data for Manufacturing 208
5.2.2 Bills of Materials (BOM) 210
5.2.3 Case Study Exercises 215
5.3 Resources and Routes 217
5.3.1 Production Units and Resource Groups 217
5.3.2 Resources and Capabilities 220
5.3.3 Routes and Operations 223
5.3.4 Case Study Exercises 231
5.4 Production Orders 232
5.4.1 Basics of Production Order Processing 232
5.4.2 Production Order Registration 236
5.4.3 Processing Production Orders 238
5.4.4 Case Study Exercises 242
5.5 Production Journal Transactions 242
5.5.1 Journal Transactions and Ledger Integration 242
5.5.2 Picking List 243
5.5.3 Working Time Registration 245
5.5.4 Case Study Exercises 246
5.6 Reporting as Finished and Ending Production 247
5.6.1 Reporting as Finished 247
5.6.2 Ending and Costing 248
5.6.3 Case Study Exercise 250
5.7 Subcontracting 250
5.7.1 Outsourced Operation 250
5.7.2 Purchased Service 251
6.1 Business Processes in Operations Planning 253
6.1.1 Basic Approach 253
6.1.2 At a Glance: Master Planning 254
6.2 Forecasting 255
6.2.1 Basics of Forecasting 255
6.2.2 Forecast Settings 256
6.2.3 Forecasts and Forecast Scheduling 258
6.2.4 Case Study Exercises 260
6.3 Master Planning 261
6.3.1 Basics of Master Planning 261
6.3.2 Master Planning Setup 263
6.3.3 Item Coverage and Item Settings 265
6.3.4 Master Scheduling and Planned Orders 269
6.3.5 Case Study Exercises 273
7.1 Principles of Inventory Transactions 275
7.1.1 Basic Approach 275
7.1.2 At a Glance: Inventory Journal Transactions 278
7.2 Product Information Management 280
7.2.1 Product Master Data 280
7.2.2 Inventory Dimension Groups 288
7.2.3 Item Model Groups 292
7.2.4 Cost Price Settings 294
7.2.5 Transaction and Inventory Inquiry 295
7.2.6 Case Study Exercises 300
7.3 Inventory Valuation 301
7.3.1 Valuation Method 302
7.3.2 Inventory Closing and Adjustment 305
7.3.3 Case Study Exercises 307
7.4 Business Processes in Inventory 307
7.4.1 Inventory Structures and Parameters 308
7.4.2 Journal Transactions 310
7.4.3 Inventory Counting 313
7.4.4 Quarantine and Inventory Blocking 315
7.4.5 Transfer Orders 317
7.4.6 Case Study Exercises 318
8.1 Advanced Warehouse Management 321
8.1.1 Core Setup for Warehouse Management Processes 321
8.1.2 Inbound and Outbound Transactions 332
8.1.3 Operations within the Warehouse 341
8.1.4 Case Study Exercises 347
8.2 Transportation Management 350
8.2.1 Core Setup for Transportation Management 350
8.2.2 Managing Transportation Processes 354
9.3 Principles of Ledger Transactions 361
9.3.1 Basic Approach 361
9.3.2 At a glance: Ledger Journal Transactions 362
9.4 Setting up Finance 363
9.4.1 Fiscal and Ledger Calendars 363
9.4.2 Currencies and Exchange Rates 365
9.4.3 Financial Dimensions 368
9.4.4 Account Structures and Charts of Accounts 370
9.4.5 Customer, Vendor and Bank Accounts 377
9.4.6 VAT / Sales Tax Settings 378
9.4.7 Case Study Exercises 381
9.5 Business Processes in Finance 382
9.5.1 Basics Setup for Journal Transactions 382
9.5.2 General Journals 384
9.5.3 Invoice Journals 389
9.5.4 Payments 393
9.5.5 Reversing Transactions 397
9.5.6 Case Study Exercises 398
9.6 Ledger Integration 399
9.6.1 Basics of Ledger Integration 400
9.6.2 Ledger Integration in Inventory 401
9.6.3 Ledger Integration in Production 405
10.1 Organizational Structures 407
10.1.1 Data Partitions 408
10.1.2 Organization Model Architecture 409
10.1.3 Organization Units 409
10.1.4 Organization Hierarchy Structures 412
10.1.5 Legal Entities (Company Accounts) 413
10.1.6 Virtual Company Accounts 415
10.1.7 Sites 416
10.2 Security and Information Access 418
10.2.1 Access Control 418
10.2.2 User Management 418
10.2.3 Role-based Security 422
10.2.4 Securing the Global Address Book 426
10.3 General Settings 427
10.3.1 Number Sequences 428
10.3.2 Calendars 430
10.3.3 Address Setup 430
10.3.4 Parameters 431
10.4 Alerts and Workflow Management 432
10.4.1 Alert Rules and Notifications 432
10.4.2 Configuring Workflows 434
10.4.3 Working with Workflows 437
10.5 Other Features 439
10.5.1 Document Management 439
10.5.2 Case Management 441
10.5.3 Task Recorder 444
Appendix 445
Setup Checklist 445
Basic Setup 445
Other Key Settings and Master Data 448
Commands and Shortcut Keys 450
Bibliography 451
Literature 451
Other Sources 451
