MS Dynamics Ax 2012: How to Create Financial Report by using Management Reporter in MS Dynamics Ax 2012?

There may be several ways to begin learning the designing of Financial Reports by using Management Reporter. There may be a very systematic learning approach by understanding the architecture, then design components and so on. But let us do it in a different way, what we will do, we will first create a report with the help of wizard and then we will study each components, with a target to make the report as what we intended for.

So, in this blog let us create a simple report which will become a part of Final Accounts (Balance Sheet) as note or annexure later on.

One thing more, before going further, you must have a knowledge of Main Accounts, and Financial Dimensions used in the data available with you.

Here I have got a Main Account, a part of it is shown below:

Main account	Name	Main account type	Main account category
2260000	Other expenses	Reporting
2260100	Adjs to carry amt of Invsts (other than subsy) (net)-current	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2260200	Adjs to carrying amt of Invsts (other than subsy) (net)- L T	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2260300	Amortisation of share issue expenses and discount on shares	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2260400	Bad trade & other receivables, loans & Advs written off	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2260500	Business promotion	Profit and loss	SELLEXP
2260600	Communication	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2260900	Consumption of stores and spare parts	Profit and loss	COGS
2261000	Details of Prior period items (net)	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2261100	Donations and contributions	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2261200	Freight and forwarding	Reporting
2261210	Freight and forwarding - Inward	Profit and loss	COGS
2261220	Freight and forwarding - Outward	Profit and loss	SELLEXP
2261299	Total Freight and forwarding	Total
2261300	Increase / (decrease) of excise duty on inventory	Profit and loss	COGS
2261400	Insurance	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2261500	Legal and professional	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2261501	Telephone Expenditure	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2261600	Loss on fixed assets sold / scrapped / written off	Profit and loss	GAINLOSSASSET
2261700	Miscellaneous expenses	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2261800	Net loss on foreign currency transactions and translation	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2261900	Net loss on sale of investments from current investments	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2262000	Net loss on sale of investments from long-term investments	Profit and loss	OTHEREXP
2262100	Payments to auditors	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262200	Payments to the auditors	Reporting
2262210	Reimbursement of expenses - Auditor	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262220	Statutory Audit-For Company Law Matters	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262230	statutory audit-For management services	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262240	statutory audit-For other services	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262250	statutory audit-For taxation matters	Profit and loss
2262299	Total Payments to the auditors	Total
2262300	Printing and stationery	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262400	Prior period items (net)	Reporting
2262410	Prior period expenses	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262420	Prior period income	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262499	Total Prior period items (net)	Total
2262500	Provision for contingencies	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262600	Prov for doubtful trade & other recvbls, loans & Advs (net)	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262700	Provision for estimated loss on derivatives (net)	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262800	Provision for estimated losses on onerous contracts	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2262900	Provision for impairment of fixed assets & intangibles (net)	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263000	Provision for losses	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263100	Provision for warranty	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263200	Rates and taxes	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263300	Rent including lease rentals	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263400	Repairs and maintenance - Buildings	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263500	Repairs and maintenance - Machinery	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263600	Repairs and maintenance - Others	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263650	Repair & Maintenance -Vehicles	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2263700	Sales commission	Profit and loss	SELLEXP
2263800	Sales discount	Profit and loss	SALERETDIS
2263900	Subcontracting	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2264000	Travelling and conveyance	Profit and loss
2264010	Foreign Tours & Travelling Expenditure	Profit and loss	TANDEEXP
2264020	Conveyance Expenses	Profit and loss	TANDEEXP
2264030	Tours & Travelling Expenditure	Profit and loss	TANDEEXP
2264099	Total Travelling and conveyance	Total
2264100	Water	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2264200	Advertisement & Pubicity Expenditure	Profit and loss	SELLEXP
2264300	Tender Fees	Profit and loss	SELLEXP
2264400	Trade Fare & Exhibition Expenditure	Profit and loss	SELLEXP
2264500	Books & Periodicals	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2264600	Electricity & Water Charges	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2264700	Hire Charges	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2264800	Hotel, Boarding and Lodging Expenses	Profit and loss	TANDEEXP
2264900	Meeting & Conference Expenditure	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265000	Directors Remuneration	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265100	Directors Meeting Fees	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265200	Postage & Telegram Expenditure	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265300	Subscription & Membership Fess	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265400	Annual Maintenance Contract	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265500	Entertainment Expenditure	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265600	Festival Celebrations Expenditure	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2265700	Conversion & Stiching Charges	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2265800	Rolling Charges Paid A/c	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2265900	Machining Charges Paid A/c	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2266000	Pattern & Drawing Charges	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2266100	Testing Charges Paid	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2266200	Power & Fuel	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2266300	General & Misc Expenditure	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2266400	Horticultural Expenses	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2266500	Interest (Disallowed)	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2266600	Photocopy Expenses	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2266700	Pooja Expenses	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2266800	Sundry Balances Written Off	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2266900	Centeen Subsidy	Profit and loss	OTHEREMPEXP
2267000	Dispensary Expenditure	Profit and loss	OTHEREMPEXP
2267100	Labour Welfare	Profit and loss	OTHEREMPEXP
2267200	Contract Charges	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2267300	Recruitment Expenditure	Profit and loss	OTHEREMPEXP
2267400	Security Charges	Profit and loss	ADMINEXP
2267500	Realised - Unrealised Gain-Loss Inventory	Reporting
2267510	Realised gain - Inventory	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2267520	Realised Loss - Inventory	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2267530	Un-Realised gain - Inventory	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2267540	Un-Realised Loss - Inventory	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2267999	Total Realised - Unrealised Gain-Loss Inventory	Total
2268000	Inventory Adjustment	Profit and loss	MANUEXP
2269999	Total Other expenses	Total

In the above list of Main Accounts, some of them have Financial Dimensions (Dark Orange Colored), as shown below:

To make the financial report, launch the Management Report Designer.

In this walkthrough, let us create a folder named _SNM, as I have created. All the demo reports could be placed in this folder so that all the demo reports could be segregated.

Creating Financial Report through Wizard

1. Click on the wizard button from the tool box.

2. From the list of report template, select the Income Statement – Current and YTD (Radio Button).

3. Click Next

4. After selecting the template, define the sections of the report.

5. Select [Other Operating Expenses] template from the dropdown box of Report Section, option.

6. From the Available dimensions, select the requisite Main Accounts.

7. Click Next

8. Re-Ordering of Account is not needed, so click next

9. Click on Check Box - Shade Total Lines, so that the total lines in the report appears to be shaded.

10. Click Next

11. Then again Click Next

12. Type a name for the Report, TestReportOtherExpenses

13. Type a description for the Report, List of Other Expenses

14. Select the check box Generate this report after the wizard closes.

15. Select a Period

16. Click Next

17. On completion of the wizard, a completion report window will appear.

18. Click Finish.

This wizard will create the followings:

1. A Report Definition file

2. A Row Definition file

3. A Column Definition file

Move all the three files into the _SNM folder for better segregation.

After completion of the wizard, the report get loaded into the internet explorer.

Drilling down the Freight and forwarding – Inward account by double clicking it. It will shows the amounts which sum of which is seen in the account level. So this is a Financial Dimension level report for the expenses. Here sum of all the transaction under this main account segregated into different Financial Dimensions are shown.

After drilling down, it shows the detail of Main Account, dimension wise. Clicking any on amount for drilling down detail, the button Open in Microsoft Dynamics appears.

On clicking the Open in Microsoft Dynamics option, it shows the list of vouchers transactions as shown below. So all the transaction under the said account with said Financial Dimension are depicted. The sum of all the transaction under the said financial dimension is shown below.

In this way, one can reach the transaction origin.

Customising Report

A. Customising Report Definition File

1. Open the report definition file, TestReportOtherExpenses just made, by double clicking the file option from the report definition area.

2. Look into the Building blocks group, see the Row: option. Here note that the Row Definition file is being attached here, by clicking the button next to it, Row Definition file could be viewed.

3. Look into the Building blocks group, see the Column: option. Here note that the Column Definition file is being attached here, by clicking the button next to it, Column Definition file could be viewed.

4. Click on the Second Tab Output and Distribution.

5. Change the Output name from [TestReportOtherExpenses] to [List of Other Expenses]

6. Click on the Third Tab Header and Footers.

Define and format the report headers and footers. Here text or images can be added to the header or footer. Management Reporter supports .bmp, .jpg, and .png files for images. It can insert auto text code to insert other information, such as a company name, a report name, or page number.

The report page has been differentiated into seven different sections,

· Header has three sections the left, middle, right

· Description or Main Matter Section (not mentioned on the screen)

· Header has three sections the left, middle, right

7. Click and delete the first line of Second Section of Headers and from the Insert AutoText list select @CompDescription, so that the name of the company could be visible.

8. Click on the Images button, an images selection dialogue box will appear, from where any image can be added, by using the Add… button.

9. Add an image

10. Save the Report Definition File and then generate the report.

11. Either the report can be seen from the Internet Explorer, as by default it loads the report in Internet Explorer after generation or the report can be viewed from the Report Viewer.

12. Open the Report Viewer, find the report and then open the report.