Organizations often need to tailor reports and business documents in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O) to meet specific operational, customer, or regulatory requirements. While it may be tempting to customize standard reports directly, doing so can create challenges when applying future Microsoft updates and maintaining the system over time.

Fortunately, D365 F&O’s Electronic Reporting (ER) framework provides a flexible, upgrade-safe approach. By creating a derived version of an existing ER format, users can modify reports and document outputs without changing the original Microsoft-delivered configuration. In this tip of the month, we’ll explore how derived ER formats help organizations customize reports while maintaining long-term system stability.

Tip summary: Use derived ER formats for upgrade-safe report customizations

Electronic Reporting (ER) is a configurable framework that enables users to design, modify, and generate business documents without writing code. Rather than changing a standard report directly, users can create a derived format that inherits the functionality of the original report while allowing custom modifications.

This approach preserves the out-of-the-box configuration and makes it easier to adopt future updates without overwriting customizations.

Key benefits include:

• Preserves the original Microsoft-delivered report
• Supports future updates without requiring customizations to be overwritten
• Enables flexible formatting and structural changes
• Allows extension of data mappings for additional fields
• Reduces reliance on development resources
• Supports a cleaner, more maintainable system

Common use cases

Creating a derived ER format is particularly useful when:

• Customizing financial reports, such as Fixed Asset Roll Forward reports
• Modifying document formats including invoices, purchase orders, and packing slips
• Adding new data elements to existing reports
• Adjusting layouts or output structures in Excel, XML, Word, or PDF formats
• Supporting customer-specific or regulatory reporting requirements

Tip steps: How to modify an out-of-the-box ER report

Prerequisites

Before modifying an ER format, ensure you have:

• Access to the Electronic Reporting workspace
• Appropriate security permissions for ER configurations
• A basic understanding of ER models and formats

Steps:

1. Navigate to the Electronic Reporting workspace.

2. Locate the required format and expand its associated model.

3. Create a derived version of the format.

4. Open the Designer for the new format.

5. Modify the format structure as needed.

6. Update the mapping to the data model.

Example: To add a customer account number to a sales invoice, extend the data model mapping and bind the new field to the desired location in the report format.

7. Save, validate, and test the report output.

Once testing is complete, you can deploy the customized format for business use while preserving the original Microsoft configuration.

Tip insights: When this tip makes the biggest impact

You’ll see the greatest value from derived ER formats when:

• Standard reports don’t fully meet business requirements
• Implementing no-code reporting enhancements
• Maintaining upgrade-safe configurations
• Supporting customer-specific or industry-specific reporting needs
• Extending reports without engaging development resources

Organizations that regularly modify reports can often achieve faster results and lower maintenance costs by leveraging ER instead of traditional custom development.

Why this tip matters

Electronic Reporting is one of the most powerful tools available in D365 F&O for extending reporting capabilities without custom code. By creating derived formats, organizations can tailor reports to meet evolving business requirements while preserving upgrade readiness and reducing long-term maintenance effort.

If you’d like help customizing Electronic Reporting (ER) formats, extending standard reports, or identifying additional ways to optimize your Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations environment, our F&O experts are here to help. Contact our team today to learn how we can help you get more value from your ERP investment. And be sure to check back next month for another D365 Finance & Operations Tip of the Month.