Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations delivers interactive reports that are built using Power BI out of the box. These reports are embedded in application workspaces and are called analytical workspaces.

Users can interact with data by clicking or touching visuals on the page. They can see cause and effect, and perform simple what-if operations without leaving the workspace.

The following screenshot shows the Vendor payments analytical workspace available out of the box in Finance and Operations in the Account payable module:

Analytical workspaces such as Vendor payments, in this case, provide directly embedded Power BI reports in Finance and Operations. Business users can use stunning, interactive visuals to explore data and discover hidden trends. As shown in the preceding screenshot, the second tab, Invoices past due, under the Vendor payments workspace, highlights key summary details, such as the total number of invoices and the amount past due. Further tabs such as Invoices due today and Invoices due in future are providing further detailed analysis on each topic as a separate page.

To summarize, the following are the key advantages and limitations of using analytical workspaces for operational reporting:

• The advantages are as follows:
  
  • Modern interactive analytical reports
  • Easy to customize by the power user
  • Reports are aware of user contexts such as company, security roles, and many others
  • Ability to drill down to Finance and Operations Forms/List pages from Report visuals
• The limitations are as follows:
  • Not printer-friendly

Power BI is a revolutionary, modern reporting and BI tool that is suitable for day-to-day operational reporting as well as high-level analytical reporting. Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations' analytical workspaces feature brings the full power of Power BI to users without leaving the Finance and Operations user interface, which is amazing.

In summary, most of the operational reporting needs in Finance and Operations can be satisfied with operational workspaces, inquiry pages, SSRS reports, and analytical workspaces. The choice is based on business requirements and user preferences. Now, let's change our focus from operational reporting to the next reporting need: regulatory and tax reporting out of an ERP system.