At its roots, BI depends on capturing accurate transactional data from business processes at the first level of detail and transforming these processes into a regular flow of meaningful entries in an ERP solution, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations. Application consultants should consider the reports that are required by the customers and certify that the required data points are captured through the recording process for daily transactions. Whenever possible, the application consultant has a responsibility to also challenge the business process owners about the process, as it relates to using the data to make changes to optimize the business. The following diagram shows the detailed transactions block:
In some projects, consultants split their attention between business process workshops during business requirement gathering in the analysis phase, and the establishment of the data structure in forms during the design phase. It is vital to document the business process, including the start point, end point, comprehensive steps of the process (if needed), the data path in each step, and exceptional cases for each process. On the other hand, the forms are a transformation of the business processes into real work activities of employees (fields, grids, buttons, multiple selection, and so on).
The main processes that should be addressed in a typical ERP implementation include banks, fixed assets, procure-to-pay, cash-to-sell, costing, and budgeting, with general ledger integration for each.