Bring Dynamics GP Data to Life with Power BI
Your Dynamics GP system is full of valuable data — but data sitting in tables and standard reports doesn’t always tell you what to do next. Power BI dashboards change that. They turn raw transaction data into actionable business intelligence, giving managers a fast read on cash flow, profitability, collection effectiveness, risk, and cash planning.
In the webinar, “Copilot AI and Power BI Dashboards for Microsoft Dynamics GP,” IS Functional Consultant Bob Linhart walked through role-based dashboards designed for the people who use them most — controllers, AR managers, AP managers, and inventory managers. From there, he showed how to add dashboard shortcuts inside GP and how Copilot layers AI-driven insight on top.
Here’s a deep dive of the dashboards and insights shared:
Why Dashboards Beat Static Reports
Dashboards reveal trends that are hard to spot in standard GP reports — revenue growth over time, expense trends, seasonal patterns, and customer payment behavior. Seeing those patterns supports better forecasting, improved budgeting, and earlier detection of problems. The dashboards here are designed by role, so each user sees the data most relevant to their job and the decisions they need to make.
The Controller Dashboard
A big-picture view of the whole business, built for the person who has to keep it all balanced. At-a-glance, it surfaces Quick Statistics, Revenue & Net Income, Actual vs. Budget Expenses, AR Aging, AP Coming Due, and Risk Factors.
Quick Look KPIs
- Cash on Hand, MTD Net Income, and YTD Net Income
- Outstanding AR and Outstanding AP
- Net AR-AP Exposure — a working-capital measure of the net amount tied up between what customers owe you and what you owe suppliers; a valuable KPI for controllers, CFOs, and treasury teams
Revenue and Net Income by Month
Revenue shows how much business you’re generating; net income shows whether that business is actually profitable. Together they answer questions like: are operating expenses rising faster than sales, should spending plans change, and are new investments feasible?
Expenses: Actual Versus Budget
Comparing actual spend to budget helps you catch variances early, control spending, protect net income, and sharpen forecasts — and it can be designed to drill in by department for more detail.
AR Aging and AP Coming Due
AR aging helps improve cash-flow forecasting, catch collection problems early, reduce bad debt, evaluate credit risk, and prioritize collection efforts. Watching AP due in the next 14 days is one of the most important short-term cash metrics — it helps you avoid cash shortages, prioritize payments, maintain vendor relationships, and forecast cash flow.
Risk Flags
Set thresholds that make sense for your business — for example, cash below a set floor, a high percentage of AR over 90 days, or AP due within 14 days exceeding cash on hand — so red flags surface where you can act on them.
The AR Dashboard
Built for the AR manager focused on getting cash in the door. It shows AR buckets, AR balance trend by month, and billed vs. collected amounts, with the ability to drill into individual customers.
- Statistics at-a-glance: Total AR, dollars over 90 days, % current, and % over 60 days
- Filter by customer class, or drill into a single customer so the whole dashboard reflects just that account
- Billed vs. Collected: if billing rises but collections don’t, sales may look strong while cash flow weakens — a sign of slow payers, collection-process issues, or credit-policy concerns
The AP Dashboard
Built for the AP manager managing vendor obligations and cash out. It shows AP buckets, AP balance trend by month, unposted batches, and drill-down into specific vendors.
- Statistics at-a-glance: Unposted AP, Average Days to Pay, % Past Due, total open dollars, and past-due dollars
- Filter by vendor class, or drill into a single vendor
- AP Amount by Month and Year helps detect cost increases, growing reliance on strategic vendors, or declining use of others
The Inventory Dashboard
Built for the inventory manager balancing availability against carrying cost. It highlights inventory by site, exceptions, and shortage risk, with drill-down into the detail.
- Statistics at-a-glance: total inventory value, available value, open demand quantity, shortage-risk value, and an Inventory Health Score
- The Health Score combines negative on-hand items, shortage risk, items below safety stock, and aged inventory into a single 0–100 metric — an easy way to gauge turnover, availability, and obsolescence risk at once
- Review data by site, spot items with exceptions, and see shortage risk by item to plan smarter purchasing and transfers
Add Dashboards Right Inside GP
You don’t have to leave Dynamics GP to reach your dashboards. Links can be built right into GP’s Home page for quick access.
- Right-click Shortcuts on the Home screen’s left menu bar and choose Add
- Choose Add Web Page
- Give the shortcut a name, paste the dashboard’s web address from your browser, and click Add
Where Copilot and AI Come In
Once your data is in a dashboard, Copilot can help you interpret it — turning a wall of numbers into a prioritized action plan. A few examples from the session show just how practical this gets:
Spot risks and priorities
Asked to identify the top business risks and positive trends, Copilot returned a 30-day priority list — collect aged AR, plan for AP due shortly, review delinquent customers, and preserve cash — along with an overall risk assessment pointing to cash flow and collections as the core issue.
Prioritize collections
Asked which customers the collections team should contact first, Copilot ranked them by overdue balance and payment history, flagging the handful of accounts driving most of the over-90-day exposure — including one with a credit that needed reconciliation.
Clean up inventory
Asked to find slow-moving or excess stock, Copilot produced an action plan — investigate overstocked items with little demand, validate open POs that may no longer be needed, address negative-availability items, and compare site-level supply and demand to reduce shortages without new purchases.
The pattern is consistent: the dashboard shows what’s happening, and Copilot helps you decide what to do about it.
The Bottom Line
Role-based Power BI dashboards give every manager the numbers that matter most to them — and adding Copilot turns those numbers into clear next steps. Whether you’re watching cash flow, chasing collections, managing vendor payments, or protecting inventory health, the goal is the same: faster, better-informed decisions built on your own GP data.
Ready to Build Power BI Dashboards for Your Team?
Our consultants help GP customers design role-based Power BI dashboards and put AI-driven insight to work.
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Functional Consultant at Implementation Specialists
Bob manages software implementations to provide system and business process improvements by effectively liaising between management, stakeholders, end-users, and software developers/programmers to ensure implementations exceed the expectations of all parties involved. Experience includes managing all facets of multiple software conversions (Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, WennSoft, Sage Intacct, BuildOps, proprietary membership management software, PeopleSoft Financials 8.8) for multi-site company locations.
