Budget planning justification documents

Justification documents provide a narrative for those requesting a budget to explain why a specific budget is necessary.

A budget plan template is created by the budget manager in Microsoft Word and assigned to the current budget planning process. Budget owners can then open the template and have data automatically populated in Word based on their budget request. They can then add additional text or data prior to saving and attaching their personalized justification document to their budget plan.

Set up Microsoft Dynamics Office Add-in for Microsoft Word

1. Open a new Microsoft Word document.
2. Click Insert on the ribbon, and click Store.
3. Search for Microsoft Dynamics Office Add-in and click Add.
4. In Word, in the right pane, click Add server information.
5. Type or paste the server URL and click OK.

Define the Justification template in Microsoft Word

1. Click Design in the Microsoft Dynamics Office Add-in after you’ve logged in.
2. For header information, use the Add fields button.
3. Select the entity data source of BudgetPlanJustification, and click Next. Note: This entity is required for any justification document. Other entities can be used but the upload back to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance will fail if this entity isn’t included.
4. Add the BudgetPlanName, BudgetPlanPreparer, ResponsibilityCenter, and DocumentNumber labels and values in the Word document. Note: You can use your own custom labels, rather than the standard labels, if needed.
5. Click Done to complete the header section.
6. For line level detail of budget plan amounts, click Add table.
7. Again, select the entity data source of BudgetPlanJustification, and click Next.
8. Add fields for EffectiveDate, ScenarioName, AccountDisplayValue, and AccountingCurrencyExpenseAmount. Note: If comments are available to add within individual budget plan lines, those can be added to the table here.
9. Add any additional instructions to provide to the end user, and perform any necessary formatting or styling to the document.
10. Save the document to your local computer and close the file before continuing.

Set up the Budget planning process to use the Justification template

1. Go to Budgeting > Setup > Budget planning > Justification document templates.
2. Click New and browse to your newly created Microsoft Word document.
3. Enter a template display name and description. Click OK.
4. Go to Budgeting > Setup > Budget planning > Budget planning process.
5. Select the process where the justification template should be used, and click Edit.
6. In the Justification document template field, select the appropriate template and save.

Edit and save personalized justification documents

1. Create a new budget plan or open an existing budget plan.
2. In the Justification drop-down menu, select Create new justification.
3. After filling in the details, select to upload the personalized document from the Justification drop-down menu.