Master  Templates in Dynamics NAV

Dynamics NAV provides the opportunity to create customers, vendors and items using templates with information already filled in. Template’s usage secures productivity regarding data entering and also a certainty regarding data’s accuracy.

Further, we will present you the way one can setup this functionality, using an example from current practice regarding grouping an defining customers in Dynamics NAV (Navision).

When a Dynamics NAV  implementation is made, during the business analysis is established how the customer wants to group  his own customers, according to specific criteria for analysis and reporting. If the classification takes into account the fiscal/custom treatment applied to customers’ transactions, often the classification is made according to geographical criteria: domestic customers, customers from European Union, customers outside European Union.

In this case, when a customer is defined into the system, there is needed to allocate in the customer card  different posting groups, as he belongs to one of categories mentioned before. For each category, the allocation process can be more efficient by using master templates.

Master Templates can be accessed in Dynamics NAV using the pathway:

Departments->Administration->Application Setup->General

For the case presented, we must define three data templates associated to the customers belonging to the three categories mentioned above. In the picture bellow there is a template used to define domestic customers.

For the master template, we have to fill in a form of header/footer type. In the header we enter:

• the template code
• the template description
• the table on which we appy the template (it is selected from a list with available tables).

On the lines we enter all the fields which will be filled in automatically when the template is selected. For present case, we have defined the posting groups which makes the connection with General Ledger and also the country code.

Once the templates were defined, when the user will create a new customer card, he/she will have the possibility to choose one of the existing template and depending on the choice made the card will be filled with data defined in the template.

As mentioned before, in standard Dynamics NAV master templates can be used just for defining customers, vendors and items. Yet, with some  customization the functionality may be extended and for other types: fixed assets, general ledger accounts, bank accounts, resources etc.

If you you want know more about Dynamics NAV, check here: Dynamics NAV (Navision) Resources