The Format Designer: Building a Simple Data Export (Part 1)

One of the most common requests I receive during Dynamics 365 Finance implementations has nothing to do with transactions, invoices, or reports. Instead, it usually starts with a configuration screen and a seemingly simple question: "Can we export this setup to Excel and compare it across companies?"

While Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations provides powerful configuration capabilities, reviewing setup data across multiple legal entities is not always straightforward. This is where Electronic Reporting (ER) can become surprisingly useful. Although ER is often associated with regulatory reports, electronic invoices, or bank files, it can also serve as a flexible tool for exporting and analyzing configuration data.

In the previous articles of this series, we explored the concepts behind Electronic Reporting and the architecture that makes it work. Now, let's roll up our sleeves and dive into the tasks involved in using ER day-to-day. In this guide we'll build an ER format from scratch, explore the most important ER designer screens, and learn how to use Electronic Reporting to export and analyze business data.

Business Case: Reviewing inventory posting setup

Imagine a scenario I've seen in more than one D365 F&O project. The organization has its subsidiaries in multiple countries. While each legal entity has its own local requirements, the finance team wants to maintain consistent accounting policies wherever possible. To achieve this, they use a common Chart of Accounts structure and establish shared rules for key posting processes.

On paper, this sounds straightforward. In practice, however, posting rules are scattered across multiple configuration pages. Reviewing them manually can be time-consuming, especially when you need to validate that corporate standards have been applied consistently.

A good example is the Inventory Posting setup page. Although the name suggests a narrow focus, this configuration plays a much broader role. It defines the default main accounts used not only for inventory-related transactions, but also for various sales, purchasing, production, and cost variance posting scenarios. You can access this screen in Inventory Management > Setup > Posting.

Inventory Posting setup in D365 F&O menu.

Inventory Posting setup form.

Opening configuration screens one by one and comparing hundreds of posting rules manually is hardly an efficient solution, especially when several legal entities are involved. This is exactly the type of situation where Electronic Reporting can provide value outside its traditional compliance and regulatory use cases. Our goal will be to generate a structured JSON export that can later be loaded in Excel, making it easier to review, compare, and analyze.

Electronic Reporting Format Designer

The Format Designer is where the real work begins. This is the area where you define the structure and content of an output (or input) file and ultimately decide what the final document should look like. It also highlights one of ER's biggest strengths: the ability for functional users and consultants to create or modify electronic document formats through configuration rather than development.

Important notice: In a typical Electronic Reporting implementation, the design process starts with an ER Model, followed by Model Mapping, and finally a Format. To focus on the Format Designer itself, we'll skip the modeling phase and build the format using data sources defined directly within the format configuration. While this works well for learning purposes, it is generally not recommended from a lifecycle management and reusability perspective.

Create Your First Format

Before creating your first format, ensure that your own Configuration provider is active. If you have not created one yet, refer to the previous article where we covered the setup and role of a Configuration Provider.

In the Electronic Reporting workspace, open Reporting Configurations tile. Every format must be derived from an existing data model. For this exercise, we'll use the standard Data export model. If the model is not available in your environment, it can be imported from Microsoft's global repository. Select the Data export model node and choose + Create configuration.

The Data export model is one of the most overlooked standard ER models. While many consultants associate ER primarily with electronic invoices or regulatory submissions, this model was specifically designed for exporting arbitrary business data in formats such as XML or JSON.

In the creation panel, select Format based on data model. Enter a name for the format (for example, "My Config Export") and choose JSON as the format type. When ready, click Create configuration.

Once created, the configuration will appear beneath the parent model that was selected during creation. Expand the Data export model node and select your newly created format. You should see the first version of the configuration in Draft status.

Format designer screen

After selecting your format and its Draft version, choose Designer. This opens the ER Format Designer screen.

The Electronic Reporting Format Designer presents a hierarchical view of the file’s structure. For outbound formats, you’ll work with elements such as Folders, Files, Records (Sequences) and individual fields. Together, these elements correspond to parts of the final document (for example, sections of an XML/JSON, or lines of a CSV). The toggle Show details reveals more info about each node in the structure (such as data types, formulas, etc.).

For example, take a look at the ISO 20022 Credit Transfer payment format:

In the example above, the top-level Folder element groups final files into a ZIP archive. Inside it, a File element represents the payment file itself. Beneath that, the structure mirrors XML document that will be generated.

Notice the PmtInf node. This is a Sequence element that loops through payment transactions to produce an entry for each one. Individual fields and nested sequences then define the specific data that should appear in the output, such as vendor information, payment amounts, and transaction dates.

The Format Designer is typically split into two main areas. The left side contains the format structure tree, while the right side provides configuration details for the currently selected element.

The Format tab is used to build and modify the structure itself by adding folders, files, sequences, and fields. The Mapping tab is where those elements are connected to data sources, parameters, and formulas that determine what values are generated in the final output.

One detail that often confuses new ER users is that format editing is only available while the Format tab is active. As soon as you switch to Mapping or another tab, the structure becomes read-only until you return to the Format tab.

Takeaway

At this point we have not exported a single record yet, but that's by design. Before building any Electronic Reporting solution, it's important to understand the tools involved and how ER structures formats behind the scenes.

We've explored the Data Export Model, created a new format configuration, and learned how to navigate the Format Designer. These concepts will form the foundation for everything that follows.

In the next article, we'll start building the actual solution. Using the Inventory Posting setup as our source, we'll create a JSON structure, connect it to real Dynamics 365 Finance data, and generate our first configuration export.