How to Deploy Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations Expense Management on Mobile

The Expense management workspace for the Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations mobile app is a convenient way for remote or travelling workers to capture receipts, enter expenses, and create and approve expense reports.

In this article, I’ll explain how to deploy the Expense management workspace on the mobile app, and show you briefly what you can do with it.

• What Is the Expense Management Module?
• What Is the Dynamics 365 Finance & Operation Mobile App?
• How to Deploy the Expense Management Workspace for the Mobile App
• Using Expense Management in the Mobile App

Note: Even though most customers, commentators, and consultants still call it Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations or D365FO, Microsoft now technically licenses it as Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

What Is the Expense Management Module for D365FO?

Within Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, the Expense management module is often used together with Project management and accounting to handle expenses related to projects. For instance, if you have an employee who travels to work on a project at a customer site, this module could be used to connect their airfare or hotel expenses with the project.

Technically, the Expense management module can also be used alongside the Production control module to track expenses in production (for instance, if you are building an engine, and you use a local supplier to make up a shortage of a certain part). However, that’s less common than expenses in projects.

Configuration of the Expense management module itself is outside the scope of this article.

Some companies may be using a 3rd-party solution for expense management and receipt capture. The solution described here is completely integrated into your D365FO environment, and it doesn’t cost anything beyond the D365FO licenses for users. Ask your Dynamics partner if you have any licensing questions, or want to determine whether this approach is best for you.

What Is the D365FO Mobile App?

The mobile app for Dynamics 365 F&O extends your ERP from desktop to mobile device. It’s included with your licensing, and you can download it for your Android or iOS device. That mobile app allows your workers to access workspaces that have been published by your sysadmin.

Those workspaces are published as Power Apps “mobile apps,” but they are accessed from within the general D365FO mobile app.

Pretty much anything you can do in the Expense management module on desktop, you can also do from the mobile app. When you enter info on the mobile app, it pushes that data back to the D365FO expense reports.

Watch a demo here to see the mobile app in action:

 

How to Deploy the Expense Management Workspace for the D365FO Mobile App

1. 1. As an administrator, log into the environment/company that you are deploying for. Click on the gear icon in the top right and select Mobile app.
   2. Select the Mobile app for Expense management from the list. When selected, click on Publish at the top.The application side is now ready to go.

Deployment on the Mobile Device

1. From the mobile device, navigate to the app store for your operating system. Search for Finance and Operations (Dynamics 365). Select and download the free app.
2. Launch the Finance and Operations app once it’s installed. You will be prompted for connection information. Enter the URL for the company that you deployed for above and click Connect.
3. After accepting the connection agreement, click Connect. You will be prompted to enter your network credentials. Once authenticated, your organization’s published apps should appear.
4. You are now ready to work within the Dynamics 365 F&O Expense management Workspace from the Finance and Operations mobile app. Note that, if you have other custom Power Apps (for instance, for managing vendors), your sysadmin can push those as workspaces into the D365FO mobile app too.

Using Expense Management in the D365FO Mobile App

1. Click on Expense management within the D365FO mobile app’s list of workspaces. You will now see the actions that you can take.
2. You can capture a receipt in the D35FO mobile app with a photograph like so.
3. You’ll then choose the category for the receipt.
4. Then choose the payment method.

If you’re the project manager, once your team members have submitted expenses, you can drill in via the expense reports to see them.

Note: One limitation of the mobile app is that, while it’s convenient for capturing receipts, you may need the greater real estate of the desktop interface to process the receipt details.

If you’d like to learn more about Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, Power Apps, and how to empower your workers with both, please contact us.