Responsibility centers in Dynamics 365 Business Central are a powerful way to manage and streamline business operations across departments, locations, or entities. They allow organizations to assign and track financial and operational activities, enabling better decision-making and accountability. This article outlines the steps to set up responsibility centers in Business Central and highlights their benefits.
What Are Responsibility Centers?
A responsibility center represents a segment of an organization, such as a department, branch, or location, where specific operations and financial accountability are tracked. Using responsibility centers helps organizations:
Monitor performance by division or team.
Assign specific tasks to different areas.
Simplify reporting and analytics.
Enhance internal controls and workflows.
Responsibility centers are sometimes confused with locations. However, they can be used independently from each other, and the two features have important differences:
Locations: Must represent physical places for storing and handling items; they follow an account-focused approach.
Responsibility Centers: Can represent physical or operational segments to limit user data access; they follow a user-focused approach.
Examples of responsibility centers include sales and purchase offices that companies can have in their warehouses.
Setting Up Responsibility Centers
1. Access the Responsibility Centers Page
Sign in to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Use the search function or navigate to Departments > Administration > Application Setup > Responsibilities > Responsibility Centers.
2. Create a New Responsibility Center
In the Responsibility Centers page, click on New.
Fill in the following fields:
Code: Enter a unique identifier for the responsibility center (e.g., NY_Sales, London_Office).
Name: Provide a descriptive name for the responsibility center.
Address: Specify the address if the responsibility center is tied to a physical location.
Post Code, City, Country: Enter relevant location details.
Contact: Add the name and details of the primary contact person.
Location: Specify the linked location if applicable.
3. Link Responsibility Centers to Business Data
Responsibility centers can be linked to the following business data:
Users
Company Information
Customers and Vendors
For example, if a company follows a decentralized purchasing strategy, you can set up responsibility centers with location codes, assign them to users, and leave the location code field on the vendor cards blank.
4. Assign Users to the Responsibility Center
Use the search function to open User Setup.
Create a new record and select the user in the User ID field.
Assign sales, purchase, or service responsibility centers independently to the user. Business Central automatically applies the user’s assigned responsibility center when they sign in.
5. Link Responsibility Centers to Company Information
Use the search function to open Company Information.
Expand the Shipping FastTab.
Select a responsibility center in the Responsibility Center Code field.
6. Link Responsibility Centers to Vendors or Customers
To link a responsibility center to vendors or customers:
Open the vendor or customer card.
Expand the General FastTab and select Show More.
Enter the responsibility center in the Responsibility Center field.
Priority Rules for Responsibility Centers and Locations
When multiple responsibility centers and locations are set, Business Central uses priority rules to determine which values are applied to sales and purchase documents.
Responsibility Center Priority
User Setup: If a default responsibility center is selected, it overrides other settings.
Company Information: If no default is set in User Setup, this value is applied.
Customer/Vendor Card: If no defaults are set in User Setup or Company Information, this value is applied.
Location Priority
Customer/Vendor Card: Default location code takes precedence.
Responsibility Center Card: If no default is set on the Customer/Vendor Card, this value is applied.
Company Information: If no defaults are set in the above, this value is applied.
Approaches to Setup
Choose one of the following approaches based on your company’s priorities:
User-Focused Approach:
Link responsibility centers to users.
Select default location codes for each responsibility center.
Do not select default location codes for accounts.
Account-Focused Approach:
Select default responsibility centers and location codes for accounts.
Do not link responsibility centers to users.
Do not select default location codes for responsibility centers.
By carefully setting up responsibility centers in Dynamics 365 Business Central, organizations can optimize workflows, improve accountability, and achieve better control over their operations. Following these guidelines ensures a structured and flexible approach to managing business operations across multiple locations and teams.