What should every user know about the new workflow in D365 F&O?
A workflow in D365 F&O is an automatic “process guardian” that ensures documents and tasks pass through the appropriate people in the correct order. Thanks to this, the user does not have to worry about doing something irreversible with a single click – the system guides them step by step and protects the company against errors.
Why Is the Workflow in D365 F&O So Important?
The workflow protects the company from errors, abuses, and decisions made outside of control. In many organizations, it is only after the implementation of a workflow that it comes to light how many activities were previously done “on a word,” “quickly,” or “because we’ve always done it this way”. And it is in these very places that the greatest risks arise.
A well-designed workflow acts as a control mechanism at every stage of the process. It is a mechanism that:
secures processes – purchases, postings, data changes, inventory movements,
enforces compliance with company policy,
eliminates the risk of mistakes – a document will not proceed without approval,
builds transparency – it is known who made a decision and why,
organizes responsibility – every action has an owner,
speeds up work, if well-designed, because it removes chaos and ambiguities.
Workflow jest stworzony po to, żeby chronić firmę przed ryzykiem, które w realnym świecie kosztuje bardzo dużo – finansowo, operacyjnie i reputacyjnie.
Fictitious Orders? This Is Not an Urban Legend
In projects I have managed, I have repeatedly heard stories about companies that lost huge amounts of money due to a lack of control over the purchasing process. The pattern is always similar: someone creates an order that looks correct, the document proceeds without any verification, and the payment goes to the account of a person who should not receive it.
If the company had a workflow in which every expense, bank account change, or supplier data modification required the approval of several people, such situations simply could not happen. A workflow does not allow a document to proceed simply because “someone clicked”.
That is why I created a short guide showing what knowledge a user should have before starting work with a workflow in D365 F&O.
User Knowledge Guide
1. Understanding When the Workflow Is Triggered
This is one of the most common knowledge gaps after implementation. Users often assume that the workflow operates “always,” whereas it only triggers at specific moments. Examples:
- The purchasing workflow triggers only after clicking “Submit”, and not when creating the order.
- The finance workflow triggers after posting, and not when entering data.
- The master data change workflow triggers after saving the record, and not during editing.
Awareness of what triggers the workflow allows the user to predict when a document will go for approval and when the system might stop it with a message or a block. Thanks to this, the workflow stops being a “magically operating mechanism” and becomes a predictable part of the process that the user controls—consciously, and not accidentally.
2. Understanding the Workflow Path
If the user does not know who approves their document, the process immediately becomes complicated. Questions arise:
“I don’t know who is supposed to approve this.”
“Why has my document been stuck for two days?”
“Did this even go to the workflow?”
Awareness of the workflow path gives the user a sense of control. They know that the document has not “disappeared,” but has moved to a specific person. They know that if the approver is on leave, their deputy will take over the task. They know that if the document is stuck longer than usual, they can check the workflow history and see at which stage the process stopped.
From my experience, a good solution – especially for new users – is to prepare a simple, visual workflow map. One PDF file that shows the sequence of approvals, roles, delegations, and decision points. Such a document can change the way of working: the user stops guessing, starts understanding. And a workflow that is understood operates smoothly, predictably, and without unnecessary downtime.
3. Understanding Workflow Statuses
Workflow statuses are the language of the system. It is very important that every user knows what is happening with their document. Most important statuses:
Submitted – document sent for approval.
In progress – workflow is ongoing, the document is “in circulation”.
Pending user action – someone must take action (approve/reject).
Rejected – document rejected, requires correction.
Completed – workflow finished, document approved.
In practice, the user should understand what each of these statuses means for their work. If a document gets stuck, they should know where to check at what stage the process stopped and who is currently responsible for taking the next step. Statuses are not a technical curiosity – they are a map of the process. Thanks to them, the user sees where their document is, who is reviewing it, and when they can expect the next move.
4. Knowledge of Available Actions
Workflow in D365 F&O gives users more options than just “Approve”. Most important actions:
Approve – document approval.
Reject – document rejection with a comment.
Delegate – transferring the task to another person.
Request change – request for correction (if available).
Resubmit – resending the document after corrections.
It is important to show the user when to delegate a task, when to reject a document, how to formulate comments upon rejection, and how to properly resend a document after changes. If they know these actions and can consciously use them, the workflow operates efficiently, and the process does not stop due to unclear decisions or wrong clicks.
5. Knowledge of Where to Find a Document in the Workflow
This is one of the most common problems after implementation: the document disappears from the screen, the workflow triggers, and the user has no idea where to look for it. Then the classic sentence I hear in every project appears: “I don’t know where my document is.”
Therefore, every user should know:
the workflow task list (Work items),
workflow history (Workflow history),
document view from the workflow level,
email and in-system notifications.
The user should be able to quickly determine who is currently working on the document, exactly where the process has stopped, and what decisions have already been made. A document that has “disappeared” from the screen does not disappear at all – it simply changes owner and moves to the next stage of the workflow. D365 allows tracking this movement step by step: from the first submission, through all actions of the approvers, to the final approval or rejection.
6. The User Must Know How to React to Workflow Errors
A workflow can block documents – and it does so on purpose. The problem arises when the user does not know what to do.
The most common errors the system shows are caused by, among others, the lack of an approver or delegation, insufficient permissions, incorrect data in the document, and conflict with company policy.
Therefore, it is so important that the user can recognize what error they are seeing, understand its cause, and know how to fix it. Sometimes it is enough to fill in the missing data, sometimes change the approver, and sometimes contact the person responsible for the process configuration. The user should also know when a problem results from their action and when it requires the intervention of IT or a consultant – not to report everything, but to report the right things at the right time.
Summary
Introducing a workflow to an organization brings a number of benefits, provided that users are properly trained. In practice, many companies downplay the topic, explaining the workflow only in general terms, without showing the logic of the process, roles, exceptions, and consequences. And it is precisely thorough, detailed training that determines whether a workflow will become a real operational support or just another function that users bypass or misinterpret. Thanks to proper implementation, a company gains greater operational stability, consistency of actions, and process security.
If you want to deepen your knowledge about workflow in Dynamics 365 or need training for your team on its proper configuration and use, contact us here.
Edyta Ostrowska
D365 F&SCM Consultant
