The Master Data on Documents functionality in Business Central lets you transfer master data information from customers, items, and vendors directly to your sales orders, purchase orders, and production orders. You define information codes, information values, extended texts, and languages once, then set up which of them should flow to your documents automatically.
You control the direction of the data flow. Information moves from customers and items to sales orders, from items and vendors to purchase orders, and from sales orders to production orders and purchase orders. You can also let the data flow through to posted documents.
You can change the data manually on any document. When you create a sales order, the master data is added automatically, and you can edit it or add new entries before it flows on to the production order or purchase order.
If you use the Document Customizer app, your printed documents carry the master data information automatically according to your setup. You do not need to maintain the information separately for printing.
What Master Data on Documents does
With Master Data on Documents, you make master data information flow from customers and items to sales orders, and from items and vendors to purchase orders. The point is that information you maintain in one place follows the transaction through the system.
Once you have defined your information codes, information values, extended texts, and languages, you set up which of these should be transferred to open documents. The setup decides what gets transferred where, so you stay in control of which data appears on which document type.
How the data flows between documents
The functionality moves data in several directions automatically:
- From customers and items to open sales orders when you create them
- From items and vendors to open purchase orders when you create them
- From sales orders directly to production orders and purchase orders
- Through to posted documents, based on your setup
You can also change the data manually. If you create a sales order, some master data is created automatically. You can add to it or change it, and your changes flow on to the production order or purchase order.
How it works on items and customers
Take an item, for example item number 1000, which has specifications such as being a city bike with a 7-gear hub and being a male bike. You can set up which of those specifications flow to your order.
On the customer side, you can attach text in the same way. For instance, you might use a comments field with extended text whose purpose is to carry a general text to the document. You set this up so the text flows to the sales order. You can also add extended text on the salesperson, and you can maintain that text in different languages.
What happens when you create a sales order
When you enter a customer on a new sales order, Business Central automatically creates the master data information on the sales header. It transfers the information from the customer number directly to the sales order, and you can make changes there.
The same happens on the sales lines. When you add an item number and the line is inserted, the system creates master data information on the line. According to your setup, it transfers this information onward.
The setup controls which of these entries are transferred to production orders, purchase orders, and even warehouse shipments. You also decide what should happen when you post, whether the information should be printed, and how it appears on open and posted documents. This makes it flexible to add information to all open and posted documents.
Printing with the Document Customizer app
If you use the Document Customizer app, your reports are prepared for the master data information. When you print a document, it automatically carries the information according to your setup.
With the information set up on both line and header, printing an order confirmation through the Document Customizer report takes the information from the sales line, including anything you modified, and from the sales header. The same applies to posted documents and to the purchase side.
Summary of what you can do
With this functionality, you carry data that you set up on items, customers, and vendors through to purchase, sales, and production documents, and further to the posted documents. You can then use that data to print directly.
Q&A
What is Master Data on Documents in Business Central?
It is a functionality that lets you transfer master data information from customers, items, and vendors to sales orders, purchase orders, and production orders. You define information codes, values, extended texts, and languages once, then set up which of them flow to your documents.
In which directions can the master data flow?
From customers and items to sales orders, from items and vendors to purchase orders, from sales orders to production orders and purchase orders, and through to posted documents.
Can I change the transferred data manually?
Yes. When you create a document, the master data is created automatically, but you can add to it or change it. Your changes then flow on to the related production order or purchase order.
How do I get the master data onto printed documents?
Use the Document Customizer app. Its reports are prepared for the master data information, so when you print, the document automatically carries the information from the line and header according to your setup.
Can the master data information be maintained in multiple languages?
Yes. Extended text, for example on a salesperson, can be added in different languages.