Copilot is here for F&O. Let's check it out.

I setup Copilot for F&O just to see what it can do. Below is a set of interactions. I thought I'd start with a simple question and ask how to switch legal entities that I'm transaction in. I was using Contoso sample data and by default my user was in DAT. I wanted to have it tell me how to get to USMF or any other legal entity. I thought this would be fairly easy but I wasn't ready for the journey I was about to take. Let's get start.

>> how do I switch legal entities?

Response:
To switch legal entities in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you can follow these steps:

Go to Organization administration > Organizations > Legal entities 1.
Select the legal entity you want to switch to from the list or click New to create a new legal entity 1.
Enter the required information for the legal entity, such as the name, company, country/region, addresses, contact information, statutory reporting, registration numbers, bank account information, foreign trade and logistics, number sequences, images, tax registration, and tax 1099 1.
Click Save to save the changes 1.
By following these steps, you will be able to switch legal entities in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations.

AI-generated content may be incorrect
 

Maybe in its source training "switch" isn't a valid contextual setting word to clue it into what I'm trying to do. Let's try again.

>> The legal entity already exists. I just want to use that legal entity.

Response:
To use an existing legal entity in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you can copy the configuration data from one legal entity to another using the "Copy into a legal entity" feature 1. Here are the steps to follow:

Open the Data management workspace in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations.
If you're in Standard view, select Enhanced view.
Select the Export tile to create an export configuration data project.
Enter an ID and name for the configuration project.
Set the operation type for the data project to Export and the project category to Configuration.
Add the entities that represent the information you want to export. You can add entities by entering the name, using the lookup, or browsing for a file or template.
Select a target data format for the export.
Once you have defined the configuration, select Export to start the export process.
Monitor the export progress on the Execution summary page.
After the export is completed, use the Download button to download the configuration settings and the data package.
Now, open the Data management workspace again and select the Import tile.
Create a new import configuration data project and enter an ID and name for the project.
Set the operation type for the data project to Import and the project category to Configuration.
Add the entities that you want to import into the existing legal entity.
Select the data package that you downloaded in the previous step.
Set the target legal entity to the existing legal entity where you want to copy the configuration data.
Once you have defined the import configuration, select Import to start the import process.
Monitor the import progress on the Execution summary page.
By following these steps, you can use an existing legal entity in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations by copying the configuration data from one legal entity to another 1.

AI-generated content may be incorrect

It's kind of getting the idea but it's not grasping I just want to change my user's context into a different legal entity. I'm not sure why. Perhaps the source training material on Learn doesn't use the common parlance I use everyday as a consultant? Or perhaps it's being fed all data from Learn and the context clues in the docs are getting muddled with other products? It's hard to say. Let's try again.

>> I just want to change the legal entity I would be transacting in. How do I do that?

Response:
To switch the legal entity you would be transacting in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you can follow these steps:

Go to the "General ledger" module in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations.
Navigate to the "Ledger setup" section.
Select the legal entity for which you want to change the transactional currency.
On the "Ledger" page, click on the "Edit" button.
In the "Currency" tab, choose the desired accounting currency and reporting currency for the legal entity.
Save the changes.
Please note that if any transactions (actual or budget) have been posted in the current legal entity, you won't be able to change the accounting or reporting currency directly. In such cases, you would need to create a new legal entity with the correct currencies and copy the setup and master data from the current legal entity to the new one 1.

Remember to always review and verify the beginning balances and ensure that they are translated correctly from the currencies of the old legal entity to the new currencies 1.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.

AI-generated content may be incorrect

Sort of closer, I guess. It's grasping that there is more than 1 legal entity I may be interested in. Let's keep on trying.

>> If I want to open a specific legal entity, how do I do that?

Response:
To open a specific legal entity in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you can follow these steps:

Go to the "Organization administration" menu.
Select "Organizations" and then "Legal entities" 1.
Click on the "New" button to create a new legal entity.
Enter a value in the "Name" field to specify the name of the legal entity.
Enter a value in the "Company" field to specify the company associated with the legal entity.
Enter or select a value in the "Country/region" field to specify the country or region of the legal entity.
Click "OK" to save the information.
In the "General" section, provide additional information about the legal entity, such as a search name and whether it is used as a consolidation or elimination company.
Expand the "Addresses" section and click "Edit" to enter address information, including the street name, postal code, and city.
Expand the "Contact information" section and enter communication methods such as email addresses, URLs, and telephone numbers.
Expand the "Statutory reporting" section and enter the registration numbers required for statutory reporting.
Expand the "Registration numbers" section and enter any additional information required for the legal entity.
Expand the "Bank account information" section and enter the bank accounts and routing numbers associated with the legal entity.
Expand the "Foreign trade and logistics" section and enter shipping information for the legal entity.
Expand the "Number sequences" section to view the number sequences associated with the legal entity.
Expand the "Images" section to view or change the logo and/or dashboard image associated with the legal entity.
Expand the "Tax registration" section and enter the registration numbers used for reporting to tax authorities.
Expand the "Tax 1099" section and enter 1099 information for the legal entity.
Click "Save" to save all the information.
Please note that these steps may vary depending on the version of Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations you are using. It is always recommended to refer to the official documentation or consult with your system administrator for specific instructions 1.

AI-generated content may be incorrect

We're back to creating a new legal entity but not changing the legal entity I'm currently in. Let's see if can clue it in by stating I am in one place and I'd like to be in another place. That may help it contextually get what I'm going for.

>> How do I view the customers in legal entity USMF? I am currently in Legal Entity DAT.

Response:
To view the customers in legal entity USMF while you are in legal entity DAT in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you can follow these steps:

Open the Data management workspace. If you're in Standard view, select Enhanced view.
Select the Export tile.
Select New to create an export configuration data project, and enter an ID and name for the configuration.
Set the operation type for the data project to Export, and set the project category to Configuration.
Add the entities that represent the information that you want to export. You can add entities by using several methods:
Add one entity – Enter the first part of the name of the entity until it appears in the lookup.
Add multiple entities – Enter any part of the entity name, use the lookup for the module, enter any part of the tag name, or use the lookup for the entity category to show a list of entities. Press Tab to move focus away from the Lookup field and activate the filter. In the grid, select the entities to add.
Add a file – Browse to a file that contains a name that matches the name of an entity and a file name extension that matches the file name extension that is in your data sources.
Add a template – Select from a list of templates that you loaded in your instance.
Select a target data format. The system stores the last data format that you selected. Alternatively, if you select a file, the system automatically sets the data format to the data source that matches the file name extension.
Select Add. If you load a template, and the project already includes an entity that matches an entity in the template, the entity in the project is replaced with entity in the template.
Select Remove entity to remove one or more selected entities.
When you complete the configuration, select Export to start the export. You can monitor the results on the Execution summary page that appears.
Use the Download button on the Export page to download the configuration settings.
Use the Download package button in the Data management workspace or on the Execution summary page to download the configuration settings and the data that was exported.
Please note that these steps are for exporting the customer data from legal entity DAT. To view the customers in legal entity USMF, you would need to import the exported data into the USMF legal entity.

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AI-generated content may be incorrect

Slowly getting closer. We're back to the DMF / Data Management workspace stuff but we're closing in on it knowing I'm in X and I want to be in Y. Let's keep on trying to give it clues.

>>How do I view the customers in a different legal entity?

Response:
To view customers in a different legal entity in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you can follow these steps:

Open Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations.
Navigate to the Customers module.
In the Customers module, locate the option to switch legal entities. This option may be located in the toolbar or in a menu.
Select the option to switch legal entities.
A list of available legal entities will be displayed. Choose the legal entity that you want to view customers for.
Once you have selected the desired legal entity, the customer list will update to show the customers specific to that legal entity.
Please note that the exact steps may vary depending on the version of Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations you are using. It's always a good idea to refer to the official documentation or consult with your system administrator for specific instructions tailored to your setup.

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AI-generated content may be incorrect

There we go, we finally got it to acknowledge you can change the legal entity in which you are viewing. What is interesting is it does say "switch legal entities" but it needed help with the intent of what the user is asking about and their expected result.

What I think is happening

To be clear, I have no specific knowledge of the backend on this but I have some guesses just based on what I can see and what I know about AI in general. First, generative and "thinking" AI is expensive. To ask a true AI a question and get a generative answer is slow, expensive, and costly. I mean expensive in terms of dollars and costly in terms of taxing to the underlying compute modules, GPUs, CPUs, RAM, and storage. It is entirely possible that an AI would use in 1 second all the computing and storage capabilities we had on earth in 1989 to answer the question "what is the value of pi?". I'm only speculating but AI takes a lot of hardware and energy. To help reduce those costs, based on the documentation on the Copilot preview, there is a simpler AI taking your question and turning it into a predefined request statement that has been specifically trained for and matched to a predetermined answer. This is a much low cost and lower expense experience to provide the user but it comes with the inherent risk I'm showing above. I had to try several time to articulate my expected outcome before it finally matched my input with an accepted sentiment question statement behind the scenes then provide the canned answer for that question statement. The benefit this system provides though is that answers are deterministic. You ask x, you will get response y nearly every time. The only exception to this rule is when new models are published for the question/answer matching system. This is the continual refined and "learning" the model will get to better provide answers to users based on public documentation. This is no different from the ChatGPT Examples I wrote here and here. Further refinement of the data, prompts, and training data will yield better and more consistent results.

Skills

A "skill" refers to a specific functionality or capability within the Copilot system designed to assist users in carrying out various tasks related to F&O more efficiently and effectively. Copilot for F&O is part of Microsoft's broader suite of AI-powered tools that use advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence to automate routine tasks, provide insights, and enhance decision-making processes. Skills in this context can encompass a wide range of functionalities, from automating data entry and analysis to providing predictive insights about financial trends or operational efficiencies. These skills are designed to integrate seamlessly with F&O to help customize your organizations Copilot experience to what is most valuable. An example could be to say "please create a retail customer for me", then F&O will navigate to the all customers screen, start the process of creating a customer defaulting some fields for "retail customers" and leaving the rest for the user to fill in to complete the process. This would require some x++ code to make this happen. I plan to do a post on how to add some x++ to give your Copilot skills specific to your organization or instance.

Copilot Studio

To further extend your Copilot(s), you can use Copilot Studio from Microsoft. Here you'll be able to customize interactions, add new skills that reach out to external systems if you like. This will let you define a new skill without using x++ to do so allowing for you to create specific functionality using a web interface that will be low code but still geared toward technical people. In the studio you can develop new skills, design specific conversation experiences using natural languages, integrate data sources from F&O or other systems plus external APIs, and implement logic to do something with the data, APIs, or any other resources you've exposed to your copilot. You can also test and deploy right from inside the studio. Since this is stand alone service, you can make changes to it without having to do any servicing related to F&O unless, of course, your new skills requires some new x++ code to be available. I plan to do a post on how to further extend your copilot with a few examples.

What's Next?

Since this is still in preview, it will continue to be trained and get better before it goes generally available, or GA. I've been tinkering for a little while and have noticed overall the responses have improved over the short time it has been available. If you'd like to try this out, please review this and this.