Top 5 New Features in Dynamics 365FO

Microsoft’s 2025 Release Wave 1 for Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations brings a fresh wave of innovation, with AI, automation, and smarter data handling at its core. In this post I will share my thoughts on top 5 feature which I think will make huge difference in your day-to-day operations in near future.

1. Copilot-Powered Financial Task Assistance

What it does: Copilot now integrates directly into finance workspaces, allowing users to interact with financial data using natural language. It can generate reports, surface insights, and even guide users through complex processes. It  helps users resolve financial tasks directly within their workspace using natural language prompts.

Why it matters: Imagine reconciling accounts or generating reports just by asking Copilot. This reduces time spent navigating menus and boosts productivity for finance teams.

ü  Reduces reliance on IT or power users for data queries.

ü  Speeds up decision-making with instant access to insights.

ü  Minimizes training time for new users. 

Some Use case: 

ü  A finance manager can ask Copilot to “show unreconciled transactions for April” or “generate a cash flow forecast,” saving hours of manual work.

ü  A CFO types: “Show me overdue customer invoices over £10,000” — Copilot instantly returns a filtered list.

ü  An accountant asks: “What’s the variance in budget vs actuals for Q1?” — Copilot generates a visual report.

ü  A finance analyst says: “Create a journal entry for payroll accruals” — Copilot guides them through the process. 

2. Prepayment Sales Invoices

What it does: This feature allows businesses to issue and manage prepayment invoices as part of the sales order process. It supports partial or full prepayments and automatically applies them to final invoices. It enables businesses to create and manage prepayment invoices directly within the sales process.

Why it matters: This is a game-changer for industries where upfront payments are standard (e.g., manufacturing, construction). It ensures better cash flow and reduces manual tracking.

ü  Improves cash flow by collecting payments earlier.

ü  Reduces manual tracking of prepayments.

ü  Enhances customer transparency and compliance. 

Some Use case: A sales team can issue a prepayment invoice before shipping goods, and the system automatically applies it to the final invoice.

ü  A construction company requires 30% upfront before starting a project. The system generates a prepayment invoice and applies it to the final billing automatically.

ü  A manufacturing firm selling custom machinery can issue a 50% prepayment invoice upon order confirmation, ensuring financial commitment before production begins. 

3. Bank Foreign Currency Reconciliation Automation

What it does: This feature automates the reconciliation of foreign currency transactions by matching bank statement lines with ledger entries, even when exchange rates differ. Automates the reconciliation of foreign currency transactions in bank statements.

Why it matters: Manual reconciliation of multi-currency accounts is time-consuming and error-prone. Automation ensures accuracy and saves time.

ü  Saves hours of manual reconciliation work.

ü  Reduces errors in multi-currency environments.

ü  Improves audit readiness and financial accuracy.

Some use case: A global finance team can reconcile USD, EUR, and GBP transactions with minimal manual intervention, improving month-end closing speed.

ü  A global retailer with bank accounts in USD, EUR, and GBP can automatically reconcile daily transactions, even when exchange rates fluctuate.

ü  A finance team can close books faster by letting the system auto-match 90% of foreign currency entries, flagging only exceptions for review.

4. Create Dimensions and Cubes with Copilot

What it does: Users can now define financial dimensions and analytical cubes using natural language. Copilot helps configure these for use in reporting and Power BI dashboards.

Why it matters: This democratizes data modeling—no need for deep technical skills to build powerful analytics.

ü  Empowers business users to build analytics without technical help.

ü  Accelerates time-to-insight for decision-makers.

ü  Reduces dependency on IT or BI teams.

Some Use case: A business analyst can say, “Create a cube for sales by region and product line,” and Copilot builds it, ready for Power BI integration.

ü  A controller says: “Create a dimension for marketing spend by campaign and region” — Copilot sets it up and links it to the general ledger.

ü  A business analyst asks: “Build a cube showing sales, cost, and margin by product category” — Copilot generates the model, ready for Power BI.

5. Streamlined Integration with Business Performance Analytics

What it does:  This feature enhances the integration between D365FO and Business Performance Analytics (BPA), enabling real-time data refresh and seamless KPI tracking.

Why it matters: Real-time data refresh and seamless integration mean faster insights and better decision-making.

ü  Ensures executives always have access to the latest data.

ü  Reduces manual data exports and refresh cycles.

ü  Supports proactive decision-making with live dashboards.

Some use case: Executives can view up-to-date KPIs and forecasts in dashboards without waiting for manual data exports or refreshes.

ü  A CEO views a live dashboard showing revenue, gross margin, and customer churn — all updated in real time from D365FO.

ü  A finance team builds a rolling forecast model in BPA that pulls actuals from D365FO every hour, ensuring up-to-date planning.

Final Thoughts

[To try them out, head to the Feature Management workspace in D365FO and enable them in a test environment first.]

These features reflect Microsoft’s commitment to AI-first, user-centric design. Whether you're in finance, operations, or analytics, these tools are built to save time, reduce errors, and empower smarter decisions.

If you're considering enabling these features, check the Feature Management workspace in D365FO to toggle them on and explore their setup.