Gorilla Expense offers full integration to push expense data to Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online versions). Expenses can be posted to the Dynamics 365 as a General Journal Entry, Job Journals and Purchase Invoices (available for Microsoft Dynamics 365). 

Technical Overview

The integration is done using Gorilla expense web application. Admin user will fetch all “Manager Approved” expenses and send them to Dynamics 365 via the Dynamics 365 Web Service (SOAP/ODATA). This can be done on-demand by an accounting user or automatically as soon as the expense report is approved all levels. Below is the high-level representation of the various components involved. 

Please note that this architecture ensures that Gorilla Expense Cloud Infrastructure is unaware of customer ports, firewall, IP Addresses and more importantly any Dynamics 365 specific details. While this enhances security, it also reduces the complexity associated with opening ports or making modifications to customer’s infrastructure

 

Functional Overview (General Journal)

Typically, the integration is done by posting an expense as an Invoice type document to the General Journal Entry screen. The overall integration architecture & process is identical, irrespective of which Dynamics 365 screen you integrate with. The screenshot below shows an expense after it is posted to the Dynamics 365 BC General Journal. The example below shows an expense report with 2 lines worth $110.00 (AMEX Corporate Card expense of $50.00, Out of Pocket Expense of $60) that is posted to Dynamics 365 as a General Journal from Gorilla Expense. Two General Journal lines are created in BC. 

 

The main fields in the above screen that Gorilla Expense sends to BC are as follows - 

  1. Account Type and Account Number – The GL Account Number is maintained in the back-end on the expense type master within Gorilla Expense. Depending on the expense type selected by the user, Gorilla Expense Integration will map the associated GL Account number to the General Journal Line in BC.
  2. Batch Name – Batch Name will be ‘Gorilla’. It will be defined on the Integration setting screen.
  3. Document Type and Posting Type – These parameters are typically defaulted to Invoice and Purchase respectively.
  4. Bal. Account Type – Depending on the client requirement, Bal. Account Type can be set on the Integration settings screen. Different Bal. Account Types available for the selection are as below.
  5. Bank_Account
  6. Employee
  7. G_L_Account
  8. Vendor
  9. Bal. Account No – Depending on the Client requirement, the Bal. Account No. can be either maintained on the user profile or can be made available for the user to select from a dropdown on each expense line. The integration can then be configured to map these values to the corresponding Bal. Account No. fields on the General Journal Lines.
  10. Description/comment- The description is prepared by selecting one or a combination of multiple fields on the integration setting screen. It can be set as a combination of expense confirmation number, name, and comments.
  11. Tax Area code – For customers who have GST/VAT requirements, Gorilla Expense maps the Tax Area code to the General Journal line depending on the Province/State user has selected on the expense line
  12. Tax Group Code - For customers who have GST/VAT requirements, Gorilla Expense maps the Tax Group code to the General Journal line depending on the Province/State user has selected on the expense line
  13. Shortcut Dimensions (Dimensions1, Dimension2…Dimensions8) – Depending on the Client requirement, the Dimensions can be either maintained on the user profile or can be made available for the user to select from a dropdown on each expense line. The integration can then be configured to map these values to the corresponding dimension fields on the General Journal Lines.
  14. Job No - The Job No is maintained in the back end on the project master within Gorilla Expense. Depending on the project (job) selected by the user, Gorilla Expense Integration will map the associated Job number to the Job Journal Line in BC.
  15. Job Task No - The Job Task No is maintained in the back end on the project task master within Gorilla Expense. Depending on the project task (Job Task) selected by the user, Gorilla Expense Integration will map the associated Job task number to the job journal line in BC.
  16. Incoming Document file: Expense report’s lines receipts can be mapped to the General Journal lines.

Expense Report Export Process (Web Application)

 

Select the Expense Reports that you would like to export from the Integration -> Export Expense Reports menu. Select the status as ‘Manager Approved’, select the company from the dropdown list. Click on the ‘Show Approved Expense Reports’ button to show all manager Approved Expenses of a selected company. Select all expense reports and click on “Send to ERP & Update Status” button. This will send all expense reports that were selected to BC and will also update the status from Manager Approved to AP Approved or AP Paid, depending on the client’s preference.