Finance teams spend hours each week pulling reports, checking overdue payments, and reconciling numbers between systems. Microsoft Copilot for Finance helps make that work faster by connecting directly with your ERP system, like Dynamics 365 Finance or Business Central, and giving you real-time insights right inside tools you already use such as Excel and Outlook.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how to set up Copilot for Finance in your ERP environment and start using it for collections and reporting tasks.
What Copilot for Finance Does
Copilot for Finance is part of Microsoft’s suite of AI-powered assistants built for business users. For finance teams, it connects to your ERP and helps you:
- Summarize customer payment history and spot overdue invoices
- Draft collection emails in Outlook using live ERP data
- Compare actuals versus budget or forecast directly in Excel
- Find and explain variances between reports
You don’t need to switch between tools or run manual exports anymore. It’s all right there with simple prompts.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Before setting it up, make sure your environment is ready:
- Licenses – You’ll need Microsoft 365 Copilot or Copilot for Finance licenses assigned to your users.
- ERP access – Users should have permission to access Dynamics 365 Finance or Business Central data.
- Microsoft 365 setup – Ensure the same users have access to Outlook, Excel, and Teams under the same tenant.
- Admin access – You’ll need a Microsoft 365 admin to enable Copilot in your organization.
Once that’s covered, you can start the deployment.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Copilot for Finance
Let’s go through the main steps to get Copilot for Finance connected with your ERP system.
Step 1: Assign Licenses
- Go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
- Under Users > Active Users, select the finance users who will use Copilot.
- Assign the Copilot for Microsoft 365 or Copilot for Finance license.
Once assigned, users will be able to access Copilot features in Excel, Outlook, and Teams.
Step 2: Check Your ERP Connection
Copilot for Finance works by pulling data directly from Dynamics 365 Finance or Business Central.
- In Dynamics 365 Finance, go to System Administration > Setup > Azure Active Directory applications and ensure Microsoft Copilot is registered.
- Verify the connection string and permissions so Copilot can read financial data safely.
- For Business Central, open Setup and Extensions > Microsoft 365 Connection Setup and confirm the connection is active.
Step 3: Enable Copilot for Finance
- From the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, open Settings > Integrated apps.
- Select Copilot for Finance and click Deploy.
- Follow the prompts to connect to your Dynamics environment. You’ll need to specify your environment URL and approve permissions.
Step 4: Test It in Outlook and Excel
Once deployed, open Outlook or Excel for one of the assigned users.
In Outlook, try opening a customer email and type a prompt like:
“Show this customer’s outstanding invoices.”
Copilot will fetch the data from your ERP and present it in a small panel. You can then ask it to draft a follow-up email for overdue payments.
In Excel, you can use prompts like:
“Summarize sales and collections for October.”
“Explain the variance between actual and forecast for Q3.”
The data comes directly from your ERP system, keeping everything accurate and up to date.
Using Copilot for Collections
Collections are one of the most time-consuming areas in finance. With Copilot connected to your ERP, you can:
- View each customer’s payment history without logging into the ERP
- Automatically generate polite and professional collection emails based on overdue data
- Track follow-ups and mark payments as received
You can even ask Copilot things like:
“Which customers are more than 30 days overdue?”
It will respond with a list pulled straight from your ERP system. This makes it easy to prioritize your outreach and stay on top of receivables.
Using Copilot for Reporting
Reporting becomes much faster once Copilot is set up. Instead of running manual reports, you can:
- Ask for financial summaries right inside Excel
- Pull real-time data for your monthly close or forecast reviews
- Request variance explanations (for example, “Why did operating expenses increase in August?”)
Since the data source is your ERP, the insights are always accurate and current.
Security and Data Considerations
Because finance data is sensitive, Microsoft has built strong safeguards into Copilot. Your data stays within your organization’s Microsoft 365 environment and follows the same security and compliance controls as your existing setup.
Make sure you:
- Review user permissions in Dynamics before connecting
- Use conditional access and MFA for added protection
- Train users on how to handle sensitive financial information responsibly
Tips for Smooth Adoption
**Start small: **Begin with a pilot group in the finance department (for example, accounts receivable).
**Document your use cases: **Note where Copilot adds the most value, such as collections or month-end reporting.
Collect feedback: Ask users what worked well and what could improve before rolling out to the full team.
**Provide quick training: **Short demo sessions or short videos can help everyone get comfortable using prompts effectively.
Wrap-Up
Deploying Copilot for Finance inside Dynamics 365 Finance or Business Central is one of the fastest ways to help finance teams save time and reduce manual work. Once connected, it acts as a smart assistant for your collections, reconciliations, and reporting tasks, all inside tools your team already knows.
Start with a small rollout, focus on key use cases, and let your finance users explore what Copilot can do. Soon you’ll notice fewer manual exports, faster insights, and more time for meaningful analysis.
Would you like me to format this post with short code-style prompts (like Ask Copilot:
"Show overdue invoices by customer"
) and Dev.to markdown styling for headings and sections? It’ll make it blog-ready.
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