What about the Record templates in D365FO?

In the module common you can find the form for ‘Record templates’:

When you open this option, you can find an overview of tables where Record templates exists for. What are these record templates? Summarized: you can save records of master data to reuse the entered fields on that template record when creating new master data (be aware that this option is not available for all types of master data records in D365FO). In this article I explain this functionality based on an example for creating new fixed assets.

In the Microsoft Contoso demo environment in the Record templates form you can find the table ‘Items’ where Record templates exist:

When you select this line and click on ‘Templates’, you will find available record templates for this Item table:

In basis these record templates can help you to quickly create new BOM’s (bill of materials) based on earlier existing BOM’s. So it can be helpful and save time when you want to have ‘templates’ with already entered values that you want to reuse.

In this article I will make a Record template for creation of a fixed asset to show you how the Record templates works:

On an existing fixed asset I go to the top of the form to the tab ‘Options’ and open the ‘Record info’:

In this record info I will find two options for saving the Record template:

These options and a third option that can be available are:

• Company accounts template = a template that can be used by all users creating a new fixed asset in this legal entity
• User template = a template for myself to create a new fixed asset
• System template (not available in the chosen form above) = a template for options that are not related to one legal entity but to all legal entities, for example the form ‘users’ in the module System Administrator. In that case you will not find the ‘Company accounts template’ but the ‘System template’ option.

In this situation I create a ‘Company accounts template’ for creating a new fixed asset for Lands and Buildings, based on the selected fixed asset BUIL-000001:

When going back to the ‘Record templates’ form, I can see that for the Fixed asset table a line is created now:

In the ‘Templates’ section you can find my saved Record template:

Now I will create a new fixed asset. When normally the fixed asset creation form immediately opens to create a blank new fixed asset, now an extra form opens where I can decide if I want to start from scratch (empty fixed asset) or that I want to start with my saved Record template for new buildings:

In this case I select to start with my created Record template and confirm. Now a lot of fields from the fixed asset number BUIL-00001 are copied into the new created fixed asset:

So the Record templates can help you if you need to create master data manually and want to be able to reuse saved data on existing master data. It can bring efficiency and consistency in entering new master data records because you can predefine default values that you want to reuse. This can save time and also reduce data entry mistakes.

If you want to use it, my experience is to create template master data template records as basis for Record templates. For example on the created fixed asset based on the record template related to BUIL-000001 also fields are copied that really belongs to BUIL-000001:

So in case when using Record templates in the example of fixed assets, you can make template fixed asset numbers with only the fields that needs to be reused when creating new fixed assets. Also be aware that when you change fields after saving a record as Record template, these changes are not saved in the Record template. That means that you have to create a new Record template after doing the change(s) in the value that you want to use for the Record template.

What if you clicked on ‘Do not ask again’?

When creating a new record where a record template exist you can select the toggle ‘Do not ask again’:

What if you clicked on ‘Do not ask again’ by accident or later you change your mind? In the form where you create Record templates, you also can enable this setting again. That means that on the Record info option of that form you can enable the use of record templates again by activating the ‘Show template selection’: