Question
Case Study 4 - Adtum Corp Background First Up Consultants is a global engineering and consulting organization based in Atlanta. The organization assists customers with various implementation projects. The organization provides both consulting services and custom software development. First Up Consultants was recently acquired by a Canadian engineering firm that uses Dynamics 365 Finance. The firm requires First Up Consultants to transition to the solution by 2022. First Up Consultants employs consultants that travel globally, which requires extensive expense management capabilities. First Up Consultants offers software as a service (SaaS) products to customers by using monthly and quarterly subscriptions. Current environment Travel and expense The company is currently in Phase 2 of their Dynamics 365 Finance implementation. Consultants submit all travel receipts by using inter-office mail to the team admin for processing, but First Up Consultants wants to modernize this experience Expense reports are manually approved and signed by the employee's manager. Finance First Up Consultants operates on a 4-5-4 calendar. Accounting tor revenue has been difficult with the SaaS offerings. This has led to implementing Dynamics 365 Finance Revenue recognition. Revenue recognition has been live for 3 months. Adatum Corporation pays quarterly for use of the First Up Consultants web design application, starting from the day of use. Fourth Coffee pays monthly for use of the First Up Consultants photograph editing application with a contract starting August 1 and payment starting September 1. Adventure Works Cycles pays per use of the First Up Consultant video platform. A blocking rule is set up to prevent a sales order from processing if a customer exceeds a credit limit. Customer credit is set up at the account level for VanArsdel, Ltd. Tailspin Toys is owned by Wingtip Toys. The companies have a credit limit of $60.000 and $100,000, respectively. Revenue allocation The company reports the following revenue allocation percentages: Tax VAT tax recovery is required for eligible international business trip expenses. Bank reconciliation is manual and performed by using monthly mailed account statements. The company collects sales taxes from the following states: Requirements Travel and expense - First Up Consultants requires that employees start using corporate cards for all travel expenses. - All expenses over $50 require a receipt. - Beer cannot be expensed. - Employees may use the corporate card for personal expenses during work travel, but expenses must be categorized correctly. - Client entertainment expenses totaling more than $250 must be audited. - Employees require a mobile expense experience. - Expense report entries must be validated when a transaction line is entered. - Employees require the ability to capture receipts by using a mobile device. - First Up Consultants requires the ability to reimburse employees in their paychecks for expenses incurred on personal cards. Financials - A virtual thirteenth month is required for year-end transactions. - Each day, a validation file must go to First Up Consultants bank detailing all vendor checks paid. - Except fees, all matched transactions must clear automatically during bank reconciliation. - The accounts payable team must verify expense reports prior to posting. - Only payables are allowed to be posted to a prior period up to seven days into the new period. Issues - User1 installed the Expense Management Service add-in and implemented the auto-match and create expense from receipt features but the receipt images do not match the corporate card transactions. - Employee1 submits an expense report for a business trip to Europe, but the report is not visible on the expense tax recovery page. - Employees provided feedback that the system lets them know of an expense report policy violation only after the entire expense report is submitted. - Members of the finance department observe sales orders that posted into a closed period. - The finance team observed that for sales order invoice 1234, the price incorrectly posts to a revenue account when it should be deferring. - Employee2 purchased supplies for a holiday party and needs to be reimbursed. - A customer orders software licenses for the offices in Tennessee and Alabama. - Expense reports for unapproved items are posting. - VanArsdel, Ltd. exceeded its credit limit but the sales order was processed. - Tailspin Toys purchases $70,000 in custom software development. Question Drag and Drop Question You need to configure revenue recognition to meet the requirements. Which configuration should you use? To answer, drag the appropriate configurations to the correct requirements. Each configuration may be used once, more than not at all. You may need to drag the split bar between panes or scroll to view content. NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point. Answer:
Explanation
Revenue Recognition Configuration - Dynamics 365 Finance
This question tests your understanding of how Dynamics 365 Finance Revenue Recognition is configured to match each customer's billing and contract model. Here's why each item goes where it does.
1. Fourth Coffee → September start
Technical reason: Fourth Coffee's contract begins August 1, but payment doesn't start until September 1. In D365 Revenue Recognition, the recognition start date must align with when the billing obligation begins, not the contract signature date. Configuring "September start" ensures revenue is deferred and only begins posting when the customer's first payment period opens.
Common mistake: Defaulting to the contract date (August 1). This would recognize revenue before any payment is due, violating ASC 606 / IFRS 15 principles around performance obligation satisfaction.
2. Adventure Works Cycles → First use
Technical reason: Adventure Works pays per use of the video platform - there's no fixed subscription period. D365 supports a "first use" recognition trigger for usage-based models, meaning revenue posts when the service is actually consumed, not on a calendar schedule.
Common mistake: Assigning a time-based revenue schedule to this customer. That would spread revenue evenly over a period that doesn't reflect how Adventure Works is billed - they have no recurring subscription to spread.
3. (Subscription customers / Adatum Corp) → Revenue schedule
Technical reason: Adatum pays quarterly starting from the day of use. A revenue schedule defines the deferral pattern (e.g., monthly, quarterly), allowing D365 to spread recognized revenue across the subscription term automatically. This is the standard tool for time-based SaaS subscriptions.
4. → Configuration
Technical reason: This refers to the foundational Revenue Recognition module settings - enabling the feature, setting default behavior, linking ledger accounts for deferred vs. recognized revenue. This underpins everything else. Without it, schedules and start dates have nothing to attach to.
Key Takeaway
| Customer | Scenario | Config Needed |
|---|
| Fourth Coffee | Contract ≠ billing start | September start |
| Adventure Works | Pay-per-use | First use |
| Adatum Corp | Periodic subscription | Revenue schedule |
| General setup | Module enablement | Configuration |
The root issue in the case (invoice 1234 posting to revenue instead of deferring) is exactly what happens when a revenue schedule is missing or misconfigured - D365 defaults to immediate recognition rather than deferral.
