Last week Microsoft released a preview of the 10.0.44 version for Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management. This update brings significant changes that focus on quality management, process automation, and enhanced analytics to improve overall operational efficiency.
For organizations managing the testing and validation of these updates, planning is key to avoiding disruptions. Here is an overview of the most important changes in this release and what testing teams should prioritize before the update rolls out.
Key Updates in 10.0.44
Enhanced Quality Management in Supply Chain
One of the standout features in 10.0.44 is the expansion of Quality Management in Supply Chain Management. Updates include the ability to easily record defect reasons, manage quality orders with greater flexibility, and perform trending analysis more robustly over time.
Testing teams should focus on validating the new workflows for defect recording, quality orders, and trending reports. It’s also important to ensure that output generated from these changes integrates properly with existing reporting and analytics processes.
The update introduces broader automation across procurement, finance, and inventory management:
Post the inventory close adjustment to the fixed assets subledger: Inventory adjustments now automatically update the fixed assets subledger, reducing manual work for finance teams.
Enable process automation for bank foreign currency revaluation: Bank currency revaluations can now be fully automated, minimizing the risk of human error.
Collection process automation includes project invoices and general journals: Teams can now automate collections beyond just sales orders, covering more transaction types.
Testing should prioritize workflow approvals, automation triggers, and any customizations related to procurement and financial operations.
Finance Enhancements
Several important finance-specific features are arriving with this release:
Budget depreciation proposal running in the background across multiple legal entities: Users no longer need to manually run depreciation budgets for each company—this is now processed automatically in the background.
Add financial tags to inventory-to-fixed asset journals: Improves traceability and categorization of assets during posting.
Key testing areas include vendor collaboration updates, financial reporting accuracy, and ensuring that newly automated background processes align with company-specific workflows.
User Experience and Analytics Improvements
While visual changes are minimal, some enhancements that affect analytics and reporting include:
Performance improvements for subscription billing consumption updates: Enhances the speed and accuracy of subscription billing processes.
Modern bank reconciliation: Prevents duplicate bank statement imports by adding smarter validation during reconciliation.
Testing should verify that any embedded dashboards, Power BI reports, and financial reconciliations perform correctly after the update — especially in highly customized environments.
Preview Release and General Availability
The 10.0.44 update is currently in public preview as of April 2025. Organizations are encouraged to begin testing in sandbox environments ahead of time.
1. Review and Update Your Test Scripts Early Focus especially on workflows tied to modules or feature areas tied to this release.
2. Prioritize Regression Testing Around Core Business Processes With updates impacting financial close, vendor settlements, and order fulfillment, prioritize end-to-end regression testing across Finance and Supply Chain.
3. Validate Role-Based Access and Security New automation and workflow enhancements mean it’s critical to revalidate security roles and custom permissions.
Final Thoughts
Microsoft’s 10.0.44 release brings powerful new capabilities for Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management. However, these changes can also have ripple effects across integrated processes.
Organizations that prepare by updating their test coverage, prioritizing regression testing, and validating key business processes will be better positioned to adopt the new features smoothly.
As the general availability rolls out in the coming months, teams should be ready to take full advantage of the new automation, quality improvements, and reporting enhancements.
At TheTestMart, we help businesses stay ahead of Microsoft’s update cycle with flexible, no-code test automation for Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. If you need help preparing and testing for your D365 updates, reach out to us for a quick consultation.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) has become a cornerstone for digital transformation in modern enterprises, but the shift to cloud and Microsoft’s rapid update cadence have made robust, proactive testing more critical than ever.
The Pace and Complexity of D365 Updates
Microsoft has moved Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations to a One Version update model, releasing four major updates each year—in February, April, July, and October. Each update comes with a preview period, so organizations can test changes before they go live.
While this new schedule gives businesses more flexibility and time to prepare, it also means environments are always evolving. Even though Microsoft thoroughly tests these updates, every company’s setup is unique. That’s why it’s crucial for organizations to test updates in their own environments to catch any issues before they reach production.
Why Testing Can’t Be an Afterthought
Frequent, Automatic Updates: In the cloud era, updates are pushed automatically and frequently, sometimes with little lead time. This means organizations must be ready to validate new features, bug fixes, and security enhancements on a regular basis.
Customization and Integration Risks: While Microsoft tests standard features, every organization customizes D365 to fit unique processes and integrates it with other systems. Updates can inadvertently break custom workflows, disrupt integrations, or impact data flows—issues Microsoft’s own testing won’t catch.
Business Continuity at Stake: Poorly tested updates can cause operational disruptions, data issues, and frustrated users, harming business continuity and ROI. Many ERP implementations fall short of expectations, often due to insufficient testing. This makes thorough validation essential to avoid costly problems.
Regulatory and Data Integrity Concerns: Updates can affect compliance-related features or data handling. Without proper validation, organizations risk falling out of regulatory compliance or suffering data integrity issues.
Best Practices for D365 Testing in the Cloud Era
Practice
Why It Matters
Shift Left Testing
Start testing early in the development/update cycle to catch issues before they escalate.
Automated Testing
Ensures every update is vetted quickly and thoroughly, reducing manual effort and human error.
End-to-End Scenario Validation
Validates that all integrated workflows and customizations function as intended post-update.
Clear Testing Objectives
Define what needs to be validated (core processes, compliance, integrations) for each update.
Continuous Testing in CI/CD
Integrate testing into DevOps pipelines for ongoing quality assurance with every change.
The Bottom Line
Testing is not just a technical checkbox—it is a business safeguard. In the cloud era of D365, where updates are frequent and automatic, treating testing as an afterthought exposes organizations to unnecessary risk. Proactive, automated, and comprehensive testing strategies are essential to ensure that every update enhances your business rather than disrupts it.
Testing is your safety net, ensuring your Dynamics 365 deployment is robust, reliable, and ready for action.
Don’t let your next D365 update be the one that breaks your business. Make testing a core capability, not a last-minute checkbox.
Smart Test Automation Strategies for Microsoft D365
Imagine your company has just invested in a test automation platform for Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365). You’re eager to leverage automation to enhance your testing efforts and ensure high-quality results. With a vast array of modules and processes within D365, however, it can be overwhelming to determine where automation should be applied for testing purposes.
This blog will help you identify the best areas within D365 to prioritize for automated testing, ensuring a smooth setup and maximizing the efficiency of your test automation strategy.
What Makes a Good Candidate for Automated Testing in Microsoft D365?
Before diving into automation, it’s crucial to identify which areas of testing within D365 offer the most value when automated. Certain types of tests, processes, and workflows are more suited for automation, enabling you to maximize testing efficiency and accuracy while reducing manual effort.
Repetitive and Time-Consuming Tests
Automated testing is ideal for processes that are run repeatedly, such as regression tests, smoke tests, and data-driven tests. These tests are frequently executed after each new D365 release, making them the perfect candidates for automation.
By automating these tests, you reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks, minimize human error, and ensure consistency across test cycles.
High-Risk and Critical Business Functions
Testing the core business functions that are critical to your organization is essential. This includes areas such as financial transactions, order processing, and inventory management.
Automated testing in these areas ensures that any issues are identified quickly, reducing the risk of operational disruptions and ensuring a stable environment for your business processes.
Stable and Predictable Functionalities
It’s beneficial to automate testing for functions within D365 that are unlikely to change frequently. For instance, testing for financial compliance or accounting processes can be automated because they are stable over time.
Automating these tests reduces maintenance efforts and keeps your test suite effective longer without requiring frequent updates.
Data-Intensive Workflows
D365 handles large volumes of data, making it important to test data consistency, integrity, and accuracy across various modules.
Automated testing can be applied to data validation, integration testing, and data migration tests, ensuring that data flows properly between modules and that critical data points remain accurate.
D365 Areas to Prioritize for Automated Testing
To maximize the benefits of your test automation tool, it’s crucial to focus on testing the areas of D365 that have the greatest business impact and are most conducive to automation. Below are the core areas of D365 to prioritize for automated testing:
1. D365 Finance
Financial Transaction Testing – Automate the testing of transactions like invoicing, payment processing, and general ledger entries to ensure accuracy and compliance.
Accounts Payable & Receivable Testing – Automate the verification of transactions, including invoice matching and payment schedules, to reduce errors and improve efficiency.
Tax Compliance Testing – Automate tax calculations and reporting processes to ensure compliance with regional and international tax regulations.
2. D365 Supply Chain Management
Inventory Management Testing – Automate tests to verify stock levels, order fulfillment, and inventory tracking to ensure smooth supply chain operations and prevent discrepancies.
Procurement Testing – Automate the testing of purchasing workflows, including vendor selection, order creation, and supplier communications, to improve the efficiency of procurement processes.
Logistics & Delivery Testing – Ensure automated testing of logistics processes, such as order tracking and shipping updates, to improve delivery reliability and customer satisfaction.
3. D365 Sales & Customer Service
Order Management Testing – Automate the verification of order entry, invoicing, and fulfillment notifications to reduce errors and speed up order processing.
Customer Interaction Testing – Automate the testing of case management, service requests, and customer communication workflows to improve responsiveness and support quality.
Sales Process Testing – Automate tests for lead management, opportunity tracking, and sales forecasts to improve sales pipeline accuracy and team productivity.
4. D365 Integration & API Testing
Third-Party Integrations – Automate testing for integrations between D365 and other enterprise systems, such as CRM tools or external databases, to ensure seamless communication and prevent data discrepancies.
API Testing – Automate the testing of APIs to ensure the proper flow of data between D365 and external systems, minimizing the risk of integration failures.
Developing a Sustainable Test Automation Strategy for D365
Once you have selected your test automation candidates, it’s essential to develop a sustainable strategy for long-term success. A well-planned strategy ensures your automation efforts remain effective and scalable as your D365 environment evolves.
Test Prioritization
When developing your automation strategy, prioritize the tests based on their business impact. High-risk tests, such as those in Finance and Supply Chain Management, should be automated first. By focusing on critical workflows and frequent tests, you ensure the most valuable processes are covered while minimizing potential errors that could disrupt business operations.
Ongoing Maintenance and Governance
Automation isn’t a one-time project—it requires ongoing maintenance. D365 regularly updates its features, which may result in changes to workflows and processes. Ensure you have a governance strategy in place to update and adapt your automated tests as D365 evolves, minimizing the need for constant manual intervention.
Collaboration Between IT & Business Teams
Test automation in D365 should be a collaborative effort between IT teams and business units. Business users understand the core workflows that are crucial to the organization, while IT can ensure the technical side of test automation is implemented efficiently. This collaboration ensures that automation is aligned with the actual business needs and objectives.
Manual vs. Automated Testing – Where to Draw the Line
While automation brings numerous benefits, it’s important to understand that not all testing should be automated. Certain types of tests require human insight and judgment and are better left for manual testing.
Tests Best Left for Manual Execution
Exploratory Testing – These tests are conducted without pre-defined scripts and require creativity and human judgment. Automated tests cannot mimic this approach, so it’s important to perform this type of testing manually.
Usability Testing – Evaluating the user experience and interface requires subjective human feedback and is best performed manually.
Ad-Hoc Testing – These are one-off tests that do not occur regularly, making them less suited for automation.
Localization Testing – Verifying translations and regional settings often involves cultural nuances and is better handled manually.
Why Identifying Test Automation Candidates is Important
Prioritizing which tests to automate is essential to maximizing the return on investment (ROI) from your test automation tool. By focusing on high-impact, repetitive, and stable tests, you ensure that your efforts are directed toward the areas that will provide the greatest benefit. This also helps prevent unnecessary maintenance costs associated with automating tests that are infrequently used or subject to constant change.
Conclusion
Automating tests within Microsoft D365 helps improve the efficiency, accuracy, and reliability of your ERP testing efforts. By focusing on high-impact modules such as Finance, Supply Chain Management, and Sales & Customer Service, you can ensure that your automated testing efforts are aligned with your organization’s most critical workflows.
Remember, automation is a powerful tool, but manual testing still plays an important role in areas where human creativity and judgment are required. By identifying the right candidates for automation and continuously maintaining your automation suite, you can build a robust and efficient testing process that scales with your organization.
Ready to streamline your D365 testing? With TheTestMart, you can automate high-impact areas quickly and effectively, ensuring smoother releases and better quality assurance. Get in touch today and see how our platform can simplify your test automation strategy!
Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) is a powerful enterprise solution. However, with each update that gets introduced, organizations face potential risks that can disrupt business operations and compromise system stability if not tested properly.
Without a structured testing strategy, critical workflows, integrations, and user experiences can be impacted. Learn more about creating a robust testing framework in our guide here on Test Automation Best Practices.
In this blog post, we will explore three common pitfalls in D365 testing and how to effectively avoid them.
Common Pitfall #1: Not Testing After Updates
Every new D365 update brings enhancements, bug fixes, and security improvements. However, these updates can also introduce unforeseen issues that may break workflows, disrupt customizations, or affect integrations.
Many organizations assume that Microsoft’s testing covers all scenarios. However, Microsoft’s built-in testing may not account for unique customizations, integrations, or workflows that are critical to a business’s daily operations.
How to Avoid It:
Establish a structured update testing process before deployment.
Conduct functional and regression testing to ensure core processes and customizations remain intact.
Leverage automated testing solutions to streamline and accelerate update validation. Automated regression testing for D365 ensures that every update is thoroughly vetted with less manual effort required.
Common Pitfall #2: Relying on Manual Testing
Many organizations still depend on manual testing for D365, which is time-consuming, repetitive, and prone to human error. For example, JMP initially relied on manual testing, leading to delays and overlooked issues. After implementing test automation, they reduced testing time by 90% and cut their testing effort by 98%.
Manual testing struggles to keep up with frequent updates, often resulting in delayed deployments, increased costs, and a higher risk of undetected issues making their way into production.
Leverage automated test data management to automatically create and manage test data within your test scripts.
Increase test coverage and consistency, ensuring all critical workflows function properly.
Common Pitfall #3: Skipping End-to-End Testing
A common mistake in D365 testing is focusing solely on isolated functionalities instead of evaluating complete end-to-end business processes, which include cross-module interactions and third-party integrations.
Because D365 is often integrated with third-party applications, skipping end-to-end testing can lead to unexpected failures in interconnected systems, disrupting data flow and user experience.
How to Avoid It:
Conduct end-to-end testing that includes all integrated applications and external systems.
Validate workflows across different modules, ensuring smooth data transfer and communication.
Use test automation to simulate real-world scenarios and identify issues before they reach production. Automated testing for D365 ensures system reliability and performance under various conditions.
Using Automation to Strengthen D365 Testing
Test automation plays a key role in reducing the risks associated with D365 updates and system changes. While it doesn’t replace a well-thought-out testing strategy, it helps streamline the process, making it faster, more efficient, and more reliable.
With automated testing, organizations can:
Quickly validate updates without relying solely on manual efforts.
Identify issues early, preventing disruptions before they reach production.
Improve test coverage by ensuring critical workflows and integrations function properly.
By integrating automation into your testing approach, you can minimize downtime, enhance efficiency, and maintain a stable D365 environment with greater confidence.
Final Thoughts
Testing is essential for maintaining a stable D365 environment. By avoiding common pitfalls and using automation, organizations can ensure smooth updates, improved efficiency, and better performance.
Streamline your D365 testing with automation to minimize disruptions and enhance reliability. Reach out to TheTestMart to see how we can help keep your business running smoothly!
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance version 10.0.43 brings significant updates across various modules, enhancing functionality and user experience. This release includes improvements in Accounts Receivable, Subscription Billing, Electronic Reporting, Regulatory Reporting, and General Ledger. Scheduled for general availability in March 2025, this update aims to streamline processes, improve performance, and provide more robust tools for businesses.
This blog post highlights the key features and enhancements in the upcoming release, focusing on how they impact testing and deployment. As you prepare for the D365 10.0.43 upgrade, understanding these changes will help you optimize your testing strategies and ensure a smooth transition. Here are the key modules and their notable features:
Accounts Receivable
Return order invoice support through dual-write: New entities and mappings to sync return orders invoice from Finance to the customer’s environment.
Financial dimension posting error on sales orders: Ensures financial dimensions for automatic transactions inherit from the sales order.
Improve the performance of settlement and selection of invoices for matching: Addresses delays in enabling Post during settlement and selection of invoices.
Subscription Billing
Performance improvement for consumption quantity update: Enhances performance of recurring contract billing when updating consumption quantity.
Mass stubbing: Updated with an Add renewal term button for usage billing schedule lines set for automatic renewal.
Generate invoice: Improved performance during the creation of an invoice proposal for deferred billing schedule lines.
Electronic Reporting
In-app PDF conversion for configurable business documents: Facilitates seamless conversion of business documents from Word or Excel to PDF directly in the app.
Regulatory Reporting
Security enhancements in UK MTD VAT integration: Enhances security for direct VAT return submissions for UK VAT registration.
SAF Accounting Books Income Tax – JPK_KR_PD: New reporting standard in Poland requiring detailed accounting books in a structured electronic format.
General Ledger
Enable financial tags for Accounting source explorer: Extends the financial tags feature to enable tags in Accounting source explorer.
Navigate to the original document from Documents pending accounting: Allows navigation back to the original document found on the Documents pending accounting page.
Default dimension sharing enabled for master company sharing: Includes default dimension data in the master company sharing functionality.
Preparing for the Upcoming Release
To ensure a smooth transition to version 10.0.43, consider the following preparation steps:
Develop a Comprehensive Test Strategy: Align your test strategy with business goals, focusing on critical functionalities. Define testing objectives, select appropriate tools, and plan comprehensive test scenarios. The new features in Version 10.0.43, particularly around Accounts Receivable, Subscription Billing, and both Electronic and Regulatory Reporting, should be at the top of your testing priority list.
Establish a Dedicated Testing Environment: Replicate your production environment to catch issues early. Manage test data effectively and regularly review the testing environment to reflect production changes.
Prioritize Test Automation Areas: Focus on high-risk areas and balance cost and benefits. Continuously evaluate the impact of automation to meet evolving needs.
Update Your Test Scripts: Ensure that your existing test scripts are updated to reflect the new features and enhancements in Version 10.0.43. This will help you capture any potential issues that could arise from the update.
Implement Continuous Integration and Deployment: Integrate automated testing into your CI/CD pipeline. Automate early in the development cycle, ensure robust configuration management, and monitor and report test outcomes.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 version 10.0.43 brings key enhancements to improve functionality, security, and performance. Updates in Accounts Receivable, Subscription Billing, and Electronic Reporting help streamline financial processes and increase efficiency. To take full advantage, businesses should have a solid testing strategy in place before deployment.
A smooth D365 upgrade requires test automation, updated scripts, and a reliable testing environment. By planning ahead, you can reduce risks and ensure a seamless transition. Staying proactive with testing and validation will help businesses fully benefit from the new features and maintain system stability.
Ensure your business is ready for Dynamics 365 Version 10.0.43 with TheTestMart’s expert guidance. Schedule a consultation today to optimize your automated testing strategy and seamlessly integrate the latest updates. Let’s collaborate to enhance your processes and maintain smooth operations.
As we step into 2025, staying updated with the latest advancements in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations is crucial for maintaining optimal performance and leveraging new features. At TheTestMart, we understand the importance of keeping your systems current, which is why we’ve created a downloadable calendar highlighting all the key targeted dates for Microsoft Dynamics 365 updates throughout the year.
Predictable and Flexible Updates
In April 2024, Microsoft introduced more flexibility in scheduling updates for Dynamics 365, changing the cadence at which updates become available. Dynamics 365 updates now follow a predictable schedule, with four updates released annually in February, April, July, and October. This regular cadence ensures that your systems are always equipped with the latest features and improvements.
Customers can take up to four service updates per year and are required to take a minimum of two. Additionally, customers have the option to pause one update at a time, providing further flexibility in managing their update schedules.
Key Dates for 2025
Below are the key dates for Microsoft Dynamics 365 updates in 2025, organized by release. There are two major releases scheduled for 2025: versions 10.0.43 and 10.0.45. Note: These dates follow Microsoft’s Targeted Release Schedule and are subject to change.
10.0.42 Release
February 1st: The first auto-update window opens for the 10.0.42 release. If you haven’t updated manually, Microsoft will automatically update your environment.
March 7th: The second auto-update window for the 10.0.42 release opens.
August 22nd: Microsoft stops providing updates and service for the 10.0.42 release version.
10.0.43 Major Release
January 27th: The 10.0.43 update becomes available for preview. This is the first major release of the year, introducing significant new features and enhancements.
February 7th: Last date to apply the 10.0.43 major release preview update.
March 14th: The 10.0.43 major release update becomes available for manual application.
April 4th: The first auto-update window opens for the 10.0.43 major release.
May 2nd: The second auto-update window for the 10.0.43 major release opens.
November 21st: Microsoft stops providing updates and service for the 10.0.43 major release version.
10.0.44 Release
April 25th: The 10.0.44 update becomes available for preview.
May 2nd: Last date to apply the 10.0.44 release preview update.
June 6th: The 10.0.44 update becomes available for manual application.
July 4th: The first auto-update window opens for the 10.0.44 release.
August 1st: The second auto-update window for the 10.0.44 release opens.
10.0.45 Major Release
July 28th: The 10.0.45 update is available for preview. This is the second major release of the year.
August 8th: Last date to apply the 10.0.45 major release preview update.
September 12th: The 10.0.45 major release update becomes available for manual application.
October 3rd: The first auto-update window opens for the 10.0.45 major release.
October 31st: The second auto-update window for the 10.0.45 major release opens.
Other Important Dates
February 18th: Microsoft stops providing updates and service for the 10.0.40 release version. Users must update to a newer version to continue receiving support and updates.
May 23rd: Microsoft stops providing updates and service for the 10.0.41 release version. Users must update to a newer version to continue receiving support and updates.
Flexibility in Updates
Organizations must take at least two updates per year, with a maximum of four. You can choose from two auto-update windows, four weeks apart, for each update. Additionally, you can pause one update at a time for the UAT sandbox or production environment. If not self-updated within the pause window, Microsoft will apply the latest update automatically.
For more information, refer to the list of Microsoft’s D365 update resources below:
This calendar is designed to help you stay informed and plan your updates efficiently. By keeping track of these key dates, you can plan out your organization’s testing strategy for the year and remain up-to-date with the latest features and improvements in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
At TheTestMart, we enhance your Microsoft Dynamics 365 update experience with increased accuracy and efficiency, significantly reducing testing time. Our Customer Success team ensures your success with expert onboarding, training, and test script building for Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.
Ready to optimize your testing process?Contact us today to schedule a consultation and discover how TheTestMart can help you stay ahead with the latest Microsoft D365 updates.
