How to use MICR fonts in Dynamics 365 Business Central AND modify the check layout

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Being able to purchase completely blank check stock for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) is a plus, however you'll have to know how to configure the system so the MICR line prints on the check stock.

Microsoft added the MICR checks functionality in early 2020 and using it can be a challenge to use if you're not familiar with modifying layouts in BC. I'll walk you through the process of being able to use this functionality. I will be showing you how to do this within my Production environment test company. I will then show you how to update your production company once you've completed your configuration and modified the check layout. 

You should also test within a test company and test with your bank prior to updating in production company. If you're only modifying check layout and not using MICR line then you should be ok not testing with your bank first. 

Bank Account Card

First step is adding the bank account and transit numbers to the bank account card. Open the bank account card and populate the following fields:

General > Bank Account No.

   
Transfer > Transit No.

Report Selection - Bank Account

The report selection bank account card is where you configure the system with your check layout. Default is Report ID 1401 however I'm going to change this to be 10411 Check (Stub/Check/Stub). 


Payment Journal - Test Print

Below is a screenshot of the out of the box check layout once the bank account card is updated with the correct account and transit number information. You can see that the MICR information isn't even close to where it needs to be on the check layout and there is also some security font you may want to update as well. 


 Modifying Check Layout

There are several steps you have to complete in order to modify a check layout (report layout) and then configure the system to use the modified layout. 
  1. Report Layout Selection - within this window you're going to want to search for your Report ID, in this case it's 10411.

  2. Select the line then click on Process > Custom Layouts 

  3. Once the Custom Report Layouts - 10411 Check (Stub/Check/Stub) window opens up click on New. Select Insert RDLC Layout and then OK. 

  4. Update the Description to be what you would like to call this custom layout. 

  5. It's now time to export the layout so we can modify it. Select Layout > Export Layout. This will export and download the file to your downloads folder (or other default folder if you have that setup to be different for downloads). 

  6. In my case I use Microsoft SQL Server Report Builder to modify my RDLC report layouts. So I'm going to open that program and open the file I just downloaded.  
  7. Once the report layout is open in Report Builder you can proceed to modify the report. Couple of things I will say is save often and test report within BC often as well. It's really easy to corrupt the layout and if you don't save often and you end up with a corrupted file layout then you will have to start over, or at least from a last save that was working correctly. 
  8. Here is what the report looks like once open in Report Builder. I've highlighted the fields in which need to be adjusted. Red text is the description of the field. 

  9. Lets start with the MICR line. That whole row of fields need to be moved down to the bottom of the check section. You can simply select all of those fields and then drag them down to where they need to be on the check. 

  10. Lets work next on the data and dollar ($) amount fields. These currently are setup with security font. First select the date field and you can see that the font is setup as "IDAutonationSec1B" in which I'm going to change to Arial to match the rest of the report. 
  11. I'm going to do the same for the dollar ($) amount field to the right of the date field as well. 

  12. At this point lets save the report. File Save As and give it a new name.
  13. Lets go back into BC and import the new layout and test.
    1. Go to the Custom Report Layouts screen. Search for 10411. Click on Layout > Import Layout. 
    2. Navigate to your newly saved file and select for import. 
  14. Open the Report Layout Selection window and search for report ID 10411. Update the Selected Layout from the default RDLC (built-in) to the Custom Layout > select custom layout report. 

  15. Create a new Payment Journal batch for vendor payments. Select a vendor to pay and print a check to review updated check layout. 
  16. We can see from this test that the MICR line is at the bottom of the check and that the date and dollar ($) amount are now updated. Lets continue modifying the layout in Report Builder. 

  17. Back in Report Builder I'm going to work on the written dollar amount next. I'm going to update the font there as well to Arial as well. There are two written dollar amount fields so make sure to update both of them.

  18. Next I'm going to move the date and dollar ($) amounts above the written dollar amount. You can select both fields and drag them up to where you want them.
  19. The last thing I'm going to address is the special characters (brackets) that are appearing around the date, dollar ($) amount, and written dollar amount fields once the font has been changed from IDAutonationSec1B to Arial. To remove the brackets you will want to select the field then right click and select Expression. 

  20. Once the Expression window is open we're going to modify the "Set expression for: Value" field. Default it will look like the following: 
  21. Remove the following text from the beginning and end of the text. Your text should now look like the screenshot below. 
    1. "[" + 
    2.  + "]"

  22. Complete the same step above for the date, dollar ($) amount, and written amount fields. 
  23. Save the file: Save As and name is as a "v1" file name.
  24. Back in BC open the custom report layouts window and search for 10411 and import the recently saved file. 
  25. Test the new layout by reprinting a check.
  26. Review the layout and make sure everything is correct. 

Updating production company with new layout

Once you're happy with the layout follow the steps below to update your production company with the new layout. Log into your production company first. 
  1. Bank Account Card window. Update the bank account and transit number fields. 
  2. Bank Report Selection - Bank Account window. Update Check to Report ID 10411.

  3. Report Layout Selection window. Search for Report ID 10411 and update the Selected Layout field with Custom and then select the correct customer report layout. Note: if you don't see the custom layout listed here then you will need to click on New and then create the custom layout report and then import in your latest report layout file from step 24 above. If you did the steps above in a Sandbox environment then you will have to do this. If you did the steps within your Production environment but used a test company then you should see the custom layout here. 


Written by: Kristen Hosman, Microsoft MVP 






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