- Feature
- Combine financial reports into a single PDF
- Availability
- Generally available (October 2026)
- Industry focus
- Housing associations and social landlords
Housing associations report to boards, committees, regulators and funders, often monthly. Their finance packs typically combine an income and expenditure account, a balance sheet, cash flow, budget variance and covenant reporting. Assembling these from separate reports into one tidy document takes time every month. Business Central 29.0 can now do it automatically.
The industry challenge
A mid-sized housing association's finance team typically:
- Runs several financial reports at month-end
- Exports each to PDF
- Combines them, in the right order, into one pack
- Emails the pack to the executive team, the finance committee and sometimes lenders
This is repetitive and error-prone. Reports can end up in the wrong order, an older version can be attached by mistake, or one report can be missed. And it all happens at the busiest point in the month, when the team has the least time.
What Microsoft delivered in Business Central 29.0
According to Microsoft, finance teams can now define report packs that contain multiple financial reports, then run them immediately or schedule delivery to report inboxes or by email.
An MVP walk-through shows a new Packages action on the Financial Reports page. A package combines several financial reports into a single PDF that can be printed, exported or emailed on a regular schedule.
This builds on earlier financial reporting improvements in Business Central, such as scheduling reports for distribution groups and report audit logs.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for a housing association |
|---|---|
| Month-end effort | No manual assembly of board and committee packs |
| Consistency | Same reports in the same order every month |
| Timeliness | Packs delivered automatically when the period closes |
| Governance | Committees receive complete, standard information |
| Version control | Fewer risks of sending outdated reports |
For organizations accountable to boards and regulators, consistency is as important as speed. A standard pack, generated the same way every month, makes it easier for members to follow trends and ask good questions.
A worked scenario
Consider a housing association managing 6,000 homes (an illustrative example). Each month, the finance team sends a pack to the executive team and, quarterly, to the audit and risk committee.
Before, an accountant spent half a day exporting five reports, combining them in a PDF tool and emailing them. With Business Central 29.0, the team defines a "Monthly Executive Pack" package with the income and expenditure account, balance sheet, cash flow, budget variance and a covenant summary. They schedule it to run after month-end close and email the executive team. A separate quarterly package goes to committee members. The accountant now spends that half day reviewing variances instead of assembling documents.
Adoption considerations
- Design packs around audiences. Executive, committee and funder packs may need different reports.
- Agree the order and content. Get sign-off from the finance director on what each pack contains.
- Schedule after close. Make sure packs run only once the period is properly closed.
- Check recipients. Keep distribution lists up to date, especially for external recipients.
- Keep commentary in mind. Packs handle the numbers, so plan how narrative commentary will be added.
The bottom line
Housing associations spend a lot of finance time on reporting to boards and committees. Financial report packs in Business Central 29.0 turn several manual steps into one automated output, delivered on schedule. That frees the finance team to focus on analysis, which is what boards really value.
If assembling finance packs takes up valuable time at month-end, it's worth setting up report packages with an experienced Business Central adviser.
Sources: Microsoft roadmap 573323 · Dynamics 365 Lab: Run multiple financial reports and get a single PDF output