Which Dynamics budgeting solution should I use?

Budgeting is an important component of your Microsoft Dynamics® ERP and we have multiple options for budgeting solutions from Microsoft.

If you’re using Microsoft Dynamics AX, budget planning features integrated with Microsoft® Excel® were added with Microsoft Dynamics AX 6.2 R2. Budget Planning will appeal particularly to organizations that have structured budgeting processes. Budget Planning also allows for multiple budgeting processes to be active at the same time to allow for maximum flexibility. Management Reporter is used to report on Budget Planning data.  

For all other Dynamics ERPs, Microsoft Forecaster is a great option that is already integrated with your Microsoft Dynamics ERP and with Management Reporter. A service pack was recently released for Forecaster, addressing several customer-reported issues. When distributed with a Dynamics product, the Dynamics lifecycle dates for Forecaster coincide with the Dynamics ERP lifecycle dates. You can continue to invest in Microsoft Forecaster.

For customers using Forecaster with a non-Dynamics ERP, the current support end dates are July 2014 for mainstream support and July 2019 for extended support.