How to connect Dynamics 365 to Excel: what advisory firms are building

Yes, Dynamics 365 connects to Excel natively through its built-in Export to Excel function and Power Query data connections. These native tools handle basic data extraction, but they don’t produce the formatted, multi-entity management reports that enterprise advisory firms need for partner meetings and board packs. Formulaic builds automated reporting pipelines that pull data from Dynamics 365’s API, combine it with financial data from accounting systems, and deliver formatted Excel workbooks on a schedule. This is relevant for mid-market and enterprise advisory firms running Dynamics 365 as their CRM or ERP platform.

Short answer: Yes, Dynamics 365 exports to Excel natively via the Export to Excel function and Power Query. Formulaic builds automated pipelines for complex, multi-entity management reports beyond native export capabilities.

What data moves between Dynamics 365 and Excel

Dynamics 365’s data model is extensive. As both a CRM and ERP platform, it holds: accounts and contacts (with custom attributes), opportunities (with stage, value, probability, and custom fields), activities (emails, meetings, calls, tasks), leads and marketing campaigns, cases and service tickets, financial transactions (if using Dynamics 365 Finance), and custom entities specific to the firm’s configuration.

For advisory firms, the reporting-relevant data includes: opportunity pipeline by stage, value, and probability, account engagement metrics (meeting frequency, email volume, last contact), revenue by account and service line, team performance (opportunities per person, win rate, activity levels), forecast accuracy (comparing previous forecasts to actual closings), and relationship mapping (which team members are connected to which accounts).

Dynamics 365’s data model is more complex than Pipedrive or Attio. Custom entities, business process flows, and configurable relationships mean that each firm’s data structure can differ significantly. The Excel reporting pipeline must map to the firm’s specific Dynamics 365 configuration.

For firms using Dynamics 365 Finance alongside Dynamics 365 Sales, the reporting opportunity is richer: combining pipeline data with actual revenue, costs, and profitability in a single Excel workbook. This cross-functional reporting is something neither Dynamics 365’s native exports nor Power BI handle well in a formatted, distributable Excel format.

The native integration

Dynamics 365’s Excel integration is more capable than most CRM platforms. The Export to Excel function downloads current view data as an Excel file. Power Query can connect to Dynamics 365 as a live data source, refreshing data on demand. Power BI (Microsoft’s dashboarding tool) offers sophisticated visualisation.

These tools work well for users who are comfortable with Power Query and want to build their own reports. A technically capable finance or operations director can create useful dashboards using Power Query connections.

Where the native tools fall short for advisory firms: Power Query requires technical setup and maintenance (connections break, authentication expires, schema changes cause errors). The exported data is raw and needs manual formatting for partner consumption. There’s no scheduling capability in Excel itself (Power Query refreshes are manual or require Power Automate). Multi-entity reporting (combining data from multiple Dynamics 365 environments or mixing Dynamics with external systems) requires complex Power Query configurations. And Power BI, while powerful for dashboards, doesn’t output formatted Excel workbooks, which remains the preferred format for board and partner reporting.

The practical result: most advisory firms using Dynamics 365 have someone spending several hours per month downloading data, formatting reports, and distributing them. The tools exist for self-service, but the self-service requires more technical skill than most partners have, so it falls to the operations team.

What Formulaic builds

Formulaic builds an automated reporting engine that connects to Dynamics 365’s Web API and produces the formatted Excel reports advisory firms distribute internally and to clients.

The data layer connects to Dynamics 365 using OAuth 2.0 authentication and retrieves data across standard and custom entities. Unlike Power Query (which often connects to a single entity at a time), the API extraction captures related data in a single pass: opportunities with linked accounts, contacts, activities, and custom entities. For firms using multiple Dynamics 365 modules (Sales + Finance + Customer Service), the system pulls across modules.

The analytics layer calculates metrics specific to advisory firms: weighted pipeline by practice area and engagement stage, deal velocity by size tier (different analytics for £50k mandates vs. £500k mandates), team capacity analysis (current deal load vs. historical close rates), client concentration risk (revenue dependency on top accounts), and cross-sell opportunity scoring (identifying accounts buying one service that are candidates for others).

The template layer produces executive-grade Excel workbooks: branded cover page with reporting period and key metrics, pipeline summary with waterfall visualisation, practice area breakdown with comparative periods, team performance scorecard, client portfolio analysis, and detailed opportunity list with filters and conditional formatting.

One enterprise advisory firm we built this for had 200+ active opportunities across five practice areas in Dynamics 365. Their monthly management report required data from Dynamics 365 Sales and Dynamics 365 Finance, combined into a single workbook. The operations director spent 8 hours per month compiling this report. The automated pipeline reduced this to a 30-minute review. The cross-module reporting revealed that one practice area had a 40% higher client acquisition cost than others, leading to a pricing adjustment that improved margins by an estimated £120,000 annually.

DIY vs Zapier vs custom build

	DIY / Power Query	Zapier / Power Automate	Formulaic Custom Build
Setup time	2-4 hours	1-2 hours	3-4 weeks
Cost	Free (your time)	£20-200/mo	Custom-scoped
Data complexity	Single entity per query	Basic triggers	Multi-entity, cross-module
Customisation	Requires PQ skills	Limited	Full: custom entities, scoring
Scheduling	Manual refresh	Basic automation	Fully scheduled delivery
Maintenance	You fix broken queries	You	60-day warranty

Timeline and investment

Every build is scoped and priced based on complexity. Simpler data syncs take less time than multi-system orchestration with compliance requirements. Start with an audit to get a clear proposal.

Take the AI Opportunity Scorecard to see which integrations would deliver the highest ROI for your firm.