AI Agents for Dynamics
AX FP&A
Whether a cost line is genuinely variable is testable against ten years of actuals. Most driver models are built on an assumption instead.
- An old AX database often holds a decade of transaction history in one place, and it is almost never analysed because reporting was built for the current period.
- Whether a cost line is genuinely variable is testable against years of actuals, and most driver models rest on an assumption instead.
- In a worked variability test over ten years, three of five assumptions did not hold, and each had been in the model for years.
- A dimension value in an old installation may have meant three different things across a decade with nothing recording the changes.
- Holding the mapping with effective dates is the difference between having a decade of history and being able to use it.
AI agents for Dynamics AX FP&A test which cost lines actually track volume across the full history the database holds, hold the mapping between dimension values and their changing meanings with effective dates, and rebuild trends on a single basis. ChatFin reports the fit rather than a verdict and posts nothing.
The opportunity here is unusual. AX installations frequently hold ten years or more of transaction history in one database, and almost none of it is analysed, because reporting was built for the current period and running anything across years is slow and needs a specialist. That history answers questions a newer system simply cannot.
An old AX database is the best analysis asset most teams do not use
Dynamics AX installations often hold a decade or more of transaction history in one place. ChatFin finds that history is almost never analysed, because reporting was built for the current period and running anything across years is slow and needs a specialist.
| What a decade of history supports | Whether it gets used |
|---|---|
| Seasonality by product and customer | Rarely |
| Supplier price trends across contracts | Almost never |
| Payment behaviour per customer | No, and it is the best credit signal available |
| Cost structure shifts over years | Occasionally, by hand |
| Which cost lines actually track volume | No, and it decides every driver model |
The last row is worth dwelling on. Whether a cost line is genuinely variable is testable against ten years of actuals, and most driver models are built on an assumption rather than that test.
ChatFin runs the variability test across the full history and reports which cost lines actually track volume, which usually contradicts at least one assumption in the existing model.
A worked variability test
Ten years of actuals, testing which cost lines move with volume.
| Cost line | Assumed | Actually | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct materials | Variable | Variable, strongly | The model is right |
| Freight out | Variable | Variable, with a step at volume thresholds | Needs a step, not a rate |
| Indirect labour | Variable | Fixed for two years then steps | Modelled wrong every year |
| Maintenance | Fixed | Tracks volume with a lag | Should be variable, lagged |
| Utilities | Variable | Fixed with a seasonal pattern | Modelled wrong |
Three of five assumptions do not hold. Each has been in the model for years and each distorts every scenario built on it, and testing them is arithmetic over data the business already owns.
ChatFin reports the correlation and the fit for each line rather than a verdict, so the person who owns the model decides what to change.
Dimension structures that have drifted for a decade
An old installation has been through reorganisations, acquisitions and chart changes, and the dimension structure carries all of them.
ChatFin holds the mapping with effective dates so a ten year trend can be rebuilt on one basis, which is the difference between having a decade of history and being able to use it.
Where this underperforms
Three.
Deeper in Dynamics AX FP&A
Three use cases sit under this hub, in build and shown rather than linked.
Worked on this page
Natural language querying of finance data · Financial forecasting · Financial modeling
Covered as sections here
Variability testing · Driver models · Dimension mapping · Seasonality · Variance analysis
Questions Dynamics AX FP&A teams ask first
What can a decade of AX history actually tell you?
Seasonality by product and customer, supplier price trends across contract cycles, payment behaviour per customer, and which cost lines genuinely track volume. The last one decides every driver model in the business and is almost never tested. ChatFin runs that test across the full history and reports the correlation and fit per line.
What does a variability test usually find?
That several long standing assumptions do not hold. In a worked test over ten years, freight moved with volume but in steps rather than at a rate, indirect labour was fixed for two years at a time then stepped, and maintenance tracked volume with a lag despite being modelled as fixed. Three of five assumptions were wrong and each had been in the model for years.
Why is dimension mapping harder on an old installation?
Because it has been through reorganisations, acquisitions and chart changes, so a value may have meant three different things across a decade with nothing recording when it changed. Retired values still sit on historic transactions and the real mapping is usually a spreadsheet somebody maintains. ChatFin holds it with effective dates so a long trend can be rebuilt on one basis.
Use the decade of history you already own.
ChatFin tests which cost lines actually track volume across the full history, reports correlation and fit rather than a verdict, and leaves the model decision with the person who owns it.
It holds dimension mappings with effective dates so a ten year trend can be rebuilt on one basis, and it posts nothing.
Bring five cost lines and your driver assumptions. The test takes an hour.
Book a demoAll images are served from the Pexels content network. No third party product screenshots, vendor logos or licensed media are used on this page.
Bring five cost lines and your assumptions.
We will test each against your own history through ChatFin and show you which assumptions hold and which have been wrong for years.