Now that you know how to customize views in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, let’s look at actually creating records. We’ll start with accounts—the foundation of most sales processes.
Starting a New Account
From your Accounts view, click New. A blank form appears with you set as the owner by default.
You’ll notice different field indicators:
- Red asterisks: Mandatory fields you must fill to save the record
- Blue pluses: Optional but recommended fields
- No indicator: Fully optional
For a basic account, you need at minimum a name. Everything else is optional, though you’ll likely want to fill in more than that.
Basic Information
Let’s create an example. Account name: “Test Company.” Industry: Education. Relationship type: Consultant.
From there, add what makes sense:
- Address fields
- Phone number
- Website
- Parent account (if this company is part of a larger organization)
The parent account field matters if you’re tracking subsidiaries or divisions. Link the child company to its parent and you can roll up reporting later.
Once you’ve filled the mandatory fields, click Save. You’ll see the “Created on” date populate along with your name as the creator.
Using the Timeline
The middle section shows your timeline—a running log of everything related to this account.
You can add:
- Notes about the company
- Appointments
- Emails
- Phone calls
- Tasks
These all live in one place, chronologically. When someone else on your team opens this account, they see the full history. No digging through email or asking what happened last week.
Add a note, click Save and Close, and it appears on the timeline. Simple.
The Details Tab
Click into Details for additional fields that didn’t make the main form:
- Zip code
- TPID
- Duns number
- Vertical categories (Microsoft’s pre-built list of industry verticals—all imported and ready to use)
- Annual revenue
- Number of employees
- Ownership type
- Description
There’s also marketing information here. If this account originated from a lead, that relationship gets tracked. You can set contact preferences and add billing information.
Not every account needs all these fields filled out. But they’re there when you need them.
Connections: Linking Records
Here’s where Dynamics 365 gets useful. The Connections tab lets you link this account to other records in your system.
You can connect:
- Other accounts
- Contacts
- Leads
- Opportunities
- Users
- Activities
Let’s say you have an external representative who handles this client directly. You’d want to track that relationship.
Click “New Connection,” choose the record type (in this case, a contact), search for the person (let’s say Adam from Microsoft), and assign their role (External Account Manager). Save and close.
Now that connection appears on your account record. And here’s the important part—it works both ways. Go to Adam’s contact record, look at his connections, and you’ll see Test Company listed there too.
That two-way linking means you can navigate relationships from either direction. Looking at the account? You see who’s connected. Looking at the contact? You see which accounts they’re tied to.
Why This Structure Matters
Creating an account isn’t just about storing a company name. It’s about building a web of information that makes sense six months from now when you can’t remember who talked to whom or why this opportunity matters.
The timeline keeps everyone on the same page. The details capture context that matters to your specific business. The connections show relationships that spreadsheets can’t track.
The Reality of Data Entry for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales
Nobody loves data entry. But the alternative is worse—lost context, forgotten conversations, and team members who have no idea what happened before they got involved.
The key is capturing what matters and skipping what doesn’t. Fill out the mandatory fields. Add the optional fields that you’ll actually reference. Skip the rest. You can always come back and add more later if it becomes relevant.
And use those connections. That’s where the real value is. When you can see at a glance who’s involved and how they’re related, you make better decisions faster.
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