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How the Waterdeep Trading Company Streamlines New Employee Onboarding with Dynamics 365

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May 29, 2025
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In a realm teeming with dragonfire hazards, magical regulations, and the occasional spontaneous planar rift, the idea of structured onboarding might seem like a low priority. But not for the Waterdeep Trading Company.

Whether you’re a seasoned mage joining the Arcane Logistics Division or a young dockworker hired by the Faerûn Dockworkers Federation to unload casks from Chult, starting a new job should never feel like being thrown into a gelatinous cube. That’s why Greta Ironfist, owner and visionary behind the Waterdeep Trading Company, implemented a comprehensive HR Onboarding Task Framework using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources.

Why Onboarding Matters in Faerûn

Onboarding in Faerûn isn’t just about setting up a workstation—it’s about surviving it. Misfile a wand shipment, and you might release a burst of wild magic. Confuse inventory from the Thayan Enclave with goods bound for Silverymoon? That’s not just a mistake, that’s a diplomatic incident.

At the Waterdeep Trading Company, onboarding serves three key purposes:

  1. Knowledge Transfer from veteran guild members to recruits.
  2. Compliance with guild and arcane trade laws.
  3. Role Readiness to ensure employees can handle enchanted inventory, volatile goods, and guild hierarchy expectations.

Structured Tasks = Faster Ramp-Up

Dynamics 365 Human Resources allows WDTC to predefine task sequences for each new hire. These are not just checkboxes—they’re embedded experiences.

Here’s a look at the onboarding task structure:

Faerûn-Style Training Modules

The onboarding experience reflects the company’s deep integration with the culture and industries of Faerûn. Employees don’t just learn about spreadsheets and supply chains—they learn how to navigate a magically active, politically sensitive, and guild-controlled economy.

Some examples include:

These aren’t optional. They’re required by Waterdeep City Law and audited regularly by the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors.

Automated, Personalized, and Role-Aware

Using Dynamics 365’s Onboarding Templates, the HR team tailors onboarding for various job families:

  • Warehouse Operatives get put on directed training paths that include enchanted lockpick safety.
  • Potion Engineers start with regulatory training on labeling and transmutation safety.
  • Merchant Liaison Officers receive cultural sensitivity training for dealing with nobility and underworld contacts alike.

Automated reminders and approvals ensure no task slips through the cracks, and hiring managers can track progress with real-time dashboards—whether they’re at the Castle Ward HQ or visiting the Daggerford outpost.

Results That Scale with Adventure

Since implementing the onboarding task framework, the Waterdeep Trading Company has seen:

  • 32% faster ramp-up for new logistics recruits
  • Reduced guild violations and near elimination of compliance fines
  • Improved inter-departmental collaboration, especially between Procurement and Alchemy

More importantly, new employees feel like part of something epic from day one. And in a world where your next delivery might be to a necropolis or through an active war zone, that sense of purpose and preparedness makes all the difference.

Want to implement this in your own Faerûnian operation?

Pick up the guides at adnd365.com/start and access the public demo database at https://public.adnd365.com using:

Login: npc@adnd365.com

Password: N0nPl@yC#822!

Your next hire deserves more than a rusty scroll rack—they deserve a proper onboarding.

Navigating Taxes and Tariffs in Waterdeep: A Guide for the Waterdeep Trading Company

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May 28, 2025
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Waterdeep, the City of Splendors, is the crown jewel of trade along the Sword Coast. Its robust infrastructure, bustling markets, and magical commerce attract merchants from every corner of Faerûn. However, these opportunities come with significant responsibilities. Trade within the city is tightly regulated, and businesses must comply with a comprehensive and often complex system of taxes, tariffs, and guild fees.

For the Waterdeep Trading Company (WDTC), compliance with these financial obligations is not just about avoiding penalties. It is a fundamental part of how the company operates and thrives.

Understanding the Tax Landscape in Waterdeep

The economy of Waterdeep is shaped by policies enacted by the Lords of Waterdeep, enforced by trade guilds, and influenced by arcane regulators. Taxes cover everything from standard sales to magical services and imported goods. Below are the key types of taxes and fees businesses face:

How WDTC Manages Tax Compliance

The Waterdeep Trading Company uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance to integrate tax compliance into every aspect of its financial operations. This ensures that taxes are accurately applied, transparently recorded, and automatically posted at the point of transaction.

Automated Tax Application

Each tax type is configured as a distinct code or group within the system. These are applied to sales orders, purchase orders, and inventory transactions based on product classification and trade channel. This reduces manual entry and improves audit readiness.

Smart Product Classification

WDTC assigns all items to tax groups that reflect their economic category. For example:

  • Enchanted items fall under the magic group
  • Jewelry and fine fabrics are categorized under luxury
  • General goods are classified under standard groups

This categorization ensures that the correct tax rates are applied automatically during sales and purchasing processes.

Landed Cost Tracking for Imports

Imported goods are subject to various tariffs and duties. WDTC utilizes the Landed Cost module in Dynamics 365 to accurately track and allocate these costs across the items being received. This ensures the company always has a clear picture of true inventory value and profitability.

Budgeting for Unofficial Overhead

While not recognized in formal tax records, certain transactions require what are diplomatically referred to as “negotiation fees.” These are handled with discretion and tracked within internal budgets to maintain operational agility in bureaucratic environments.

Tax Strategy as a Growth Enabler

Rather than treating tax as a burden, the Waterdeep Trading Company approaches it as a source of control and insight. Their tax configuration supports accurate reporting, supports pricing strategies, and ensures compliance across all trade activity.

This level of discipline allows the company to operate confidently within Waterdeep’s competitive and heavily regulated marketplace. It also lays the groundwork for expansion into other city-states with similarly complex trade policies.

If you are ready to elevate your Faerûnian business operations or want to model similar structures in your Dynamics 365 environment:

Visit adnd365.com/start for the full set of configuration guides.

Access the public demo environment at https://public.adnd365.com

Login: npc@adnd365.com

Password: N0nPl@yC#822!

Dividing the Realm: How the Waterdeep Trading Company Uses Business Units to Manage the Sword Coast

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May 19, 2025
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The Waterdeep Trading Company isn’t just a general store, it’s the central nerve of a supply empire that keeps adventurers, merchants, and mystics stocked from Luskan to Calimport. With customers as diverse as noble houses, guild outposts, and lone rangers, the company needed a way to structure its rapidly growing operations while maintaining financial precision and strategic agility.

Enter Business Units, Departments, Sales Channels, and Cost Centers, the quartet of operational clarity in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance.

Business Units: Territory and Purpose

The company organizes its operations by Business Unit to reflect both geographic footprint and strategic focus. Each Business Unit represents a distinct operational hub, responsible for local inventory, staffing, and margin targets.

Each Business Unit tracks its own revenue and costs, enabling financial reporting at both unit and consolidated levels.

Departments: Role and Function

Where Business Units define where things happen, Departments define who does the work. These are the roles and internal teams that perform the operations of the business, often cutting across units.

Departments help structure responsibilities for budgeting and workforce management within each Business Unit.

Sales Channels: Who They Serve

Sales Channels represent the customer-facing paths through which the Waterdeep Trading Company moves its goods. These span traditional commerce and some… less conventional routes.

Using sales channels allows for segmented revenue reporting, discounting strategies, and tailored marketing campaigns.

Cost Centers: Where Money Is Spent

To control expenses and improve budgeting accuracy, the company uses Cost Centers to group similar operational expenditures. These are typically aligned with departments but offer finer granularity, especially in joint projects or field operations.

This structure supports top-down and bottom-up budgeting, with financial dimensions tracking expenses per cost center across all Business Units.

Why It All Matters

By organizing the Waterdeep Trading Company with Business Units, Departments, Sales Channels, and Cost Centers, Greta Ironfist and her team achieve:

  • Granular reporting: See profit margins by branch, track department-level performance, or monitor sales channel velocity.
  • Smarter budgeting: Allocate funds where they’re needed and track actuals against plans with visibility by dimension.
  • Accountability: Department heads and business unit managers can be held responsible for outcomes.
  • Scalability: As the company expands (hello, Chult!), new units, departments, or sales paths can be added without disrupting the existing structure.

A Realm in Balance

The Waterdeep Trading Company didn’t become Faerûn’s top outfitter by accident. Through clever use of Dynamics 365’s organizational structures, it tames the chaos of commerce—even in a world of dragons, demons, and duty-bound auditors.

So whether you’re running potions to a necromancer or hempen rope to a ranger, remember: structure is the silent partner in every successful adventure.

Start your own implementation journey today.  Buy the full configuration guide at adnd365.com/start

🔍 Want to explore the live Faerûn demo environment?  Log in to the public read-only view at https://public.adnd365.com

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Discover how the realms are mapped inside Dynamics 365—because if you can build it in Faerûn, you can build it anywhere.

Forecasting and Demand Planning: Gazing Into the Crystal Ball of Inventory

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May 14, 2025
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In Faerûn, having inventory on hand when the next caravan arrives is the difference between a profitable month and a letter of apology written in infernal ink. At the Waterdeep Trading Company, we don’t rely on wishful thinking or divination spells to keep our shelves stocked. We use Forecasting and Demand Planning in Dynamics 365 to stay ahead of the curve.

Let’s break down what that looks like when you’re supplying everything from iron spikes to cursed mirror cases.

What Is Forecasting?

Forecasting is the process of predicting future demand based on historical data, market trends, upcoming events, and customer behavior. In Dynamics 365, this can be driven by:

  • Historical sales
  • Purchase trends
  • Manual adjustments
  • External factors (festivals, raids, wars, winter wolf migration patterns)

Forecasts can be entered manually or generated using built-in models, which project expected demand over a defined horizon. These forecasts can be set at various levels:

  • By item
  • By item group
  • By customer or sales channel
  • By warehouse or region

Example: Forecast for Health Potions

What Is Demand Planning?

Demand planning takes that forecast and aligns it with inventory, procurement, and production. It helps answer:

  • Do we have enough raw materials?
  • Should we increase safety stock?
  • Should we initiate new purchase orders or production runs?

In Dynamics 365, this process feeds into Master Planning, where forecasted demand is treated like confirmed orders, generating planned supply suggestions. These can include:

  • Planned purchase orders
  • Planned transfer orders
  • Planned production orders

Why It Matters for the Waterdeep Trading Company

Greta Ironfist, our fearless founder, once said:

“If you can predict the next spike in rope demand during troll season, you don’t need luck. You need a forecast.”

In the past, too many decisions were based on guesswork. Now, by using historical trends and adjusting for regional events (like the Annual Adventurers’ Expo in Silverymoon), we’re better prepared for demand fluctuations.

Best Practices in Dynamics 365 for Forecasting

Start with historical data: Use the Forecast planning workspace or Excel templates to analyze patterns.

Segment your products: Forecast high-volume items differently from rare or seasonal goods.

Involve stakeholders: Sales, warehouse managers, and even suppliers may have insights that raw numbers miss.

Adjust forecasts regularly: Update based on shifting trends, marketing events, or monster incursions.

Use forecast reduction: Let actual sales orders reduce the forecast so you don’t double-count demand.

Putting It Into Action

Let’s say you forecast a rise in demand for Frost Resistance Gear due to early winter reports from Icewind Dale. Dynamics 365 will recommend boosting production of frost cloaks and earmuffs, generating supply plans to meet the projected demand before it becomes a problem.

These forecasts then flow into:

  • Master Planning for automated supply suggestions
  • Warehouse stocking plans
  • Cash flow planning based on expected procurement

Final Thoughts

Forecasting and demand planning in Dynamics 365 give you something better than magical foresight — real-time, data-driven decisions that protect margins and customer satisfaction.

You no longer need to pray to Mystra for inventory clarity. With the right setup, you can plan your way to profitability and avoid the scroll of backorders altogether.

Ready to build your own forecasting models and master plans?

Start your journey today with the Advanced Dungeons & Dynamics 365 guides at adnd365.com/start

You can also test it yourself in a live environment at https://public.adnd365.com

Login: npc@adnd365.com

Password: N0nPl@yC#822!

Top 10 Most Profitable Magical Products in the Sword Coast

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May 5, 2025
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In the bustling cities of the Sword Coast—from Waterdeep’s merchant squares to the shady alleys of Luskan—one thing is clear: magic sells. Whether you’re a potion purveyor, an arcane gear supplier, or an enchanted scroll distributor, knowing which magical products bring the highest margins is critical for growth.

In this post, we’re using Dynamics 365’s Product Profitability Reports, Item Sales Margins, and Sales by Product Category to reveal the top 10 most profitable magical items currently moving through the Faerûnian economy.

How We Calculated Profitability

We pulled data from the Waterdeep Trading Company’s Dynamics 365 environment, combining:

  • Sales revenue from the Order to Cash module
  • Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) via Inventory Valuation
  • Gross Margin % based on item group (Magical Items, Potions, Scrolls, etc.)

Profit = (Sales – COGS) × Volume Sold

Top 10 Magical Products by Profit

Key Insights for Inventory & Trade Managers

  1. Healing Potions dominate—they’re cheap to produce, high in volume, and in constant demand. Set reorder thresholds in your Item Coverage settings.
  2. Arcane Saddles are low-volume, high-margin—ideal candidates for Trade Agreements with aerial suppliers and custom production runs.
  3. Scrolls offer recurring revenue—track parchment, ink, and scribing labor as bundled production cost drivers.
  4. Teleportation services represent a unique product-as-a-service model—handled as a non-stock item but linked to high-value invoicing and permit records.

Dynamics 365 Tips to Track Magical Profitability

  • Use Item Groups and Product Categories to segment magical vs. mundane goods.
  • Enable Standard Costing or FIFO for better margin clarity on alchemical and enchanted items.
  • Run the “Gross Margin by Product” report in Cost Management > Inquiries and Reports.
  • Tag products with attributes like Arcane Level, Guild Certification, or Spell School to enable dimensional profitability analysis.

What’s Next?

If you’re a trading company operating across Faerûn, your profit isn’t just about what you sell—it’s about knowing what sells best, to whom, and how consistently. With Dynamics 365, you have the tools to track product-level performance across every district, ward, and plane.

Curious what the margins are on a Flask of Faerie Fire or a Golem Core? Start building your magical profitability matrix today with our Bare Bones Templates and Fantasy Item Master demo packs at adnd365.com/start.

Mastering Transportation Management for The Waterdeep Trading Company: Rating and Routing Across Faerûn

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April 28, 2025
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When Greta Ironfist founded the Waterdeep Trading Company, she knew that managing the flow of goods across the Sword Coast would be just as critical as sourcing rare herbs or distilling the finest spirits. In Faerûn, transportation isn’t just about moving cargo — it’s about surviving treacherous roads, stormy seas, and even aerial piracy.

Today, the Waterdeep Trading Company powers its shipping operations with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management – Transportation Management. Let’s take a closer look at how they model freight rating and routing to thrive in a world of dragons, bandits, and booming trade.

Setting Up Rating Structures: Costing Freight the Faerûnian Way

In Dynamics 365 Transportation Management, Rate Masters and Rate Charges define how costs are calculated. Waterdeep Trading Company configures their freight rates using both weight and distance (leagues traveled) — just like a merchant caravan master would charge in the Realms.

Each of the company’s preferred carriers is modeled with custom rating rules:

Example Setup in D365:

  • Rate Base Type: Weight × Distance
  • Rating Method: Rate engine calculates total cost during load planning.
  • Freight Classes: Different categories for standard goods, perishables, and magical cargo (surcharge applied).

Route Planning: Choosing the Best Way to Move Goods Across Faerûn

Using Rate Route Plans in Dynamics 365, Waterdeep Trading Company defines how goods are routed:

Each route includes transit times, distance calculations, and alternate routing if a carrier is unavailable (for instance, if pirate attacks delay a sea convoy).

Example Setup in D365:

  • Hub Types: Seaport Hub (Waterdeep Dock Ward), Airship Port Hub (Sky Dock), Caravan Hub (Trade Gate)
  • Transit Distance Tables: Leagues between key hubs calculated to automate costing.
  • Route Guides: Preferences for low-cost (sea) vs. high-speed (air).

Freight Execution: Dynamic Mode Selection in Action

When a sales order is created (say, shipping 300 lbs of moonshine to Baldur’s Gate), D365 automatically:

  1. Calculates shipping cost for each mode:
    1. IronWheels: 300 lbs × 0.1 gp × 250 leagues = 7500 gp
    1. Gryphon Air: 300 lbs × 0.16 gp × 250 leagues = 12,000 gp
    1. Sword Coast Sea Freight: 300 lbs × 0.015 gp × 250 leagues = 1125 gp
  2. Suggests the best option based on customer priorities (cost vs. speed).
  3. Books the load, assigns the carrier, and generates a bill of lading — whether that’s by wagon, gryphon, or ship!

The Benefits to Waterdeep Trading Company

  • Lower Transportation Costs: Bulk shipments sail cheaply by Sword Coast Sea Freight.
  • Faster Customer Deliveries: Urgent magical scrolls or potions ship via Gryphon Air.
  • Optimized Resource Allocation: Caravans are filled smartly, reducing deadhead miles on the Trade Way.
  • Resilient Network: Dynamic route fallback keeps the business moving even during pirate attacks or magical storms.

Why Rating and Routing Matter in Faerûn and Beyond

Transportation Management in Dynamics 365 lets Waterdeep Trading Company navigate the complexities of Faerûn’s trade like seasoned merchant princes. By building smart rating structures and flexible routing plans, they can deliver anything, anywhere — whether it’s barrels of moonshine, crates of enchanted herbs, or bundles of rare textiles.

And the best part? Greta Ironfist always knows that no matter the obstacles, Waterdeep Trading Company will deliver.

Want to master Transportation Management for your own Faerûnian trading company (or your real-world supply chain)?

Download the Advanced Dungeons & Dynamics 365 Guides at adnd365.com/start and embark on your own logistics adventure!