A client asks for a quote report. Simple enough — until you realize Dynamics 365 gives you three different ways to build it: a Word Template, a native Report, or Power BI. Each one produces a different kind of output, and picking the wrong one means redoing the work later.
Rather than explain the differences in the abstract, we built the same report three times — a basic quote with its quote lines — once in each tool. Here’s what that looked like, and which one you’d actually reach for depending on what the client needs.
The Three Reporting Options in Dynamics 365
Word Templates
A Word Template lets you design the output in Microsoft Word itself, using mail-merge-style field mapping to pull in data from the quote record and any related entities, like quote lines. The result is a formatted document — good for anything that needs to look like a real business document: a quote, an invoice, a contract.
Native / SSRS Reports
Dynamics 365’s built-in report tools (SSRS-based, or the newer report wizard) are built for structured, tabular output. They’re less about document formatting and more about pulling a clean, consistent dataset onto a page — useful for internal review or printable summaries.
Power BI
Power BI connects directly to your Dataverse tables and builds live, interactive views — tables, charts, dashboards. Unlike the other two, the output isn’t static; it updates as the underlying data changes, and it’s built for analysis rather than a one-off document.
Building the Same Quote Report Three Ways
Quote + Quote Line as a Word Template
We started with a test quote that had a few quote lines attached, then built a Word Template that pulls in the quote header fields (customer, quote number, date) and a table of the related quote lines (product, quantity, price).
The output is a clean, printable document — the kind you’d actually hand to a client.
Quote + Quote Line as a Native Report
Same data, built through the native report designer instead. The setup process is different — you’re configuring a dataset and layout rather than mapping fields into a Word document — and the result reads more like a structured table than a formatted document.
Quote + Quote Line in Power BI
For Power BI, we connected to the Quote and Quote Line tables directly, set up the relationship between them, and built a simple table view of the same data.
Unlike the Word Template or native report, this view stays live — if the quote line data changes, the report reflects it without regenerating anything.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Word Template | Native Report | Power BI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Fast for simple layouts | Moderate | Moderate to longer for first setup |
| Formatting flexibility | High — full document control | Limited — tabular | Limited — visual/chart-based |
| Data freshness | Static (point-in-time) | Static (point-in-time) | Live |
| Best for | Client-facing documents | Internal printable summaries | Dashboards, ongoing analysis |
| Distribution | Email, print | Print, export | Shared dashboard, embedded view |
| Licensing | Included with D365 | Included with D365 | Power BI license required |
Which One Should You Use?
If the output needs to look like something you’d hand a client — a quote, an invoice, a proposal — a Word Template is the right tool. If you need a quick internal tabular printout, a native report does that with less design work. If what you actually want is an ongoing, live view of quote data — tracking volume, value, or trends over time rather than a single document — that’s what Power BI is built for.
They’re not competing options. Most Microsoft partners end up using more than one, depending on who’s asking for the report and what they’re going to do with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Power BI license to build this?
It depends on what you’re already licensed for. If your organization is on Microsoft 365 E5 (or the newer E7), Power BI Pro is included free for every licensed user. Dynamics 365 Enterprise plans (Sales Enterprise, Customer Service Enterprise, Field Service, etc.) do not include Power BI Pro on their own — those give Power Apps Premium rights instead, which is a separate entitlement. So a Dynamics 365 Enterprise user still needs Power BI Pro added separately, either standalone or through an M365 E5/E7 bundle. Power BI Premium (for larger datasets, more frequent refresh, or paginated reports) is always a separate add-on regardless of which enterprise tier you’re on.
Can a Word Template pull related quote line data automatically?
Yes. Word Templates support related entity data, so a quote’s line items can be pulled into a table within the document, as shown above.
Can a Power BI report be embedded directly inside the D365 quote form?
Power BI reports can be embedded within Dynamics 365 as a visual on a form or dashboard, though that’s a separate setup step from building the report itself.
Conclusion
Word Templates, native Reports, and Power BI all pull from the same Dynamics 365 data — the difference is what kind of output you need at the end. Building the same quote report three ways makes the tradeoffs obvious in a way a feature comparison chart usually doesn’t.
Have a reporting need you’re not sure which tool fits? Book a 30-min call with MTC and we’ll help you figure out the right approach.
