If you’ve been working with Dynamics 365 Finance for a while, you may have come across the term Regulatory Configuration Service (RCS). If you haven’t, well, you might be hearing about its successor: Globalization Studio. Microsoft has officially phased out RCS and merged its functionalities into Globalization Studio as of August 1, 2024. But what does that actually mean for businesses managing global regulatory and localization requirements?
Lets just jump into it, shall we?
RCS: The Evolution of No-Code Compliance
RCS started as a standalone service, providing a no-code/low-code approach to configuring regulatory reporting, tax calculations, electronic invoicing, and financial compliance without needing direct developer intervention. It allowed companies to:
Build and manage Electronic Reporting (ER) configurations
Handle country-specific tax rules
Automate compliance updates across multiple geographies
Extend business document formats without code
It was a great tool, but there was one big issue: RCS was a separate system from Dynamics 365 Finance. That meant managing integrations, deployments, and updates across multiple environments, which created unnecessary complexity. Enter: Globalization Studio.
What is Globalization Studio?
Globalization Studio is the next-generation solution embedded directly inside Dynamics 365 Finance. It includes all the capabilities of RCS but in a centralized, unified workspace that simplifies compliance, regulatory reporting, and tax configurations.
Think of it as an all-in-one command center for managing globalization features without leaving Dynamics 365. Microsoft took the best parts of RCS and merged them into the D365 Finance environment, eliminating the need for a separate external service.
Here’s what Globalization Studio brings to the table:
No-Code Compliance Management: Just like RCS, it enables regulatory reporting, tax calculations, and localization without custom development.
Prebuilt Globalization Features: Microsoft provides out-of-the-box compliance templates for over 200 countries and regions.
Fully Integrated Experience: Unlike RCS, Globalization Studio is natively built into D365 Finance, removing external dependencies.
Better Lifecycle Management: Updates and regulatory changes are easier to track and deploy without worrying about sync issues between RCS and Finance.
Why the Shift from RCS to Globalization Studio?
The transition from RCS to Globalization Studio isn’t just about rebranding—it’s about improving efficiency. Companies using RCS had to manage separate lifecycle processes for compliance configurations, tax calculation rules, and e-invoicing services. With Globalization Studio, everything happens within Dynamics 365, reducing maintenance effort and ensuring that updates are applied consistently across all environments.
For businesses operating in multiple countries, this is a game-changer. It means compliance updates can be handled more efficiently, tax rules can be adjusted dynamically, and electronic reporting requirements can be met faster—all while keeping IT overhead low.
If you were previously using RCS, don’t panic.
Microsoft has streamlined the migration process, and most of the functionality you relied on has been moved seamlessly into Globalization Studio. This transition ultimately makes compliance and localization easier to manage, and if you haven’t explored it yet, now is the time.
In the next post, we’ll take a deeper dive into Globalization Studio, what it offers, how it works, and why it matters in today’s global business landscape. Stay tuned!
Dad Joke Time
Why did the ERP system break up with RCS? Because it wanted something more integrated in its life!
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DynamicsDad