Looking for PowerObjects? Don’t worry, you’re in the right place! We’ve been part of HCL for several years, and we’ve now taken the final step in our acquisition journey: moving our website to the HCL domain. Nothing else is changing – we are still fanatically focused on Microsoft Business Applications!

PowerObjects Blog 

for Microsoft Business Applications


Display Business Process Values on Forms in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013

Post Author: Joe D365 |

We've shown you how easy it is to create business processes in Dynamics CRM 2013, but getting to the data that is stored by these business processes is not necessarily an intuitive task. For instance, when using a business process for your sales process, what fields can you use to query and report on the status of your pipeline data?

Let's start by looking at the sales process fields that are available on an opportunity record in CRM 2013, and separating the old from the new. There are a few fields that have been deprecated, but still exist for backward compatibility, and there are a few new fields. These have been identified in the below screen shot.

The StageID field holds the GUID of an opportunity's current stage, based on values that have been defined in the business process flow.

The ProcessID field holds the GUID of the business process flow that is applied to each opportunity.

The Stepname field is a text field that is populated by Dynamics CRM, in the background, with the stage category value from the Stage Category global option set.

Note: It should be noted that Dynamics CRM will automatically add a number to the beginning of the stage category value so that these values can be sorted properly in charts and reports. This global option set is also referenced in the business process flow to relate stages with stage categories as shown below.

Keep in mind that the StageID and the ProcessID fields are both GUID's and therefore they are not available to display on the opportunity form. These GUID fields can be added and displayed in a view, but let's be honest, they aren't very useful in this format. So let's see how we can display the actual name values on the form.

1. Create 3 new text fields and place them on the opportunity form as shown below.

2. Create 3 new text fields and place them on the opportunity form as shown below.

3. Create a workflow to populate the new fields when the StageID or the ProcessID changes. It should be noted that you may also need to enable this workflow to be run as an on-demand process, if you want to update the name values on any existing open opportunities.

4. Now, as you progress through the business process, the name values will be updated on the opportunity form as shown here.

That's it! Hopefully this will assist you with creating views, reports, charts and additional workflows! As always, if you need assistance the blog or educational materials at PowerObjects are here to help!!

Happy CRM'ing!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

8 comments on “Display Business Process Values on Forms in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013”

  1. I can't see process stage(process stage) in LookFor dropdown as shown in the second last screen. Only thing visible is StageId(Process Stage). Although I have selected Process ID and Stage ID in updating fields properties.

  2. I can't see process stage(process stage) in LookFor dropdown as shown in the second last screen. Only thing visible is StageId(Process Stage). Although I have selected Process ID and Stage ID in updating fields properties.

  3. I can't see process stage(process stage) in LookFor dropdown as shown in the second last screen. Only thing visible is StageId(Process Stage). Although I have selected Process ID and Stage ID in updating fields properties.

  4. I can't see process stage(process stage) in LookFor dropdown as shown in the second last screen. Only thing visible is StageId(Process Stage). Although I have selected Process ID and Stage ID in updating fields properties.

  5. I can't see process stage(process stage) in LookFor dropdown as shown in the second last screen. Only thing visible is StageId(Process Stage). Although I have selected Process ID and Stage ID in updating fields properties.

  6. I can't see process stage(process stage) in LookFor dropdown as shown in the second last screen. Only thing visible is StageId(Process Stage). Although I have selected Process ID and Stage ID in updating fields properties.

  7. I can't see process stage(process stage) in LookFor dropdown as shown in the second last screen. Only thing visible is StageId(Process Stage). Although I have selected Process ID and Stage ID in updating fields properties.

  8. I have noticed that this has all changed in Dynamics 365 - We implemented this solution for 2015 but I have now found that the process stage entity is not being used anymore.

PowerObjects Recommends