Create departments and include them in the department hierarchy
Applies to these Dynamics 365 apps:
Human Resources
A department is an operating unit that represents a category or functional area of an organization. A department is responsible for a specific area of the organization, such as sales, accounting, or human resources. You can use departments to report on functional areas. Departments might have profit and loss responsibility.
A department might include a group of cost centers. Positions can be assigned to departments. To create a department, click Human Resources > Departments > Department. The following table describes the fields that are available.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Enter a name for the department. |
| Department number | A default value might be generated automatically if a number sequence code is assigned to the Organization number reference on the Number sequences page. |
| Search name | Enter a name or acronym that can be used to search for the department. |
| Memo | Enter any additional information here. |
| In hierarchy | A selected check box indicates that the department is included in the department hierarchy. For information about how to add a department to the department hierarchy, see the information later in this article. |
| DUNS number | DUNS stands for Data Universal Number System. This is a nine-digit number that is issued by Dun & Bradstreet. |
| Manager | Enter the persona that manages the department. |
| Addresses | Add the address information for the department. For example, add the mailing address for the building that the department is located in. |
| Contact information | Add contact information for the department. For example, add a telephone number for the service desk in the department. |
To add a department to the department hierarchy, follow these steps.
- Click Human Resources > Departments > Department hierarchy.
- Click Edit, and then select the organization that the department should be under.
- Click Insert, and select Department in the list.
- In the list of departments that appears, select the department to add to the hierarchy.
- Save your changes. You receive a message that a draft version of the hierarchy has been created.
- When you're ready, click Publish in the hierarchy designer. You can enter an effective date that indicates when the hierarchy should be published. For example, to add a new department at the beginning of the next calendar year, set the effective date to January 1 of the new calendar year. The changes to the hierarchy will take effect on that date.
Steps for creating a department
Refer to the Define new departments article for the step-by-step procedure for creating a new department.