GS502 – From RCS to Globalization Studio: What Changed and Why It Matters

In the past, if you wanted to manage country-specific formats or compliance configurations in Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain, you used a tool called Regulatory Configuration Service (RCS). While RCS served its purpose for many years, it was never fully integrated with Dynamics 365 itself.

Now, Microsoft has introduced Globalization Studio, a new, unified workspace built directly into the ERP system. In this article, we’ll explain why RCS is being phased out, what’s improved in Globalization Studio, and how this shift impacts your localization and compliance strategies.

This is the second article in the GS501–GS525 series. If you’re new to Globalization Studio, start with GS501 – Why Globalization Studio Matters.

🏛 What Was RCS?

Regulatory Configuration Service (RCS) was Microsoft’s cloud tool that allowed users to:

• Design electronic reports (ER)
• Manage tax, invoicing, and audit features
• Connect configurations to Finance & Supply Chain through external links

But it had limitations:

• It ran outside D365
• It required manual integration
• It lacked proper lifecycle and ALM support

RCS worked, but it wasn’t scalable for businesses operating in many countries.

🧠 Why Microsoft Retired RCS

The move to Globalization Studio was driven by real customer pain points.

👉 We explore workspace basics in GS503 – Getting Started with the Globalization Studio Workspace

🚀 What Is Globalization Studio?

Globalization Studio is a unified workspace inside Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain that combines:

• Electronic Reporting (ER)
• Business Document Management (BDM)
• Tax Calculation
• Electronic Invoicing
• Feature lifecycle and deployment tools
• Dataverse repository integration

This means you now configure, manage, test, and deploy all compliance-related features in one place, without switching tools or environments.

🔍 What Stays the Same?

For customers and consultants already familiar with RCS and ER, the core logic is unchanged.

🔧 What’s New and Better?

Here’s what Globalization Studio adds to the table:

This is especially useful in multi-country environments or where compliance changes often (e.g., e-invoicing in Italy or SAF-T in Poland).

👉 We dive into tax and invoicing setups in GS507 – Electronic Invoicing Overview and GS520 – Tax Calculation Service Basics

🧾 Real-World Example: UK and RCS Retirement

Imagine a company operating in the UK, using RCS to generate quarterly VAT returns in XML.

Before:

• RCS connected to D365 via a URL
• Users logged in separately
• Configurations had to be published manually
• Document templates required technical users to update

Now:

• Globalization Studio runs inside D365
• Business Document Management lets users update Word layouts
• ER is embedded, and VAT XML formats are version-controlled
• Submission logs and statuses are tracked automatically

🛑 Key Dates and Warnings

👉 Learn how to extend Microsoft-delivered features in GS510 – Reusing and Adapting ER Features

📋 What You Should Do Now

📘 Coming Up Next

In GS503 – Getting Started with the Globalization Studio Workspace, we’ll guide you through:

• Enabling the workspace
• Connecting to repositories
• Importing your first feature
• Understanding workspace tiles

📖 [Continue reading: GS503 – Getting Started with the Globalization Studio Workspace →]