Created-by on Documents

  • Updated on Apr 29, 2026
  • Published on Apr 29, 2026
  • 12 minute(s) read
  • AF
 Prev Next

App Overview

The Created by on Documents app adds a Created By field to a wide range of Business Central documents, capturing the full name of the user who originally created each document. This gives your organisation a clear, human-readable audit trail that goes beyond Business Central's built-in system fields — making it easy to see, at a glance, which team member created a sales order, purchase order, production order, transfer order, or any of the associated posted and archived documents.

When a new document is created, the app automatically records the creator's full name at the moment of insertion. This happens silently in the background with no user action required. The field is read-only, so it cannot be changed after the document is created. For documents that are copied from existing documents (for example, a new purchase order created by copying a posted invoice), the Created By field is updated to reflect the user who performed the copy — not the original creator — because a copied document is effectively a new document owned by the person who initiated it.

On posted and archived documents, the app shows an additional Posted By or Archived By field alongside the Created By field, so you can distinguish between the person who originated the document and the person who posted or archived it. This is especially useful in environments where different roles handle document creation and document approval.

Key Facts

Topic Detail
Supported open documents Sales Orders, Sales Quotes, Sales Invoices, Sales Credit Memos, Sales Return Orders, Blanket Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Purchase Quotes, Purchase Invoices, Purchase Credit Memos, Purchase Return Orders, Blanket Purchase Orders, Transfer Orders, Planned Production Orders, Firm Planned Production Orders, Released Production Orders, Finished Production Orders
Supported posted documents Posted Sales Invoices, Posted Sales Shipments, Posted Sales Credit Memos, Posted Purchase Invoices, Posted Purchase Receipts, Posted Purchase Credit Memos, Posted Transfer Shipments, Posted Transfer Receipts
Supported archived documents Sales Order Archives, Purchase Order Archives
Key field Created By — the full name of the user who created the document
Additional fields on posted/archived documents Posted By (posted sales/purchase documents), Archived By (archived documents)
Copy document behaviour When a document is copied, Created By is updated to the user performing the copy
Field editability Read-only on all pages
Backfill on activation When the app is first enabled, existing documents without a Created By value are automatically populated using system metadata

Getting Started

The app works out of the box once it is installed and enabled. There is no complex setup required.

  1. Install the Created by on Documents app from AppSource or your partner's deployment pipeline.
  2. Open Abakion App Management (search for it using the Tell Me search).
  3. Locate Created by on Documents in the list and set it to Enabled.
  4. Upon enabling, the app automatically runs a backfill process: all existing sales headers, purchase headers, production orders, transfer orders, and their posted/archived variants are populated with Created By values derived from system metadata. This may take a moment depending on data volume.
  5. Open any Sales Order (or another supported document) and confirm that the Created By field appears after the Assigned User ID field — it should display the name of the user who originally created the record.
  6. On a Posted Sales Invoice or Posted Sales Shipment, confirm that both Created By and Posted By fields appear near the top of the document.
  7. On a Sales Order Archive or Purchase Order Archive, confirm that both Created By and Archived By fields appear.
  8. Create a new document to verify that the Created By field is populated automatically with your full name upon saving.
  9. Test the copy document scenario: copy an existing sales order to a new one and verify that the Created By on the new order shows the name of the user who performed the copy.
  10. The app is now fully operational. No further configuration is needed.

Related Features

The Created by on Documents app is a standalone app with no dependencies on other Abakion apps. It integrates directly with Business Central's standard document entities (Sales, Purchase, Production, Transfer) and relies on the Abakion App Management infrastructure shared across all Abakion apps for enabling and disabling the feature. If your organisation also uses the Document Customizer app, the Created By field can be surfaced on printed document layouts, allowing the creator's name to appear on customer-facing documents.

User Stories

US-01: See who created a sales order

As a Sales Administrator
I want to see the full name of the user who created a sales order
So that I can quickly identify ownership and follow up with the right person when a question arises

Setup:

  1. Ensure the app is installed and enabled in Abakion App Management.
  2. Open the Sales Order List page.
  3. Locate the Created By column — it appears after the Assigned User ID column.
  4. Open any sales order and find the Created By field in the header area, after Assigned User ID.

Note: The field is read-only and cannot be edited manually.

US-02: See who created a purchase order

As a Purchasing Manager
I want to see the full name of the user who created a purchase order
So that I know who to contact when reviewing or approving the order

Setup:

  1. Open the Purchase Orders list or any individual Purchase Order.
  2. The Created By field appears in the header, after the Assigned User ID field.
US-03: See who created a transfer order

As a Warehouse Manager
I want to see the full name of the user who created a transfer order
So that I can track inter-location movement requests back to their originator

Setup:

  1. Open the Transfer Orders list or any individual Transfer Order.
  2. The Created By field appears in the header, after the Assigned User ID field.
US-04: See who created a production order

As a Production Planner
I want to see the full name of the user who created a production order
So that I know who initiated the manufacturing request and can coordinate accordingly

Setup:

  1. Open any of the production order list pages: Planned Production Orders, Firm Planned Production Orders, Released Production Orders, or Finished Production Orders.
  2. The Created By field appears in the header, after the Assigned User ID field.

Note: For production orders, Created By is not set for orders in the Finished status when first created — only for non-finished orders. Existing finished orders are backfilled during activation.

US-05: See who created a sales quote

As a Sales Representative
I want to see the full name of the user who originated a sales quote
So that I can attribute quotes to the correct salesperson during reviews

Setup:

  1. Open the Sales Quotes list or an individual Sales Quote.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-06: See who created a purchase quote

As a Purchaser
I want to see the full name of the user who created a purchase quote
So that I can track requests for vendor quotations back to their originator

Setup:

  1. Open the Purchase Quotes list or an individual Purchase Quote.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-07: See who created a blanket sales order

As a Sales Administrator
I want to see who created a blanket sales order
So that I can manage long-term customer agreements with clear ownership

Setup:

  1. Open Blanket Sales Orders list or an individual blanket order.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-08: See who created a blanket purchase order

As a Purchasing Manager
I want to see who created a blanket purchase order
So that I can track framework agreement ownership within the purchasing team

Setup:

  1. Open Blanket Purchase Orders list or an individual blanket order.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-09: See who posted a sales invoice

As a Finance Manager
I want to see both who created and who posted a sales invoice
So that I have a complete audit trail of document lifecycle ownership

Setup:

  1. Open the Posted Sales Invoices list or any individual Posted Sales Invoice.
  2. Near the Posting Date field, you will see both Created By (the originator of the sales order/invoice) and Posted By (the user who posted the document).
US-10: See who posted a sales shipment

As a Warehouse Supervisor
I want to see both who created and who posted a sales shipment
So that I can audit shipment operations and identify who approved goods leaving the warehouse

Setup:

  1. Open the Posted Sales Shipments list or any individual posted shipment.
  2. The Created By and Posted By fields appear near the Posting Date field.
US-11: See who posted a purchase invoice

As a Accounts Payable Clerk
I want to see who created and who posted a purchase invoice
So that I can reconcile vendor invoices and identify the responsible team member

Setup:

  1. Open the Posted Purchase Invoices list or any individual posted purchase invoice.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-12: See who posted a purchase receipt

As a Warehouse Manager
I want to see who created a purchase receipt and who posted it
So that I can track goods receiving and identify discrepancies

Setup:

  1. Open the Posted Purchase Receipts list or any individual posted receipt.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-13: See who posted a sales credit memo

As a Finance Manager
I want to see who created and posted a sales credit memo
So that I can audit refund and credit activity

Setup:

  1. Open the Posted Sales Credit Memos list or an individual posted credit memo.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-14: See who posted a purchase credit memo

As a Accounts Payable Clerk
I want to see who created and posted a purchase credit memo
So that I can trace vendor credit transactions to their originator

Setup:

  1. Open the Posted Purchase Credit Memos list or an individual posted credit memo.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-15: See who archived a sales order

As a Sales Administrator
I want to see both the original creator and the user who archived a sales order
So that I can distinguish between who raised the order and who closed it out

Setup:

  1. Open the Sales Order Archives list or an individual sales order archive entry.
  2. Near the Posting Date field, the Created By field shows the original order creator, and Archived By shows the user who performed the archiving action.
US-16: See who archived a purchase order

As a Purchasing Manager
I want to see both who created and who archived a purchase order
So that I have a clear record of order lifecycle ownership in procurement archives

Setup:

  1. Open the Purchase Order Archives list or an individual archive entry.
  2. The Created By and Archived By fields appear near the Posting Date field.
US-17: Track creator when a document is copied

As a Sales Administrator
I want to have the Created By field reflect the user who copied a document, not the original creator
So that the new document is correctly attributed to the person responsible for it going forward

Setup:

  1. Open an existing sales order or purchase order.
  2. Use the Copy Document action to create a new document based on it.
  3. On the newly created document, the Created By field shows the name of the user who performed the copy — not the creator of the source document.

Note: This behaviour applies to both sales and purchase copy document flows. It ensures the new document is attributed to its actual current owner.

US-18: Backfill Created By on existing documents when the app is first enabled

As an IT Administrator
I want to have existing documents populated with Created By values when I first activate the app
So that the field is not blank for historical documents

Setup:

  1. Open Abakion App Management and enable the Created by on Documents app.
  2. The system automatically initiates a backfill process across all supported document types (sales headers, purchase headers, production orders, transfer orders, and all posted and archived variants).
  3. The backfill uses system metadata (the internal system creator ID) to look up the corresponding user's full name and populate the Created By field.
  4. Records that already have a Created By value are skipped — only blank records are updated.

Note: On very large datasets, the backfill may take several minutes. It runs in the background and does not block normal use of Business Central.

US-19: Filter document lists by creator

As a Sales Manager
I want to filter the sales order list to show only documents created by a specific user
So that I can review an individual team member's workload or output

Setup:

  1. Open the Sales Order List.
  2. The Created By column is visible in the list view.
  3. Use Business Central's standard column filter to filter by a specific user's full name.
  4. The same filtering capability is available on all supported list pages (Purchase Orders, Transfer Orders, etc.).
US-20: See who created a sales return order

As a Sales Representative
I want to see who created a sales return order
So that I can follow up with the correct team member handling the return

Setup:

  1. Open the Sales Return Orders list or an individual sales return order.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-21: See who created a purchase return order

As a Purchaser
I want to see who created a purchase return order
So that I can coordinate vendor returns with the responsible buyer

Setup:

  1. Open the Purchase Return Orders list or an individual purchase return order.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-22: See who created a sales invoice (open)

As a Accounts Receivable Clerk
I want to see who created an open sales invoice
So that I can direct billing queries to the right person before posting

Setup:

  1. Open the Sales Invoices list or an individual open sales invoice.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-23: See who created a purchase invoice (open)

As a Accounts Payable Clerk
I want to see who created an open purchase invoice
So that I can route approval questions to the correct team member

Setup:

  1. Open the Purchase Invoices list or an individual open purchase invoice.
  2. The Created By field is visible in the document header.
US-24: See who posted/received transfer shipments and receipts

As a Warehouse Manager
I want to see who created a posted transfer shipment or transfer receipt
So that I can trace inter-location stock movements to the responsible user

Setup:

  1. Open Posted Transfer Shipments or Posted Transfer Receipts.
  2. The Created By field is visible on both the list and the individual document pages.

Field Reference

Field name Where to find it What it does Default value
Created By All supported open document pages (header area) and list pages Displays the full name of the user who originally created the document Automatically populated on document creation; backfilled from system metadata on activation
Posted By Posted Sales Invoices, Posted Sales Shipments, Posted Sales Credit Memos Displays the full name of the user who posted the document Populated dynamically from system metadata at the time of viewing
Archived By Sales Order Archives, Purchase Order Archives Displays the full name of the user who archived the document Populated dynamically from system metadata at the time of viewing
Related articles

abakion@abakion.com