Business Central guides
Business Central explained for finance, operations, and AL developers — licensing, finance and inventory modules, month-end, environments, and extension development.
120 guides · Last updated 2026-09-03
Business Central is the SMB ERP in the Dynamics 365 family — the SaaS successor to Dynamics NAV, with the same posting engine, dimensions, and journal-and-document model, delivered as a continuously updated cloud service. It is the right ERP for most companies between a handful and a few hundred users, and the section with the most guides on this site.
The guides split into the functional modules — finance and accounting, inventory and warehouse, sales and purchasing, manufacturing, service and projects, compliance and localisation — and the technical side: AL extension development, APIs and web services, CI/CD with AL-Go, and the admin and operations concerns of environments, permissions, telemetry, and release waves. Licensing and pricing have their own guides, and the pricing section carries current list prices with a calculator.
If you are new to the product, start with the overview and the licensing guide, then the finance module and dimensions design — dimensions are the decision that shapes every report you will ever run. Migrating from NAV, QuickBooks, NetSuite, or SAP Business One is covered in the migrations section.
Start here
- 1What is Business Central?A practical introduction to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central — the SaaS ERP for small and mid-sized businesses.
- 2Business Central licensing and pricingHow Business Central is licensed — Essentials vs Premium, Team Members, External Accountants, and what really drives total cost.
- 3Business Central pricing tiers explainedA practical look at Essentials, Premium, Team Members, External Accountants, and the hidden costs that matter beyond the SKU.
- 4The Business Central finance moduleAn overview of Business Central's financial management — general ledger, dimensions, AP/AR, banking, fixed assets, and intercompany.
- 5Designing dimensions in Business CentralHow to design a dimension structure that supports the reporting you actually need — global vs shortcut, mandatory rules, defaults, and combinations.
- 6Month-end close in Business CentralA practical month-end close checklist for Business Central — reconciliations, accruals, depreciation, inventory cost adjustment, and locking the period.
- 7Inventory and warehouse management in Business CentralHow Business Central tracks items, locations, lots, serials, and warehouse operations — from basic stock to directed put-away and pick.
- 8Business Central environments and sandboxesHow environments work in Business Central SaaS — production vs sandbox, capacity, copies, and lifecycle management.
- 9Writing your first AL extensionA first-walkthrough of building, publishing, and running a basic AL extension for Business Central — toolchain, project structure, and deployment.
- 10Business Central vs Dynamics NAVWhat changed in the move from Dynamics NAV to Business Central, and what that means for organisations still running NAV.
All Business Central guides
AL & development →(12)
- AL events and integration patternsHow AL events let extensions hook into Business Central — business events, integration events, subscriber patterns, and what to avoid.Updated 2026-08-25
- AL extension architectureHow AL extensions are structured in Business Central — objects, namespaces, app.json, dependencies, and the runtime model.Updated 2026-08-25
- AL language and runtime evolutionHow the AL language for Business Central evolved from C/AL — runtime versions, language features added wave by wave, and what AL is becoming.Updated 2026-08-25
- Business Central CI/CD with AL-GoHow AL-Go for GitHub turns an AL extension repo into a build-test-deploy pipeline — secrets, environments, and continuous delivery.Updated 2026-08-25
- Business Central web servicesThe classic OData and SOAP web services in Business Central — how they differ from the v2.0 API, and when to use them.Updated 2026-08-25
- Isolated storage and secrets in ALHow AL extensions store secrets safely — IsolatedStorage scopes, Azure Key Vault integration.Updated 2026-08-25
- Per-tenant extensions vs AppSourceWhen to ship a Business Central extension as a per-tenant (PTE) vs publishing to AppSource — distribution, validation, and lifecycle differences.Updated 2026-05-01
- The AL debugger in Business Central — a deep diveHow the AL debugger works for developing Business Central extensions — VS Code integration, snapshot debugging, attaching to sessions.Updated 2026-08-25
- The AL test frameworkWriting automated tests in AL — test codeunits, test runners, test isolation, and the libraries Microsoft ships with Business Central.Updated 2026-08-25
- The Business Central API and OData servicesHow external systems talk to Business Central — the v2.0 REST API, OData web services, bound actions, and call limits.Updated 2026-08-31
- Upgrading AL code across Business Central versionsHow to keep AL extensions working through Business Central's twice-yearly release waves — breaking changes, deprecations, and code migration patterns.Updated 2026-05-01
- Writing your first AL extensionA first-walkthrough of building, publishing, and running a basic AL extension for Business Central — toolchain, project structure, and deployment.Updated 2026-08-31
Finance & accounting →(38)
- Account schedules and financial reports in Business CentralHow Business Central's account schedules and the newer Financial Reports feature work — and how to build P&L and balance sheet reports without leaving BC.Updated 2026-08-25
- Aging reports in Business CentralHow Business Central's aging reports work — AR aging, AP aging, date-driven buckets, customisation, and the operational use in collections and cash management.Updated 2026-08-25
- Approval limits and hierarchies in Business CentralHow Business Central routes documents through approval — user approval limits, hierarchical routing, workflow user groups, and the substitute mechanism.Updated 2026-08-25
- Approval workflows in Business CentralHow approval workflows work in Business Central — built-in templates, custom workflow design, Power Automate alternatives, and approval limits.Updated 2026-08-25
- Bank deposits and cash management in Business CentralHow Business Central handles physical bank deposits, cash receipts, and the day-to-day cash management beyond bank reconciliation.Updated 2026-08-25
- Bank feeds and statement import in Business CentralHow Business Central pulls bank statement data — Envestnet Yodlee feeds, bank statement file import formats, and the data-exchange framework behind both.Updated 2026-08-25
- Bank reconciliation in Business CentralHow bank reconciliation works in Business Central — bank feeds, statement imports, AI-assisted matching, and month-end reconciliation.Updated 2026-08-31
- Budgets in Business CentralHow Business Central handles GL budgets — budget names, dimensions, Excel import, comparison to actuals, and the limits worth knowing.Updated 2026-08-25
- Cash flow forecasting in Business CentralHow Business Central's cash flow forecast pulls open sales, purchases, fixed assets, jobs, and manual entries into a forward view of liquidity.Updated 2026-05-01
- Closing the income statement and year-end in Business CentralHow Business Central handles year-end close — closing the income statement, transferring to retained earnings, locking the year, and the cutover discipline.Updated 2026-06-02
- Company Hub and multi-company navigation in Business CentralHow the Company Hub role centre and cross-company features in Business Central give finance teams a single pane across many BC companies — what works.Updated 2026-05-01
- Consolidation in Business CentralHow Business Central consolidates multiple subsidiary companies into a consolidated parent — business unit setup, the consolidation file path, eliminations.Updated 2026-05-01
- Credit card handling in Business CentralHow Business Central can integrate credit card payments — through partner connectors, the payment service framework, and the AP-side expense card workflow.Updated 2026-05-01
- Currencies and foreign exchange in Business CentralHow Business Central handles multi-currency — local vs additional reporting currency, exchange rate sources, revaluation, and rounding.Updated 2026-08-25
- Customer and vendor templates in Business CentralHow Business Central uses templates to standardise customer and vendor creation — default fields, dimensions, posting groups, and the new-record workflow.Updated 2026-05-01
- Customer credit limits and blocking in Business CentralHow Business Central handles credit-limit enforcement, customer blocking, and the integration with sales order processing and reminders.Updated 2026-05-19
- Customer hierarchies in Business CentralHow to model parent-child customer relationships in Business Central — bill-to / ship-to, customer groups, dimensions.Updated 2026-05-01
- Deferrals in Business CentralHow Business Central spreads revenue and expense across periods using deferral templates — annual subscriptions, prepaid contracts.Updated 2026-05-01
- Designing dimensions in Business CentralHow to design a dimension structure that supports the reporting you actually need — global vs shortcut, mandatory rules, defaults, and combinations.Updated 2026-08-25
- Direct debits (SEPA and others) in Business CentralHow Business Central handles customer direct debits — SEPA mandates, collection runs, R-transaction handling, and integration with bank file formats.Updated 2026-05-01
- Fixed assets in Business Central, in depthHow Business Central tracks fixed assets — depreciation books, acquisition, disposal, write-down, and the link to FA insurance and maintenance.Updated 2026-08-25
- Foreign currency revaluation in Business CentralHow Business Central revalues open foreign-currency balances at period-end — Adjust Exchange Rates, the unrealised gain/loss accounts.Updated 2026-05-01
- Incoming documents in Business CentralHow Business Central's Incoming Documents feature ingests vendor invoices and other inbound documents — OCR, AI extraction, and posting flows.Updated 2026-05-01
- Item charges in Business CentralHow item charges work in Business Central — freight, duty, insurance, and other landed costs that need to be added to inventory value.Updated 2026-05-01
- Month-end close in Business CentralA practical month-end close checklist for Business Central — reconciliations, accruals, depreciation, inventory cost adjustment, and locking the period.Updated 2026-08-31
- Payment journals deep dive in Business CentralHow the payment journal works in Business Central — suggesting vendor payments, applying entries, payment proposals, payment methods.Updated 2026-05-01
- Payment terms and methods in Business CentralHow Business Central models payment terms, payment methods, payment discounts, and the integration with bank file generation.Updated 2026-05-01
- Posting groups in Business CentralHow Business Central uses posting groups to translate sub-ledger transactions to GL accounts — general, specific, and inventory posting groups.Updated 2026-05-01
- Prepayments in Business CentralHow Business Central handles prepayments — sales and purchase prepayment invoices, GL impact, and the integration with order processing.Updated 2026-05-01
- Reason codes in Business CentralHow Business Central uses reason codes to classify transactions — returns, inventory adjustments, credit memos — and the reporting they enable.Updated 2026-05-01
- Recurring journals in Business CentralHow to use recurring journals in Business Central for periodic postings — fixed amounts, variable amounts, allocations, and expiration dates.Updated 2026-05-01
- Reminders and finance charges in Business CentralHow Business Central handles customer payment reminders and finance charge memos — terms, levels, escalation, and the integration with collections.Updated 2026-05-01
- Reverse and undo in Business CentralHow Business Central handles corrections — undo shipment, undo receipt, reversing journals, correcting credit memos, and the audit trail they leave.Updated 2026-05-01
- Sales prices and price lists in Business CentralHow Business Central handles pricing — the modern price list model, prioritisation, discounts, and the migration from the old per-customer pricing tables.Updated 2026-05-01
- Salesperson configuration and commissions in Business CentralHow Business Central tracks salesperson assignments and computes basic commissions — and where the limits are for serious incentive compensation.Updated 2026-05-01
- The Business Central finance moduleAn overview of Business Central's financial management — general ledger, dimensions, AP/AR, banking, fixed assets, and intercompany.Updated 2026-08-30
- The cost adjustment job in Business CentralWhy Business Central separates inventory cost adjustment from posting — how the Adjust Cost - Item Entries batch works, when it runs.Updated 2026-05-01
- The standard cost worksheet in Business CentralHow Business Central's standard cost worksheet helps maintain and revalue standard-cost items — annual cost rolls, what-if analysis, and the GL impact.Updated 2026-05-01
Inventory & warehouse →(19)
- ABC analysis and slow-moving items in Business CentralHow to identify high-value and slow-moving inventory in Business Central — ABC classification, inventory ageing, and the operational actions that follow.Updated 2026-08-25
- Assembly orders in Business CentralHow Business Central handles assembly orders — assembly BOMs, assemble-to-order vs assemble-to-stock, and when to use assembly vs production orders.Updated 2026-08-25
- Bin setup and warehouse classes in Business CentralHow bin codes, bin contents, bin types, and warehouse classes shape inventory placement and picking in Business Central.Updated 2026-08-25
- Cycle counting and physical inventory in Business CentralHow Business Central handles inventory counting — physical inventory journals, cycle counting, item counting periods, and the reconciliation discipline.Updated 2026-05-27
- Inventory and warehouse management in Business CentralHow Business Central tracks items, locations, lots, serials, and warehouse operations — from basic stock to directed put-away and pick.Updated 2026-08-30
- Inventory costing methods in Business Central, comparedFIFO, LIFO, Average, Standard, and Specific — what each costing method means, and how to choose the right one in Business Central.Updated 2026-08-25
- Item attributes and variants in Business CentralHow Business Central handles product variations — variants for stock-keeping, attributes for searching, and where the model fits and where it doesn't.Updated 2026-08-31
- Item availability and order promising in Business CentralHow Business Central computes item availability — on-hand, projected, ATP, CTP.Updated 2026-06-04
- Item categories in Business CentralHow to structure a Business Central catalogue with item categories — hierarchy, defaults, attributes, and the integration with templates and reporting.Updated 2026-05-01
- Item substitutes and cross-references in Business CentralHow Business Central handles item alternatives — substitutes when stock is short, cross-references for customer / vendor part numbers.Updated 2026-05-21
- Item templates in Business CentralHow item templates standardise product creation in Business Central — defaults, categories, and the integration with item attributes.Updated 2026-05-01
- Item tracking — lots and serial numbers in Business CentralHow Business Central's item tracking handles lot and serial numbers — tracking codes, the item tracking lines window, picking specific lots, expiration dates.Updated 2026-05-01
- Locations and transfer routes in Business CentralHow Business Central handles multi-location inventory — location cards, in-transit, transfer routes, transfer orders.Updated 2026-05-01
- Master data management in Business CentralHow Business Central synchronises master data across multiple companies — the source/subscriber model, conflict resolution, and operational considerations.Updated 2026-05-01
- Number series in Business CentralHow Business Central generates document numbers — number series, relations, date-driven sequences, gap-handling, and the common pitfalls.Updated 2026-05-01
- Physical inventory orders in Business CentralHow to run a physical inventory count in Business Central — counting periods, physical inventory journals, count discrepancies.Updated 2026-08-25
- The Business Central planning worksheetHow MRP works in Business Central — the planning worksheet, reordering policies, supply, demand, and the regenerative engine behind it.Updated 2026-08-31
- The Business Central reservation engineHow reservations work in Business Central — automatic vs manual, item tracking, order-to-order binding, and the trade-offs.Updated 2026-08-25
- Warehouse pick and put-away in Business CentralHow Business Central's warehouse module organises inbound put-away and outbound picking — the three warehouse modes, directed put-away and pick.Updated 2026-05-01
Service & projects →(5)
- Jobs vs Projects in Business CentralThe 2023 rename of Jobs to Projects in Business Central — what changed, what didn't, and how the renaming affects extensions, reports, and people.Updated 2026-08-25
- Projects in Business CentralHow Business Central handles project accounting, resourcing, time, and billing — and when to step up to Project Operations.Updated 2026-08-31
- Service Management in Business CentralBusiness Central's service module — service items, contracts, work orders, dispatch, and where the limits sit.Updated 2026-08-25
- Time sheets in Business CentralHow time sheets work in Business Central — resource time capture, project posting, approval workflow, and integration with payroll.Updated 2026-05-01
- Work in progress (WIP) and recognition for projects in Business CentralHow Business Central recognises revenue and cost on projects — the four WIP methods, completion percentages, and how WIP entries hit the general ledger.Updated 2026-05-01
Sales & purchasing →(4)
- Blocked items and customers in Business CentralHow block fields on items, customers, and vendors prevent transactions in Business Central — the three block levels, when each applies.Updated 2026-08-25
- Electronic document sending in Business CentralHow Business Central sends electronic documents — PEPPOL, country-specific formats, document exchange services, and the operational rhythms of e-invoicing.Updated 2026-08-25
- Sales and purchasing in Business CentralHow the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay flows work in Business Central — quotes, orders, invoicing, requisitions, and approvals.Updated 2026-08-30
- The marketing and relationships module in Business CentralBusiness Central's built-in contact-and-relationship management — when it works, when Dynamics 365 Sales is the better answer.Updated 2026-05-01
Compliance & localisation →(6)
- Country setup and localisation in Business CentralWhat's involved in setting up Business Central for a specific country — Microsoft's country versions, partner localisations, and the typical regional pattern.Updated 2026-05-01
- Document layouts and report design in Business CentralCustomising invoices, statements, and other Business Central documents — Word and RDLC layouts, per-customer and per-language selection, and PDF generation.Updated 2026-05-01
- Email setup and outgoing email in Business CentralHow Business Central sends email — email accounts, scenarios, templates, and the integration with Microsoft 365.Updated 2026-05-01
- Multi-language setup in Business CentralHow Business Central handles multiple user languages and customer-facing language — translations, customer language codes, document layouts, and the limits.Updated 2026-05-01
- Sustainability in Business CentralHow Business Central's Sustainability module tracks emissions and environmental data — emission scopes, accounting.Updated 2026-05-01
- VAT and sales tax setup in Business CentralHow Business Central calculates and reports VAT — VAT posting groups, EU rules, OSS, reverse charge, and country reporting.Updated 2026-08-31
Admin & ops →(21)
- Application areas in Business CentralHow Application Areas in Business Central control which features users see — Basic, Essential, Premium.Updated 2026-08-25
- Batch posting in Business CentralHow Business Central handles batch posting of journals, orders, and documents — performance, background processing, and the trade-offs against single posting.Updated 2026-08-25
- Business Central environments and sandboxesHow environments work in Business Central SaaS — production vs sandbox, capacity, copies, and lifecycle management.Updated 2026-08-30
- Business Central feature managementHow Business Central's Feature Management page lets administrators preview, opt-in to, or delay new features within a release wave.Updated 2026-08-25
- Business Central integrations with the Power Platform and Microsoft 365How Business Central plugs into Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and Copilot.Updated 2026-08-25
- Business Central licensing and pricingHow Business Central is licensed — Essentials vs Premium, Team Members, External Accountants, and what really drives total cost.Updated 2026-08-30
- Business Central on-premises vs SaaSThe real differences between Business Central on-premises and the SaaS (online) deployment — features, customisations, costs.Updated 2026-08-25
- Business Central performance tuningWhere Business Central performance problems come from, and the AL and configuration patterns that fix them — keys, queries, locking, and async jobs.Updated 2026-08-25
- Business Central pricing tiers explainedA practical look at Essentials, Premium, Team Members, External Accountants, and the hidden costs that matter beyond the SKU.Updated 2026-08-31
- Business Central release waves explainedHow Microsoft's twice-yearly release waves work for Business Central — preview, general availability, mandatory updates, and managed extensions.Updated 2026-08-30
- Business Central telemetry and monitoringHow to wire Business Central into Application Insights, what to watch for, and how to use telemetry to diagnose and prevent incidents.Updated 2026-08-25
- Change log and audit trail in Business CentralHow Business Central's change log tracks data changes — configuration, performance impact, retrieval, and compliance use.Updated 2026-05-01
- Data migration into Business CentralHow to plan and run a Business Central data migration — what moves, what doesn't, and the tools that get you there.Updated 2026-08-25
- Document attachments in Business CentralHow Business Central stores attached files — the Attached Documents pattern, OneDrive and SharePoint integration, retention.Updated 2026-05-01
- Multi-company setup in Business CentralHow Business Central handles multiple companies and legal entities — separate databases, shared master data, intercompany, and consolidations.Updated 2026-08-31
- Page personalization in Business CentralHow Business Central users personalize pages — column choices, layouts, FactBox visibility, and the line between personalization, customization, and extension.Updated 2026-08-25
- Permissions and security in Business CentralHow Business Central security really works — permission sets, user groups, security filters, and the data residency boundaries you should know about.Updated 2026-08-25
- Printers and print management in Business CentralHow Business Central handles printing — cloud printer setup, Universal Print, document-to-printer routing, and the patterns for warehouse and retail printing.Updated 2026-08-25
- RapidStart Services in Business CentralHow RapidStart Services accelerates Business Central setup — configuration packages, questionnaires, worksheets.Updated 2026-08-25
- Role centers and personalization in Business CentralHow Business Central's role-tailored experience works — role centers, profiles, personalization, and tenant-wide customisation.Updated 2026-05-01
- The job queue in Business CentralHow Business Central's job queue runs scheduled and background work — categories, parallelism, error handling, and operating discipline.Updated 2026-05-01
Overview →(1)
Comparisons →(6)
- Business Central vs AcumaticaBusiness Central vs Acumatica — per-user versus consumption pricing, construction, distribution and manufacturing editions, customisation platforms, partner channels, and fit.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central vs NetSuiteBusiness Central vs NetSuite for mid-market ERP — pricing models, multi-entity depth, customisation, the Microsoft 365 factor, and which one fits which company.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central vs OdooBusiness Central vs Odoo — open-source modular ERP versus Microsoft's SMB ERP: pricing, breadth, accounting depth, localisation, customisation, hosting, and who each one suits.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central vs QuickBooksBusiness Central vs QuickBooks Online — accounting software versus ERP, the signs you have outgrown QuickBooks, cost, inventory, multi-entity, and how the migration works.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central vs Sage IntacctBusiness Central vs Sage Intacct — financial management depth versus full ERP, dimensions, multi-entity, inventory and operations, pricing models, and which fits which company.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central vs XeroBusiness Central vs Xero — cloud accounting versus ERP, unlimited users versus per-user pricing, inventory and multi-entity limits, and when a Xero business should move up.Updated 2026-09-03
Troubleshooting →(6)
- AL compiler errors in Business CentralThe AL compiler errors every Business Central developer hits — AL0118, AL0132, AL0185, AL0296, AL0432, AL0603, AL0604, ID-range and symbol errors — with cause, fix, and prevention.Updated 2026-09-03
- AL runtime errors in Business CentralThe Business Central runtime errors AL developers and admins meet most — record already exists, does not exist, modified by another user, string length, locks and deadlocks, G/L inconsistency — with fixes.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central API errorsBusiness Central API and OData errors decoded — Authentication_InvalidCredentials, BadRequest_ResourceNotFound, Internal_CompanyNotFound, Request_EntityChanged, Application_DialogException, 429 limits, custom API 404s.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central job queue errorsWhy Business Central job queue entries fail or stall — Error status, stuck In Process, entries that never run, permission and user problems, overlapping jobs, sandbox copies, reports needing parameters — with fixes.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central journal and document posting errorsBusiness Central posting errors that are not posting groups — allowed posting dates, dimension code mandatory, number series, blocked customers and items, nothing to post, warehouse handling, approvals.Updated 2026-09-03
- Business Central posting setup errorsThe Business Central posting group errors — Gen. Posting Setup, VAT Posting Setup, Customer and Vendor Posting Group, Inventory Posting Setup, Direct Posting, blocked accounts — with cause, fix, prevention.Updated 2026-09-03