What is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central?

A dramatic digital evolution is underway at Microsoft and with it comes a new era of simplification and unity for clients who rely on the organisation’s enterprise business applications to deliver ever more sophisticated solutions, with actionable insights and automated workflows. Welcome to: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

On 2nd April 2018, Microsoft unveiled a groundbreaking suite of updates to its Dynamics 365 platform that will deliver a full-throttle, end-to-end business management solution – an ERP system that helps your operations connect and grow in the process. What’s more, all this promise comes with a reassuringly low total cost of ownership (TCO) for the organisations who’ll want to exploit its credentials and capabilities.

Fundamental to its value as an ultra-unifying, mid-range ERP system product is its capability to integrate with a raft of Microsoft-allied cloud services and extend them further. However, the real key to its appeal will undoubtedly be the pull of its in-built Dynamics NAV functionality, which now takes its client-critical features to the cloud and empowers users with the flexibility of traditional, yet very trusted technologies, previously known as NAV.

Then there’s the scalability. The ease with which Business Central can adapt to changing business needs, growing and evolving with them, will reassure those tempted to buy into the Dynamics 365 movement that their investment will prove to be the cost-effective transformation they seek. Moreover, considering the value to be leveraged through integration with other cloud services, including Office 365 and Sharepoint, and the customisation that PowerApps, Microsoft Flow and Power BI, for example, can deliver, the scope to extend this solution certainly makes the business case for Business Central a compelling one.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – the end-to-end view

Essentially, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an end-to-end ERP system that integrates, manages, automates, and optimises every area of your operations and helps you sell smarter and with more insight. Here’s an overview of its key features:

Your financials managed

integration Dynamics 365 business central

The data you collect from every sales, accounting, purchasing, and inventory interaction is connected seamlessly within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to deliver a complete, end-to-end view of your business – and, thankfully, that means an end to data silos. Built-in, user-friendly Power BI dashboards make charting financial performance in real time straightforward – add that to your newly unified intelligence and more insightful, informed decisions are firmly within reach.

If you’re looking for faster, meticulous financial closing and reporting, Business Central will deliver streamlined accounts receivable and payable that are automatically reconciled and consistently compliant. Forecasting has also become a more precise exercise as data can be modelled and analysed across a myriad dimensions and can be customised to suit your business model.

Your supply chain automated and secured

The supply chain is another area where customers are likely to achieve significant ROI with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – from the intelligence that accurately predicts when you should replenish your inventory levels so you buy only what you need, to the savings you make when you’re advised when to pay vendors to exploit discounts or avoid penalties.

Approval workflows help to eliminate any unwanted or fraudulent transactions while lost sales and reduced shortages are avoided thanks to the automated calculation of stock levels, lead-time, and reorder points. The time and cost savings of this feature alone make it worthy of serious consideration.

Your sales and customer service enhanced

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an ERP system that is as much about delivering value to your business model as it is to your customers at every touchpoint. You’ll sell smarter by keeping track of every interaction, which will ensure you’re able to prioritise sales leads based on revenue potential and the best upsell, cross-sell and renewal throughout the sales lifecycle. On top of that, integration with Microsoft Outlook can boost sales productivity by expediting the challenging quote-to-cash process.

When it comes to customer service, the overview you’ll see of your workload and service tasks and which sits alongside your employees’ skills will help you assign your resources to deliver an exceptional service that works harder to respond and resolve – and that should strengthen your relationships too.

Your projects made agile

The value to be achieved through leaner, more agile project performance is critical and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP system is helping to make that happen. Timesheets with advanced job costing and reporting capabilities make it easy to manage and track projects more effectively and to develop, modify and control them to ensure they’re as profitable as you’ve calculated.

Using tools that manage resource levels and tracking invoicing against costs, project planning is simplified, yet infinitely more precise while project insights and resource-usage metrics make for effective decision-making and real-time performance analysis.

Your operations optimised

Sales forecasts and anticipated stock-outs are a key feature of this ERP system and can be used to generate production plans and purchase orders automatically and a holistic view of inventory that tracks every item ensures operations are managed from forecasting to fulfilment. The capability to improve production schedules and optimise output is enhanced because manufacturing capacity is transparent and easily calculated.

To summarise what is business case for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central:

  • You’ll enjoy the full power of Microsoft Dynamics NAV – plus all the freedom and cost-savings of a flexible cloud-based ERP system.
  • Key features that were exclusive to Dynamics NAV – manufacturing, warehousing and cost accounting, and consolidation – are part and parcel of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
  • Business Central means business without data silos; it’s the opportunity to unify all areas of a business and supercharge its efficiencies with automated tasks and workflows that integrate with the tools and services you’re already familiar with.
  • You’ll be more empowered with actionable insights; business analytics and unified data give a consistently clear and uniquely complete view of a business.
  • A range of enterprise applications or plans are designed to fit different business models on a low TCO and, thanks to its flexibility, an impressive return on investment
  • It’s a solution that’s built to evolve – Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was designed as a transformative ERP system that enables users to implement and start quickly, grow with them and be sufficiently flexible to adapt to changing business needs in real-time.

Is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central right for you?

When you consider what Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central actually delivers; a single, end-to-end ERP system that manages finances, operations, sales, and customer services on a single cloud-based platform, it’s clear an ERP deployment such as this has the capacity and flexibility to effect a weighty commercial transformation.

Whether you’re considering upgrading your entry-level accounting software or legacy ERP system, implementing Business Central with a trusted Microsoft Dynamics partner who speaks your language, understands your industry, and has proven experience of implementing Dynamics ERP systems that will ensure you get it right the first time with the ongoing support you need.

Couple that with the reassurance you’ll get from buying a Microsoft product, the familiarity of its user interface and the brand’s unrivalled integration qualities and it’s really down to whether the product’s capabilities match your business model and its demands that will drive your adoption.

Existing Microsoft owners, including those who are already reliant on the ever-dependable Dynamics NAV will appreciate how the pressure of implementation can be alleviated with the brand’s global partnering expertise and might wish to consolidate their investment by making the move to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. However, since Microsoft’s technologies are designed to accommodate transformative change, many may prefer to watch how its ERP systems coalesce further in this exciting era of digital transformation.

accounting & dynamics 365 business central

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is suited to a number of diverse industries, finance, retail, distribution, drinks, project costings and professional services sectors and is priced reassuringly competitively for the mid-market. Accountants looking to take their practices to the next level will find the increased productivity, collaborative features and reporting tools presented by Dynamics 365 – Accountant Hub an inspired solution that can certainly add value to their client offering.

It’s worth remembering that Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is built on a foundation of trusted technologies that have served 160,000 customers and many millions of users around the world. Talking to a Microsoft Dynamics Partner who’ll give you the confidence that Business Central will align with and enhance your business strategy should be your first step in your decision to join them.

If you want to find out more about Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central features and pricing, or our overall ERP system, please get in touch with us today.