Microsoft Dynamics 365
Business Central, recommended only when it is the right answer
Most consultancies work with one ERP platform, so the recommendation is decided before the first meeting. We work with both Business Central and SAP Business One, which means we can tell you which suits your business — including when the answer is the one we would earn less from.
- Implementation, support and optimisation
- Honest comparison against SAP Business One
- Independent — not a Microsoft reseller
Why people call us
Where Business Central projects come unstuck
The platform is capable and well supported. The difficulties we are called into are almost always about fit, finance design, or what happened after go-live.
It was chosen because it is Microsoft
The reasoning was that everything else is Microsoft, which is a real advantage — but it was never tested against how the business actually operates.
The finance design came second
Configuration was led by operations, and the finance team met the system at training. The chart of accounts and dimensions reflect that.
Dimensions were not thought through
Business Central reports on dimensions rather than a long account code. Set up without a reporting design behind them, they produce analysis nobody can use.
Update waves arrive unplanned
Microsoft ships major updates on a regular cadence. Without a testing routine, each one is a surprise rather than a scheduled event.
Customisation was built the old way
Work carried over from Dynamics NAV thinking, rather than built as extensions, which is what makes updates painful.
Support does not know the configuration
The implementing partner moved on, and the replacement is answering tickets without understanding why anything was set up as it was.
How we work
Platform advice from a team with nothing to protect
We have no reseller relationship with Microsoft or with SAP. That is stated plainly in our footer, and it is the reason a comparison from us is worth reading.
Business Central is a genuinely strong product, and for a good number of businesses it is the better choice — particularly where Microsoft 365 is already central to how people work, where a cloud-first deployment is preferred, and where Power BI and the wider Power Platform are going to be used properly rather than mentioned in a proposal. We implement it, support it, and extend it.
What we will not do is present it as the answer before understanding the question. When we run a selection exercise, we look at how you manufacture or distribute, what your reporting has to produce, how your finance function actually closes a month, and what your team already uses. Sometimes that points to Business Central, sometimes to SAP Business One, and occasionally to neither — the honest answer for some businesses is that their current system is fine and the real problem is process.
Our finance background matters here as much as it does on the SAP side. Business Central’s dimension model is powerful and is the single most commonly mishandled part of an implementation: designed against the reporting the board actually wants, it is excellent; set up as an afterthought, it produces analysis that cannot be used and is expensive to restructure later.
What independence means here
- No reseller margin on either platform
- Selection advice before implementation advice
- A written recommendation with the reasoning shown
- We will tell you if neither platform is the answer
Services
What we do with Business Central
Platform selection
A structured assessment against SAP Business One and your current system, ending in a written recommendation with the reasoning set out.
Implementation
Scoping, chart of accounts and dimension design, configuration, migration, testing and go-live — with finance involved from the first workshop.
Support and optimisation
Ongoing support from consultants who learn your configuration, including update-wave testing and getting unused modules into service.
Finance configuration review
Assessment of an existing implementation: dimensions, posting groups, reporting structure and the reconciliations behind the close.
Integration
Connecting Business Central to e-commerce, warehouse, CRM and third-party systems through its APIs, with failure handling designed in.
Reporting and Power BI
Financial and operational reporting built on a dimension structure that supports it, extended into Power BI where that genuinely adds something.
Implementation
How a Business Central rollout runs
The same discipline we apply to SAP Business One: design agreed on paper, migration rehearsed and reconciled, and the first month-end close supported rather than handed over.
Discover
Process walkthroughs across finance, sales, purchasing and stock, plus a clear statement of what the reporting has to produce.
- Process observation
- Reporting requirements
- Data quality review
Design
Chart of accounts and — critically — the dimension model, posting groups, document flows and approvals. Written down and approved before configuration.
- Dimension design
- Posting group structure
- Signed solution design
Configure
Built in stages against the design, with working demonstrations on your own data rather than a single reveal at the end.
- Staged build
- Demonstrations on your data
- Change log maintained
Migrate
Master data, open items and balances loaded through supported routes, rehearsed at least twice and reconciled each time.
- Rehearsed loads
- Full reconciliation
- Finance sign-off
Test
User acceptance testing to agreed scripts on a copy of your own data, including the edge cases that break systems.
- UAT scripts
- Edge and failure cases
- Written sign-off
Go live and close
A planned cutover with a fallback position, then support through the first month-end close in the new system.
- Cutover plan
- Hypercare
- First close supported
Support
Support and optimisation after go-live
Business Central changes underneath you on a regular update cadence. Support has to account for that rather than react to it.
Ongoing support works the same way as it does on the SAP side: we start with a review of your configuration, customisations and integrations, write it up into a system profile you own, and then support against that knowledge rather than against a ticket description. You deal with named consultants, with response times agreed in writing and graded by business impact.
The difference on Business Central is the update cadence. Microsoft ships major updates on a regular schedule, and a business without a testing routine experiences each one as a surprise. We test your extensions, integrations and key processes against each wave in a sandbox before it reaches your production environment, so an update is a scheduled event with a known outcome.
Support also covers the work that stops a system stagnating: getting modules you are licensed for into actual use, correcting a dimension structure that is not delivering the reporting it was meant to, and removing manual steps that have quietly become part of the monthly routine.
- Named consultants who know your configuration
- Update waves tested in a sandbox first
- Extension and integration regression testing
- Response times graded by business impact
- A system profile document you own
Honest comparison
SAP Business One or Business Central?
Both are mature, capable ERP systems for mid-sized businesses, and both will run a company well when implemented properly. The differences that actually decide it are below. We work with both and earn similar amounts either way.
SAP Business One leans ahead when
SAP’s ERP for small and mid-sized businesses
- Stock and distribution complexity is high — batches, serials, bin locations and multi-warehouse are core rather than added
- You want a choice of database platform, SQL Server or SAP HANA, and control over where the system runs
- You need on-premises deployment, or a specific hosting arrangement, rather than cloud-only
- Light and mid-range manufacturing with bills of material and MRP is central to the business
- You prefer a slower, more predictable release cadence with upgrades taken on your own schedule
- You want deep, low-level extensibility through the SDK and Service Layer
Business Central leans ahead when
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Microsoft 365 is genuinely central to how your team works — Outlook, Excel and Teams integration is a real daily advantage
- You want cloud-first SaaS with Microsoft handling the infrastructure and updates
- Power BI and the Power Platform are going to be used seriously rather than named in a proposal
- Your reporting needs are dimensional and suit an analysis-code model rather than a long account structure
- You want a large UK partner and app ecosystem, with AppSource extensions for niche requirements
- Your organisation is already committed to Azure and Microsoft identity and security tooling
What rarely decides it: headline licence cost, which looks similar once implementation, integration and support are included. What usually decides it: how you manufacture or hold stock, what your reporting has to produce, whether cloud-only is acceptable, and how much of your working day already happens inside Microsoft 365. Note that Business Central’s manufacturing and service management functionality sits in the higher licence tier, which is worth confirming early if either matters to you.
Technical capability
How we work on Business Central
Financials
- Chart of accounts and dimension design
- Posting groups and account schedules
- Bank reconciliation and payment handling
- VAT and Making Tax Digital submissions
- Multi-currency and consolidation
- Period close and year-end routines
Operations
- Sales and purchase document flows
- Item setup, costing methods and locations
- Warehouse and inventory management
- Manufacturing, BOMs and routings
- Approval workflows
- Jobs and project accounting
Extension and integration
- AL extensions rather than base modification
- Per-tenant extensions and AppSource apps
- Business Central APIs and OData endpoints
- Power Automate and Logic Apps flows
- Dataverse and Power Platform integration
- Third-party and e-commerce interfaces
Reporting
- Account schedules and financial reports
- Dimension-based analysis
- Power BI models and reports
- Excel and Outlook integration
- Operational dashboards
Platform
- Cloud and on-premises deployment
- Sandbox environments for testing
- Update wave planning and regression testing
- Permission sets and user administration
- Licence tier assessment
Migration
- From Dynamics NAV
- From Sage, QuickBooks and legacy systems
- Master data cleansing and mapping
- Rehearsed and reconciled loads
- Opening balance sign-off
What changes
What a well-run Business Central system delivers
A dimension model that reports
Analysis by the dimensions the board actually manages by, designed at the start rather than restructured expensively later.
Updates that are routine
Each wave tested in a sandbox before it reaches production, so a scheduled update stops being a risk event.
Microsoft 365 actually leveraged
Outlook, Excel and Teams integration used where it removes work, rather than listed as a feature nobody switched on.
A close that holds together
Posting groups and reconciliations designed by people who understand what the month-end has to produce.
Extensions that survive
Customisation built as extensions rather than base modification, so updates remain routine.
What to expect
The shape of a Business Central engagement
Selection exercise
One to two weeks, ending in a written recommendation comparing Business Central, SAP Business One and staying put, with the reasoning shown.
Implementation
Typically three to five months for a single-entity business, longer with manufacturing, multiple companies or significant integration.
Configuration review
Three to five days on an existing system, ending in a written assessment of the dimension model, posting structure and close process.
Support
Monthly, with named consultants, agreed response times and update-wave testing included. No long tie-in.
Licensing
Bought from Microsoft or through a Microsoft partner. We are not a reseller, so we have no margin either way and will tell you plainly which tier you need.
Fit
Whether this is the right conversation
A good fit if
- You are choosing between Business Central and another ERP system
- You run Business Central and the reporting is not delivering what was promised
- Your implementing partner has moved on
- Update waves are disruptive rather than routine
- Microsoft 365 is central to your business and you want that properly exploited
- You want a platform recommendation from someone with no reseller margin
Probably not us if
- You want to buy licences at the lowest price with no advice
- You need a partner to confirm a decision that has already been made
- You need enterprise Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations rather than Business Central
Common questions
Questions we are asked before a project starts
Are you a Microsoft partner?
No. Oskar Systems is an independent consultancy and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a reseller for Microsoft. We provide consultancy, implementation and support services around Business Central. Licences are bought from Microsoft or through a Microsoft partner, and we work alongside whoever holds that relationship. Because we take no reseller margin on either platform, our comparison between Business Central and SAP Business One is genuinely neutral.
Which should we choose — SAP Business One or Business Central?
It depends mainly on four things: how complex your stock and manufacturing are, what your reporting has to produce, whether cloud-only deployment is acceptable, and how much of your working day already happens inside Microsoft 365. The comparison section on this page sets out where each leans ahead. In a selection exercise we assess your processes against both and give you a written recommendation with the reasoning shown, so you can disagree with it on the evidence.
What happens when Microsoft releases an update?
Business Central receives major updates on a regular cadence. Under our support arrangement we test your extensions, integrations and key processes in a sandbox environment before an update reaches production, so you know in advance whether anything needs attention. Businesses that experience updates as disruptive are almost always ones without that routine.
Can you take over support for an existing Business Central system?
Yes. We start with a review of the configuration, extensions and integrations so we understand what we are taking on, and we write that up into a system profile you own. Where we find something that needs correcting before ongoing support starts — most often the dimension structure — we will say so and quote it separately.
Do you migrate from Dynamics NAV?
Yes. The important decisions in a NAV to Business Central move are which customisations to rebuild as extensions, which to retire because standard functionality now covers them, and how much history to bring across. Rebuilding everything as it was is usually the most expensive option and rarely the right one.
Why would an ERP consultancy recommend against its own service?
Because the alternative is worse for both of us. An implementation on the wrong platform, or a business that did not actually need a new system, produces a difficult project and a client who would not recommend us. We would rather lose a sale than spend eighteen months on a project that was mis-specified at the start.
Related
Where to go next
SAP Business One
The other platform we work with, and the one we are deepest in technically.
Read more
ERP + Accounting
Why the finance function and the system are better designed by the same team.
Read more
Accounting & Finance
Bookkeeping and management reporting run inside Business Central itself.
Read more
Still deciding between platforms?
Tell us how you operate and what your reporting has to produce. We will give you a straight recommendation — and we have no reseller margin riding on which way it goes.
Or call +44 7493 619245 — Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:30.