Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Field Guide
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Field Guide
Your companion to a successful implementation. Tips to get ahead as you venture into the cloud
About the Book
Welcome to the Field Guide for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Business Central used to be Dynamics NAV and before that Navision. NAV has always been a partner-driven application. Customers buy the software at a partner, and the partner helps with implementation. A great model that has worked for over a million users across the globe.
Now Business Central is a cloud offering; there’s no longer an installation. You no longer need an IT guy to install it and then a consultant to help you set it up. You can do that yourself. Most customers still chose to get the consultant help to make sure you’re doing it right and to ensure a great start.
This book is written to help customers who venture into Business Central, with or without external help. Written to help understand the system and ensure a great experience starting with Business Central. The book is not written to be read from cover to cover. Instead, it’s meant to be a Field Guide. A companion book to help you through the implementation. And later, when you need information on a specific topic or if you need a bit of inspiration. The documentation from Microsoft is pretty good, and I’ll provide links for deep dive and background information.
The book will be published on a continues schedule on LeanPub, and you buy access to download the book again and again after purchase. I will make regular updates whenever something changes and when Microsoft introduces new versions and functionality.
Business Central covers a vast area of functionality, and the book includes the areas and issues I encounter in my daily work with Business Central customers. I'll add new chapters and details based on my experience and reader feedback.
I’m using an English language layer on my Business Central throughout this book. If your Business Central is not in English, switch temporarily to English in My Settings to more comfortable being able to follow the instructions.
If you cannot find the answer you need in the book, feel free to contact me. I’m always open to suggestions for the next topic.
About the Author
Reader Testimonials
Eva Dupont
Microsoft Snr. Content PM
Switching to a new system for managing your accounting and other aspects of running a company is not always easy. This book takes you by the hand and walks you through the first few days with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. I recommend the book to anyone who is new to Dynamics 365 Business Central and wants someone to explain how key processes work.
James Crowter
Dynamics MVP
There is an old saying "there’s no substitute for experience", well now for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central there is, it’s this book. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been using NAV, I’m confident this book will teach you something, elevate yourself to hero status among your fellow users and take control by reading it cover to cover. This might be one fieldcraft book your life doesn’t depend on but your system's health does.
Table of Contents
- Overview of the Book
-
Introduction
- About Erik Hougaard
- Modules in Business Central
- History of Business Central
- Relationship to Dynamics NAV
- Relationship to other Dynamics Products
- Intelligent Cloud
-
Signing up for Business Central
- Trial Version
- Microsoft Partner
- AAD Account
- CSP
- Business Central License Types
- Office 365
- Azure
- Business Central in different countries
-
Deploying Business Central On-Premises
- The difference between Business Central On-Premises and in the cloud
- Why would I select the on-premises version
- On-Premises Installation, Best Practice
- Intelligent Cloud
- Local Extensions
-
Getting Started With Business Central
- Admin Center
- Setting Up Users
- Navigating the System
- Shortcut Keys
- Filters
- Production vs. Sandbox
- Phones and Tablets
- Printing in the cloud
- Migrating from other systems to Business Central
- Excel Integration
- Configuration Packages, aka RapidStart
- Custom Report Layouts
- Irreversible Features
- Setting up the intelligent cloud migration
-
The First Company
- Assisted Setup
- Setup Overview
- Chart Of Accounts
- Dimensions
- Accounting Periods
- Budgets
- How to Number Documents
- Posting Setup
- Tax/VAT Setup
- Opening Balance
- Bank Integration
- Exchange Rates
- Setting up Approvals and Workflow
- Intercompany Posting
- Customers and Vendors
- Sales and Purchase Documents
- Inventory
-
Daily Operation
- Master Data Maintenance
- Journals, Journals and more Journals
- Payments to Vendors
- Keeping track of your business
- Inventory Cost Adjustment
- Updating Exchange Rates
- Use the Job Queue to automate operations
- Schedule Reports
- Deferral Posting
- Handling expenses and reimbursements
- What about backups?
- Time-Saving Tricks
-
Periodic Operations
- Financial Reporting with Account Schedules
- Count Inventory
- Reminders
- Month End Close
- Year-End
- Closing Inventory Periods
- Calculate and Post Tax Settlement
-
Advanced Features
- Project Management (Jobs)
- Jobs and Time Sheets
- Jobs monitoring, invoicing and WIP
- Working with multiple companies
-
How to Customize Business Central the right way
- Profiles and role centers - Give your users the right experience
- Personalizations, the first level of customizations
- Extensions, using the page designer
- Report Layouts
- Extending Business Central with Apps
- Create your own extension with Visual Studio Code
-
Integrating Business Central with the World
- Email Integration
- Dynamics 365 for Sales
- Expose Web Services to the World
- Consuming web services
- Integration with PowerBI
- Integration with PowerApps
-
Final Words
- More Business Central Resources
- Change Log
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