SystemsVendor profile

Dynamics 365 Business Central

Microsoft's ERP for small and midsize companies, covering finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, warehousing and projects, with manufacturing and service management in the Premium licence. It is sold and implemented through Microsoft's partner network and runs online or on-premises.

70 facts on record4 sourcesverified September 202615 modules

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01Profile

Categories
ERP, Accountingverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Company size fit
10–1,000 employeesverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Cost band
Mid-marketverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Deployment
Cloud, On-premiseverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Headquarters
Redmond, Washington, United Statesverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Regions served
North America, EMEA, APAC, LATAMverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Founded
2018verified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Owner
Microsoftverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Website
microsoft.comverified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction
Customers claimed
55,000 (vendor figure, as of 2026-09-07)[1]verified 2026-09-07Suggest a correction

02Pricing and editions

Pricing model
Per userverified 2026-09-07
Published list price
$80 per user per month, paid yearly (Essentials), as published 2026-09-07[2]verified 2026-09-07
EditionStated size fitNote
Essentials10–1,000 employeesFinance, sales, marketing, purchasing, inventory, warehousing and project management. Listed at $80 per user per month, paid yearly. Editions differ by functionality, not by company size; the employee band is the record's.[2]
Premium10–1,000 employeesEverything in Essentials plus service management and manufacturing. Listed at $110 per user per month, paid yearly. Editions differ by functionality, not by company size.[2]
Team Members10–1,000 employeesLimited licence to read data, approve workflows and update selected records. Listed at $8 per user per month, paid yearly. Not a standalone edition; it sits alongside Essentials or Premium.[2]

03Functional depth

How deeply each module is covered, as recorded against the sources below. Core and moderate are native; partner means a certified add-on carries it; none is a recorded absence.

Coverage Map · ERP and finance systems · 2026-Q3COVERAGE MAP · ERP AND FINANCE SYSTEMS · 2026-Q3AI featuresAsset managementBusiness intelligenceCRMEcommerceField serviceFinancial managementHR and payrollInventory managementLocalizationsManufacturing managementProcurementProject managementQuality managementSupply chain managementWarehouse managementDynamics 365 Business Central 1Dynamics 365 Business Central · AI features: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Asset management: Moderate. Moderate — native, documented as secondary or lighter scope. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Business intelligence: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · CRM: Moderate. Moderate — native, documented as secondary or lighter scope. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Ecommerce: Moderate. Moderate — native, documented as secondary or lighter scope. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Field service: Moderate. Moderate — native, documented as secondary or lighter scope. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Financial management: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · HR and payroll: Partner. Partner — delivered through a certified add-on or partner product. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Inventory management: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Localizations: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Manufacturing management: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Procurement: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Project management: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Quality management: Unverified. Unverified — not yet checked against a source. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Supply chain management: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.Dynamics 365 Business Central · Warehouse management: Core. Core — native, documented as a primary module. Footnote 1.CoreModeratePartnerNoneUnverifiedRows alphabetical · no totals · reuse with attribution, uncropped

Coverage Map · ERP and finance systems · 2026-Q3

  1. 1Dynamics 365 Business Central — depth stated from 4 sources, verified 2026-09-07; unverified: Quality management

Unverified: Quality management. Not checked yet; not a statement either way.

04Vertical focus

Industries the vendor names in its own positioning. Absence from this list is not a statement that the system is unsuitable, only that the vendor does not lead with it.

  • Wholesale
  • Retail
  • Professional services
  • Manufacturing
  • Construction
  • Energy
  • Nonprofit

Evaluated for

  • Wholesale distributionHigh-volume buying and reselling of finished goods, where margin lives in purchasing, pricing, warehouse throughput and order fulfilment.
  • Make-to-order manufacturingDiscrete production where each order carries its own bill of materials and routing, and margin depends on job costing and shop-floor scheduling.
  • Project-based servicesFirms that sell time and deliverables, where revenue, cost and utilisation are tracked by project and billed against milestones or hours.
  • Nonprofit fund accountingOrganisations that account by fund, grant and restriction rather than by profit, and report to donors and regulators on how money was used.
  • Multi-entity consolidationA group of legal entities, often in several currencies, that needs intercompany eliminations and a consolidated close from one ledger.

05Strengths and watch-outs

Strengths

  • Microsoft publishes per-user prices for all three licence types (Essentials, Premium, Team Members), which few ERP vendors in this segment do.[2]
  • Available in 157 countries and more than 50 languages, with 24 Microsoft-maintained localizations and a further 47 supplied by local partners.[4]
  • Works inside Outlook, Excel and Teams; staff with only a Microsoft 365 licence get read-only access to Business Central data at no additional charge.[1]
  • Functional scope covers finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, warehousing, fixed assets, MRP planning, assembly and projects, with manufacturing and service management in Premium.[3]
  • Extensible through the AL language, OData and SOAP web services, a REST API, Power Automate and Power BI, plus prebuilt apps on Microsoft Marketplace.[3]
  • A Shopify connector is part of the standard product, synchronising customers, items and sales orders for fulfilment.[3]

Watch-outs

  • Business Central is sold and supported exclusively through Microsoft's partner network; implementation, training and country-specific expertise come from the partner you choose.[1]
  • Some features, including integration with other online Microsoft services, are only in the online edition and not in the on-premises version.[4]
  • The Sales Order Agent and Payables Agent require Copilot Credits sold separately, and running agents requires an Azure subscription.[2]
  • Manufacturing and service order management are in the Premium licence only; an Essentials tenant cannot use them.[2]
  • Microsoft states the published prices are informational and that actual prices vary by currency, country and region.[2]
  • Payroll is not part of the core product; Microsoft points to connecting an existing payroll system, and ISVs supply payroll extensions through AppSource.[4]

06Consider when

  • Consider Business Central when a small or midsize company already works in Microsoft 365 and wants ERP that operates from Outlook, Excel and Teams with a published per-user price.[1]

  • Consider Business Central when you are on Dynamics NAV, GP, SL or C5, which have documented migration paths to it and have had no major release since 2018.[4]

  • Consider Business Central when one system must serve several countries and legal entities, with multi-currency, consolidations, intercompany transactions and local tax rules.[1]

07Evaluated alongside

Systems with a comparable size fit and cost band, which is why they appear on the same shortlists. Each link opens a head-to-head built from both records. They are the pairings a buyer is likely to shortlist, not a limit on what can be compared: any two systems in the dataset can be laid side by side, including combinations we never pair.

Those are the systems commonly evaluated alongside Dynamics 365 Business Central, not a limit on what can be compared. Choose any system to compare with Dynamics 365 Business Central.

09Questions buyers ask

How is Business Central priced?
Per named user per month, paid yearly: Essentials $80, Premium $110 and Team Members $8 at the time of retrieval. AI agents use Copilot Credits bought separately. Microsoft notes prices vary by country and currency.[2]
Can Business Central run on-premises?
Yes. It comes as an online SaaS edition and an on-premises version for manual deployment, but some features tied to other online Microsoft services are available only online.[4]
What size of company is it for?
Microsoft describes it as ERP for small and midsize businesses. The sources give no employee figures; the 10 to 1,000 band here is Stackmark's approximation of that positioning.[1]
How do I buy it?
Only through a Microsoft partner. Partners handle licensing, implementation, training and support; Microsoft offers a free 30-day trial and a partner-matching service.[1]
What is the difference between Essentials and Premium?
Essentials covers finance, sales, marketing, purchasing, inventory, warehousing and project management. Premium adds service management and manufacturing.[4]
Where did Business Central come from?
It is the successor to Dynamics NAV, originally Navision, a Danish product Microsoft acquired in 2002. Business Central was released on 2 April 2018 with a new AL development language and semi-annual releases.[4]
Which industries does Microsoft target?
Wholesale distribution, retail and consumer goods, professional services, manufacturing, construction, energy and utilities, and nonprofits, each supported by partner apps on Microsoft Marketplace.[1]
Does it include payroll or HR?
A basic human resources area registers employees and absence. Payroll is not included; Microsoft points to integrating an existing payroll system or adding an ISV extension.[3]

10Sources

Every fact in this profile was taken from the pages below, on the date shown. Footnote markers on the page point here. The positioning statement is Stackmark’s own.

  1. [1]Business Central | Microsoft Dynamics 365https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/business-central · retrieved 2026-09-07
  2. [2]Business Central Pricing | Microsoft Dynamics 365https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/business-central/pricing · retrieved 2026-09-07
  3. [3]Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central documentation - Business Central | Microsoft Learnhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/ · retrieved 2026-09-07
  4. [4]Microsoft Dynamics 365 - Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Dynamics_365_Business_Central · retrieved 2026-09-07