Anything past configuration needs an AL developer. They are scarce and expensive and we now have a standing queue of small improvements that individually cannot justify the invoice. Two years of small useful ideas nobody will ever build.
Pros
Power BI on live data without a warehouse project
Cons
The outcome depends almost entirely on your implementation partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
8 found this helpful
Wendy Grant
Practice Manager, Lantern Creative
Canada·Healthcare·11 to 50 employees
5.0
Nov 30, 2024
Verified userUsed 6 to 12 months
Dimensions ended our chart of accounts sprawl
Our finance team lives in Excel and always will. Business Central lets them pull a ledger into Excel, edit it and publish it back. Not an export, actual two way editing. That single capability ended a fight I had been having with my controller for six years.
Pros
Dimensions that keep the chart of accounts small
Cons
Support routes back through the partner, who bills you
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
8 found this helpful
Zachary Castellanos
Sales Director, Northgate Logistics
United States·Nonprofit·51 to 200 employees
5.0
Nov 19, 2024
Verified userUsed less than 6 months
Power BI on live data without a warehouse
Purchase approvals arrive in Teams and get approved in Teams. Nobody logs into the ERP to approve a requisition, which means approvals happen the same day rather than the same week.
Pros
Dimensions that keep the chart of accounts small
Cons
The outcome depends almost entirely on your implementation partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
8 found this helpful
Bruno Bernard
Controller, Copper Mountain Brewing
United States·Retail·201 to 500 employees
4.0
Sep 25, 2024
Verified userUsed less than 6 months
Our partner knew manufacturing properly
Power BI reads Business Central directly, so our dashboards are on live data rather than a nightly extract. Our previous ERP needed a warehouse project to answer anything.
Pros
One flow from quote through to cash
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
8 found this helpful
Wesley Sinclair
Studio Director, Northern Star Staffing
Canada·Nonprofit·11 to 50 employees
5.0
Jul 6, 2026
Used less than 6 months
Our partner knew manufacturing properly
Power BI reads Business Central directly, so our dashboards are on live data rather than a nightly extract. Our previous ERP needed a warehouse project to answer anything.
Pros
Low cost Team Members licence for readers and approvers
Cons
Support routes back through the partner, who bills you
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Everett Doyle
Accountant, Northern Star Staffing
United States·Ecommerce·1 to 10 employees
4.0
Dec 8, 2025
Verified userUsed 2 or more years
Power BI on live data without a warehouse
Purchase approvals arrive in Teams and get approved in Teams. Nobody logs into the ERP to approve a requisition, which means approvals happen the same day rather than the same week.
Pros
One flow from quote through to cash
Cons
Support routes back through the partner, who bills you
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Ravi Ishikawa
Practice Manager, Northern Star Staffing
Canada·Hospitality·1 to 10 employees
5.0
Aug 2, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 6 to 12 months
Power BI on live data without a warehouse
Dimensions mean we stopped encoding department and location into account codes. Our chart of accounts went from about eleven hundred accounts to under three hundred, and reporting by any combination is now a filter rather than a rebuild.
Approvals happen in Teams where people already are
Power BI reads Business Central directly, so our dashboards are on live data rather than a nightly extract. Our previous ERP needed a warehouse project to answer anything.
Pros
Low cost Team Members licence for readers and approvers
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Hassan Whitfield
VP of Sales, Tidewater Marine Services
United States·Construction·11 to 50 employees
1.0
May 8, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 2 or more years
Customization needs an AL developer and a queue
Anything past configuration needs an AL developer. They are scarce and expensive and we now have a standing queue of small improvements that individually cannot justify the invoice. Two years of small useful ideas nobody will ever build.
Pros
Power BI on live data without a warehouse project
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Gwen Ainsworth
Bookkeeper, Maplewood Childcare
Canada·Retail·1 to 10 employees
5.0
May 4, 2025
Verified userUsed 1 to 2 years
One system from quote to cash
Dimensions mean we stopped encoding department and location into account codes. Our chart of accounts went from about eleven hundred accounts to under three hundred, and reporting by any combination is now a filter rather than a rebuild.
Pros
Low cost Team Members licence for readers and approvers
Cons
Support routes back through the partner, who bills you
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Patrick Wesley
Managing Partner, Tidewater Marine Services
United States·Education·51 to 200 employees
5.0
Feb 2, 2025
Verified userUsed 6 to 12 months
Our partner knew manufacturing properly
Our finance team lives in Excel and always will. Business Central lets them pull a ledger into Excel, edit it and publish it back. Not an export, actual two way editing. That single capability ended a fight I had been having with my controller for six years.
Pros
Dimensions that keep the chart of accounts small
Cons
Customization needs scarce and expensive AL developers
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Oscar Schneider
Head of Operations, Granite Peak Roofing
United States·Professional services·11 to 50 employees
4.0
Nov 9, 2024
Used less than 6 months
Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
Power BI reads Business Central directly, so our dashboards are on live data rather than a nightly extract. Our previous ERP needed a warehouse project to answer anything.
Pros
Low cost Team Members licence for readers and approvers
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Simon Quintero
Managing Partner, Harborline Supply
Canada·Retail·500+ employees
5.0
Jul 20, 2024
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Our partner knew manufacturing properly
Quote to order to shipment to invoice to cash is one flow in one system. We were running the quote in a CRM, the order in a spreadsheet and the invoice in accounting, and reconciling all three.
Pros
Dimensions that keep the chart of accounts small
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
7 found this helpful
Michelle Contreras
Practice Manager, Falcon Ridge Landscaping
Canada·Legal·1 to 10 employees
3.0
Jul 6, 2026
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 6 to 12 months
Release waves are good and cost you testing
Essentials is eighty dollars per user per month now, up from where it sat for years. Anyone budgeting off an older number or an old blog post will be short, and at thirty users that difference is not trivial.
Pros
Dimensions that keep the chart of accounts small
Cons
Customization needs scarce and expensive AL developers
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
6 found this helpful
Uma Acheson
Operations Manager, Maplewood Childcare
United States·Financial services·201 to 500 employees
5.0
Nov 13, 2025
LinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Our partner knew manufacturing properly
Purchase approvals arrive in Teams and get approved in Teams. Nobody logs into the ERP to approve a requisition, which means approvals happen the same day rather than the same week.
Pros
Power BI on live data without a warehouse project
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
6 found this helpful
Gordon Sinclair
Controller, Clearview Windows
Canada·Retail·1 to 10 employees
5.0
Oct 23, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 6 to 12 months
One system from quote to cash
The Team Members licence at eight dollars covers everyone who needs to look things up and approve. We have thirty one full users and about ninety Team Members. Costing all of those at the full rate would have made the project impossible.
Pros
One flow from quote through to cash
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
6 found this helpful
Callum Petrov
Office Manager, Trailhead Bicycles
United States·Retail·1 to 10 employees
1.0
Oct 19, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 2 or more years
Support routes you back to the partner
Our first partner configured the inventory setup wrong, then put a junior on the project, then went quiet. We paid a second firm to redo most of it. Fourteen months and roughly double the budget. The software was never the problem and nobody warns you how much rides on the channel.
Pros
Power BI on live data without a warehouse project
Cons
Dense screens with terminology from an older era
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
6 found this helpful
Tomas Ibarra
Finance Manager, Willow & Ash Salons
Canada·Financial services·1 to 10 employees
5.0
Oct 2, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Power BI on live data without a warehouse
Dimensions mean we stopped encoding department and location into account codes. Our chart of accounts went from about eleven hundred accounts to under three hundred, and reporting by any combination is now a filter rather than a rebuild.
Pros
Two way Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
Cons
Dense screens with terminology from an older era
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
6 found this helpful
Gwen Moreau
Controller, Sandbar Hospitality
United States·Healthcare·201 to 500 employees
4.0
Aug 30, 2025
LinkedIn confirmedUsed 2 or more years
One system from quote to cash
Purchase approvals arrive in Teams and get approved in Teams. Nobody logs into the ERP to approve a requisition, which means approvals happen the same day rather than the same week.
Pros
Dimensions that keep the chart of accounts small
Cons
Dense screens with terminology from an older era
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
6 found this helpful
Keith Zimmerman
Accountant, Summit Physio
United States·Education·1 to 10 employees
3.0
Aug 9, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Your partner determines the outcome
Microsoft does not implement this and the variance between partners is enormous. Same software, two companies I know well, one is delighted and one spent eighteen months and rebuilt. Ask for references in your industry and actually call them, because you are buying a partner as much as a product.
Pros
Dimensions that keep the chart of accounts small
Cons
The outcome depends almost entirely on your implementation partner
United States
Canada