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
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
12 found this helpful
Hassan Tillman
Finance Manager, Lantern Creative
United States·Ecommerce·11 to 50 employees
5.0
Oct 2, 2024
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 2 or more years
Eight dollar licences for everyone who only reads
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.
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
Low cost Team Members licence for readers and approvers
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
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
11 found this helpful
Bianca Lundgren
Director of Finance, Lantern Creative
Canada·Hospitality·51 to 200 employees
4.0
Jun 9, 2026
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 6 to 12 months
Approvals happen in Teams where people already are
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
Two way Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
Cons
The outcome depends almost entirely on your implementation partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
11 found this helpful
Miguel Hammond
Director of Finance, Bluewater Consulting
United States·Professional services·11 to 50 employees
5.0
Apr 1, 2026
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.
Pros
Approvals inside Teams where staff already work
Cons
Customization needs scarce and expensive AL developers
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
11 found this helpful
Freya Zimmerman
Sales Director, Willow & Ash Salons
Canada·Healthcare·11 to 50 employees
5.0
Feb 7, 2026
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 1 to 2 years
Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
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
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
11 found this helpful
Callum Menon
Founder, Clearview Windows
Canada·Manufacturing·11 to 50 employees
4.0
Dec 2, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 1 to 2 years
Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
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
Power BI on live data without a warehouse project
Cons
Support routes back through the partner, who bills you
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
11 found this helpful
Nathaniel Marchetti
Finance Manager, Lantern Creative
Canada·Software·201 to 500 employees
3.0
Jul 16, 2025
Verified userUsed 6 to 12 months
Dense screens and old terminology
The screens are dense and the terminology comes from the Navision era. New finance hires need weeks rather than days, and that training cost is real and never appears in any comparison.
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
11 found this helpful
Vanessa Ellsworth
Office Manager, Clearview Windows
United States·Manufacturing·51 to 200 employees
5.0
Apr 5, 2025
Verified userUsed less than 6 months
Dimensions ended our chart of accounts sprawl
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
Approvals inside Teams where staff already work
Cons
Customization needs scarce and expensive AL developers
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
11 found this helpful
Iris Donnelly
Accountant, Northgate Logistics
United States·Nonprofit·51 to 200 employees
2.0
Feb 5, 2025
Verified userUsed 1 to 2 years
Customization needs an AL developer and a queue
Quoted eight months, took twenty. Data migration was most of it and much of that was our own data being worse than we admitted. The rest was scope the partner should have found in discovery. Ask hard questions about what discovery covers.
Pros
Low cost Team Members licence for readers and approvers
Cons
Customization needs scarce and expensive AL developers
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
Response from the vendorFeb 14, 2025
We appreciate you sharing this. Release readiness is something we want to make easier and your input is useful. Your partner or account team can discuss preview environments that may reduce your testing burden.
11 found this helpful
Nikhil Vance
General Manager, Foundry Road Studios
United States·Legal·11 to 50 employees
5.0
Jan 31, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 1 to 2 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
Support routes back through the partner, who bills you
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
11 found this helpful
Yara Schneider
Head of Operations, Harborline Supply
United States·Hospitality·11 to 50 employees
3.0
Aug 22, 2024
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Dense screens and old terminology
The screens are dense and the terminology comes from the Navision era. New finance hires need weeks rather than days, and that training cost is real and never appears in any comparison.
Pros
Two way Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
Cons
The outcome depends almost entirely on your implementation partner
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
Response from the vendorAug 26, 2024
Thank you for the feedback. Business Central is delivered through our partner network and we take reports about implementation experience seriously. Please contact us with your project details so the right team can review it.
11 found this helpful
Ibrahim Brennan
Controller, Beacon Legal Partners
United States·Education·1 to 10 employees
5.0
Apr 19, 2026
Verified userUsed 2 or more years
Dimensions ended our chart of accounts sprawl
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.
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
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
10 found this helpful
Xander Valentine
Controller, Falcon Ridge Landscaping
United States·Nonprofit·1 to 10 employees
3.0
Mar 7, 2026
LinkedIn confirmedUsed 1 to 2 years
The price moved up and budgets did not
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
Two way Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
10 found this helpful
Imani Boucher
Chief of Staff, Northern Star Staffing
Canada·Accounting·11 to 50 employees
4.0
Oct 1, 2025
LinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Power BI on live data without a warehouse
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
Two way Excel editing that writes back to the ledger
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
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
10 found this helpful
Katherine Zhao
Studio Director, Hillcrest Family Clinic
United States·Financial services·1 to 10 employees
4.0
Feb 26, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed 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
Approvals inside Teams where staff already work
Cons
Dense screens with terminology from an older era
Ease of use
Value for money
Customer service
Functionality
10 found this helpful
Elena Kessler
General Manager, Granite Peak Roofing
United States·Manufacturing·51 to 200 employees
1.0
Jan 30, 2025
Verified userLinkedIn confirmedUsed less than 6 months
Implementation ran a year past the plan
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
Low cost Team Members licence for readers and approvers
Cons
Essentials moved up to eighty dollars per user per month
United States
Canada