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Fortune favours the accountant that goes beyond the basics. No longer mere historians and auditors of company accounts, they’re now expected to drive serious commercial value. And this means using the right technology and the right systems.
The rise of cloud-based solutions saw businesses scramble to access the benefits of Xero over Sage. Now savvy accountants are preparing their clients for the wave of transformation triggered by the holistic approach of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the world’s fastest-growing ERP system.
This comprehensive guide is your blueprint for recommending Business Central to your clients. It explores why and when you should be endorsing it, and equips you with comprehensive insights into the five core functionalities that your clients want from their systems.
Modern businesses need modern day accountants. From keeping a handle on cash flow to providing budgets and reports about the company’s progress, your remit is continually expanding.
You’re expected to offer strategic and commercial guidance, using your analysis of past data to forecast the impact of future initiatives. These are all things that Business Central can help with.
For accountancies and their customers, financial management solutions such as Sage, and QuickBooks have served as loyal business companions for many years. And while some customers are still making use of these platforms, particularly small businesses, others have started to feel hindered by their limitations:
The advent of computerised accounting revolutionised traditional book-keeping. Cloud-based solutions are a comparable shift. With data stored in online servers rather than local storage, it’s an inherently safer, cheaper, and more efficient way of working.
Businesses looking to increase efficiency and growth in particular have embraced cloud-based solutions for the agility they provide. Immediate access to documents and financial data keeps stakeholders on the same page and allows the business to operate on thin margins where it needs to.
In addition to the flexibility, agility and quick-time document and data access cloud-based solutions offer, they can also reduce capital expenses and boost productivity by automating mundane or laborious tasks like data entry.
With the rise of ransomware attacks, companies are rightly demanding more robust protection from their systems. Breaches are mitigated by cloud-based encryption protocols and secure storage.
Optimal resource utilisation is another reason that these systems are in demand, and customer elements of Business Central like Required Receive present a cutting-edge solution.
The next system a company uses for accounting and financial management is likely to remain in place for eight to ten years. As a result, it’s hard to overemphasise the need for scalability and adaptability to meet evolving business needs.
Given the exciting application of AI, machine learning and Large Language and Multimodal models that we’ve all seen over the last few years, we expect continued technological advancements throughout the lifespan of a financial system. It’s therefore essential that a new system is able to quickly and reliably capitalise on the benefits of these new technologies. Business Central is not only flexible but scalable, capable of handling increasing complexity as businesses grow and tech advances.
Its modular design allows for the kind of customisation that can cater to these changing requirements. Cost-effective and simple for small businesses, while scalable and easy to integrate for larger organisations, it’s a great option for anyone looking to upgrade their financial solution.
If your client handles stock, effective inventory management is a game changer that affects everything from financial performance to customer satisfaction. Business Central streamlines operations by putting financial stock and control systems all on one dashboard, making it a faster and cheaper option to the stock and inventory management solutions of old.
It also enhances warehouse efficiency through precise stock monitoring and configuration. Business Central’s planning feature further ensures optimal stock levels to prevent stockouts and suggests replenishment based on demand and inventory parameters.
Using the ‘in-transit’ toggle, vehicles can be defined as ‘locations’ within the system. It’s a helpful feature for companies managing field engineers. Additionally, detailed item tracking is also provided by the series and lot tracking functionality, which is attractive for car manufacturers and similar industries.
These features are going to transform the way your clients manage their stock and inventory.
Constant connection between stock collection and payment teams is vital. Without it, accounts payable could make payments for incorrect items or stock that hasn’t arrived at all. Organisations that have separate teams handling stock receipt and payment could therefore profit from Business Central’s Required Receive.
Required Receive separates duties while making sure that teams are in communication. If a business opts not to give warehouse staff direct access to purchase order documents, Business Central offers them a warehouse receipt instead, with details about the expected delivery. Once received, they can then post the receipt which updates the purchasing team and order details.
This feature prevents mistakes by verifying the quantity of received stock and automatically alerting the purchasing team in the event of missing or incorrect items. It’s a more agile system than it would be traditionally because the team can then pay for the correct items only and raise discrepancies with the vendor without delay.
When presented with unforeseen operational challenges, Business Central can facilitate communication between separate teams and tracking of erroneously delivered stock. While this feature seems obvious in hindsight, it’s often missing from traditional accounting packages.
Without accurate and accessible data, decision making can be a taxing and unclear process. Business Central leverages Dimensions to optimise both, making it a great tool for dynamic data analyses.
Where systems like Xero only have two tracking categories, Business Central is unlimited. Salespeople, departments, IP, location, time period, and items are all pieces of data that can be labelled and tracked as customisable filters.
Board-level executives can quickly delve into granular detail using this feature. It offers a high-level snapshot of their accounts without needing to wade through excessive quantities of data.
Dimensions also integrate seamlessly with PivotTables, an interactive way to sum up large volumes of data. Able to conduct versatile and customised analyses, users can effortlessly adapt their approach as needed within Business Central’s reporting functionalities.
This feature addresses critical questions related to product profitability, resource allocation, salespeople suitability, material expenses, and intellectual properties. Business Central is therefore excellent for providing clarity, readability, and accessibility to inform decision-making.
Organisations that manage multiple subsidiaries need easy access to their financial data across multiple businesses. Business Central addresses this with its consolidation and intercompany transaction features that simplify the process and eliminate the labour associated with using multiple systems. Being able to localise tenants across different data centres also enhances security. With support for up to 300 companies per tenant (and no limits on tenants), Business Central offers massive flexibility for global organisations.
When consolidating business units within the same tenant or across different ones they own, they can even choose the percentage ownership in each subsidiary. It accommodates those with different charts of accounts without the need for manual adjustments.
The intercompany transaction feature simplifies collaboration between sister companies, enabling them to function as both customers and vendors. Auto transaction is an additional feature that automates transactions between entities, side-stepping any time wasted creating documents manually. Most notably, parent companies can execute eliminations before consolidation to prevent any duplication of financial data.
As a result, Business Central facilitates seamless collaboration among subsidiaries, maximises efficiency, and gives parent companies a real-time window into the entire organisation – all through a unified platform.
AI is a hot-button topic with Microsoft grounding themselves as an industry leader, particularly since their investment into OpenAI.
Co-Pilot, a cloud-based AI tool, is a fast and intelligent assistant that works across the Microsoft Dynamics stack and many other Microsoft products. Its introduction to Business Central as a fundamental feature elevates its standing among industry competitors.
This AI assistant keeps everything running like a well-oiled machine by responding to queries and retrieving data instantly. It’s also intuitive by nature, serving users with specific information, performing tasks like content and email generation, predicting late customer payments, and expediting bank account reconciliations. This boosts process efficiency, heightens the accuracy of financial data management, and ensures companies can access all the benefits of the system whilst flagging features they hardly ever use.
Co-Pilot is simple to use; with a natural language model, companies don’t need technical language or specific coding formats to interact with it. There’s also a big focus on privacy. Unlike ChatGPT, which collects user data to train its models, Co-Pilot maintains strict confidentiality.
Deployed across the entire Microsoft stack, Co-Pilot is a giant leap forward. Given Microsoft’s domination of organisational ecosystems, it’s an enticing proposition for companies looking for advanced and integrated solutions.
Many companies opt to use Business Central out-of-the-box, but some may want a more tailored and adaptive option with specialised functionalities. Where the latter is the case, the Microsoft ecosystem has an extensive network of partners able to enhance Business Central solutions through specialised industry-specific applications. With over 3,500 available extensions, the system offers high customisability for a tailored approach to current and future business requirements.
When choosing accounting software, considering the size of a company is critical. Smaller businesses can often still benefit from more streamlined, out-of-the-box solutions, while larger enterprises may require the scalability and robust features of a system like Business Central.
Whether or not a finance system can accommodate a company’s evolving financial needs is a huge consideration. Whether it’s a startup predicting rapid growth or an established enterprise expanding operations, a finance system must be flexible and scalable enough to handle whatever the future holds. Getting this right allows companies to optimise financial processes, enhance efficiency and maintain financial control throughout their growth journey.
The modular, cloud-based nature of Business Central makes it a safe bet for companies at various stages of growth, enabling their expansion through up-to-date financial processes that are as powerful as they are user-friendly.
The number of companies an organisation owns is another key consideration when recommending a finance system. The right system will be able to consolidate a range of data types from across a number of organisations to provide a clear and comprehensive picture of how healthy the business really is.
It should be able to manage intercompany transactions with accurate tracking, recording, and reconciliation. It should also be able to spring into action when it comes to complying with new regulatory standards across geographies, which are frequently subject to change.
Overall, the new system must provide a strong base for comprehensive financial management across a diverse portfolio of companies, unify them, and promote collaboration between each subsidiary.
Every company covets seamless integration and enhanced efficiency with all elements of their IT ecosystem. For those already using Microsoft tools like Excel, SharePoint, and Power BI, Business Central could therefore be a no-brainer. Built to connect these tools and more, deploying Business Central will streamline data flow and ensure a consistent user experience.
If an organisation uses Dynamics 365 CRM, they too may benefit from a Business Central recommendation. Already being closely aligned with the organisation’s existing infrastructure, this pairing allows the cohesive management of day-to-day business.
Where a client manages stock or inventory, a robust finance system can play a pivotal role in optimising operational efficiency and financial accuracy.
Business Central brings effective cost control, minimises excess stock, and reduces carrying costs. Shrewd stock management integration also helps prevent mistakes, safeguards the order fulfilment processes which reduces the risk of stockouts, and keeps customer satisfaction on the up. An added benefit of such intricate detail is that valuable insights for strategic decision-making don’t go overlooked.
The depth and type of reporting an organisation requires is another big question. In-depth reporting allows for a comprehensive study of financial data, leading to better decision making and compliance. By understanding the specific reporting requirements (budgetary, performance, or regulatory reporting), you’ll be able to select a finance system that aligns with the company’s objective and helps them track their progress.
When selecting a new finance system, consider the company’s operability across international sites. Efficient cross-border action is central to seamless financial management because it keeps things uniform and in compliance with a whole host of regulatory frameworks. A system kitted out with multiple currencies, taxation structures, and reporting standards will contribute to optimal operations – no matter which side of the planet your colleagues are on. This transparent approach avoids errors and delays that could turn up during manual interventions.
Leveraging Microsoft’s global data centres, Business Central ensures reliability, scalability, and compliance with local regulations. It’s a powerful financial system with robust Cloud infrastructure, making it a great option for multinational organisations.
The extent to which a finance system should be tailored to fit client needs is directly proportional to how the business grows and develops.
A highly customisable system means that existing processes can be quickly plugged-in, which is helpful for unique workflows and evolving expectations. Having this adaptability not only makes a system smoother to use, but it also future proofs it as an investment. With Business Central, your clients can be confident that their finance system is able to scale alongside their growth and changes in the industry.
Clearly, there’s a lot to think about when choosing a new finance system for an organisation. It’s a big decision that will impact every way you service your clients.
With the increasing popularity of Business Central for financial management, it’s time that accountants got familiar with this system. We hope this Ultimate Guide’s overview of the key functionalities that Business Central brings to the table emphasises why this system is such a compelling option for modern, growth-focused businesses.
As our parting advice, remember that the chosen finance system could remain in place for a decade, so it’s hugely important that it’s able to handle anything that the flux of business throws at it. We’d also recommend gathering use cases where Business Central is working well for your clients to further showcase the merits of this powerful financial system.
To be a top accountant you need to use the best tools available. Equip your clients with Business Central and secure their business for the future.
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