Business Central Finance Module: A Great Tool For Economic Impact

The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

A Brief Summary of the Forrester Report

Looking at the Forrester Report, we can get invaluable insights into the impact that Cloud-based D365 Business Central has on the total ROI and Net Present Value of various companies still using on-premises ERP systems.

With their research of five example companies, Forrester was able to conclusively decipher several select improvements that Business Central brought to each company. Some of these risk-adjusted present value (PV) key findings included:

• A growth trajectory that reduced the need to hire additional staff by an average of 10%.
  
  
• Improved flow of operations by an average of 8% thanks to the better tools of D365 Business Central.
  
  
• Expenditure of less than $44K over 3 years on external third-party reporting because of the granular visibility of Microsoft Power BI.
  
  
• Saving $40k by avoiding the costs of licence fees, support personnel savings, and infrastructure reductions that come with on-premises solutions.

This doesn’t even cover the added perks of confidence in real-time visibility, expansion into global markets, the ability to integrate with other Microsoft products such as SharePoint, and improved employee experience. All of these features in Business Central, with the added support of professional services, undoubtedly had a positive effect on these companies.

“Before migrating to Business Central, the interviewees’ organisations managed their operations with a disparate collection of on-premises Microsoft and non-Microsoft ERP tools that lacked key functionality as organisations looked to scale and modernise their businesses. By migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central, organisations gave their finance and operations users the improved functionality, visibility, and access required of a modernised digital business aiming for growth.”
- Forrester Report, 2020.

Business Central supports a wide range of financial capabilities that help SMEs expand globally and operate efficiently across multiple entities. Features such as intercompany postings, multi-currency management, and company consolidation allow businesses to manage complex financial structures from a single platform.

In addition, built-in localisations for over 170 regions and support for international compliance standards like IFRS, GDPR, and SOX help ensure businesses remain audit-ready and aligned with global reporting requirements as they grow.

Benefits of Business Central Finance Module

Dynamics 365 BC uses Azure to offer a system without silos, and the Forrester report shows the measurable impact the software has had on several SMEs.

Forrester found that all their interviewees, including speciality manufacturers, enjoyed positive financial results thanks to Business Central. After dealing with difficulties scaling with an on-premises ERP tool, customisations, and the manual process, interviewees found relief in:

• Enhancements and automation of key finance and operations processes.
• Improved ERP software access across devices.
• Cross-level visibility.
• Reduction of the overall cost of ERP tools and infrastructure.
• A level of scalability not possible on on-premises solutions.
• 40% year-over-year growth, but only a need to hire 20% more accounting and operations personnel to manage the new business.
• “Salespeople spending less time in manual invoicing and more time selling.”
• Accountants within finance reclaim about 2 hours each week attributable to Business Central’s interactivity with Excel.

These are just a few examples of MS Business Central’s impact on the five companies Forrester interviewed over 3 years. CEOs of the companies describe how the Cloud-based software enabled them “to dream to be a big company [with] tools that allow [them] to do things too cost-prohibitive for a smaller organisation like [theirs].”

In many ways, Dynamics 365 Business Central became the “Hello World” program for these SMEs, which opened up the gate to allow them to operate at the standards usually reserved for much larger organisations. There is no doubt the switch has the potential to do the same for you, too.

Beyond these case studies, Business Central continues to evolve with AI-powered tools such as Copilot, which can assist with data analysis, generate financial summaries, and explain ledger fields using natural language. This lowers the learning curve and supports faster onboarding for finance teams.

In addition, mobile access and automated workflows make it easier for SMEs to manage operations and approve transactions on the go, ideal for modern businesses seeking flexibility without sacrificing control.