Dynamics 365 Business Central vs. Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain

3 Key Differences Between Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain

Any ERP migration takes careful planning and analysis to avoid mistakes. The success of your migration is largely reliant on the software you select. There are dozens to choose from including Microsoft.  Microsoft alone offers several ERP solutions. We support the two most modern Microsoft options: Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.   So what version is right for your business and what's the difference between the two?

First, let me state that both these products have great features including integrations to Microsoft 365 and API web services to ease further integration work, and are built to improve productivity and provide the reporting that decision-makers need.  

1. Company Size 

It’s not unusual for ERP software vendors like Microsoft to build solutions for companies of a certain size. The two options you will frequently see are solutions for small to mid-sized businesses or solutions for large enterprise companies. As you can imagine, the software for a large company with thousands of employees, perhaps all over the globe, must be far more complex than a single-entity business with less than 50 employees.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365BC) evolved from Dynamics NAV (FKA Navision ERP). Dynamics NAV has a huge end-user customer base numbering over 160,000 companies which is more than most other ERP solutions.  That number tells you that the solution has a solid track record of managing businesses worldwide.  Business Central is a cloud upgrade of NAV and is designed specifically for the needs of growing small and mid-sized businesses.  It’s designed to enable your organization to optimize operations, enhance customer interactions, and make smarter decisions faster. Real-time data and visual dashboards expose the drivers of business growth or lag so you know exactly where to take action.  From one to 250 users, Business Central is a solution that should be a must-review on any ERP search list.  

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management (D365F&O) evolved from Dynamics AX (FKA Axapta). Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management (often stated as Operations and for this article, we will call it D365F&O) is designed to serve the needs of growing mid-sized and larger companies that have multiple entities, multiple currencies, perhaps multiple lines of business, and/or global operations. Basically, it is an enterprise solution for companies that have over 50 end-users to 1,000s, depending on the industry.  The minimum subscription is 20 licenses, but you can also purchase and deploy the software on your own servers. Built on Azure, you can easily connect data across your organization, extend your solution to meet your specific industry requirements, and transform your business with predictive insights. D365F&O is specifically suited to help you easily meet and adjust to local and global business requirements.

2. Business Complexity

Not all companies have multiple entities, global locations, and/or multiple lines of business. If these needs are on your list, Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O is ideal. Dynamics 365 has onboard globalization services to simplify tax determination and calculation, electronic invoicing, regulatory reporting, business documents, and global payments with little or no code required.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O can help your business accelerate global expansion and ensure compliance as you grow. This Dynamics 365 solution includes localizations for 44 countries/regions and 52 languages right out of the box. With a flexible, no-code tax-determination matrix and configurable tax-calculation formula designer, it’s much easier to comply with local tax regulations and support complex tax scenarios including IFRS 16.

3. Future Needs

Microsoft built both Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management (D365F&O) to scale and perform as you grow using modern technologies built on the Microsoft cloud, such as machine learning, IoT, and mixed reality, to help you adapt to market dynamics. For example, both solutions offer supply chain and warehouse management features that extend as you grow.

The main difference between the two is Dynamics 365 F&O was built to automate additional complexity including multiple lines of business. Dynamics 365 Business Central will automate many processes for your small-to-midsize business, but Dynamics 365 F&O was designed to offload much of the heavy lifting that’s left to do manually today. Dynamics 365 F&O  will automatically prioritize the replenishment of high-demand stock in near-real time based on existing orders, current stock levels, and projected inventory. If you use other external systems such as PLMs, you can integrate with Dynamics 365 F&O to eliminate troublesome data silos, improve quality, and optimize production processes.

Rely on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Experts at Clients First

If you seek more information on Dynamics 365 Business Central or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management Support please contact us now. For us, our clients’ ongoing value and ability to grow is right in our name: Clients First. That’s why we strive to create lasting value for your teams beyond the end of implementation. We stay up to date on the latest technologies and trends and keep you informed on concerns that may impact your business. We’re also reviewing and using new software and technology that we can recommend to keep you competitive and efficient over time. You get tailored, efficient support from the team that knows your system inside and out already, saving you time when you need help the most.

Industry Expertise and Experience – Clients First consultants have direct experience in the industries we support.  The Clients First Texas office is known for its vertical expertise in manufacturing, job shops, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) for aviation or heavy equipment organizations.  We have completed the upgrade to D365 F&O for our ProMRO solution and are currently rolling out a global implementation with one of our customers.  We have customers in other industries, too, including make-to-order/engineering job shops, project manufacturing, field services, and wholesale distribution.

Nothing replaces a live presentation so please contact us to schedule a demonstration for your business. 

Email our office at Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, or call  800.331.8382. We're located in Dallas, Texas and service companies worldwide.

We’re a Microsoft Gold ERP Partner, a Certified Cloud Service Provider (CSP), and an Acumatica Gold Partner.  

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4 Challenges with a Dynamics AX Migration

Compare Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations

Resources & Reasons: Migration From AX to Dynamics 365