Business Central SaaS Wave 2 Release October 2023

Huge increase in R & D for Business Central SaaS

Whilst Microsoft have continually published their commitment to the roadmap of Business Central SaaS since its launch in October 2018, users can expect to benefit from an upward trend in this area.

WHY

Traditionally, Microsoft have focussed the lions share of investment in the business apps space on the larger products such as Finance and Operations.  The thinking has radically changed at Microsoft. 

It is now Business Central, serving the SME sector across the globe that is in the Microsoft limelight, with research and development in this product going to the ‘next level’.

“When it comes to Microsoft’s investing goal for Business Central, it’s all about creating an all-in-one system that connects user’s entire business and brings them an abundance of functionality that allows them to do more with less as well,” stated Sherief Ibrahim, GM of Business Applications at Microsoft.

Business Central Wave 2 2023 features

The Wave 2 new functionality and updates started rolling out in October and will continue until December, with some additional new features continuing roll out until March 2024.  When it arrives, as ever, will depend on the data centre your implementation exists within.

What are the biggest wins for Business Central users in this release?

Microsoft have recognised that the seamless use of AI, Business Intelligence and Power Automate has a key role to play in enhancing still further the value of Business Central as the SME’s ERP of choice.

Power Automate in Business Central

If That Then This is a typical example of how Power Automate provides invaluable tools to businesses.  The Wave 2 release provides a range of pre made templates that exist within Business Central – thus instant flows can now be created from Business Central rather than via Power Automate.

A Flow will serve as a trigger based on a series of events – hence If That, Then This. 

Examples

If That purchase order has a value over £20,000 Then, This approver will be immediately notified to approve it.

If That customer which has an overdue account places an order, Then, This salesperson will be advised and the order will not be processed without further action.

These examples are just a couple of areas we have already assisted customers with – there is a wealth of options available.

Think:

• Automatically notify an Sales Account Manager when a quote is raise
• Automatically notify a Sales Account Manager when a sell to contact is changed
• Automatically notify a Sales Account Manager if a customer returns or refuses a delivery
• Notify a production manager when an item has failed quality control during production

Business Intelligence in Business Central

Business Intelligence enables Business Central users to customise how they wish to see a particular data set based on Business Central data.

With the rising importance of data analysis, it’s key to have the flexibility and modern content visualization of Power BI directly from inside Business Central. Prior to this release, the Power BI part on role centres was limited, with a fixed size that only displayed the first page of a multipage Power BI report.

Wave 2 2023 provides vastly improved power BI views.

Expect to see:

• Control over pages in reports
• Stretch the view to full page
• Control zoom level of reports more easily
• Show scorecards

IS THIS AN AREA YOU SHOULD BE OPTIMISE IN?

Optimising your use of Power Automate and Business Intelligence with Business Central does not require any additional licensing.  Users can explore how to set up their own flows and reports or contact Qi and we can give you advice and guidance.  If you want us to give you some training or implement a new flow or BI dashboard and/or custom reporting – just get in touch.

Supply chain in Business Central

This release introduces several new supply chain features that add efficiency, agility, and accuracy to the way you handle items in your warehouse. You can access detailed availability information for inventory levels, locations, processing stages, and other factors that affect available quantities. Additionally, you can configure the proper level of warehouse handling independently for inbound, outbound, and internal flows. Business Central suggests the most appropriate bin for items in basic warehouse configurations, and you can edit data for item journals and warehouse worksheets in Excel. Lastly, you can receive suggestions about orders that are ready for handling. The suggestions help reduce the risk of partial shipments, help ensure that production or assembly orders don’t get stuck and improve customer satisfaction.

Intercompany Transactions Get Even Smarter in Business Central

There are several new features related to intercompany transactions, financial data consolidations, approval workflows, and automatic general ledger allocations. For intercompany postings, you can perform accounting tasks for multiple companies across multiple Business Central tenant environments, which eliminates the need to manage files. You can also consolidate financial data for companies in different Business Central environments without handling files. Additionally, the new approval workflow for intercompany general journals increases control and eliminates errors. Finally, to make data entry efficient and reduce errors, you can use custom allocation keys to automate the distribution of revenue or cost transactions across different accounts or dimensions.

Specific Task User Enhancements – Business Central Round Up

• Generate a customer statement only with open entries
• Reverse a customer and vendor ledger entry with a realized gain or loss entry
• Consolidate financial information across environments in multicompany setups
• Include approvals for intercompany general journals in your workflows
• Make intercompany transactions across Business Central environments
• Use General Ledger Allocations to distribute costs and revenue more efficiently
• Include only open entries on customer statements
• Adjust exchange rates easily, replace the built-in batch job
• More control over general journal approvals
• Use different general ledger accounts for payables & receivables
• Add more columns to pages for better insights
• Availability overview helps you calculate quantities in your warehouse
• Block item variants
• Configure how to handle different warehouse operations
• Edit in Excel on item journals and warehouse worksheets
• Identify and track items easier with item references
• Improved processes for inventory counts and adjustments
• Navigate more easily between order, receipt, and invoice documents
• Receive more items than ordered by using inventory put-away documents
• Suggest the next step for sales and production orders
• Sync document and posting dates for sales and purchases
• Use directed pick and put-away suggestions in basic warehouse configurations
• Get more productive while entering time sheets
• Get more productive while approving time sheets

Thought for the Day

Business Central users have certainly ‘backed the right horse’ when it comes to the Research and Development budget Microsoft will continue to lavish on this product. If you are looking for an ERP to replace your current business application(s) – looking at Business Central should surely part of that review?

Contact Qi for more information