A few days ago, Microsoft once again released the new version of its business application Dynamics 365 Business Central. This year’s spring release afresh contains various new functionalities and improvements.
In addition to several innovations in the application and the development environment as well as a generally improved user experience, the focus of the new Business Central version this April is once again on the interaction with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Power Platform as well as optimized administration and expanded reporting options, among other things.
More productivity through new application features
The first release wave 2023 will constantly modernize the handling of financial and general operational processes by equipping the application with several new productivity-enhancing functionalities.
For example, in the financial area, in addition to the ability to easily adjust exchange rates, the option to use different general ledger accounts for payables and receivables is now available. In addition, general ledger accounts, item journals and other various other documents can be previewed more quickly and easily before posting.
The warehouse area is also optimized and expanded for the new version. For example, the content of created warehouse documents can now be defined with filters and the creation of opening balances for item-tracked inventory is simplified. Catalog items will now use standard number series and can be included in blanket sales orders. In addition, default dimensions can be defined for locations, inventory documents and journals. The shipping and receiving of “non-inventory” items on warehouse documents will be added as well.
The setup of intercompany postings is also said to now support more transaction types for more streamlined processes, and master data can be set up and synchronized across companies. Improvements have also been announced for the Shopify connector.
In the reporting area, end users and data analysts can also expect the very interesting new ability to analyze data from list pages directly in the client, without having to open the page in Excel or run a report.
Optimized user experience
The user interface in Business Central is also getting some improvements again. For example, for page optimization and more self-service, the spring release lets you easily show any table field you want. Files can now also be dragged and dropped into the file upload dialog. In the future, more efficient access to actions and the navigation menu via the keyboard, formatted hyperlinks for better readability, and an optimized action bar on all application pages will also ensure more comfortable and productive work.
Better interaction with Microsoft 365 and Power Platform
Dynamics 365 Business Central 2023 Wave 1 has also strengthened integration with other products in the Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and Power Platform world. For example, there is an enhancement in this area as well as optimized security controls of adaptive maps in Microsoft Teams.
Also added are more Power Automate sample templates and Power Apps for getting started, as well as a new approval workflow with Power Automate templates. It also becomes possible to use Power Automate to publish an adaptive map or link to a Business Central record.
Other new features and enhancements
In addition to the new features listed, Business Central has been updated in other areas as part of this year’s April release. Among other things, optimizations regarding app management settings and innovations in cloud migration were introduced. Developers also benefit from some new functionalities.
Detailed information on selected new features in the new version of Business Central will be available on our blog shortly, as usual.