Business Central Pricing and Licensing Types
This blog addresses the Business Central pricing and Business Central licensing, clarifying the various license types, and describes the various types of users. This article also addresses some often asked questions concerning the cost of switching from your current ERP to Business Central as well as what is covered by the license, how to obtain Business Central licenses, and other related topics.
Dynamics 365 Business Central Pricing
The three primary Business Central license types, their features, and their cost per user per month are listed below. This article’s further sections provide more information on the functionality of each licensing type.
| Dynamics 365 Business Central License | Functionality | Price Per User/Per Month |
|---|---|---|
| Business Central Essentials Full User | Financial Management, Supply Chain Management, Human Resources Management, Project Management, Warehouse Management | $70.00 USD |
| Business Central Premium Full User | Includes Essential capabilities, Service Order Management, and Manufacturing | $100.00 USD |
| Business Central Team Member | Includes – Read data, Update existing data and entries, approve or reject tasks in workflows assigned to a user, create, edit, and delete sales or purchase quotes and personal information, Fill out job time sheets, Make use of Power Apps or Power Automate | $8.00 USD |
If you’re an existing Dynamics GP or Dynamics NAV client current on your annual maintenance, then you’re eligible for a 40% discount on Dynamics 365 Business Central licensing.
Dynamics 365 Business Central SaaS pricing is per user per month, with everything included in a single fee. The software, cloud hosting, and management services are all included in one price; they are not separate one. There is one production environment and three sandbox environments that comes with free of charge with a Dynamics 365 Business Central licensing. The license includes 80 GB of data storage capacity across the environments, but if more storage is required, additional storage can be purchased.
Dynamics 365 Business Central License Types
Dynamics 365 Business Central has subscription licensing options. We’ll go over the distinctions between Business Central Essentials, Premium, and Teams licensing, as well as Full vs. Additional Users.
Dynamics 365 Business Central Licensing comes in three levels:
- Business Central Essentials (Full user)
- Business Central Premium (Full user)
- Team Members (Additional user)
Customers must license at least one Business Central Essentials or Business Central Premium, implying that at least one license is required. Licenses for Business Central Essentials and Business Central Premium cannot be combined. Customers must have one of the licenses, but not both. Team Members can be added to either the Essentials or Premium licensing as an additional user.
Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials
Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials has a wide range of capabilities that are core functions, and which a business requires. What’s included in Essentials?
- Financial Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Human Resource Management
- Project Management
- Warehouse Management
The functionality in Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials is similar to Dynamics GP, but it goes a little deeper in some areas. There are advantages to using dimensional accounting in Business Central instead of a segmented chart of accounts.
Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium
Everything in the Essentials license is included in the Premium license, plus service management and manufacturing. What’s included in Business Central Premium?
- Includes essentials capabilities
- Service order management
- Manufacturing
Because the core manufacturing in Dynamics GP is finite rather than process, manufacturing in Dynamics 365 Business Central is very appealing to clients who have process manufacturing.
Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members
The Team Members license provides some fundamental Dynamics 365 Business Central functionality. Users with a Team license can write to certain things, but they can read everything in Business Central. In Dynamics GP, a Team license is similar to a light user or a self-service user. Team Members users can benefit from the following:
- Read data in Business Central
- Update existing data and entries
- Approve or reject tasks in the workflow assigned to a user
- Create, edit and delete a sales or purchase quote
- Create, edit, delta personal information
- Enter job time sheets for approval
- Use Power apps or Power automate user rights with the Dynamics 365 license
To share a report, does the recipient need a Team Member license?
They would not need a Team Member license. This is a common scenario we’ve heard from Dynamics GP users who use management reporters to send reports to directors via email or a shared drive. This capability is also available in Dynamics 365 Business Central via account schedules or Jet Reports; you can generate reports and store them in a shared location without requiring the directors to have a Team license.
External Accountant License
The External Accountant is a complimentary license that comes with the Essentials or Premium license. This license is useful if your organization has an external user/accountant who is not an employee but requires access to your records for reporting or tax purposes. External Accountants are a complimentary license that comes with a Business Central subscription, with up to three available. The External Accountant is not available for purchase on its own.
Full User vs Additional User
A full user has access to all functionality and features, whereas an additional user has limited functionality but can still collate reports and complete light tasks.
- Full User – Full users are those who need the robust business application functionality. Salespeople, customer service representatives, finance employees, controllers, and supply chain managers are all examples of full users. These users have also been referred to as professional users or full-use users in the past. Both Essentials and Premium are full-use users and are licensed with a Dynamics 365 Business Central subscription.
- Additional User – Additional users frequently account for a sizable proportion of users in an organization, and they compile data reports from line of business systems, perform light tasks such as time or expense entry, or update HR records. Additional users may be heavier system users, but they do not require full user capability. A Team Members license is required for additional users.
Named User Licensing
A ‘named user’ means that each individual must have their own user license, which cannot be shared. Customers will also be unable to mix and match Essentials and Premium users. Customers must choose between Essentials and Premium, not both. It is possible to switch from one to the other, so if you are on Essentials and want to upgrade to Premium, you can do so. If your company hires a new employee, adding an additional license for them in Business Central is simple. In this case, you please contact us and it would be made available at the earliest. If you came from Dynamics GP and were on perpetual licensing, you may be accustomed to concurrent users rather than named users.
How do you purchase a Dynamics 365 Business Central License?
Licenses for Dynamics 365 Business Central can only be obtained through a Microsoft Partner. If you have any further questions about purchasing Dynamics 365 Business Central licenses, please contact us.
Dynamics 365 Business Central Promotional Pricing
Existing Dynamics GP or Dynamics NAV clients who are up to date on their annual maintenance can receive a 40% discount on Dynamics 365 Business Central licenses. The promotional pricing listed below reflects the discount. Dynamics 365 Business Central is priced per user per month. Please keep in mind that the Business Central licenses must have an annual total greater than or equal to the Enhancement Plan renewal amount to qualify for the promotional pricing.
| Dynamics 365 Business Central License | Price Per User Per Month | Promotional Price Per User/Per Month |
|---|---|---|
| Business Central Essentials Full User | $70.00 USD | $42.00 USD |
| Business Central Premium Full User | $100.00 USD | $60.00 USD |
| Business Central Team Member | $8.00 USD | $4.80 USD |
Total Cost of Ownership
If you’re currently using an Business Central on-premises and thinking about moving to Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud, there are a few things to think about in terms of total cost of ownership in the long run. We have a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Excel spreadsheet that you can use to compare the cost of your current software and hosting to the cost of moving to a software as a service (SaaS) solution. Nevas Technologies can work with you or guide you through the TCO spreadsheet, incorporating the various variables and assisting you in determining how many licenses your company will require in the future.
Migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central
Many users want to move from their current ERP system to Dynamics 365 Business Central. Client scenarios include: if you’re a Dynamics GP client looking to migrate to the cloud, if you’re a looking for a Dynamics NAV upgrade, or if you’re on QuickBooks, NetSuite, or Sage users and want for Business Central migration, contact us now.
