What the 2026 Forrester TEI Study Reveals About Business Central ROI

What the 2026 Forrester TEI Study Reveals About Business Central ROI (Return on Investment)

Quick answer: A March 2026 Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study, commissioned by Microsoft, found that a composite organization using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central achieved more than 200% ROI over three years, a net present value of roughly $460,000, and a payback period of about six months. The gains came primarily from faster finance operations, lower total cost of ownership, improved profit margins, and faster reporting.

Understanding the Impact of Business Central ROI

Companies need to consider the Business Central ROI when planning their financial strategies.

Understanding the importance of Business Central ROI is essential for decision-makers in any organization.

If you’re evaluating Business Central — or trying to justify the investment to your leadership team — this study gives you something better than a vendor promise: an independent, third-party financial model built from real customer interviews. Here’s what it actually found, and what it means for a growing distribution, manufacturing, or services business.

Investing in Business Central ROI can significantly impact operational efficiency.

What Is the Forrester TEI Study?

Forrester Consulting was commissioned by Microsoft to independently study the return organizations can expect from deploying Business Central. Forrester interviewed several business decision makers running Business Central in production and combined their experiences into a single “composite organization” — a modeling technique Forrester uses so results reflect realistic, risk-adjusted outcomes rather than a single best-case customer story.

The composite organization Forrester modeled looks like a lot of iCepts’ own client base: roughly $50 million in annual revenue, about 300 employees, with 15 core finance and accounting users and 100 additional light users, running Business Central in the cloud.

The Headline Numbers

Over a three-year period, Forrester’s model projected the composite organization would see:

• 200%+ return on investment (ROI)
• Approximately $460,000 in net present value (NPV)
• Payback in about six months
• More than $680,000 in total risk-adjusted benefits, offsetting the cost of licensing, implementation, and internal management

That six-month payback figure is worth pausing on. Many mid-market businesses assume an ERP project takes years to “pay for itself.” Forrester’s modeling suggests the opposite — that a well-implemented Business Central deployment can turn cash-flow positive well within the first year.

Assessing Business Central ROI can help businesses make informed decisions.

Where the ROI Actually Comes From

The benefits of Business Central ROI are evident in various operational metrics.

The study breaks the benefit down into four categories. This is the part that matters most if you’re building an internal business case, because it shows you exactly where to look for savings in your own organization.

1. 1. Faster, Leaner Finance Operations

Understanding how to maximize Business Central ROI is crucial for growth.

Manual, spreadsheet-driven finance processes are one of the biggest hidden costs in a growing business. Forrester’s interviewees reported:

• Up to a 30% reduction in monthly close time
• Up to 50% time savings across accounts payable, accounts receivable, and billing

Over three years, that translated into more than $215,000 in present-value benefit — time that finance teams could redirect from manual reconciliation toward analysis and forecasting.

2. 2. Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Realizing the full potential of Business Central ROI requires proper implementation.

Organizations in the study had typically been running aging on-premises ERP systems propped up with spreadsheets and disconnected point solutions. Consolidating onto Business Central reduced that complexity:

• • 10%+ reduction in total cost of ownership

Many businesses underestimate the significance of Business Central ROI in their assessments.

• More than $170,000 in present-value savings from retiring legacy systems and cutting ongoing maintenance

For any business still running Dynamics NAV or a heavily customized legacy system, this is often the most tangible line item — you’re not just gaining new functionality, you’re shedding cost.

3. Improved Profitability Through Better Visibility

With finance and operations data unified in one platform, decision makers had real-time visibility instead of static, backward-looking reports. Forrester modeled:

• • Up to a 3% improvement in net profit margin

To enhance Business Central ROI, companies should invest in training their teams.

• More than $245,000 in present-value benefit from that improved profitability

This is the category where the study’s findings connect most directly to AI readiness. Forrester noted that while AI tools like Copilot weren’t independently measured in the ROI model, the same standardized, centralized data that drives profitability gains is also what makes an organization ready to use AI-powered insights, variance analysis, and exception handling effectively.

4. Faster Reporting and Audit Readiness

Native integration with Microsoft Power BI streamlined how the composite organization prepared for audits and built management reports:

Strategies for increasing Business Central ROI should be a priority for management.

• Up to 30% reduction in audit preparation time
• Meaningful reduction in time spent building internal and executive reports
• Nearly $50,000 in present-value benefit

Benefits the Study Didn’t Even Put a Number On

Beyond the quantified categories, interviewees also pointed to improvements Forrester didn’t formally price into the model — better customer experience, reduced days sales outstanding (DSO), improved warehouse management, and a more intuitive day-to-day user experience. In practice, these “soft” benefits often show up before the hard financial numbers do, since users typically notice smoother workflows within the first few months of go-live.

Why This Study Matters for Mid-Market Distributors and Manufacturers

Independent financial modeling like this matters because ERP ROI is notoriously sensitive to two things: the complexity of the business and the quality of the implementation. The same platform, deployed by two different partners, can produce very different real-world results. That’s exactly why a structured, third-party framework — rather than a single customer testimonial — is a more reliable starting point for building your own business case.

Tracking Business Central ROI should be part of regular financial reviews.

If your organization is currently running Business Central on QuickBooks, an aging on-premises system, or a heavily spreadsheet-dependent process, this study gives you a credible, defensible framework for the conversation with your CFO: where the savings come from, roughly how large they can be, and how quickly they materialize.

Frequently Asked Questions

Evaluating Business Central ROI is essential for strategic planning.

What ROI does Business Central deliver according to Forrester? Forrester’s March 2026 TEI study projected more than 200% ROI over three years for a composite mid-market organization, with about $460,000 in net present value.

How long does it take to see a return on Business Central? The study found a payback period of approximately six months, with many finance-process benefits — like faster AP, AR, and billing — appearing within the first year.

What are the main sources of ROI in the study? Four categories: faster finance operations, lower total cost of ownership from ERP consolidation, improved net profit margin from better visibility, and faster reporting/audit preparation.

Achieving Business Central ROI involves a comprehensive understanding of costs and benefits.

Does the ROI include AI and Copilot benefits? No. Forrester noted that AI-driven benefits were not independently quantified in this study. However, the standardized data and unified processes Business Central enables are described as a foundation that makes AI tools like Copilot more effective once adopted.

Is this study specific to any one industry? No — the composite organization was built from interviews across multiple business types. Actual results will vary by industry, business complexity, and implementation quality.

Ready to See What This Could Mean for Your Business?

Every organization’s starting point is different — your current systems, data quality, and process maturity all affect where your ROI will actually come from. If you’d like help mapping these benefit categories against your own operations, contact iCepts Technology Group for a conversation about what a Business Central implementation could realistically deliver for your business.

Investing in systems that enhance Business Central ROI can lead to long-term success.

Learn more and Next Steps. 

Download the 2026 Forrester TEI Study Reveals About Business Central ROI

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Source: The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, a March 2026 Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Microsoft