Microsoft Business Central 2023 Release Wave 1: What’s New?

There are new updates scheduled for Microsoft Business Central 2023 Release Wave 1. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud (or On-Premises) Business Management ERP Application for Small to Mid-Sized Organizations. This robust ERP system has vast capabilities around Advanced Financials, Sales, Purchasing, Inventory/Supply Chain, Project Management, Warehousing, Service Management, and Manufacturing. You can learn more about Microsoft Business Central’s capabilities by accessing the Free Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Capabilities Guide.

Cloud ERP Systems have an advantage over On-Premises Solutions for both add-on functionality and updates. Microsoft Business Central has the ability to extend functionality through Microsoft AppSource. Microsoft AppSource is a resource in which you can find industry and functionality-specific add-on extensions for Microsoft Business Central, plus other Microsoft Solutions. This is a great way to add functionality to your Microsoft ERP Solution and new Business Applications (Apps) are constantly being developed and made available.

In addition, the Cloud version of Microsoft Business Central is continually updated. This trend to Cloud Enterprise Solutions continues to gain momentum as companies no longer have to rely on expensive future upgrade projects. In addition, companies that select Cloud ERP solutions also recognize cost savings by not having to rely on traditional on-premises infrastructure systems.

Microsoft Business Central 2023 Release Wave 1 improves support for managing multiple companies, including improvements to the intercompany features. This release reduces the time it takes to onboard customers by creating seamless onboarding experiences that are supported by quality content from Microsoft and our partners. Microsoft helps organizations stay compliant with various government regulations by providing features that automate regulatory tasks, so organizations can focus on their primary business. For example, we’ll add support for non-deductible VAT in our W1 version and then, in phases, add it to Microsoft country versions that support VAT. Usability is always a focus, and in this release, is the ability to boost efficiency when working with lists of records. You can personalize columns by adding any field from the table, use bulk actions on multiple rows, and get more comprehensive views to work faster and smarter.

Microsoft is investing in the productivity of developers and consultants by introducing Visual Studio Code AL Explorer, which offers seamless collaboration on development through GitHub and adds self-service capabilities for administrators who manage apps and environments; furthermore, also enables ISVs to perform transactions through the AppSource marketplace.

Additional updates in 2023 release wave 1 include:

Adapt faster with Microsoft Power Platform: It’s easier to set up approval workflows in Business Central so that people can be more productive by automating more of their processes. Additionally, this achieves delivering sample apps to help Power Apps makers get started faster.
Application: In the financials area we’re investing in intercompany capabilities and enabling the possibility for general ledger settlement. All countries will be able to export SAF-T audit files. The supply chain capabilities in Business Central are improved with several optimizations and enhancements that let you run your inventory and warehouse processes more efficiently.
Country and regional: More countries and regions are added to bring Business Central to more than 100 countries and regions.
Development: Another update to Business Central is that Microsoft has moved entirely to Visual Studio Code, where it continues to invest in areas that enhance productivity for developers. For example, Visual Studio Code Visual Designers lets consultants create simple, per-customer extensions. Developers are also getting better compiler resource management and code analyzer performance. This results in modernizing the permissions system to make it easier for developers to define and maintain permissions that are easy to understand.
Governance and administration: Business Central delivers a set of additional self-service features to help administrators manage their environments.
Legislation: This release enables support for non-deductible VAT in the W1 version, which we’ll upgrade to country versions in upcoming minor releases.
Onboarding: Organizations can get to productive use of the application faster thanks to improved in-app guidance and user assistance.
Productive with Microsoft 365: Improvements in the efficiency of collaborative business processes in Microsoft Teams.
Reporting and data analysis: In addition; a new mode on list pages to enable users to analyze and pivot data directly in the client.
Service and platform: Microsoft is continuing to invest in the fundamentals of our service, with a focus on performance, stability, resource governance, security, and compliance.