Dynamics 365 Business Central: Pricing, Features And Integrations For Australia
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Marcie Nguyen
Marcie is a skilled writer at Havi Technology focusing on creating content for marketing, eCommerce, point of sales, and ERP solutions. With over 8 years of experience in the retail, eCommerce and ERP technology sectors, Marcie is dedicated to providing insightful answers to business owners of all scales.
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-native ERP and CRM platform that enables Australian businesses to unify, automate, and scale their finance, operations, and customer management - delivering real-time control and insight.
As a direct evolution of Dynamics NAV and part of the broader Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite, Business Central meets the increasing demands for real-time insight, local compliance, and digital resilience. This is especially true for Australian SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises), with 87% of Australian organisations now using at least one cloud service to scale operations, enhance accessibility, and control costs (AAG, 2025).
With Microsoft’s expanded Azure data centre footprint - including recent launches in Western Australia (Microsoft, 2024) - Australian businesses now benefit from best-in-class data residency, security, and availability. Seamless Microsoft 365 integration and built-in Copilot AI empower teams to automate workflows, streamline compliance, and support flexible work arrangements.
This guide delivers evidence-based answers to Australia’s most common questions about Business Central’s pricing, features, and implementation, showing how transparent licensing, native integration, and phased deployment minimise risk and accelerate value.
Business Central Pricing Plans For Australian Businesses
Business Central’s pricing in Australia is structured through transparent, user-based subscription tiers - Essentials, Premium, and Team Members. They enable every business to match their operational roles and compliance requirements with predictable, scalable costs.
All subscriptions are hosted on Microsoft Azure data centres within Australia, providing robust local data residency, security, and high availability (Microsoft, 2025).
Below, we detail each subscription tier, hosting advantages, and the licensing rules that ensure clarity for every stage of your business.
1. Cloud subscription tiers
Business Central offers Essentials, Premium, and Team Members subscriptions, each mapped to distinct user needs and operational functions. The image below shows three key Dynamics 365 Business Central plans and pricing:
Beyond standard user subscriptions, Business Central offers Device licenses for shared workstations and External Accountant licenses for secure, limited external access. These options provide extra flexibility for specific business scenarios and do not replace the main user-based plans. For full details and the latest eligibility criteria, refer to the official Microsoft Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide or contact our expert team for more information.
2. Microsoft-hosted on Azure with Australian data centres
All Business Central plans are deployed via Azure data centres (Microsoft, 2024), including new expansions in Western Australia. It ensures Australian businesses enjoy compliance-ready hosting, minimal latency, and maximum reliability.
This local hosting also simplifies regulatory audits and protects all business data under Australian law while supporting seamless AI and cloud capabilities.
3. Key Licensing Policies to Know
Business Central’s licensing is designed for clarity and compliance, setting precise boundaries for user types and admin needs. Here are the key licensing policies derived from the latest Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide:
Business Central’s subscription and licensing structure is engineered to provide cost-effective, compliant access to advanced ERP and CRM functionality. It is supported by Microsoft’s expanding Azure network in Australia, ensuring robust security and scalability for every business stage.
With a transparent pricing structure, local data residency, and clearly defined licensing options, Business Central removes common barriers to ERP adoption in Australia. The next section explores the platform’s standout features, demonstrating how these capabilities drive efficiency, compliance, and competitive advantage for Australian businesses ready to scale.
3 Top Features For Growing Australian Companies
Business Central equips Australian companies with purpose-built ERP and CRM features that drive efficiency, guarantee compliance, and connect teams, empowering daily operations and long-term growth.
Explore below how these features streamline workflows, support advanced analytics and regulatory reporting, and unify sales and service delivery in a single platform.
1. Driving Operational Efficiency
Business Central centralises financials, automates cash management, streamlines supply chains, and supports project and production planning. This helps deliver measurable improvements in speed, accuracy, and business insight. See the following screenshot for an overview dashboard of financial activities in Business Central:
Unified Financial Management
Unified Financial Management in Business Central means comprehensive oversight and automation of your entire accounting ecosystem. You gain a single, integrated platform for general ledger, budgeting, cash management, receivables, payables, and fixed assets. This enables real-time visibility, accurate forecasting, and simplified compliance with Australian GST and multi-currency requirements.
Streamlined Cash Flow & Subscription Billing
This feature automates and centralises your company’s cash flow monitoring and recurring revenue streams. You can set up flexible billing cycles, automate contract renewals, process direct debits, and manage fixed or consumption-based billing - all within a unified dashboard that boosts efficiency, accuracy, and transparency across the business’s financial cycle.
Project Accounting and Time Tracking
Project Accounting and Time Tracking allows precise management of every project stage, from planning and resource allocation to time entry and final invoicing. Built-in job cost tracking, budgeting, and profitability analytics give project managers full control, while automated timesheets and real-time dashboards ensure deadlines and margins are consistently met.
End-to-End Supply Chain Control
End-to-End Supply Chain Control means you orchestrate procurement, inventory, warehousing, and supplier management from a single hub. Business Central enables real-time inventory tracking, advanced demand forecasting, automated purchasing, and full traceability for stock movements. This feature helps to improve fulfilment accuracy, supplier relations, and cost management.
Manufacturing & Production Planning
With Manufacturing & Production Planning, manufacturers manage everything from bill of materials (BoMs) and routing to capacity planning and quality control. The platform supports both discrete and process manufacturing, work orders, subcontracting, and WIP tracking, enabling Australian businesses to improve shop floor productivity, product quality, and operational traceability.
2. Smarter Insights, Compliance & Sustainability
Business Central gives business leaders advanced analytics, automated compliance, and sustainability tracking to guide better decisions and meet regulatory and ESG obligations. See the image below for an example of an Emission overview report in Business Central, illustrating how emissions data can be analysed and summarised by account category:
Analytics & Business Intelligence
Analytics & Business Intelligence in Business Central refers to the integrated dashboards, customisable KPIs, and deep Power BI connections that turn business data into strategic insight. Users can track performance in real time, visualise trends, and share interactive reports to drive informed decision-making at every level.
Sustainability Management (ESG)
Sustainability Management (ESG) lets you record, analyse, and report on key environmental data such as greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage. With sustainability journals and built-in carbon accounting, organisations can meet ESG goals, prepare regulatory disclosures, and demonstrate a responsible footprint for customers and partners.
Global Compliance & Localisation
Global Compliance & Localisation means Business Central supports over 170 local and international regulatory requirements. Australian users benefit from built-in GST, STP, BAS, e-invoicing, and audit trails, as well as multi-entity consolidation and automated tax management to stay compliant, whether operating domestically or globally.
AI and Microsoft Copilot Integration
AI and Microsoft Copilot Integration bring AI-driven automation to routine business processes. Copilot assists users with natural language queries, task automation, document summarisation, and transaction matching. The AI helps staff save time, reduce errors, and unlock smarter ways of working across finance, sales, and operations.
3. Connecting Teams and Customers
Business Central integrates sales, service, and CRM - improving customer engagement and streamlining every step from lead to service delivery. The image below describes how to access and explore available relationship management reports in Business Central using the Report Explorer:
Integrated Sales & CRM Management
Integrated Sales & CRM Management means managing the entire customer lifecycle - leads, opportunities, campaigns, quotes, and after-sales service - in one place. Business Central enables full visibility and collaboration across departments, integrates with Outlook and Teams, and synchronises with Dynamics 365 Sales for a truly unified sales pipeline.
For businesses looking for dedicated customer engagement solutions, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sales offers advanced sales management features, flexible pricing, and seamless integrations. Moreover, Dynamics 365 CRM Customer Service focuses on optimising customer support operations through specialised tools, real-world use cases, and integration capabilities.
Field Service & Contract Management
Field Service & Contract Management covers everything from scheduling jobs and dispatching technicians to tracking assets, warranties, and service contracts. Advanced capabilities include contract-based billing, mobile access for field teams, and integration with Dynamics 365 Field Service for optimised routing and live service updates.
By unifying business processes, analytics, and customer engagement, Business Central creates a digital core for scalable, compliant Australian growth. The next section will demonstrate how seamless integrations further extend these capabilities to drive even greater business potential.
Business Central Integrations to Expand Your Business Potential
Business Central integrations enable Australian organisations to connect their platforms with Microsoft 365, Power BI, Shopify, Xero, Stripe, and more. These solutions facilitate real-time data flow and process automation across the business.
1. Microsoft 365
Business Central’s native integration with Microsoft 365 allows staff to manage financials, sales, and operations directly from Outlook, Teams, and Excel. This reduces data duplication and enables in-context collaboration.
The following screenshot demonstrates how information can be shared directly from within Dynamics 365 Business Central using Microsoft Teams:
This tight connection streamlines quoting, invoicing, and data updates while reducing double handling and errors. Real-time collaboration through Teams ensures that business data, approvals, and workflow management are accessible wherever your team operates, driving faster decisions and greater productivity.
2. Power BI for Advanced Reporting
Business Central connects to Power BI, empowering users to build custom dashboards, drill into real-time data, and even merge information from multiple business entities. The image below illustrates how Power BI retrieves and visualises Business Central data, supporting deep business analysis and decision making:
You can instantly access over 400 prebuilt reports, dashboards, and KPIs covering all critical areas of your business - from finance to inventory to sales. Customisable visualisations and secure data sharing turn raw numbers into strategic insights, helping Australian businesses identify trends, manage risk, and forecast with greater confidence.
3. Shopify, Xero, Stripe & More
Business Central’s open ecosystem ensures compatibility with major e-commerce, accounting, and payment solutions. Popular connections include Shopify for automated online store integration, Xero for streamlined financial transitions, and Stripe for secure, automated payments.
By unifying internal systems with best-in-class external platforms, Business Central gives Australian companies the flexibility to innovate, the transparency to manage risk, and the foundation to scale confidently. The following section explores what to consider when planning your Business Central implementation, so you can unlock the full value of your digital transformation.
What To Consider About Business Central Implementation?
To ensure a successful Business Central rollout in Australia, businesses must follow a defined implementation roadmap, proactively address common risks, and apply proven best practices. Each stage is supported by clear Microsoft documentation and experienced local partners.
This section details the key planning phases, potential pitfalls, and actionable strategies to help you achieve measurable, risk-mitigated results from your ERP investment.
1. What is the implementation roadmap?
A robust Business Central implementation follows four phases: planning, customisation, user training, and a phased rollout.
For a detailed deployment guide, consult Microsoft’s official guidance resources: Deploy and Configure Dynamics 365 Business Central, which outlines every key milestone in the process.
2. What are the common implementation risks?
The top risks in Business Central projects include poor process mapping, inadequate training, faulty data migration, lack of post-launch support, and attempting a “big bang” rollout.
3. What are the best ways to mitigate implementation risks?
The best way to mitigate implementation risks is to use phased rollouts, engage a certified Microsoft partner, invest in comprehensive user training, follow a structured data migration plan, and maintain strong change management.
In summary, Dynamics 365 Business Central combines transparent pricing, advanced features, seamless integrations, and a proven methodology, making it the strategic choice for Australian businesses focused on efficiency, compliance, and growth. By applying the practical steps and best practices detailed above, you’re set for a successful ERP journey.
For tailored advice or to explore how Business Central can transform your operations, contact Havi Technology or learn more about ERP & CRM solutions.
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