Dynamics Business Central integration with Customer Engagement

Imagine your sales team closing a deal in Dynamics 365 Sales—and within seconds, the order is reflected in your financial system, inventory is updated, and invoicing is already in motion. That’s the power of Dynamics 365 Business Central integration with Customer Engagement.

This isn’t just about syncing data. It’s about giving your teams a shared reality—where sales reps have visibility into real-time pricing and product availability, and finance teams never have to chase down order details. It’s about collapsing the gap between customer conversations and cash flow.

In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how to make that integration happen—step by step.

What is Dynamics 365 Business Central?

Business Central is an ERP solution that is designed to keep small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in mind. It comes with all modules that help businesses to manage their financials, supply chains, manufacturing, operations, and more. Business can leverage its functionalities irrespective of their industry and customize it as per their requirements. Successful Business Central implementation can transform how your organization manages daily operations and strategic planning.

What is Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE)?

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (previously known as Dynamics CRM) is a set of few applications in MS Dynamics 365 suite that help business to manage customer interactions. Microsoft has included solutions, like Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, Customer Insight, and Field Service.

Business can choose one or more solutions as per their requirements. For instance, business can manage sales pipeline or closing deals using Dynamics 365 Sales while Dynamics 365 Customer Insight helps you run campaign and nurture leads.

Similarly, Dynamics 365 Customer Service helps you support your customers’ post-sales. You can manage cases, SLAs, knowledge base articles, or chatbots. You can choose Dynamics 365 Field Service to deliver service onsite. MSFT Dynamics CRM capabilities allow for robust customer management experience.

Why Use Customer Engagement with Business Central?

Integrating customer engagement with Business Central improves customer relationship management, aligns business processes, and enhances overall operational performance through a 360-degree view of customer interaction and data.

1. Real-Time Data Synchronization

If you link Business Central to Customer Engagement, you can maintain data in real time.

For example, when a sales order is placed at Business Central, it is immediately visible in solutions like Dynamics Sales in the Customer Engagement suite.

2. Streamlined Sales and Accounting Procedures

Integration eliminates the need for manual entry of data from one system to another. Sales reps can see accurate inventories and prices in Customer Engagement.

Although finance departments can monitor customer invoices and orders within Business Central. This smooth integration eliminates mistakes and enhances the efficiency of operations.

3. Improved Teamwork Between Teams

When both sales and finance teams work from the same data, it is simpler to collaborate. Dynamics 365 Business Central integration with Customer Engagement offers unified customer data, which allows all departments to make the correct decision and improve service delivery.

Ways to Integrate Dynamics 365 Business Central with Customer Engagement

There are different ways to accomplish Business Central integration with Customer Engagement, based on your requirements. Below are a few of the best integration methods.

1. Using the Dataverse Connector

The Dataverse connector is an out-of-the-box application that provides the capability to synchronize your data between Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement.

For example, using Dataverse, you can synchronize customers, sales orders, invoices, and products from Business Central to Customer Engagement.

2. Automate Workflows with Power Automate

Power Automate can also be used to create automated workflows between Business Central and Customer Engagement, which will help eliminate human error and save time.

For example, in the process of creating sales orders in Business Central, Power Automate can trigger an action in Customer Engagement to create a sales opportunity.

3. Custom Integration Solutions

Custom API integrations can allow you to sync specific data points and workflows to address your more complex business requirements. These may include Business Central integration with Dynamics 365 Sales or even Business Central with QuickBooks integration, depending on your ecosystem.

Step-by-Step Guide to Business Central integration with CE

The Business Central integration with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement establishes data synchronization between both applications. This centralizes workflows, standardizes processes, and reduces errors due to manual entry.

Step 1: Setting Up the Dataverse Connection in Business Central

Before establishing the connection between BC and CE, you’ll need to configure the Dataverse connection in Business Central.

Run the Assisted Setup Wizard

• Click “Assisted Setup” from the wizard.
• If already configured, you’ll receive a warning.
• But you can re-run the setup.

Search for Dataverse Connection Setup

• In Business Central, search for “Dataverse Connection Setup.”
• If a connection already exists, you may need to disable it first before starting a new setup.

Choose Your Dataverse Environment

• Dataverse (formerly known as Common Data Service) is the backbone of this integration.
• Select the Dataverse environment URL that connects BC to your CE instance.

Authenticate as a Global Admin

• A global admin role is required in your Microsoft tenant.
• This grants permission to install solutions and configure the connection properly.

Accept Terms and Finish Setup

• Accept the terms and conditions to continue.
• The system installs the required solutions in your Dataverse environment.
• A confirmation message indicates successful setup.

Step 2: Installing Virtual Tables in DataVerse

Once the connection is established, the integration allows data synchronization between BC and CE. The process involves setting up virtual tables within Dataverse to synchronize key entities between the two systems.

Enable Data Synchronization

During setup, you’ll be prompted to enable data synchronization. You can choose to sync entities, such as customer accounts, vendors, sales orders, quotes, and invoices.

Install the Virtual Table App

Install the Business Central Virtual Table App in your Dataverse environment. Virtual tables allow data to be accessed and synced without duplicating records, serving as a live bridge between BC and CE.

Step 3: Enabling Sales Orders and Additional Document Integration

Once the core integration is set up, you may want to synchronize sales documents between CE and BC, such as sales orders, quotes, and invoices.

Search for Dynamics Connection Setup

In BC, search for the “Dynamics 365 Connection Setup” page. This configuration step enables sales-related data exchange between BC and CE.

Complete Setup in Sequence

Complete the Dataverse setup before configuring the Dynamics 365 connection. Attempting to do this out of order will prevent the setup from proceeding.

Enable Document Exchange

Once the connection is live:

• Sales quotes can be sent from CE → BC
• Invoices can be sent from BC → CE

This enables end-to-end sales document synchronization between both platforms.

Step 4: Job Queue Management and Synchronization

Once the integration is set up, you can manage the synchronization of entities such as customers, vendors, sales orders, and invoices.

Configure Integration Table Mappings

Navigate to “Integration Table Mappings” in BC. Define how key entities, such as customers, vendors, and sales orders, sync between systems.

Choose synchronization direction.

• One-way (unidirectional)
• Two-way (bi-directional)

Manage Sync Jobs via Job Queue Entries

BC generates Job Queue Entries to synchronize the different entities. These job entries handle tasks like customer sync, vendor sync, and sales order sync. You can configure the frequency of these jobs and monitor their status to ensure everything is running smoothly.

Initiate Full Sync (Optional)

If needed, run a full sync to ensure all records are up-to-date and correctly mirrored across both systems.

Common Integration Complications

When it comes to integrating Customer Engagement with Business Central, you can run into challenges, including poor planning, issues with data migration, resistance from end users, problems with customizations, and more.

1. Data Mapping and Transformation

One of the first areas of trouble in Dynamics 365 Business Central integration with Customer Engagement is to make sure that the data fields are matching in both systems.

For example, customer names or addresses, even product IDs, may be structured differently in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central than they are in Microsoft Dynamics CRM (or Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement).

In order to avoid mistakes and streamline data flow, Dataverse mapping tools should be used to map entities in both systems to ensure each is in sync, preventing others’ problems such as duplicate records or fields that do not match.

2. Managing Write-in Products

Write-in products are items that have been added manually to a sales order in Dynamics 365 Sales and do not exist in Business Central. If write-in products are not managed effectively, there will be gaps in inventory and financial records.

To correct this, identifying write-in products early on and setting them up as standard items (or resources) in Business Central is critical. Identifying write-in products is necessary to be able to manage inventory, report on sales, and finally provide seamless integration between Business Central and Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement.

What Makes Dynamics Square the Right Partner for Your Integrations?

Having a seamless Dynamics 365 Business Central integration with Customer Engagement is a systematic journey. That is why you will need a certified partner that understands business goals.

Dynamics Square, a Microsoft Dynamics Partner based in Ontario, has experience with deploying and integrating Dynamics 365 solutions. We can help you automate your lead-to-cash workflow, consolidate your sales and finance data, and decrease the manual effort where appropriate.

So, what makes Dynamics Square right for you?

End-to-End Support: We are with you during planning, configuration, training, and enabling of on-going optimization.

Industry Knowledge: We have worked with organizations in manufacturing, retail, professional services, and more.

Certified Resources: We have Microsoft certified consultants, allowing you to have seamless, secure, and scalable integration experience.

Post-deployment Support: Regardless of your adoption status, we are focused on providing you with as much potential long-term ROI as possible for your organization.

In case you get stuck in unimagined problem, please get in touch with our consultants at +1 778 381 5388 or write us an email at info@dynamicssquare.ca to resolve your problem with ease.

People Also Ask:

1. What happened to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement?

Microsoft has retired the "Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement" SKU/license plan back in Oct 2019. Mean, the bundle of the Dynamics 365 apps (formerly MSFT Dynamics CRM) now can be purchased separately as licenses for each of its apps, plus "attach licenses" for the users needing multiple apps; this saves you money.

2. How to Integrate Business Central with Power BI?

You can integrate Business Central with Power BI using built-in Power BI connectors, third-party connectors, or custom APIs. However, a built-in connector allows you to connect both systems in a few clicks without hassle. This allows you to create custom dashboards or use out-of-the-box reports for real-time insights into sales, finance, inventory, and more. You can also embed Power BI reports directly within the Business Central interface for seamless analysis and decision-making.

3. How do you automatically create records in Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement?

With Power Automate, you can build workflows to create records, such as sales opportunities or leads, automatically within Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement. For instance, if Business Central was integrated with Dynamics 365 Sales, a record could be created every time a sale order was entered. This creates a great possibility for further automation of your CRM solution within the MSFT Dynamics CRM eco-system.

4. What is Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement?

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (D365CE) is a collection of applications that include Sales, Field Service or Customer Service. There are many offerings in D365CE, and different users can select one or multiple offerings to meet their needs. The applications in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement allow users to manage all aspects of customer engagement. You may also want to consider integrating with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to provide real time data synchronization.

5. How to integrate Business Central with CRM?

If you are looking to integrate Business Central with Dynamics CRM, think about using Dataverse, Power Automate, or using an API to connect. It would give Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central access to real-time data with integration with Dynamics 365 Sales.