Business Central Essentials vs Premium
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials and Premium are two popular plans for developing businesses. They offer a powerful, effective, and flexible ERP solution that can help you manage your finances, sales, service, and operations.
However, choosing the right plan for your business is essential. Before you make a decision, it's important to understand the key differences between Business Central Essentials and Premium.
In this blog post, we'll compare the two plans in detail and help you decide which one is right for your business.
Comparing Business Central Essentials and Premium
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a powerful ERP solution that can help businesses of all sizes manage their finances, sales, service, and operations. Specifically built for SMBs, BC offers modern tools, functions, and capabilities to streamline various operations.
Based on Microsoft NAV (Navision) infrastructure, it offers seamless integration with native and third-party solutions to enhance the capability of a particular Business Central module. You can integrate applications like Power BI, Mobile WMS by Tasklet, Continia Integration, and more from the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem.
Business Central is available in three plans: Team Member, Essentials and Premium. The Essentials plan is designed for small businesses that need a comprehensive ERP solution to manage their core business processes. The Premium plan is designed for larger businesses and businesses with more complex needs, such as manufacturing or service management.
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members: This plan offers restricted access to a user. With this plan, a user can do general tasks like sharing data, checking metrics, uploading information, and more.
- Essentials: The Dynamics 365 Essentials licencing plan offers different modules that we will discuss next. In short, it offers comprehensive access to the modules necessary to run a small business.
- Premium: The Dynamics 365 Premium licencing plan offers all modules of the Essentials plan. And along with it, you will get Service and Production/Manufacturing management modules. This is a perfect licencing option for all kinds of businesses.
Here is a comparison of the two plans:
Which plan is right for you?
Feature |
Essentials |
Premium |
Core ERP functionality |
Yes |
Yes |
Manufacturing management |
No |
Yes |
Service management |
No |
Yes |
Advanced reporting and analytics |
Yes |
Yes |
Integration with other Microsoft products |
Yes |
Yes |
Scalability |
Good |
Excellent |
Price |
Lower |
Higher |
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Essentials vs Premium: The Most Accurate Comparison
In this section, we are going to compare the features, modules, capabilities, and functionalities of the Essentials and Premium Business Central licencing plans. Also, this will give you a better understanding of both plans so that you can choose the perfect one for your business.
Business Central Essentials
When it comes to Business Central pricing, this plan will cost you £57.50 per user per month. In this pricing, you will get the following modules to manage your business:
- Financial Management
- HR Management
- Artificial Intelligence
- CRM
- E-Services
- Project Management
- Supply Chain Management
- Warehouse Management and Inventory
- Other Capabilities
Financial Management | ||||
Account Schedules | Basic XBRL | Deferrals | Responsibility Centers | Allocations |
Budgets | Unlimited Dimensions | Bank Account Management | Cash Flow Forecast | Fixed Assets |
Bank Reconciliation | Check Writing | Multiple Currencies | Basic General Ledger | Consolidation |
Payment Handling | Cost Accounting | Intercompany Postings |
AI (artificial Intelligence) | ||||
Cash Flow Forecast | Late Payment Prediction | Image Recognition | Inventory Forecast | Sales Forecast |
CRM (customer relationship management) | ||||
Business Inbox for Outlook | Contact Classification | Email Logging | Relationship Management | Campaign Management |
Contact Management | Interaction/Document Management | Task Management | Campaign Pricing | Opportunity Management |
E-Services | ||||
Document Management | Document Capture | Tax. Reg. No. Validation Service (EU) | Document Exchange Service | PayPal |
HR (Human Resource Management) | ||||
Basic Human Resource | Payroll Management |
Project Management | ||||
Basic Resources | Job Quotes | Capacity Management | Multiple Costs | Time Sheet |
Supply Chain Management | ||||
Alternative Order Addresses | Item Attributes | Purchase Invoicing | Sales Line Pricing | Item Budgets |
Purchase Line Discounting | Sales Order Management | Alternative Vendors | Item Categories | Purchase Line Pricing |
Sales Return Order Management | Assembly Management | Item Charges | Purchase Order Management | Sales Tax/VAT |
Basic Inventory | Item Cross References | Purchase Return Order | Shipping Agents | Basic Payables |
Item Substitutions | Requisition Management | Standard Cost Worksheet | Basic Receivables | Item Tracking |
Demand Forecasting | Stock keeping Units | Calendars | Location Transfers | Sales Invoice Discounts |
Vendor Catalogue Items | Cycle Counting | Multiple Locations | Sales Invoicing | Order Promising |
Warehouse Management and Inventory | ||||
Automated Data Capture System | Internal Picks and Put Aways | Warehouse Shipment | Warehouse Receipt | Warehouse Management Systems |
Business Central Premium
The Business Central pricing of Premium plan will cost you at £82.20 per user/month. Along with all modules of Essentials plan, you will get two more modules.
- Service Management
- Manufacturing Management
Other Capabilities | ||||
Analysis Reports | Retention Policies | Workflow | Change Log | Unlimited Companies |
Embedded Power BI | Notifications | User Management | Reason Codes | Word Reporting |
Service Order Management | ||||
Planning and Dispatching | Service Item Management | Service Price Management | Service Contract Management | Service Order Management |
Manufacturing Management | ||||
Agile Manufacturing | Finite Loading | Production Orders | Basic Capacity Planning | Machine Centers |
Sales and Inventory Forecasting | Basic Supply Planning | Production Bill of Materials | Version Management |
Business Central Essentials vs Premium
Parameters | Essentials | Premium |
Pricing | £57.50 per user/month | £82.20 per user/month |
Users | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Service Order Management | No | Yes |
Manufacturing Management | No | Yes |
Best for Businesses | Small | Small and Medium |
Struggling to Choose the Best Business Central Licensing Plan for your Business?
To choose the perfect plan for your business, you need to understand your business as well as its requirements. Once you have the data, you can choose the perfect plan that can support your business's growth and scalability.
In case you need help understanding your business needs and demands, feel free to connect with Dynamics Square, a leading Microsoft Solutions Partner in the UK.
As a Business Central Partner, we have been helping growing businesses implement smart and innovative business solutions to enhance their growth while opening up new opportunities for growth.
Write us a mail at info@dynamicssquare.co.uk or call us directly at +44-207-193-2502 for instant support.