Hidden Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Features
- John Ellis
- Oct 29
- 2 min read
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is packed with powerful tools designed to help growing businesses operate more efficiently. However, many valuable Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central features often go unnoticed by everyday users. These lesser-known capabilities—sometimes called the “out of the spotlight” features—can deliver significant benefits when properly leveraged.
In this article, we’ll explore a few of these hidden features within Business Central, focusing on three key areas:
Supply chain user security
Item profitability
Business intelligence
Supply Chain User Security
Business Central’s “User Setup” screen provides policies maintaining security to post supply chain’s Sales Shipments and Sales Invoices, as shown in the following screenshot:
The Sales Invoice Posting Policy houses these three selections:
Allowed: This is the default behavior where the user chooses the posting option to use -- Ship, Invoice, or Ship and Invoice.
Prohibited: Posting Sales Invoices isn’t allowed and Business Central, in fact, displays a dialog box for only the Ship option.
Mandatory: The user must post Sales Invoices and Sales Shipments, simultaneously.
Of course, a comparable Purch. Invoice Posting Policy is available.
Item Profitability
Using Personalize on the “Items List” page shows the Profit % of each inventory item. Such a snapshot can assist managers in determining, for example, if an item should be discontinued.
In any case, this list provides a good managerial accounting tool:
Users not familiar with Personalize would simply take these steps:
(1) Click Business Central’s “Settings” button
(2) Choose Personalize
(3) Click the “+ Field” button in the upper left
(4) Drag and drop Profit % from the right.
Business Intelligence
Every user knows that Dimensions represent the heart of business intelligence.
Not everyone, though, knows that utilizing Analysis Views based on Dimensions automatically creates PivotCharts and PivotTables in Excel.
The Analysis View named “Revenue by Customer” offers an example, using the “Analysis by Dimensions” button:
Date Filter, Account Filter, and Show as Columns provide a columnar view of revenue based on the three Customer Groups for the year 2024:
After clicking the “Show Matrix” button in the upper left, a matrix appears showing the year’s revenue for the “LARGE”, “MEDIUM”, and “SMALL” Customer Groups as listed on the right:
To see Excel’s PivotCharts and PivotTables, click the “Export to Excel” button shown in the upper right of this matrix.
Within the workbook, click the second tab and then the “Analyze Data” button.
A complete analysis of customer revenue will display, on the right side of the workbook:
Exploring these lesser-known Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central features reveals just how powerful and flexible the platform truly is. From tightening supply chain user security to improving visibility into item profitability and leveraging built-in business intelligence tools, these capabilities can help your organization work smarter and make more informed decisions. By taking the time to uncover and apply these out-of-the-spotlight features, businesses can optimize performance, increase profitability, and fully realize the value of their Dynamics 365 investment.
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