Business Central vs Dynamics GP: 10 Features That Boost Productivity
- Kwixand Team
- Jan 15
- 6 min read
Still using Dynamics GP? Learn how Dynamics 365 Business Central improves productivity with AI, cloud access, automation, and lower IT costs.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems serve as the backbone of many small and mid-sized businesses, helping to unify financials, supply chain, inventory, reporting, and more. For decades, Microsoft Dynamics GP has been a trusted ERP solution for businesses that require robust core accounting functionality. However, as organizations increasingly adopt cloud technology, automation, and data-driven decision-making, GP’s on-premises design has begun to show its limitations. Not to mention, with Microsoft's GP End of Life announcement that product support and updates for the solution are set to end on December 31, 2029, GP is well on its way to becoming a legacy solution within the next few years.
Positioned as a natural next step, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft’s modern cloud ERP built to replace legacy systems like GP. It introduces capabilities that simply don’t exist in GP, especially around automation, analytics, mobility, and integration with Microsoft 365.
In this article, we’ll break down the top 10 Business Central features that Dynamics GP doesn’t have, and dive into how each one improves productivity, scalability, and long-term return on investment.
Still Using Dynamics GP? Here are 10 Business Central Features You’re Missing
1️⃣ Built-In AI and Copilot Capabilities
One of the most significant differences in the Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Dynamics GP comparison is the inclusion of AI-powered insights and Microsoft Copilot within Business Central. These tools surface automated insights, predictions, and recommendations right where you work.
This means Business Central can:
Forecast cash flow trends using AI-powered forecasts
Suggest inventory replenishment levels based on historical patterns
Provide recommendations for overdue invoices and payment prioritization
As an example, finance teams can instantly generate cash flow forecasts without exporting data to spreadsheets. Sales and operations leaders can also spot trends before problems arise, eliminating hours of spreadsheet analysis and empowering leaders to make smarter inventory and staffing decisions.
Dynamics GP does not include native AI or predictive analytics, relying instead on manual analysis or external tools, which increases effort and delays decision-making.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Faster insights, fewer spreadsheets, better decisions with less effort.
2️⃣ True Cloud ERP Architecture
Business Central is a true cloud ERP, hosted securely on Microsoft Azure. This gives it a major advantage over Dynamics GP, which, while it can be hosted in the cloud, was designed primarily for on-premises environments.
This means that Business Central allows you to leverage cloud benefits such as:
Access Business Central anytime, anywhere, on any device
No VPNs or remote desktop connections
Built-in security, backups, and disaster recovery
Additionally, Business Central receives automatic updates from Microsoft. New features, security patches, and performance improvements are delivered without disruptive upgrade projects or manual intervention from your internal IT team. In contrast, Dynamics GP upgrades often require significant IT planning, testing, and downtime.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Less IT overhead, more uptime, and instant access to the latest features.
3️⃣ Modern User Experience and Role-Based Dashboards
Business Central offers a modern, intuitive interface designed to improve user adoption and efficiency, with usability features such as:
Role-based dashboards tailored to job functions
Visual KPIs and charts
Drag-and-drop tiles and workflows
Built-in search and navigation
Users see only the data and tasks relevant to their role, reducing clutter and speeding up daily work. This contrasts with Dynamics GP’s older interface, which, while functional, requires more navigation and training and lacks the same intuitive experience.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Faster onboarding, fewer clicks, and improved daily efficiency.
4️⃣ Seamless Microsoft 365 Integration
One of Business Central’s biggest strengths is its native integration with Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Teams, and Excel. This means users can easily:
Create and send invoices directly from Outlook
Collaborate on records inside Microsoft Teams
Open live ERP data in Excel with one click
Approve documents from mobile devices or Teams
Dynamics GP typically requires third-party connectors to achieve similar workflows, which increases cost and complexity.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Seamless workflows across familiar tools, reducing context switching.
5️⃣ Advanced Financial Management with Dimensions
Business Central streamlines financial management with features that go beyond GP’s traditional account structure, such as:
Consolidation across multiple legal entities - enabling unified reporting without manual data merges.
Intercompany transactions - automating transfers and eliminating manual reconciliation steps.
Dimensions instead of rigid account segments - Business Central allows tagging transactions with multiple analytical “dimensions” (such as department, region, or product line) without bloating the chart of accounts.
Dimensional accounting significantly enhances reporting flexibility and minimizes manual work during the month-end close process. GP’s traditional segment structure lacks this type of dynamic tagging.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Cleaner chart of accounts, faster reporting, and simpler month-end close.
6️⃣ Integrated Manufacturing Capabilities
For manufacturers, Business Central includes an integrated manufacturing module (under its Premium license) that works seamlessly with financials and inventory. Manufacturing features in this module include:
Production orders
Bills of Materials (BOMs)
Material Requirements Planning (MRP)
Capacity and demand planning
These features enable manufacturers to plan effectively and remain agile. In contrast, Dynamics GP often relies on third-party manufacturing add-ons, which can create data silos and complicate upgrades.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Better production planning and fewer manual reconciliations.
7️⃣ Integrated Warehouse and Inventory Management
Inventory and warehouse management are fundamental to many businesses today, and Business Central modernizes these functions with features such as:
Bin and location management
Barcode scanning
Warehouse picks and put-aways
Real-time inventory visibility
These features drive accuracy and speed throughout order fulfillment and receiving processes, especially in high-volume environments. On the other hand, GP’s warehouse capabilities generally rely on third-party components or custom extensions, whereas Business Central offers inventory management features straight out-of-the-box, reducing complexity and boosting productivity.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Faster fulfillment, higher inventory accuracy, and reduced errors.
8️⃣ Power Platform Integration
A key differentiator for Business Central is its deep integration with the Microsoft Power Platform, which includes Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Apps. With these tools:
Power BI provides embedded analytics and interactive dashboards; no external reporting tools are needed
Power Automate supports low-code workflow automation, such as alerts for overdue invoices or automated data reviews
Power Apps lets non-developers build custom applications that operate atop ERP data
This extends Business Central’s core without heavy development overhead, enabling organizations to automate repetitive tasks and unify reporting across disparate systems. In contrast, Dynamics GP does not offer this level of native extensibility.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Automation of repetitive tasks and real-time analytics without heavy IT involvement.
9️⃣ AppSource Extensions for Industry-Specific Needs
Business Central users benefit from Microsoft AppSource, a marketplace of certified add-ons and apps. These extensions serve industry niches or specific business needs, such as:
Manufacturing enhancements
Nonprofit and fund accounting tools
Advanced shipping, payroll, or CRM add-ons
This ecosystem allows organizations to extend their ERP functionality without custom code, reducing total development cost and ensuring compatibility with future updates. GP historically relies more on third-party vendors outside of a unified marketplace, which can complicate upgrades and support.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Faster innovation with lower risk and cost.
🔟 Lower Total Cost of Ownership
One of the most tangible productivity boosters of the Business Central model is the elimination of manual updates, server maintenance, and infrastructure overhead.
Some of the benefits companies see when migrating from on-premises to the cloud include:
Your vendor manages backups, security, and disaster recovery
Updates are rolled out automatically; no lengthy upgrade projects
No servers or databases to maintain on-premises
This dramatically lowers long-term IT costs and removes productivity drains such as scheduled downtime for upgrades or support patching. Compared to a cloud ERP like Business Central, GP’s on-premises nature means organizations must plan and execute upgrades themselves, often involving expensive consulting hours and internal resources.
⚙️Productivity Impact: Less maintenance, more focus on business growth.
Why Business Central Is the Future Beyond Dynamics GP
Choosing the right ERP is about more than just present needs; it’s about future productivity, agility, and return on investment. Dynamics 365 Business Central represents a significant leap forward from a legacy system like Dynamics GP, offering built-in automation, cloud mobility, modern experiences, deep integrations, and a platform that accelerates business processes instead of impeding them. For organizations still running Dynamics GP, Business Central represents a modernization strategy, not just a system replacement.
Got Questions or Ready to Take the Next Step? Kwixand Solutions Can Help
Transitioning from Dynamics GP to Business Central is a big decision. As a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partner, we specialize in Dynamics 365 Business Central and are happy to help you with any questions you may have. You can also take advantage of our complimentary ERP Needs Assessment that will help you understand whether Dynamics 365 Business Central is right for your business.
