Explore the differences between Dynamics 365 F&O and Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Both solutions are great options for companies looking to move to a Cloud ERP solution with Microsoft Dynamics. Below we drill into the details of whether Dynamics 365 Business Central (made for SMB & SMC market) or Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (made for Enterprise market) is a better fit for your organization.
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Business Central
- Small to midsize organizations
- Available in:
- 38 countries,
- partner localizations,
- 24 Languages
- Deployment: 1-8 months
- Vertical-industry capabilities available through Partner Network
- Thousands of transactions
- Only available through a CSP
- Licensing –
- Full $70/$100,
- Team $8,
- Device $40
- No user min
- Multi-companies are handled with separate companies. No cross-company data sharing. Intercompany is available
- IT guy
Shared
Functionalities
***
Cloud or On-Premise
***
Multiple Currencies
***
Multiple Companies
***
Microsoft 365 Integration
***
Power Platform Capabilities
***
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Finance & Operations
- Multinational midsize to large enterprises.
- Available in:
- 140 countries,
- 40 localization,
- 24 Languages
- Deployment: 6-18 months
- Multiple vertical
-industry capabilities OOB - Hundred-thousands of transactions
- Available through MS Volume Licensing and CSP
- Licensing –
- Full $180,
- Activity $50,
- Team $8,
- Device $75
- 20 user min
- Operate multi-company within 1 database with shared tables across organizations
- IT department
More Differences | Diving Deeper
Financial Management
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| General Ledger | â– | â– |
| Accounts Payable | â– | â– |
| Accounts Receivable | â– | â– |
| Cash & Bank Management | â– | â– |
| Credit and Collections | â– | |
| Fixed Assets | â– | â– |
| Electronic Funds Transfer | â– | â– |
| Financial Consolidations | â– | â– |
| Financial Reporting | â– | â– |
| Global Electronic Reporting | â– | |
| Cost Accounting | â– | â– |
| Revenue Recognition | â– | â– |
| Multi-Currency | â– | â– |
| Dual Currency / Triangulation | â– | |
| Audit and Compliance | â– | |
| Multi-Entity | â– | â– |
| Tax | â– | â– |
| GST/VAT | â– | â– |
| Allocations | â– | â– |
| Cash Flow Forecasting | â– | â– |
| Finance Charges / Interest | â– | â– |
| Company Hierarchies | â– | |
| Deduction Management | â– | |
| Document Capture | â– | |
| Multiple Chart of Accounts | â– | |
| Journal Approval Workflows | â– | â– |
| Recurring Journals | â– | |
| Intrastat Journals | â– | â– |
| Payment Terms and Schedules | â– | â– |
| Dunning | â– | |
| Bank Statement Reconciliation | â– | â– |
| Positive Pay | â– | â– |
| Multiple Depreciation Methods | â– | â– |
| Multiple Posting Layers | â– | |
| Multiple Financial Calendars | â– | |
| Intercompany Journals | â– | â– |
| Statistical Accounts | â– | |
| Payment Run Management | â– | â– |
| Electronic Payments | â– | â– |
| Deposit Slips | â– | â– |
| Letters of Guarantee | â– | |
| Letters of Credit | â– | |
| Multiple Asset Books | â– | â– |
| Bill of Exchange | â– | |
| Collection Letters | â– | |
| Vendor Aging | â– | â– |
| Customer Aging | â– | â– |
| Financial Dimensions | â– | â– |
| Budget and Forecast | â– | â– |
| Budget Control | â– |
Supply Chain Management
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Warehouse Management | â– | â– |
| Inventory Management | â– | â– |
| Batch and Serial Tracking | â– | â– |
| Transportation Management | â– | |
| Quality Management | â– | |
| Intercompany Planning | â– | â– |
| Intercompany Transfers | â– | â– |
| Inventory Costing | â– | â– |
| Demand Forecasting | â– | â– |
| Catchweight Management | â– | |
| Multiple Units of Measure | â– | â– |
| Multi-Site | â– | â– |
| Multi-Warehouse | â– | â– |
| Batch Attribute Management | â– | |
| Intercompany Sales | â– | â– |
| Potency Management | â– | |
| Cross Docking | â– | |
| Warehouse Replenishment | â– | |
| Route Management | â– | |
| Freight Calculation | â– | |
| Freight Bill Reconciliation | â– | |
| Transfer Orders | â– | â– |
| Returns Management | â– | â– |
| Cycle Counting | â– | â– |
| Mobile Handheld | â– | |
| Inventory Picking | â– | â– |
| Inventory Putaway | â– | â– |
| Load Planning | â– | |
| Dock Scheduling | â– | |
| Worker Wave Management | â– | |
| Item Traceability | â– | â– |
| Batch Tracking | â– | â– |
| Serial Number Tracking | â– | â– |
| Warehouse Location Tracking | â– | â– |
| Consignment Inventory | â– | |
| TAG Cycle Counting | â– | |
| Certificate of Analysis | â– | |
| Certificate of Supply | â– | |
| Multiple Inventory Statuses | â– | |
| Quality Orders | â– | |
| Quality Hold | â– | |
| NMFC codes | â– | |
| LTL classes | â– | |
| Container Management | â– | |
| Load Building | â– | |
| Shipment Appointment Management | â– | |
| Shipment Building | â– | |
| Carrier Management | â– | |
| Harmonized Tariff Schedules | â– | |
| Fuel Indexes | â– | |
| Global Customer & Vendor | â– |
Procurement and Sourcing
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Requisitions | â– | â– |
| Request for Quote | â– | |
| Vendor Onboarding | â– | â– |
| Purchase Order Management | â– | â– |
| Vendor Collaboration | â– | |
| Vendor Portal | â– | |
| Purchase Agreements | â– | |
| Purchase Discounts | â– | â– |
| Purchase Tax | â– | â– |
| Intercompany Purchases | â– | â– |
| Purchase Planning | â– | |
| 1099 | â– | â– |
| Vendor Change Management | â– | |
| Purchase Order Change Management | â– | |
| Purchase Trade Agreements | â– | |
| Vendor Catalogs | â– | |
| External Vendor Punch Out | â– | |
| Vendor Management | â– | â– |
| Blanket Purchase Orders | â– | â– |
| Purchase Quotes | â– | â– |
| Purchase Returns Management | â– | â– |
| Vendor Discount Groups | â– | â– |
| Vendor Rebates | â– | |
| Purchase Credit Memos | â– | â– |
| Authorized Vendor Product List | â– | |
| Asset Capitalization | â– | |
| Vendor Certifications | â– | |
| Vendor Rating | â– | |
| RFQ Response Ranking | â– | |
| Attribute-Based Pricing | â– | |
| Invoice Matching Policies | â– | |
| Promissory Notes | â– | |
| Payment Fees | â– | |
| Broker Contracts | â– | |
| Royalty Management | â– | |
| Foreign Currency Revaluation | â– |
Sales Order Management
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Quotations | â– | â– |
| Sales Order Processing | â– | â– |
| Product Configurator | â– | |
| Pricing | â– | â– |
| Sales Agreements | â– | |
| Rebates | â– | |
| Discounts | â– | â– |
| Sales Tax | â– | â– |
| Intercompany Sales | â– | â– |
| Delivery Date Management | â– | |
| Direct Delivery Management | â– | â– |
| Return Order Management | â– | â– |
| Customer Change Management | â– | |
| Trade Promotions | â– | |
| Multiple Ship To / Bill To | â– | â– |
| Commissions | â– | |
| Customer Management | â– | â– |
| Order Promising | â– | â– |
| Available to Promise | â– | â– |
| Capable to Promise | â– | â– |
| Order and Item Charges | â– | â– |
| Blanket Sales Orders | â– | â– |
| Marketing Fund Management | â– | |
| Customer Price Groups | â– | â– |
| Product Family Pricing | â– | â– |
| Sales Analysis Dashboards | â– | â– |
| Bill backs | â– | |
| Smart Rounding | â– | |
| Credit Card Integration | â– | |
| Attribute-Based Pricing | â– |
Product Information Management
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Product Master Data Management | â– | â– |
| Product configuration modules | â– | |
| Attribute Management | â– | â– |
| Dimension and variant management | â– | â– |
| Product Change Management | â– | |
| Product Compliance | â– | |
| Multiple Units of Measure | â– | â– |
| Standard Costing | â– | â– |
| Product Dimensions | â– | â– |
| Product Category Hierarchy Management | â– | |
| Restricted Product Regions | â– | |
| Product Safety Data Sheets | â– | |
| Service Items | â– | â– |
| Inventory Items | â– | â– |
| Expense Items | â– | â– |
| FIFO/LIFO/WAC/BATCH Costing | â– | â– |
Human Capital Management
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Employee Management | â– | â– |
| Skills, Competencies & Certifications | â– | |
| Position Management | â– | |
| Job Management | â– | |
| Employee Self-Service Portal | â– | |
| Benefits Management | â– | |
| Course Management | â– | |
| Loaned Items | â– | |
| Questionnaires | â– | |
| I-9 Document Management | â– | |
| Worker Goal Management | â– | |
| Absence & Leave Management | â– | |
| FMLA Cases | â– | |
| Injury & Illness Management | â– | |
| Compensation Management | â– | |
| Recruitment Projects | â– | |
| Applicant Management | â– |
Customer Relationship Management
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Management | â– | â– |
| Opportunity Management | â– | â– |
| Lead Management | â– | |
| Campaigns | â– | â– |
| Prospect Management | â– | |
| Task & Activity Tracking | â– | â– |
| Outlook Integration | â– | â– |
| Segmentation | â– | â– |
| Call Lists | â– | |
| Sales Territory Management | â– | â– |
| Case Management | â– | |
| Salesperson Management | â– | â– |
Project Accounting
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Projects | â– | |
| Time & Materials Projects | â– | â– |
| Resource Scheduling | â– | â– |
| Billing & Invoice Rules | â– | |
| Revenue Recognition | â– | |
| Milestone billing rules | â– | â– |
| Work Breakdown Structures | â– | â– |
| Cost & Effort Tracking | â– | â– |
| Project Quotations | â– | â– |
| Grant Management | â– | |
| Resource Capacity Management | â– | â– |
Manufacturing
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Discrete Manufacturing (Route & BOM) | â– | â– |
| Process Manufacturing (Formula & BOM) | â– | |
| Lean Manufacturing (Kanban) | â– | |
| Kanban Boards | â– | |
| Master Planning | â– | â– |
| Job Scheduling | â– | â– |
| Manufacturing Execution | â– | â– |
| Product Costing | â– | â– |
| Resource Management | â– | â– |
| Capacity Planning | â– | â– |
| Outsourced Manufacturing / Subcontractors | â– | â– |
| Safety Stock Management | â– | â– |
| Production Sequencing | â– | |
| Shop Floor Interface | â– |
Retail
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Point of Sale | â– | |
| Merchandise Operations | â– | |
| Order Management | â– | |
| Staff and store Management | â– | |
| Product information Management | â– | |
| Retail Analytics | â– | |
| Consumer Mobile Application | â– | |
| Distributed Order Management | â– | |
| Coupons | â– | |
| Loyalty Cards | â– | |
| Kitting/Assemblies | â– | â– |
| Product Assortments | â– | |
| Channel Management | â– | |
| Call Center Management | â– | |
| Call Center Scripts | â– | |
| Fraud Checking | â– | |
| Continuity Orders | â– | |
| Installment Orders | â– |
Service Management
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Service Agreements | â– | â– |
| Service Contracts | â– | â– |
| Work Orders | â– | â– |
| Resource Scheduling | â– | â– |
| Repair Tracking | â– | â– |
| Service Item Management | â– | â– |
| Service Contract Quotes | â– | â– |
| Service Subscriptions | â– | |
| Service Object Management | â– |
Time & Expenses
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Expense Report Management | â– | |
| Time Sheet Management | â– | â– |
| Travel Requisitions | â– | |
| Workflow Approval | â– | |
| Time & Expense Policies | â– | |
| Credit Card Import | â– | |
| VAT/GST Reclamation | â– | |
| Pre Diems and Mileage | â– | |
| Employee Payments | â– |
System
All Dynamics 365 Functionalities |
Dynamics 365 F&O |
Dynamics 365 BC |
|---|---|---|
| Role-Based Security | â– | â– |
| Azure AD Authentication | â– | â– |
| Segregation of Duties | â– | â– |
| Electronic Signatures | â– | |
| Database Auditing | â– | |
| User-Based Alerts | â– | â– |
| Business Workflows | â– | â– |
| Document Management | â– | â– |
| Mobile Client | â– | â– |
| Microsoft 365 Integration | â– | â– |
| Document Management | â– | â– |
| Workspaces | â– |