TL;DR

Microsoft’s new Business Central features let users easily add custom fields to analysis pages—similar to Smartlists in Dynamics GP—and use Copilot to summarize item, vendor, customer, and transaction activity. These tools improve visibility, simplify reporting, and can be enabled through Feature Management.

Microsoft has released new functionality for Dynamics 365 Business Central in 2025, and it significantly improves the user experience. In this walkthrough, we explore how you can now add fields to analysis pages within Business Central.

If you’re currently using Dynamics GP, you likely appreciate Smartlist. With these new enhancements, Business Central now offers similar—and in many ways expanded—capabilities, giving GP users a compelling reason to move to Business Central.

We will also look at the new Summarize with Copilot feature, which provides quick summaries of activity related to items, customers, vendors, or transactions. Finally, we will review how to activate these features through Feature Management.

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Using Analysis Lists in Business Central

Navigating the Item List Page

To begin, we’ll look at the item list page, which displays all items in one place. This page allows users to drill down, navigate across items, and view related information in the factbox on the right-hand side.

What the Analysis Feature Has Offered Traditionally

The analysis feature in Business Central has been available for some time, allowing users to create custom lists. Previously, however, users could only work with the fields already presented in the default view.

New Capability: Adding Additional System Fields

With the new functionality, users can now add additional fields from the system that are not part of the existing list layout.
In this example, we will add vendor-related fields to the item list.

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Creating a Custom Analysis List

Selecting New Field Groups

To begin customizing, a new list is created. From here, you can add columns from other sources. Selecting “Vendor” reveals multiple grouped fields—such as Bills of Material, tracking codes, routing headers, and more.

You can create multiple named lists and revisit them at any time. In the demonstration, this becomes the fourth saved list for items.

Adding Vendor Fields

After selecting the vendor field group, the user adds several fields:

• Vendor balance
• Outstanding invoices
• Purchaser code
• Blocked status

These fields are now incorporated into the analysis list.

Reviewing and Exporting the Updated List

Once added, users can scroll through the updated list to see the new vendor details. The list can also be exported directly to Excel. In Excel, all newly added fields appear alongside the original analysis data, making further analysis or collaboration easy.

This streamlined process brings Business Central’s analysis functionality very close to the popular Smartlist tool in Dynamics GP.

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Summarizing Transactions with Copilot

Introducing the Summary Pane

Next, we explore the new Copilot-driven summary pane available on item cards. When opening an item card, users now see:

• Quantity on hand
• Unit cost
• Additional details through the “Show more” option

How Copilot Enhances Visibility

Copilot gathers related information from across Business Central and presents it in a clean, centralized view. This makes data easier to digest compared to navigating multiple pages manually.

This summary capability is not limited to items—it also works for:

• Vendors
• Customers
• Transactions

Users can easily jump to the next item and continue reviewing activity summaries.

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Enabling New Features Through Feature Management

Activating the Analysis Field Enhancement

To use the new ability to add fields in analysis mode, navigate to Feature Management and ensure the feature toggle is enabled. Starting in October 2025 and May 2026, this will become enabled by default, but early adopters must activate it manually.

Requirements for Copilot Agents

To use features such as the Sales Order Agent or Payables Agent, you must:

• Set up an Azure environment
• Link Azure to your Business Central instance
• Configure Copilot settings
• Review any applicable billing requirements

Although there are several components involved, the setup process is manageable and integrates smoothly once completed.

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Summary of New Capabilities

In this video, we explored three key enhancements in Dynamics 365 Business Central:

H3: Add Fields to Analysis Pages

This feature now mirrors the flexibility of Dynamics GP Smartlists, allowing users to build powerful, customized lists.

H3: Summarize Activity with Copilot

Copilot can summarize transactions and provide insights for items, vendors, customers, and more—all displayed in a clear, intuitive pane.

H3: Manage Features Through Feature Management

By enabling the right features, users can take full advantage of these new capabilities.

If you’re ready to deploy Copilot in Microsoft 365, you can download the free guide using the link in the video description.