From Chaos to Confidence: How Business Central’s New Quality Management Feature Transforms Incoming Goods Control

Imagine this:

A furniture manufacturer receives a shipment of raw materials - wood, fabric, and metal components. The warehouse team logs the delivery, but a few days later, production halts. Why? Some of the wood was warped, and the fabric had defects. The issue wasn’t caught early, and now the company faces delays, rework, and unhappy customers.

This is a common pain point for businesses that rely on incoming goods to maintain production schedules and quality standards. Until now, many companies had to rely on manual checks or disconnected systems to manage quality control.

But with the 2025 Wave 2 release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, that’s changing.

Microsoft has introduced a powerful new feature: Quality Management for Incoming Goods and Materials. This enhancement helps businesses ensure product reliability, meet regulatory standards, and build customer trust through consistent quality control.

 

Why It Matters

Whether you're receiving raw materials, assembling products, or managing production output, quality checks are now embedded into your workflows. This means fewer surprises, better compliance, and more confidence in your supply chain.

 

What You Can Do with It

1. Quality Checks at Key Stages

Scenario:
A company receives a batch of steel rods. Upon posting the purchase receipt, Business Central automatically triggers a quality check to measure length and tensile strength.

• Purchase Receipts: Quality checks can be triggered automatically after posting receipts, even if warehouse handling is involved.
• Production Output: As furniture is manufactured, quality checks (manual or automatic) ensure that dimensions and finishes meet standards.
• Assembly Output: For assembled items like modular cabinets, checks confirm that all components are correctly fitted and meet specifications.

 

2. Flexible Triggers & Scheduling

Scenario:
A food processing company wants to test every 10th batch of canned goods for seal integrity and weight. They set up a recurring quality check every 2 hours.

• Run checks manually or schedule them at regular intervals.
• Define triggers based on events like posting a receipt or completing production.

 

3. Detailed Scope & Parameters

Scenario:
A chemical supplier needs to verify the density and pH level of incoming liquids. Business Central allows checks at the lot level, with parameters like weight and composition.

• Apply checks to individual items, item groups, lots, serial numbers, or packages.
• Assess physical attributes like weight, dimensions, and density.

 

4. External Analysis & Sampling

Scenario:
A pharmaceutical company sends a sample of each batch to a third-party lab. Business Central lets them configure sampling rules - e.g., 5% of each batch or a fixed quantity.

• Configure samples for external lab testing.
• Choose fixed quantity or percentage-based sampling.

 

5. Quarantine & Control

Scenario:
A shipment of electronic components arrives with suspected defects. Business Central automatically quarantines the items until quality checks are complete.

• Freeze items or restrict usage until quality is verified.
• Prevent defective goods from entering production or sales.

 

Reporting & Compliance Tools

1. Quality Certificates

Scenario:
A textile exporter needs to provide a certificate of compliance for every shipment. Business Central auto-generates these documents based on passed quality checks.

• Automatically generate documents to verify product safety and compliance.

 

2. Certificates of Analysis

Scenario:
A food company sends a breakdown of ingredients and nutritional values with each batch. Business Central generates detailed analysis reports.

• Provide detailed breakdowns of product composition.

 

3. Quality Status Overview

Scenario:
A warehouse manager wants to see which items are pending quality checks. The dashboard shows real-time status across all batches.

• Get a snapshot of current quality levels across items and batches.

 

4. Quality Orders Overview

Scenario:
A customer requests specific quality checks for their custom order. Business Central tracks these requirements and links them to production batches.

• Track customer-specific requirements and production batches.

 

Getting Started

This feature is delivered as an extension:

1. New environments: Installed by default.

2. Upgraded environments: install the extension from AppSource. 

More Details available in the following link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/release-plan/2025wave2/smb/dynamics365-business-central/evaluate-quality-incoming-goods-materials.

 

Final Thoughts

This release marks a major step forward in integrating quality assurance into everyday operations. Whether you're in manufacturing, distribution, or retail, this feature helps you catch issues early, stay compliant, and deliver consistent quality to your customers.

 

Finance Fundamentals in Business Central: A Functional Overview for Accounting Operations

Whether you're a seasoned finance professional or just getting started with ERP systems, understanding how core accounting elements translate into system transactions is essential. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a robust framework for managing financial operations - from purchases and sales to accruals, deferrals, and journal postings.

This blog post breaks down the key accounting concepts and shows how they map to Business Central functionality, with clear examples and G/L impacts.

 

The Five Accounting Elements

Element	Nature	Debit Effect	Credit Effect	Examples
Asset	What you own	Increases	Decreases	Inventory, Bank, Accounts Receivable
Liability	What you owe	Decreases	Increases	Accounts Payable, VAT Payable
Equity	Owner’s interest	Decreases	Increases	Retained Earnings, Capital
Revenue	Income earned	Decreases	Increases	Sales Revenue
Expense	Cost incurred	Increases	Decreases	COGS, Purchases, Salaries

 

Purchase Transaction Flow

Let’s say you purchase goods worth ₹10,000 with 18% VAT.

Step 1: Purchase Invoice Posting

Account	Type	Debit/Credit	Amount	Impact
Inventory/Expense	Asset/Expense	Debit	₹10,000	Asset increases or expense incurred
VAT Receivable	Asset	Debit	₹1,800	Input VAT to reclaim
Accounts Payable	Liability	Credit	₹11,800	Liability to vendor increases

Financial Statement Impact:

• Balance Sheet: Inventory ↑, VAT ↑, Payables ↑
• Income Statement: No impact yet

Step 2: Payment Journal

Account	Type	Debit/Credit	Amount	Impact
Accounts Payable	Liability	Debit	₹11,800	Liability cleared
Bank Account	Asset	Credit	₹11,800	Cash outflow

When Expense Hits Income Statement

Only when inventory is sold or consumed:

Account	Type	Debit/Credit	Amount	Impact
COGS	Expense	Debit	₹10,000	Expense recognized
Inventory	Asset	Credit	₹10,000	Inventory reduced

 

Sales Transaction Flow

Selling goods worth ₹10,000 with 18% VAT.

Step 1: Sales Invoice Posting

Account	Type	Debit/Credit	Amount	Impact
Accounts Receivable	Asset	Debit	₹11,800	Customer owes you
Sales Revenue	Revenue	Credit	₹10,000	Income earned
VAT Payable	Liability	Credit	₹1,800	Tax liability increases
COGS	Expense	Debit	₹7,000	Expense incurred
Inventory	Asset	Credit	₹7,000	Inventory reduced

Step 2: Cash Receipt Journal

Account	Type	Debit/Credit	Amount	Impact
Bank Account	Asset	Debit	₹11,800	Cash received
Accounts Receivable	Asset	Credit	₹11,800	Customer balance cleared

 

Accruals vs Deferrals

Accruals

Recognize revenue or expense before cash or invoice is received/paid.

Account	Type	Debit/Credit	Financial Statement
Accrued Revenue	Asset	Debit	Balance Sheet
Revenue	Revenue	Credit	Income Statement
Accrued Expense	Liability	Credit	Balance Sheet
Expense	Expense	Debit	Income Statement

Deferrals

Delay recognition of revenue or expense to future periods, even if cash/invoice is received/paid.

Account	Type	Debit/Credit	Financial Statement
Deferred Revenue	Liability	Credit	Balance Sheet
Deferred Expense	Asset	Debit	Balance Sheet
Revenue	Revenue	Credit	Income Statement
Expense	Expense	Debit	Income Statement

Business Central supports deferrals using:

• Deferral Templates
• Deferral Codes on G/L accounts

Accounts Receivable vs Accrued Revenue

Concept	Definition	When Used
Accrued Revenue	Revenue earned but not invoiced	Service delivered, invoice pending
Accounts Receivable	Amount invoiced and owed by customer	Invoice posted

Example:

• March 30: Service delivered → Accrued Revenue
• April 5: Invoice posted → AR replaces Accrued Revenue
• April 20: Payment received → AR cleared, Bank ↑

 

Summary by Accounting Element

Element	Examples from Business Central Transactions
Asset	Bank, Inventory, AR, VAT Receivable, Deferred Expense, Accrued Revenue
Liability	AP, VAT Payable, Deferred Revenue, Accrued Expense
Revenue	Sales Revenue, Accrued Revenue
Expense	COGS, Purchases, Accrued Expense, Deferred Expense
Equity	Indirectly affected via Net Income

 

Final Thoughts

Understanding how each transaction flows through the financial statements - and how Business Central handles them - is key to maintaining accurate books and making informed decisions. Whether you're posting invoices, managing accruals, or configuring deferrals, Business Central provides the tools to align your operations with accounting best practices.

 

Goodbye NoSeriesManagement: The New Way to Handle Number Series in Business Central

 If you've been working with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for a while, you're probably familiar with the classic NoSeriesManagement codeunit. It’s been the go-to for generating and managing number series across modules like sales, purchasing, and finance.

But times are changing.

Microsoft is officially retiring NoSeriesManagement, and introducing a modern, modular design pattern that aligns with the new Business Foundation layer. This shift is part of a broader effort to decouple core ERP functionality from the monolithic Base App and make Business Central more extensible, testable, and future-proof.

Let’s break down what’s changing and how you can adapt.

 

What’s Going Away?

The legacy codeunit:

Codeunit 396 "NoSeriesManagement"

is being deprecated. It relied heavily on implicit logic and constructs like xRec, which made it harder to maintain and test.

Example of old usage:

NoSeriesManagement.InitSeries(SalesSetup."Customer Nos.", xRec."No. Series", 0D, "No.", "No. Series");

This pattern is no longer recommended and will eventually be unsupported.

 

What’s Replacing It?

Microsoft now recommends using two new codeunits:

1. Codeunit 310 "No. Series"

For single number generation.

2. Codeunit 311 "No. Series – Batch"

For bulk number generation.

These are part of the Business Foundation App and follow a clean, modular design.

 

New Design Pattern: Cleaner and Explicit

Here’s how you generate a number using the new pattern:

procedure AssignNoSeries()

var

    NoSeries: Codeunit "No. Series";

    SalesSetup: Record "Sales & Receivables Setup";

begin

    SalesSetup.Get();

    SalesSetup.TestField("Customer Nos");

 

    "No. Series" := SalesSetup."Customer Nos.";

    "No." := NoSeries.GetNextNo("No. Series");

end;

Key Differences:

Feature	Old Pattern	New Pattern
Codeunit	NoSeriesManagement	No. Series / No. Series – Batch
Dependency	Implicit (xRec)	Explicit field assignment
Extensibility	Limited	Modular and testable
Compatibility	Legacy	Future-proof (Business Foundation)

 

Why This Matters

• Modularity: The new pattern is part of Microsoft’s push toward modular architecture.
• Testability: Easier to write unit tests and validate logic.
• Clarity: No more hidden dependencies like xRec.
• Performance: Batch codeunit improves performance for bulk operations.

 

What You Should Do

1. Refactor your AL code to use No. Series instead of NoSeriesManagement.
2. Avoid using xRec for number series logic.
3. Explore the Business Foundation App via AL Explorer to understand other modular changes.
4. Prepare for future updates - this is just the beginning of Microsoft’s modularization journey.

 

Final Thoughts

The retirement of NoSeriesManagement marks a significant shift in how developers interact with Business Central’s core features. While change can be daunting, this new design pattern offers a cleaner, more maintainable way to manage number series - and sets the stage for a more modern ERP experience.

If you're still using the old pattern, now’s the time to refactor. Your future self (and your codebase) will thank you.

Business Central 27.0 is now live with 2025 Release Wave 2!

This update brings a wide range of enhancements across AI, reporting, localization, sustainability, and user experience.

Copilot & AI Enhancements

• Autofill contact details
• Improved chat and analysis assist
• Smarter Tell Me search
• Task instructions for agents
• Transparent Copilot billing

Commerce & Shopify Integration

• Staff-to-salesperson mapping
• Market-specific price sync
• Better troubleshooting and connector updates

Global & Regional Improvements

• UK localization now delivered as an extension
• Czechia: new pages, reconciliation, Intrastat demo data
• US: IRS 1099 e-submission support

Developer Productivity Boosts

• Cancel build/publish from VS Code
• Truncate table data with new AL method
• View SQL calls in performance profiles

Electronic Document Capabilities

• Create e-docs from posted invoices
• PEPPOL exports
• Power Automate integration

Financial Management Updates

• Excise tax calculation
• Multiple fixed asset cards
• Enhanced deferral and audit trail reporting

Power BI Reporting Enhancements

• Open-sourced apps
• Drill-back and dynamic dimensions
• Dashboards for Finance, Sales, Inventory, Projects, Manufacturing

Sustainability Management Tools

• CSRD prep reports
• Scope 3 automation
• ESG reporting
• CO₂ equivalency tracking

User Experience Improvements

• Adjustable pane widths
• Concealed text fields for sensitive data

Upgrade Notes

• Online customers are auto-updated
• On-premises users must upgrade from v25 before moving to v27

This release is packed with features that empower users, streamline operations, and support global compliance. Explore the full update here.