Implementation
Your ERP in production, without stopping the operation
We take your company from the system you run today to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central up and running: scope agreed in writing, configuration process by process, data migration reconciled against the source, tests signed off by every area, and hands-on support through go-live and your first financial close.
When this service applies
- The financial close depends on spreadsheets
- Accounting is assembled by consolidating files that each area keeps on its own. Nobody can state that the balance they see today is the real balance, and the close becomes a monthly reconstruction.
- You run on Dynamics GP, NAV or AX and the system no longer evolves
- Your ERP still works, but versions are frozen, customizations make any upgrade difficult, and knowledge of the system sits with very few people.
- The company grew and every site or business unit has its own system
- Consolidating results means reconciling different catalogs, currencies and criteria. Leadership receives the information once it is too late to act on it.
- There is no traceability of inventory or cost
- Book inventory does not match the physical count, product cost is an estimate, and the differences surface during the count rather than at the moment they occur.
- A previous ERP project stalled or was left half-finished
- Modules were configured that nobody uses, the migration was never completed, and the operation went back to manual processes. You need to restart with a realistic scope and clear responsibilities.
Expected outcome
Business Central in production, with your operation running on it
When the project closes, your company records purchasing, sales, inventory and accounting inside Business Central; balances are reconciled against the previous system; every role knows how to run its process; and there is configuration documentation and a support service to escalate to. We do not hand over a configured environment and wait for someone to adopt it: we hand over the operation running inside the system.
Scope and deliverables
- Scope document listing the processes included by area: finance, purchasing, sales, inventory, projects, warehouse, service management and manufacturing where applicable.
- Fit-gap analysis between your processes and the Business Central standard, with a recorded decision for every gap: adapt the process, configure or develop.
- Business Central environment configured: chart of accounts, dimensions, number series, warehouses, price lists and approval workflows.
- Migration plan and loading of master data and opening balances, with a reconciliation record against the source system.
- Agreed development delivered as AL extensions, with version control and environment-by-environment deployment.
- Agreed integrations with the systems your company keeps in place.
- Test scripts per process and a record of the user acceptance testing (UAT) signed off by the owner of each area.
- Role-based training and reference material for end users.
- Go-live plan with cutoff criteria, cutover window and a rollback plan to the previous system.
- Closeout record, configuration documentation and formal handover to the support service.
Work stages
Assessment and scope
We review your current processes, your transaction volume and the systems you are keeping. The result is a written scope with the processes included, the assumptions and what is explicitly out. Nothing moves forward until that document is approved.
Functional analysis
Workshops by area to capture the detail of each process and compare it against the Business Central standard. Every difference is recorded as a gap, and we decide whether to adapt the process, configure or develop.
Solution design
We define the accounting and dimension structure, the setup for each module, the master data model, the integrations and the extensions required. The design is approved before anything is built.
Configuration, development and migration
We configure the environment, develop the approved extensions and run successive data loads. Each load is reconciled against the source and corrected before the next one.
Testing and training
Your key users run the test scripts against their own real data and sign off acceptance process by process. In parallel we train by role, so that whoever approves a purchase practices on the workflow they will actually use.
Go-live and stabilization
We run the cutover according to the agreed plan, stay with you through the first weeks of operation and the first financial close, resolve the adjustments that come up, and hand the service over to support with the documentation delivered.
Responsibilities
Your company
- Appoint a project lead with authority to decide on processes and scope.
- Assign an owner for each functional area, with committed time for workshops, testing and validation.
- Clean up and deliver master data (customers, vendors, items, balances) in the agreed format and on the agreed dates.
- Run and sign off the acceptance tests before go-live.
- Approve any scope change in writing and accept its effect on timeline and effort.
- Purchase the Microsoft licenses and cloud services required; BETABOX advises you on the selection.
- Communicate the project internally and stand behind the decision to operate in the new system after cutover.
BETABOX
- Run the project with a work plan, a risk log and regular status meetings with written minutes.
- Lead the analysis workshops and document the functional design for your approval.
- Configure Business Central and develop the agreed extensions following Microsoft best practices.
- Prepare the load templates, run the migration and reconcile every load against the source system.
- Build the test scripts and support your users throughout UAT.
- Train by role and stay with you through go-live and the first financial close.
- Deliver the configuration documentation and hand the service over to the support team.
What is included
What is included
- Configuration of the modules and processes defined in the scope document.
- Migration of master data and opening balances for the agreed periods.
- Development and extensions listed and approved in the scope.
- Agreed integrations with the systems your company keeps in place.
- Role-based training for key users and reference material.
- Hands-on support during go-live and the first financial close.
- Configuration documentation, test scripts and closeout record.
What is not included
- Microsoft licenses, additional storage capacity and Azure service consumption: purchased separately.
- Migration of the full transactional history beyond the agreed periods; quoted as additional scope.
- Business process redesign prior to implementation: that is the purpose of the ERP assessment service.
- Cleansing of source data: correcting catalogs, removing duplicates and normalizing codes.
- Hardware, network, end-user equipment, printers and capture devices.
- Ongoing support after the closeout record: contracted as managed support.
- Requirements raised after the scope is approved, unless agreed through change control.
Success criteria
- The first financial close runs entirely inside Business Central, with balances reconciled against the previous system.
- A reduction in days to close, measured against the baseline recorded at the start of the project.
- Every test script for the processes in scope is approved by the owner of each area.
- Key users run their process without assistance during the agreed stabilization period.
- Inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable tie out between the modules and the general ledger.
- No critical process in scope still depends on parallel spreadsheets when the project closes.
- A sustained drop in the number of tickets opened per week during stabilization.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- How long does it take to implement Business Central?
- It depends on the scope: number of companies and sites, processes included, quality of the source data, integrations and your team availability. We do not commit to a timeline before the scope is defined, because a timeline promised on assumptions is the most common reason an ERP project goes off track. The proposal includes a schedule with milestones, dependencies and the assumptions it rests on.
- What is the Sure Step methodology and how do you apply it?
- Sure Step is Microsoft structured, phased method for Dynamics projects: diagnostic, analysis, design, development, deployment and operation, with defined deliverables and decision points between phases. We use it as a working framework, not as a promise of results: it brings order to the project, makes explicit what has to be approved before moving on, and keeps scope from growing unchecked. The outcome still depends on the agreed scope and on your team participation.
- Do we have to change the way we work?
- In part, yes. During the fit-gap analysis we compare every process against the Business Central standard. When the standard covers the need, we recommend adapting the process: it is cheaper to implement, easier to maintain and it does not block product updates. When the process is genuinely part of your competitive edge or responds to an external obligation, we configure it or build it as an extension. That decision is made with you, case by case, and it is recorded.
- What happens to our historical data?
- We migrate master data and opening balances for the periods agreed in the scope. Migrating the full transactional history is rarely worth it: it makes the project more expensive, carries over errors from the previous system and is usually consulted only a few times. Common practice is to keep the source system in read-only mode for as long as your company needs it, or to extract the history into a reporting repository. If you need the history inside the ERP, it is quoted as additional scope.
- Can we implement in phases instead of all at once?
- Yes, and in operations with several sites or legal entities it is usually the right call. You define a first phase with the financial core and the processes that keep the operation running, and later phases add further areas or sites. The condition is that each phase has its own scope, its own testing and its own go-live: phases left open in parallel without a formal close are the fastest way to lose control of a project.
- Does Business Central meet the tax requirements of my country?
- Business Central adapts to the tax and accounting requirements of the countries where it operates, and the specific scope is defined during analysis according to the regulations in force in your country and the activity of your company. In the assessment stage we capture which obligations the system has to cover (documents, taxes, reports and filings) and we bring them into the scope. Final validation of compliance is the responsibility of your accounting and tax advisor.
- Who takes care of us after go-live?
- The project ends with a closeout record and a formal handover to the managed support service, including the configuration documentation and the register of developments. From that point on, incidents, minor changes and updates are handled through the support channel, within the times committed in your service agreement.
Let us talk about the real scope of your implementation
Tell us how your company operates today and what is holding it back. We put together a proposal with the scope by process, the stages, the responsibilities on each side and the assumptions the schedule rests on.
Contact
Request a complimentary assessment
Tell us what your company needs and a BETABOX advisor will get in touch to schedule a call at your convenience. The initial assessment is 100% free of charge.
- +1 (754) 209-2071
- Bookings
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