Business Central Wave October 2021: this is new

As you may know, Microsoft releases two major updates for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central annually in April and October: the so-called ‘Waves’. October is just around the corner, which means Business Central is about to be updated with the October 2021 Wave. This BC Wave contains several new features from which you, as a company, will certainly benefit. We would be happy to explain them to you.

Wave 2 2021: what can you expect?

It is important to know that Business Central has been around for over 30 years and has changed considerably throughout that time. For instance, the system is now a fully cloud-based application. In general, you can expect Business Central Wave 2 2021 to primarily feature functional improvements and even greater user-friendliness. The Business Central Wave October 2021 brings more than 50 improvements, but we will highlight the most important ones for you.

New functionalities in Business Central

Thanks to the new Wave, you can now plan by SKU. This allows you to create a schedule at both the product and location levels for those specific location parameters and settings.

Additionally, the Forecast module is being expanded as part of Business Central Wave 2 2021. With AI, inventory management with different variants is now possible, such as part color. Previously, you could only predict the purchase moment for a subset of brand A’s variants. Still, nowadays you can also do so for, for example, color C or D. Maintaining the correct stock level becomes even easier, ensuring you can always keep performing tasks. Furthermore, purchasing items for which you do not track the exact stock but which you order regularly also becomes easier. Think of the notepads and stationery your employees use. You do not know exactly how many are in stock, but the inventory decreases because items are left lying around here and there, meaning you want to replenish the stock with some regularity. Thanks to Business Central Wave October 2021, this becomes easier.

Another significantly improved functionality is the banking module in Business Central. As a result, Business Central is now even better at recognizing, reading, and processing invoices, giving you greater insight.

Even more user-friendliness with Business Central Wave October 2021

In addition to several new features, Business Central became even more user-friendly after the BC Wave in October 2021. Microsoft has been working with user feedback and has managed to make the system even better. Generally, these are minor adjustments, but they sometimes have a major impact on daily operations. For instance, the instructions for using BC in Business Central Wave 2 2021 have been significantly revamped. It is now even easier for both new and experienced users to discover and use (new) functionalities. Additionally, error messages in Business Central have been improved. As a user, you now receive more detailed explanations for error messages and can click through the error to resolve the issue. You therefore no longer need to leave the process.

Furthermore, there are now some experienced Business Central users who can enter data faster than the system. Fast users, for example, can tab quickly from one column to another, enter data, and then copy and paste it, whereas the system was too slow to respond. With the Business Central Wave October 2021, this has improved significantly.

Extensive Microsoft Teams integration in BC

Many companies choose Business Central for its seamless integration with other Microsoft products, such as Power BI, Outlook, and Office 365. This integration will also be expanded further in the upcoming update, including the Teams integration. After the update, it is possible to send messages via Teams from Business Central. The recipient then receives the notification in Teams as usual, along with the link to the document in Business Central that it concerns.

Furthermore, one of the best additions to the Microsoft integration is the ‘export to Excel’ feature, which allows for quick data analysis, tabular data sharing, record entry, or bulk correction.

Improvements for our consultants that benefit you

In addition to improvements for users, several aspects for consultants are also being improved, which you will benefit from. In particular, resolving bugs becomes easier, and we can copy entire environments. Furthermore, there are options to optimize and better manage background processes, ensuring your Business Central environment continues to run quickly.

Business Central Wave October 2021: all improvements

As mentioned earlier, Business Central is being improved in more than 50 areas with the new update, and we have selected the most important ones for you. Curious about the full list of improvements? View it here.