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Introduction of How to Customize Business Central

Introduction of How to Customize Business Central

Introduction
Why Business Central Customization
Different Ways to Customize Business Central
Final Take Away

Introduction

Customization is one of the most essential elements while implementing Dynamics 365 Business Central into any business. A wide range of customizations is done in the Business Central application for clients in a number of ways. Business Central Customization makes users feel comfortable using a new system right from day one and helps them get accustomed to the new app easily.

Many other SaaS platforms are available in the market now, but they allow limited customizations. But as Microsoft understands that the vanilla implementation of Business Central will not suffice all their clients’ business requirements, it provides numerous features and customization options to use this application effectively.

Before jumping into the intricacies of how to customize your Business Central, let us see why it is necessary to customize your ERP system at the time of implementation.

Why Business Central Customization

When a company introduces a new product as an entirely new ERP system to its employees, it might help them to adapt to this new system.

Also, considering how the new system will adapt to the users, Business Central is made with flexibility in mind for the users. It offers core business processes upfront and provides the option to add extra functionality that would be required later.

Customization helps with a smooth adaptation of the new technology so users can benefit from it for a long-time hassle-free.

Different Ways to Customize Business Central

There are various ways a user or administrator can customize Business Central. We will discuss each method here for a basic understanding of those who wish to use Business Central as their ERP tool.

User Interface Personalization Section

Pages Through Banner

You can personalize your workplace to your preferences. Change pages to display the necessary information where you need it. Personalize all types of pages, including the Role Center page. Have a detailed read on Role center personalization here.

You can move or hide fields, actions, columns, and entire parts, or add new fields. Activate the Personalizing banner to make changes.

Remove, Hide, and Show Actions and Action Groups

Want to show or hide an action? The options under the arrowhead define what you can do depending on the action's state.

Either choose the arrowhead for an action or action group or choose from one of the options to Remove, Hide, and Show.

Personalization of Action and Action Groups

Indicated by a horizontal line between two actions or a border around an action group where you drop actions or action groups. This customization is used for:

To move an action or action group, drag and drop it to the position desired.

To move an action or action group into another empty action group, drag it to the new group and drop it in the Drop an action here box.

Personalizing Parts

Parts are areas on a page composed of multiple fields, charts, or other content. Due to their well-defined boundary, you can personalize the entire part.

To move a part, drag and drop it to the desired position. A colored line will indicate ideal positions on the screen.

Hide a part by choosing the Hide option under the arrowhead.

When you start personalizing or navigating to a new page, parts currently hidden will appear with distinctive visuals to indicate they are hidden. Unhide them by choosing the Show option under the arrowhead if you want.

Read how Business Central can alter your Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Automotive niche-specific pain points in our blogs.

In Browser Personalization - Action Bars and Menus

Decide which elements to show on the navigation, action bars, and Role Centers and where to show them.

Personalize the navigation and action bars in the same manner as with other UI controls.

Get a detailed view of the process in this video.

Decide if changes will reflect a single user or if the entire team can view those changes.

No Code Customization with Power BI

Personalize features in Dynamics Business Central through Power BI without coding. Power BI reports providing insight into Dynamics 365 Business Central. Various pages in Business Central include a Power BI reports part that can display further detailed reports. Before using Power BI with Business Central, you have to sign up for the Power BI services.

On first signing into Business Central, you see an empty Power BI part on various pages. Connect to your Power BI account now to start viewing reports. Select “Get Started” with the available link. The “Set-Up Power BI Reports” in Business Central assisted setup will initiate. Select “Next” to continue.

On the Check, your Power BI License page, Check if: You have not yet signed up for Power BI, and select the Go to Power BI homepage. Sign up, then get back to Business Central and finish the setup. Those who have a license select Next. Business Central will upload a demo report to Power BI. To complete the setup, select Next, then Finish. Your system is now ready to work with Power BI reports.

Here is what you can do with this customization:

Display Reports on List Pages

MSDyn365BC includes a Power BI FactBox on several key list pages. This FactBox furnishes extra insight into the data.

Switch Reports

A Power BI part on a page can display any Power BI report available to the user. Switch to view another report, by choosing the "Select Report” action from the drop-down list at the top of the page.

The Selection page shows a list of all the Power BI reports you can access. Select the Enable box for the list of reports you wish to display on the page and choose OK. Use the drop-down list to use the Previous and Next commands to navigate between reports.

Get More Reports

Select Get Reports to view all the reports you want. You can look for reports from two locations: My Organization or Services.

Select My Organization to go to the Power BI services. View the reports within your organization that you have access to. Add them to your workspace later.

Modify and Manage Reports

To modify a report, select the "Manage Report" action in the Power BI part. When you are done with the changes, select File > Save. If it is a shared report, use Save As to avoid making this change for all users.

Upload Reports

Power BI Reports are distributed among users as .pbix files. Upload and share these files with all users of Business Central. Select the Upload Report action from the drop-down command list. Find the .pbix file that identifies the reports that you want to share. You may change the default name of this file.

Customization by Integration with Power Apps

You can connect Business Central Data to build a business app using Power Apps. To add Business Central as a data source in Power Apps, follow these steps.

In your browser, navigate to powerapps.microsoft.com, and sign in.

On the Home page, choose the “Other data sources” tile. On the first login, you must specify the country/region.

In the list of connections available, choose Business Central, and then the Create button. Power Apps will connect to your Business Central using the signed-in credentials.

Power Apps displays the Environments and companies list that is available from Business Central. Select the environment and company containing the data you want to connect to.

You will get a list of tables exposed as part of the API for your environment. Select the desired table and choose Connect.

You are now successfully connected to your Business Central data and ready to build your PowerApp. Add additional screens and connect to additional data from your Business Central.

Extension Based Customization

There are various client requirements that the vanilla Business Central implementation does not have in-built. Though on the initial launch of Business Central, some apps are already installed for you, the client may want to integrate some more apps into it. Such customizations are very specific and niche to industries.

Install apps that give access to new online services, add functionality, change behavior, and more. Microsoft provides an app that gives integration with PayPal Payments Standard. This is a default extension. But if another extension offers integration with a different payment service, you can choose which of the two services to use.

One can manage the apps on the “Extension Management” page. Access this page from Home or choose the Search for Page or Report icon in the top right corner, enter Extension, and choose related links. Go to Install and Uninstall apps for more details.

Connect your business better as Dynamics 365 Business Central online environments can now list one or more apps on the Connectivity Apps and Banking Apps pages. These apps connect your business to external services and enhance productivity by automating processes. The apps are easily installable and can be set up directly from the main page as per client specifications. Click here to know more about the available apps.

Final Take Away

If you have Dynamics 365 Business Central implemented as your ERP system, rest assured you have the best of tools to work for you. Further customizing this agile tool will only increase the productivity of all your business processes and hence improve the final output of your product or service.

Akkomplish homes has a diverse team of seasoned consultants having the exposure and experience of working with various types of customization requests from clients around the globe. Choose us as your customization partner and get the ultimate client service experience and exposure to a wide plethora of technical insights that we bring along to upgrade and optimize your business processes to help you attain your goals.

Have a detailed read on ways of customizations in our upcoming blogs.