A practical guide to business central upgrade
Planning a Business Central upgrade? How the twice-yearly updates work, where extensions add risk, the route from Dynamics NAV and what to check before you start.
For many teams, a Business Central upgrade arrives as an IT ticket and stays there for months. This guide explains what each kind of upgrade involves, how to prepare and where the real risks sit.
Key PointBusiness Central online gets two major updates a year, in April and October, plus monthly minor updates.
How Business Central online is updated
Microsoft's update rollout guidance says there are two major update cycles a year, with major releases every April and October. Monthly minor updates and critical fixes arrive in between.
Each major update has a preview period, so administrators can create a sandbox on the new version and test before it reaches production. Updates respect the maintenance window you set for each environment.
For most teams on standard Business Central, the job is to read the release notes, test key processes in the preview sandbox and plan the update window.
Where the risk sits: extensions and integrations
The risk grows with customisation. Per-tenant extensions and integrations written against older versions may need updating before a major release.
If you use third-party extensions, such as reporting or banking apps, check with each publisher that their app supports the version you are moving to.
Pro TipTest your key processes in a preview sandbox before each major update reaches production.
Moving from Dynamics NAV
Moving from Dynamics NAV is the biggest step. Microsoft's guide to migrating to Business Central online says a NAV system must first be upgraded to Business Central on-premises, then switched to Business Central online.
Treat it as a migration project rather than an update. Our migration strategy guide and data migration process guide cover the planning and the data work.
What to check before you start
Upgrading a poorly configured system moves the problems forward without solving them. Before you commit, answer these questions:
- Do your sub-ledgers agree with the general ledger? If aged debtors, aged creditors and bank reconciliations do not tie, fix them first.
- Are your extensions supported on the target version? Get confirmation from each publisher.
- Is your data clean? Duplicate customers and open entries with no document behind them cause trouble in any migration.
- Do you have a way back? For on-premises upgrades, take a clean backup and test the rollback before you start.
Watch OutDo not upgrade a system whose sub-ledgers do not agree with the general ledger. Fix that first.
Plan the timing
Avoid your busiest finance dates, such as a VAT quarter end or the year-end. GOV.UK says all VAT-registered businesses should now be signed up for Making Tax Digital for VAT, so check the VAT Return report figures in the preview sandbox. Microsoft's UK Making Tax Digital guide notes that HMRC does not accept test submissions, so the return itself can only be sent from production.
Our Business Central upgrade guide for UK teams goes further on the UK points. For independent guidance on finance systems, see the ICAEW technology resources.
If you already run Business Central, our free Business Central review runs a read-only scan of your environment, a useful check before a major update.