You may have heard of the new features in the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) that make company creation easier. Now, Dynamics 365 BC can replicate master data across entities in a single BC environment through the use of job queues.
In this article, we’ll take a look at these new capabilities, along with their advantages and drawbacks. Then we’ll talk about a better way to handle multiple entities – a tried-and-tested solution.
Dynamics Business Central’s New Multi-Company Features
Business Central has always allowed you to manage multiple companies within the same environment and localization. However, in the past, it involved a bit more work to get a new company set up. Now, though, with the latest BC release, a user can create a company shell in just a few minutes, then use the new replication tool to synchronize the company master data and start building the intercompany accounts.
This is great news for organizations with a few entities to manage. However, as the number of companies grows, things become more complicated.
Once those companies begin using modules outside core financials, such as Distribution, Manufacturing, Jobs, Service, or other apps integrated with Business Central, the work to set up these same entities in the other modules or apps begins to multiply. Switching between entities is not trivial; logging in and out of each one will add extra steps to everyone’s day. Nor will you benefit from centralized banking, AR, or AP.
Binary Stream’s Multi-Entity Management (MEM) for Microsoft Dynamics BC
Multi-Entity Management (MEM) is a powerful add-on product that has been simplifying the lives of its users for more than a decade, first with Dynamics GP, and later in the cloud with Business Central when it came on the scene. Take a look at its alternative approach to Entity Management:
More than a simplified interface, MEM adds a host of features you didn’t get with the standard GP configuration:
- One chart of accounts and segments
- Advanced Intercompany features, including intercompany bridge between two databases, both with multiple entities
- Shared system and company setup
- Shared Vendors with entity security
- Shared Customers with entity security
- Shared Items with Entity Security
- Entity/Location associations
- Segment all transactions by the entity to quickly filter by that company’s entity transactions.
- W9s reported per entity
- Consolidated financial, data, and trial balance reports.
- User Security by the entity: users can see all entities or just one entity.
- Different invoice, order confirmation, quote, and PO forms by an entity
- Different bank formats per entity
- Centralized banking, AR, and AP
- One API data connection to Azure data lake, Power BI, Power Automate, Etc.
While Business Central does provide a small subset of that functionality today, it is greatly expanded with MEM. Users enjoy a more efficient transaction workflow, powerful filtering capabilities, a simplified user interface, and much more.
With MEM, we’ve helped some of our clients quickly set up and manage dozens, even hundreds of entities within a single Business Central environment. Company setup is usually accomplished in less than a day, but users can begin creating transactions just minutes after the entity is created. There is no need to log out and log in again to change companies, resulting in a more streamlined workflow. Healthcare providers, real estate property managers, manufacturers, franchises, retail stores, sports teams, professional services organizations, and others who have multiple subsidiaries or locations can benefit greatly.
Next Steps
A BC Consulting Group has been leveraging the power of MEM with their Dynamics clients for over a decade. We are a Binary Stream partner and collaborate with them for both implementation and product improvement.
Is the Multiple Entity Management add-on by Binary Stream a good fit for your organization? How quickly can it be implemented in your BC environment? (Hint: Very quickly!) Contact us today at smullins@abccgroup.com or visit and let our experienced consultants help you find the answers to these questions and any others you may have.
By: A BC Consulting Group |
