Business Central includes a built-in integration with Microsoft Dataverse, which is the underlying data platform for Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, and other Dynamics 365 apps. Once the connection is set up, records like customers, contacts, and items can be synchronised between both systems, so sales teams working in Dynamics 365 Sales and finance teams working in Business Central see consistent data.
This guide covers how to run the connection setup wizard, understand the default table mappings, and manage record synchronisation.
Before You Start
This integration requires:
- A Microsoft Dataverse environment (or a Dynamics 365 Sales environment, which includes Dataverse).
- An admin account with permissions in both Business Central and the Dataverse environment.
- The Business Central and Dataverse environments must be in the same Microsoft 365 tenant.
If you are connecting to Dynamics 365 Sales specifically, the Sales environment must be provisioned and the user running the setup must have a Dynamics 365 Sales license or System Administrator role in that environment.
Run the Dataverse Connection Setup Wizard
- Search for Dataverse Connection Setup using
Alt + Q. - Select Assisted Setup or Connect to Dataverse to launch the setup wizard.
- Enter the Environment URL for your Dataverse environment, this is the URL of your Dynamics 365 or Dataverse instance, for example
https://yourorg.crm.dynamics.com. - Sign in with an admin account when prompted.
- Review the ownership model options. Team ownership is recommended for most setups, it means records created via sync are owned by a Dataverse team rather than an individual user.
- Complete the wizard and select Finish.
After the wizard completes, the Dataverse Connection Setup page shows the connection as active. You can return to this page at any time to check the connection status or update credentials.
Enable the Dynamics 365 Sales Connection
If your Dataverse environment includes Dynamics 365 Sales, you can also enable the Sales-specific integration.
- Search for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Connection Setup using
Alt + Q. - Enable the Enabled toggle.
- Review the Sales-specific options, such as whether to synchronise quotes and orders between BC and Sales.
- Select Save.
The Sales connection builds on the Dataverse connection. Both must be configured if you want to sync sales-specific records like opportunities and quotes.
Understand the Default Table Mappings
Business Central sets up a default set of table mappings when the connection is enabled. These mappings define which BC tables synchronise with which Dataverse tables.
| Business Central Table | Dataverse / D365 Sales Table |
|---|---|
| Customer | Account |
| Contact | Contact |
| Item | Product |
| Salesperson/Purchaser | User |
| Currency | Transaction Currency |
| Unit of Measure | Unit Group / Unit |
These mappings are configurable. To view or edit them:
- Search for Integration Table Mappings using
Alt + Q. - Select any mapping to review the field mappings and synchronisation direction.
- In the Integration Field Mappings section, you can see which BC field maps to which Dataverse field, and whether the mapping is one-directional or bidirectional.
Not all fields sync by default. If you need a custom field to sync, you can add a new row to the Integration Field Mappings for that table mapping. Custom field mapping requires that the field exists in both systems, in BC as a standard or extension field, and in Dataverse as a standard or custom column.
Couple Records
Before records synchronise, they must be coupled, matched between the two systems. Coupling tells BC which BC customer corresponds to which Dataverse account.
Couple individual records
- Open a Customer Card in Business Central.
- Select Actions > Dataverse > Set Up Coupling.
- Either create a new Dataverse account from the BC record, or select an existing account to couple with.
Couple records in bulk
- Open the Customers list.
- Select multiple customers using the checkboxes.
- Select Actions > Dataverse > Set Up Coupling for the selection.
- Choose whether to match by name or create new records in Dataverse for any uncoupled customers.
Run Synchronisation
Once records are coupled, you can synchronise them manually or let the background job handle it.
Manual sync
- Open a coupled Customer Card.
- Select Actions > Dataverse > Synchronise Now.
- Choose the direction: From Dataverse (pull changes from Dataverse) or To Dataverse (push changes from BC).
Full sync
- Search for Integration Table Mappings using
Alt + Q. - Select a mapping and choose Run Full Synchronization.
Full sync re-processes all coupled records for that table. Use this after changing field mappings or after a period where the background sync was inactive.
Background sync
Business Central runs synchronisation automatically via the Job Queue. The default job checks for changes every 30 minutes. You can adjust the schedule:
- Search for Job Queue Entries using
Alt + Q. - Find the entries related to Integration Table Sync.
- Adjust the Earliest Start Date/Time or recurrence as needed.
Common Integration Scenarios
Shared customer data: Finance creates customers in Business Central. The Customers sync to Dataverse as Accounts, where the sales team can attach opportunities and activities in Dynamics 365 Sales. When the sales team updates the account address, the change syncs back to the BC Customer Card.
Contact management: Contacts created in Business Central sync to Dataverse Contacts, and vice versa. This keeps the sales and finance teams working from the same contact records.
Quote to order flow: When the Dynamics 365 Sales connection is fully configured, a won opportunity in Sales can generate a sales order in Business Central automatically, without manual re-entry.
Troubleshooting Sync Errors
Synchronisation errors appear in the Coupled Data Synchronization Errors page.
- Search for Coupled Data Synchronization Errors using
Alt + Q. - Review the error details for each failed record.
- Common causes include mandatory fields missing in the destination system, permission issues, or field type mismatches after a customisation.
After resolving the underlying issue, select Retry on the failed record to re-run the sync.
For managing which Business Central users can configure the Dataverse connection and integration mappings, see How to Configure Security Groups in Business Central.