News Microsoft’s best kept secret – the cloud-based finance solution that accountants need to know about

When providing a service, it’s only good business practice to want your clients to have the best possible experience. A large factor in achieving this is being an expert in not only the products and services that you currently provide, but also being up to speed in changes and innovations impacting your industry. But, given the pace of change these days, sometimes this is easier said than done. To illustrate this point, let’s look at accountancy.

Software such as Sage and Pegasus have been major players for a long time when it comes to accountancy, and many are well versed in their current capabilities. However, when it comes to a modern, truly cloud-based solution, another key player that often gets overlooked is Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Business Central. Dynamics 365 first came on to the scene in 2016 and has been at the cutting edge of business management ever since. Dynamics 365 Business Central (previously called NAV) is a powerful tool which allows you to streamline your processes, make smarter decisions, and accelerate growth simply.  Its foundation is set on proven and trusted technologies, and provides a completely different, and intuitive, user experience. It’s flexibility, scalability and availability completely in the cloud, means it compares favourably against other packages such as Sage, Xero or Quickbooks (and even the old Microsoft NAV).

Why should you (as an accountant) want to know? 

This is the new, modern way forward – finance software that helps businesses to do more to grow. Whether you’re an LLP/Accounting Professional, or a Financial Director you need to be in the know. Let’s say as an Accounting Practice you’re not necessarily looking to change your business management software. However, it’s still vital for you to position yourself as a reliable and knowledgeable expert for your clients, many of whom may choose to invest in Dynamics 365 or who may have already done so.  You’ll need to know what its capabilities are, how to run auditing, how to best serve your clients. The capabilities and user base of the platform are ever expanding and keeping up to date with its offerings is important for any accountant wanting to present a knowledgeable face.

Why is Business Central a game-changer? 

At its simplest level, Dynamics Business Central from Microsoft is a cloud-based finance solution combining accounts, trading, stock and even manufacturing platforms if required. When combined with other elements of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365, this is a real game-changer for businesses – providing an end to end business platform from Microsoft. Embrace the future with a multi-functional solution that sits at the heart of your organisation and provides business intelligence data to support business growth.

Integrating seamlessly with Dynamics 365 CRM and Office 365, it not only meets the needs of the finance department but provides a business management system that is both scalable and flexible. It grows and adapts as your business evolves and changes – integrating with other Microsoft apps such as Power BI, Power Apps and Power Automate as and when you need them. This means you have a truly user focused and powerful solution that’s accessible across your whole organisation. Outdated individual Finance, CRM and ERP systems just can’t compete.

To find out more about Business Central, find out more here or get in touch with Unifi today.

This article was initially published on LinkedIn.