When we sell Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to customers, whether that involves PrintVis or Business Central on its own, one of the most common questions we hear is: “Which licenses will we need?”
Fortunately, it usually isn’t that difficult to figure out. In most cases, it simply involves interviewing the customer and asking a few specific questions about how different employees will use the system.
In this how-to guide, we’ll walk through the basic rules for estimating Business Central licensing costs. That includes choosing between Essentials vs Premium, and determining how many Full Users and Team Members your organization will likely need.
For this article, we’ll assume you are evaluating Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, not Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. We’ll also assume you are a small or mid-sized manufacturing company, which means you may use modules like manufacturing, inventory, and sales, but likely won’t need products like Dynamics Sales Enterprise or Customer Service.
What Licenses Would you Need for Dynamics 365
In this guide we are focusing specifically on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central licensing, not the broader Dynamics 365 ecosystem.
For the purposes of this example, we’ll assume you are a small or medium-sized manufacturing company evaluating Business Central. In most cases, companies like this will primarily need Business Central itself, and possibly some additional modules such as Sales Professional. Most smaller manufacturers do not require the more advanced Dynamics products like Sales Enterprise or the full Customer Service suite.
The goal of this guide is to help you estimate how many Business Central licenses your organization will likely need and which types of licenses make the most sense for different roles in your company.
Before we get into the details of user roles, we first need to understand the two main Business Central license versions.
What are the Business Central Versions
There are two main versions of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: Essentials and Premium. Choosing the correct version is an important step when estimating your Business Central licensing costs.
Essentials ($80 per user, per month)
Essentials includes most of the core functionality of Business Central, such as finance, inventory management, warehousing, purchasing, sales, assembly management, project accounting, and more. However, it does not include the full manufacturing or service management capabilities that some companies require.
Many companies use Essentials successfully, particularly if they are primarily focused on distribution, light assembly, or project-based work.
Premium ($110 per user, per month)
Premium includes everything in Essentials, but also adds the Production Manufacturing and Service Management modules. These capabilities are typically required by manufacturers that run production orders, manage bills of material (BOMs), or schedule manufacturing operations.
Premium is commonly used by make-to-stock or make-to-order manufacturing companies, as well as businesses that manage service operations and equipment repairs.
| Feature | Essentials | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Financials | ✔ | ✔ |
| Sales & Purchasing | ✔ | ✔ |
| Inventory | ✔ | ✔ |
| Manufacturing | X | ✔ |
| Service Management | X | ✔ |
Two Simple Tests to See if You Likely Need Premium
Here are two quick questions that often help determine whether Essentials may be sufficient.
1. Do you manufacture large quantities of identical parts? For example, running production jobs for hundreds of identical parts for each customer order.
2. Do you operate multiple trucks or service crews that regularly travel to customer sites to repair or service equipment?
If the answer to both questions is NO, there is a reasonable chance that Essentials may be sufficient for your business. If either answer is YES, you will likely need Premium.
What Are the Business Central License Types?
There are three main license types used with Business Central. Two are commonly discussed when planning licensing, and the third is typically used alongside specialized add-on software.
When estimating your Business Central licensing costs, you’ll need to determine which users require Full Users, Team Members, or Device licenses.
Full Users
Full Users are the primary users of Business Central. These users have full access to the system and can create documents, post transactions, and perform day-to-day operational work.
In the United States, Full Users are typically priced around:
- $80 per user/month for Essentials
- $110 per user/month for Premium
These users perform the majority of the operational tasks inside the ERP system.
Team Members
Team Member licenses are lower-cost users that are designed primarily for employees who need access to information but do not perform major ERP transactions.
Team Members can read data throughout the system and perform limited updates, such as:
- Updating notes and information
- Entering timesheets
- Approving workflow tasks
- Creating and editing quotes
- Viewing reports and operational data
However, Team Members cannot perform most transactional ERP activities, such as posting accounting entries or adjusting inventory.
Device Licenses
Device licenses are less commonly discussed because they are usually sold alongside other software solutions.
These licenses are typically used for shared devices, such as:
- Barcode scanning terminals
- Shop floor data collection kiosks
- Warehouse scanning devices
- Point-of-sale terminals
A Device license allows multiple employees to use the same device to interact with Business Central through an add-on system, but it does not allow direct login to the ERP by individual users.
To calculate Dynamics 365 prices, you need to understand these user types. Microsoft explains the different user types in their Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide.
Which Employees Should be Full Users of Business Central
When estimating Business Central licensing costs, it’s important to determine how many Full Users you will need, since these are the primary (and most expensive) licenses.
In general, a Full User license is required whenever an employee needs to post transactions or create important operational documents inside the system.
Below are some of the most common ERP user roles and whether they typically require a Full User license.
- Accounting Users: As a rule, anyone who does any accounting needs to be a full user. You cannot post transactions (which means do most anything that impacts accounting) without a full user.
- Shipper/Receiver: Making a change to the quantity of inventory requires posting (which as described above) which only full users can do.
- Project Managers: Project Managers usually create jobs, copy templates, track and sometimes update data in jobs, etc. These require full users as you cannot create a new job without a full user.
- Production Schedulers/Buyers/Planners: Users who create production orders, purchase orders, reschedule and plan need a full user. When you calculate Dynamics 365 prices, making sure these users are correctly allocated is critical.
- Order Entry/CSR: The Order Entry staff (entering sales orders, creating jobs, etc.) need to be full users in most cases. A CSR (Customer Service Representative) that is only providing quotes and updating information in existing orders might be an exception.
- Working Managers: Managers who do everyday tasks (create orders, create purchase orders) need to be full users.
- Inventory Managers: This means anyone who will adjust inventory, add, move, change. If you buy a 3rd party barcode scanning and inventory control system that uses WiFi portable computers (like Android devices) you might be able to use Device users. If this person needs to enter the ERP and make changes, they are full users.
In some cases, companies use third-party barcode scanning systems with mobile devices. In those situations, certain warehouse employees may be able to use Device licenses instead of Full Users. However, if the employee needs to log directly into Business Central to make changes, they will require a Full User license.
Which Employees are Typically Team Members of Business Central
You can save money when you calculate Dynamics 365 prices for Business Central if you can assign Team Members to some users.
Here are common Dynamics 365 user types that can be Team Members.
- Managers: Most Managers who do no transactions in the system can run all their reports and see all the data they need with a Team Member. Remember – Team Members have access to the entire system. The only limitation is their ability to enter and save new data.
- Field Service: Most Field Service agents are updating their service orders and entering their time. Often this means Field Service technicians who are out in the field can be Team Members, and use their phone or another mobile device to enter their time cards and notes on orders.
- Shop Floor Supervisors/Staff: If you have some shop floor staff who need to look up (and even adjust) production orders, most of them can use a Team Member.
Remember: Team Members can’t adjust inventory levels – which includes posting materials used in production. This catches a lot of businesses off guard.
- Outside Sales: There is a very basic, integrated CRM in Business Central. Team Members can use this to track opportunities, create quotes, enter contacts. Many outside sales staff can get by with this functionality.
- Add-on Users: Depending on the addon, they are often designed so Team Members can use the addon (at least some features). Keep this in mind when considering addon products.
Example: Calculating Your Business Central Licensing Costs
One of the easiest ways to estimate your Business Central licensing costs is to create a simple spreadsheet that lists your employees and the type of license they will require.
Start by identifying the number of Full Users you will need. These are employees who create documents, post transactions, or perform operational ERP tasks.
For example:
| Role | License Type | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | Full User | 3 |
| Order Entry | Full User | 2 |
| Production Planner | Full User | 1 |
| Inventory Manager | Full User | 1 |
In this example, the company would require 7 Full Users.
Next, identify employees who only need access to information or limited system interaction. These employees may qualify for Team Member licenses.
| Role | License Type | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
| Managers | Team Member | 3 |
| Shop Floor Supervisors | Team Member | 4 |
| Outside Sales | Team Member | 2 |
In this example, the company would require 9 Team Members.
If the company also uses shared devices for warehouse scanning or shop floor data collection, they might also add Device licenses for those systems.
Once you have identified these groups, you can estimate your monthly licensing cost. For example:
- 7 Premium Full Users × $110/month = $770/month
- 9 Team Members × ~$8/month = $72/month
Estimated monthly licensing cost: $842/month
This simple exercise usually gives companies a reasonable starting point when estimating their Business Central licensing costs.
Conclusion
We hope this guide helps you better understand how to estimate Dynamics 365 Business Central licensing costs and determine how many Full Users and Team Members your organization may need.
In most cases, the easiest approach is to create a simple spreadsheet listing your employees and identifying which type of license each role requires. From there, you can quickly estimate your total licensing costs.
Every business is different, and some companies have unique roles that require additional consideration. If you are unsure about your licensing requirements, it can be helpful to review your assumptions with an experienced implementation partner.
If you want more (free) help calculating your costs or just to check your numbers against ours – feel free to give us a call at: (519) 585-7524 or contact our team, we’re happy to help!
You can learn all about Microsoft Business Central manufacturing ERP on our dedicated page.
