Business Central Wave 1 Release 2026: Key Features, Copilot Updates and AI Agents for UK SMBs

Quick Summary

Dynamics 365 Business Central 2026 Wave 1 introduces practical improvements across Copilot, AI agents, finance, supply chain operations, and reporting. This release focuses on helping growing SMBs reduce manual work, improve operational visibility, strengthen governance, and scale more efficiently with a more intelligent ERP platform.

Key Takeaways 

• Business Central 2026 Wave 1 expands Copilot and AI agent capabilities for everyday workflows
• Payables automation reduces manual invoice processing and improves finance efficiency
• Finance and governance enhancements strengthen reporting, approvals, and compliance
• Operational improvements support purchasing, inventory, and supply chain processes
• Integration with Microsoft 365 improves productivity and day-to-day collaboration for teams

If you are a decision-maker in a growing small or mid-sized business, your ERP system needs to do more than record transactions. It needs to help your teams work faster, reduce manual processes, improve reporting, and support growth without creating extra complexity. 

That is why Dynamics 365 Business Central 2026 Wave 1 matters. 

Microsoft is continuing to evolve Business Central into a more intelligent, connected, and automation-led ERP platform. For UK SMBs, this release is especially relevant because it focuses on the areas that usually create pressure as organisations grow: 

• rising finance workload 
• more operational complexity 
• greater demand for real-time visibility 
• tighter control and governance requirements 
• the need to scale without adding unnecessary overhead

In this blog, we look at what is new in Business Central Wave 1 Release 2026, why it matters for UK SMBs, and what business leaders should pay attention to now.  

What Is Business Central Wave 1 Release 2026?

Business Central Wave 1 Release 2026 is Microsoft’s latest major update for Dynamics 365 Business Central, with general availability beginning in April 2026. This release wave covers features rolling out from April through September 2026.

For businesses already using Business Central, this is an important update cycle because it shapes how the platform will support finance, operations, reporting, governance, AI, and productivity over the coming months.

For organisations considering Business Central, this release also gives a strong indication of where Microsoft is taking the product next: towards a more intelligent ERP environment where AI, embedded automation, and connected workflows play a bigger role in everyday business activity.

Why This Release Matters for UK SMB Decision-Makers

For many UK SMBs, growth brings a familiar set of problems: 

• finance teams spend too much time on repetitive processing 
• operations teams rely on manual workarounds 
• reporting is often delayed or inconsistent 
• internal controls become harder to manage as teams and processes expand 
• decision-makers need clearer data without waiting for manual updates 

Business Central 2026 Wave 1 addresses these issues by introducing enhancements across: 

• Copilot and AI agents 
• financial management 
• supply chain and operations 
• reporting and analytics 
• governance and administration 
• Outlook and Microsoft 365 productivity 
• e-commerce integration 
• electronic documents and compliance-related improvements 

For decision-makers, the key takeaway is simple. This release is not just about new features. It is about making ERP more useful, more scalable, and more supportive of day-to-day decision-making. 

What’s New in Dynamics 365 Business Central 2026 Wave 1?

Microsoft’s current preview for Business Central 2026 Wave 1 highlights a broad range of updates. Below are some of the most important areas for SMB leaders to understand.

1. Copilot and AI Agents Become More Practical

AI is one of the biggest themes in this release.

Microsoft is continuing to build on Business Central’s shift towards AI-assisted and agent-led workflows. In the current preview, this includes capabilities such as:

• Discovering emails in the mailbox that have already been processed by the Payables Agent
• Getting item insights with advanced KPIs and summary
• Managing tasks from all agents in a dedicated task pane
• Reviewing content generated by agents directly on pages
• Stopping active tasks for a selected agent
• Using AI resources for Copilot extensions in preview

These updates matter because they make AI more visible and more usable inside everyday workflows. Rather than treating Copilot as a separate experience, Microsoft is embedding intelligence directly into the system where finance and operations teams already work.

2. Payables Automation Continues to Gain Momentum

One of the most practical examples of AI in Business Central is the Payables Agent.

Microsoft describes this capability as an autonomous AI-powered agent that can:

• Monitor a designated email inbox for incoming vendor invoices
• Extract invoice data from PDF attachments
• Identify vendors
• Suggest account classifications
• Create draft purchase invoices for review

For growing businesses, this has clear value. Accounts payable is often one of the most repetitive, time-consuming, and error-prone processes in finance. Reducing manual handling in this area can help improve accuracy, save time, and allow finance teams to focus on higher-value work.

Importantly, the Payables Agent is designed to support human review rather than remove control. Drafts are created for approval rather than posted automatically, which helps maintain oversight.

3. Finance Enhancements That Support Accuracy and Control

Finance leaders should pay close attention to the new capabilities in this release.

Microsoft’s preview highlights finance-related improvements such as:

• Calculate withholding taxes for vendors
• Withholding Tax functionality
• Use self-billed invoices
• Financial reporting enhancements
• New APIs for analysing permissions
• New APIs for analysing approval workflows for auditors and IT staff

These features matter because finance complexity increases as businesses grow. More suppliers, more transactions, more approvals, and more scrutiny all create pressure on finance teams. Updates that improve reporting, control, and process consistency can help organisations reduce risk while increasing efficiency.

For UK SMBs, the broader significance is that Business Central continues to strengthen its ability to support not just transaction processing, but also stronger governance and financial management as the business matures.

4. Supply Chain and Operations Get Useful Workflow Improvements

Business Central 2026 Wave 1 also introduces several enhancements across operations, inventory, purchasing, and fulfilment.

Highlighted updates include:

• Evaluate the quality of goods and materials
• Quality for incoming and inhouse process Module
• Approve requisition worksheets and item journals
• Create purchase orders from drop shipments
• Post purchase invoices for drop shipments independently of related sales invoices
• Reverse drop shipments when sales and purchase documents are not invoiced
• Improved usability in manufacturing
• Add pictures to item variants
• Define item attributes for item variants
• Filter receipt and shipment lines more easily when invoicing
• Create purchase quotes for contacts

These are the kinds of updates that can make a genuine difference to growing organisations. Small process inefficiencies may seem manageable at low volume, but they become more expensive as operations scale. Better usability, stronger approval processes, improved visibility, and more structured handling of purchasing and stock movements can all contribute to smoother operations.

5. Reporting, Governance and Productivity Continue to Improve

Decision-makers also need visibility, oversight, and smoother day-to-day collaboration. That is why the updates in reporting, governance, and Microsoft 365 productivity are worth noting.

Key preview highlights include:

• Control the lifecycle of report layouts
• Modernising analytical reports for inventory
• Enhanced analytics-related reporting
• Set default language for documents at company level
• Audit user and group permissions across apps
• Stay in flow of work with updated Outlook integration
• Manage database index usage and cost per company
• Connect AI agents to the Admin Centre through MCP server in preview

These enhancements can help businesses:

• standardise reporting more effectively
• improve oversight across permissions and approvals
• reduce friction between ERP and Microsoft 365 tools
• strengthen administration as usage grows

For leadership teams, these changes support a broader goal: creating a more reliable and scalable business platform rather than just a functional back-office system.

Key Business Benefits of Business Central 2026 Wave 1 for SMBs

For UK SMB decision-makers, the business impact of this release can be summarised clearly.

Business Central 2026 Wave 1 can help businesses:

• reduce manual finance tasks through more intelligent invoice and process support
• improve operational efficiency across purchasing, stock, approvals, and fulfilment
• strengthen decision-making with better summaries, insights, and visibility
• increase control and governance through stronger permission and approval analysis
• improve user productivity with better Outlook and reporting experiences
• scale more effectively without increasing admin effort at the same rate as business growth

This is particularly relevant for:

• Managing Directors
• Finance Directors
• Finance Managers
• Operations Directors
• Supply Chain Leaders
• IT Managers
• Business Systems Owners
• SMB leaders planning an upgrade or optimisation project

For these audiences, the release is important not because every single feature will apply immediately, but because the overall direction of Business Central is becoming more aligned to the needs of ambitious, growing businesses.

Why AI in Business Central Matters Now

A lot of attention is being given to AI across business software, but many leaders are still asking the same question:

What does this actually mean for my business?

In Business Central, the answer is becoming clearer.

AI is no longer being positioned as a separate or experimental concept. It is being embedded into practical workflows such as:

• invoice handling
• task management
• content generation and review
• item insights
• workflow assistance

For SMBs, this matters because the value of AI is not in novelty. The value is in:

• reducing repetitive admin
• improving speed and consistency
• helping smaller teams do more
• supporting better decisions with less manual effort

That is why the Business Central 2026 Wave 1 update is attracting so much attention. It shows how Microsoft is moving Business Central from a traditional ERP model towards a more intelligent and action-oriented business platform.

Join Mercurius IT’s Business Central 2026 Wave 1 Webinar

If you want to understand how these updates could affect your business in practical terms, Mercurius IT is hosting a live webinar on Thursday, 9 April 2026 from 11:00 am to 11:50 am BST focused on Dynamics 365 Business Central 2026 Wave 1.

In this webinar, we will cover:

• Business Central in 2026 and what is new in Wave 1
• AI Agents in action with real-world use cases
• Copilot for smarter finance and operations
• a live demonstration of new released features such as withholding tax and quality control
• key takeaways and next steps

This webinar is ideal for:

• Finance Directors and Finance Managers
• Operations and Supply Chain leaders
• IT Managers and Business Systems owners
• decision-makers planning a Business Central upgrade or optimisation

By attending, you will learn how to:

• reduce manual data entry and repetitive tasks
• improve accuracy and decision-making with AI-driven insights
• prepare your organisation for the shift from ERP to AI-powered ERP

If your organisation is reviewing its ERP roadmap, planning a Business Central upgrade, or simply wants to understand where Microsoft is taking the platform next, this session is worth attending.

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