Microsoft Copilot in Business Central leverages AI to streamline operations, automate tasks, and provide predictive insights, enhancing productivity and decision-making for small and medium-sized businesses.
Key Takeaways
- AI-Powered Assistance: Automates routine tasks, enhancing productivity.
- Predictive Analytics: Provides insights for better decision-making.
- Seamless Integration: Works effortlessly with Microsoft products.
- Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlines workflows and reduces manual effort.
What are Microsoft Copilot’s capabilities in Business Central?
Microsoft Copilot in Business Central offers AI-powered tools that automate tasks, provide predictive analytics, and integrate seamlessly with Microsoft products, enhancing productivity and operational efficiency.
According to our recent survey on business trends, nearly 9 out of 10 workers hope to use AI to reduce repetitive tasks in their jobs. However, until recently, AI has been a luxury that few small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) could truly invest in.
The landscape is now changing dramatically with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Copilot. This innovative solution empowers professionals to perform their day-to-day work with the assistance of cutting-edge AI, seamlessly integrated into their workflows.
With Copilot in Business Central, our customers can equip their teams with intuitive AI tools, enabling them to accomplish more with less effort and without the need for specialised data science knowledge.
This transformation not only enhances productivity but also opens new avenues for growth and efficiency in the business world.
What is Dynamics 365 Business Central?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based ERP solution tailored for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It helps manage your finances, operations, sales, and customer service, all within a single, unified system.
Originating from the highly regarded Dynamics NAV, Business Central integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Dynamics 365 suite, along with other Microsoft products like Office 365, Power BI, and Azure, providing a cohesive and connected experience across your business operations.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based, all-in-one business management solution which enables customers to upgrade from their entry-level accounting software or legacy ERP system to one single, comprehensive solution to manage finances, operations, sales, and customer service.
What is Microsoft Copilot?
Microsoft’s Copilot, its next-generation AI tool, delivers a user-friendly chat experience that enhances productivity, creativity, and information comprehension.
It seamlessly integrates with your data through large language models (LLMs) in a secure and privacy-preserving manner, transforming it into a robust productivity tool.
Copilot, integrated with Microsoft 365 & Dynamics 365 apps, offers a chat interface for quick summaries of sales opportunities, updates, meeting preparations, and more. Crucially, Copilot adheres to GDPR and EU Data Boundary, aligning with Microsoft’s commitment to privacy, security, and compliance.
How do I access Copilot in Business Central?
Copilot is currently available with all Business Central licenses at no extra costs, with no minimum users required to start using.
However, each Copilot capability defines its own list of supported regions and supported languages. You can find further clarification and information about this here.
Unlock Copilot’s Power in Business Central
Discover how Microsoft Copilot enhances Dynamics 365 Business Central with advanced capabilities and intelligent functions.
Copilot functionality in Business Central
Copilot in Business Central overview
Conversational Chat
The Conversational Chat feature in Business Central, known as Chat with Copilot, integrates a user-friendly chatbot interface directly within the system. By using natural language commands, you can effortlessly navigate the solution and locate records and data.
This eliminates the time-consuming need to navigate traditional menus, allowing you to find the information you need quickly and efficiently.
Additionally, Chat with Copilot streamlines the onboarding process for new users by providing contextual answers on how, when, or why to perform various tasks, enhancing user productivity from the get-go.
Explore Chat with Copilot in Business Central further in our dedicated blog post
Marketing text suggestions
Generative marketing text suggestions in Business Central help you quickly bring products to market, by creating compelling AI-generated marketing copy for items in the system.
Leveraging key attributes already stored in Business Central such as colour or material, Copilot can generate text tailored to your preferred tone, format, and length.
After making fine-tuning, you can then easily publish directly to Shopify (or other ecommerce platforms) using just a few clicks.
We cover this functionality in-depth in a video, which can be seen below.
Sales Order Process
The sales order process functionality in Business Central streamlines the creation of sales documents, significantly reducing the time spent on repetitive tasks.
Copilot can accept various input methods, including free text, files, or prebuilt prompts, to understand and generate sales lines.
It assists in creating sales lines on documents like sales quotes, orders, and invoices based on structured input or natural language, minimising manual data entry and enhancing operational efficiency.
Automated workflows
Automated workflows in Business Central leverage Copilot to create Microsoft Power Automate flows using natural language commands. Typically, building flows without predefined templates can be complex, but Copilot simplifies this process through conversational interactions.
By interpreting your input, Copilot provides documentation, links, or direct answers within the chat pane and makes structural changes to the flow based on your descriptions, making workflow automation more accessible and intuitive.
Bank Reconciliation
Bank reconciliation, often a labour-intensive monthly task, becomes more efficient with Copilot in Business Central. Traditionally, rule-based transaction matching reduces effort, but unmatched transactions still require significant manual processing.
Copilot enhances this process by matching more transactions and suggesting appropriate G/L accounts for posting the remaining items, thus significantly reducing bookkeeping efforts and saving valuable time.
E-invoice matching
E-invoice matching in Business Central, powered by Copilot, enables swift comparison and mapping of incoming e-invoices to open orders. This feature helps maintain current accounts payable, facilitating on-time payments and fostering positive supplier relationships.
As procurement processes become increasingly digital, Copilot refines the management of e-documents, particularly purchase orders. The e-documents framework allows you to specify the type of purchase document to create for each vendor upon receiving e-invoices, streamlining the purchase process.
Analysis assistance
Business Central’s analysis assistance, powered by Copilot, simplifies the creation of analytical views of data. Manually constructing these views can be time-consuming and requires skill, but Copilot reduces this effort by enabling you to express your analysis needs in a simple sentence.
Without leaving Business Central, you can quickly gain insights and identify trends or anomalies in your data. This feature helps you make informed decisions based on real-time data analysis, driving your business forward with data-driven strategies.
Sales & Inventory forecasting
Effective inventory management is crucial for business success and customer retention. The Sales and Inventory Forecast extension in Business Central uses historical data to predict potential sales and provide a clear overview of expected stock-outs.
This forecast helps create replenishment requests for vendors, balancing customer service with cost control. By maintaining optimal inventory levels, you can reduce working capital while avoiding stock shortages and missed sales opportunities.
Late payment prediction
Managing receivables is essential for maintaining a business’s financial health. The Copilot-powered extension in Business Central predicts late payments, helping you fine-tune your collections strategy.
For instance, if a payment is expected to be late, you might adjust the payment terms or method for the customer, thereby reducing outstanding receivables and improving cash flow management.
Cash flow analysis
Cash flow analysis in Business Central, driven by AI, provides a comprehensive view of your company’s cash position. This future-focused planning tool helps you maintain control over your financial health by making proactive adjustments to meet financial commitments.
With insights from Business Central, you can quickly pivot to safeguard your company’s fiscal wellbeing, whether by obtaining loans to cover cash shortfalls or cutting back on credit during surplus cash periods.
Get started with Copilot in Business Central
Are you excited about incorporating AI into your business processes? Don’t miss out on these powerful capabilities that can enhance your workflow and reduce administrative burdens.
Start your journey with Business Central today and choose Mercurius IT as your trusted Microsoft Solutions Partner to guide you through the process.
Whether you are looking to implement a new ERP solution, upgrade from a legacy system, or seeking better support from your partner to optimise your business operations, our expert team members are here to support you every step of the way.
Take advantage of this opportunity! Simply leave your contact details in the form below to get started today. Let Mercurius IT help you unlock the full potential of AI in your business.
