Modernise Legacy Systems with Dynamics 365 Business Central: Webinar Recap and Practical Next Steps

Most organisations do not choose legacy systems. They grow into them.

It usually starts with a simple setup that works for a while: an accounting tool, a few spreadsheets, and approvals happening over email or chat. But as the company grows, the same setup begins to slow things down.

You see it in small ways:

• Month-end takes longer than it should
• Reports from different teams do not match
• Approvals get stuck with no visibility
• People copy data across systems and Excel

In our recent session presented by NGenious Solutions in association with Microsoft and Redington, we spoke about exactly this: how to modernise legacy setups and move to a connected platform that supports growth, control, and faster decision-making.

The session was hosted by Yukta Bhoneja, with key guidance and Q&A responses shared by Mantri Banerjee, AVP – Dynamics 365 and the live demo presented by Shwet Shankar, Technical Consultant – Business Central and Ashay Patkar, Delivery Manager – Microsoft Dynamics.

This blog is a recap of what we covered, plus a checklist you can use internally.

Who Joined and What We Asked First

We were glad to host participants from Finance, Technology, Operations, and Management across different organisations.

To keep the session relevant, we started with a quick poll:

What Are You Using Today for Accounting or ERP?

Responses covered:

• Tally and other accounting software
• Custom or in-house ERP
• Older or on-prem ERP (client-server or legacy ERP)
• Excel-heavy setups and multiple tools
• Other

This helped us align the demo and Q&A to what attendees actually use day to day.

What We Covered in the Session

We kept the session practical and structured around the things leaders care about:

1. Why modernisation becomes urgent as organisations grow
2. What a modern, integrated ERP approach looks like
3. What Dynamics 365 Business Central is and what it covers
4. A simple comparison with Tally-style setups
5. Benefits for Finance, IT, Operations, and leadership
6. Scalability and growth enablement
7. Migration readiness checklist
8. Live demo and one anonymised use case
9. Q&A and next steps
10. Certificate of Participation and lucky draw process (via feedback form)

Why Modernise Now

Legacy setups rarely break in one big incident. They create ongoing workaround cost. Teams spend time fixing issues that should not exist in the first place.

This cost shows up as:

• Manual reconciliations
• Duplicate entry
• Delayed reporting
• Approval delays
• Errors that are discovered late

Over time, it becomes harder to scale confidently because people spend more time managing exceptions than running processes.

What is Dynamics 365 Business Central

Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed to help organisations manage core business processes on one connected platform. In practical terms, it helps teams bring finance and operations closer, reduce manual work, and improve visibility across functions.

Why the Business Central vs Tally Discussion Comes Up in India

Tally is widely used. It works well for many accounting needs. The challenge usually starts when an organisation needs stronger control and wider coverage, such as:

• Approvals inside the system, not over email
• More consistent reporting across functions
• Clearer traceability during audits
• Better coordination between finance and operations

That is why the conversation is often not good vs bad. It is about what fits the current stage of growth.

The 3 Outcomes We Kept Coming Back to

In the webinar, we kept everything tied to three outcomes. This made the discussion easy for Finance and IT leaders to follow.

1. Visibility: Less time chasing numbers. More time making decisions.
2. Control: Approvals, access, and traceability built into the way people work.
3. Speed: Fewer manual steps, fewer handovers, and less rework.

Approvals and Governance: What We Highlighted

Approvals are a common pain point in growing organisations. They often happen outside the system, which creates delays and reduces accountability.

In a modern ERP setup:

• approvals can be structured
• you can define who approves what
• teams can see where something is stuck

This reduces the “I approved it on WhatsApp” problem and improves audit readiness.

Audit Trail and Change Tracking: Why it Matters

A common question in audits is simple: “Who changed this, and when?”

In a modern ERP setup, audit logs and change tracking help teams answer these questions faster. It reduces time spent investigating inconsistencies and improves accountability.

Reporting and Dashboards with Power BI

Reporting is often the first reason companies look at modernisation. Not because they love dashboards, but because leadership needs faster and more reliable visibility.

Power BI reporting depends on setup and scope, but the main point is simple: reporting should move from manual exports to clearer views that help leaders act faster.

What this Means for Different Roles

➔ For CFO and Finance Teams

• Stronger controls with approvals and access roles
• Easier traceability during audits
• Fewer reporting surprises and fewer manual reconciliations

➔ For IT and CTO Office

• A platform that supports governance and integration
• Reduced dependency on spreadsheet stitching
• Better foundation for automation and analytics

➔ For Operations Teams

• Smoother handoffs between purchasing, sales, and finance
• Clearer visibility for common workflows
• Fewer exceptions and rework when processes are standardised

Scalability and Growth Enablement

Scalability is not only about handling more transactions. It is about handling more complexity:

• More people involved in approvals
• More locations
• More reporting needs
• More integration points

Modernising early helps organisations avoid a situation where growth is limited by internal processes.

Migration Readiness Checklist

If you are thinking about moving from a legacy setup, use this checklist to prepare internally.

1. Scope and Ownership

Decide what Phase 1 includes and who owns the outcomes. For example, finance-first vs finance plus purchasing and inventory.

2. Data Readiness

Clean up masters and align opening balances. Decide what historical data you need to bring across.

3. Process Mapping

Pick 2 to 3 key processes and map them clearly. Typical ones:

• Purchase approvals
• Order-to-invoice
• Month-end close and reporting

4. Integration Needs

List systems you must integrate with. In India, this often includes banking, compliance needs, CRM, BI, or industry tools.

5. Training and Change Management

Do not treat training as a final step. Plan role-based training early and decide who will support adoption.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Demo Recap

The live demo was presented by Shwet Shankar, Technical Consultant – Business Central and Ashay Patkar, Delivery Manager – Microsoft Dynamics. The intent was to show an end-to-end business flow and what changes when finance and operations run on one connected platform.

What We Demonstrated in the Live Product Demo

1. End-to-end Product Demonstration

We showcased the complete business flow in Dynamics 365 Business Central, starting from financial accounting and moving through the full production lifecycle. This included:

• BOM
• Routing
• MRP/MPS planning
• Production execution
• Production costing

2. Advanced controls and governance

We explained how governance is built into the system through:

• Multi-level approvals
• Built-in audit trails
• Role-based dashboards

The key takeaway was better control, stronger compliance confidence, and clearer decision-making across departments.

3. Powerful reporting and analytics

We walked through real-time reporting and MIS views, including:

• Balance Sheet
• Profit and Loss
• Cash flow
• Operational KPIs
• Management dashboards

4. Compliance and integration capabilities (India context)

We also covered integration capabilities that support automation of statutory and finance operations, including:

• GST e-invoicing
• E-way bill integration (as applicable)
• Bank integrations

A simple way to judge fit is to compare one real process in your organisation (for example, production planning or approvals) to what was shown in the demo.

Use Case We Discussed: Packaging Manufacturing Company (Tally to Business Central)

We discussed one anonymised use case: digital transformation for a packaging manufacturing company.

Industry: Packaging manufacturing

Existing system: Tally (accounting software)

Problems

• No central control over inventory sourcing and procurement
• Inaccurate inventory costing
• Limited visibility into real-time production status

Solution

• Implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
• Covered Finance, Inventory, Production, Sales, and Procurement
• Enabled BOM, costing, approvals, and dashboards

Impact

• Real-time visibility across operations
• More accurate costing and stronger inventory control
• Scrap and production tracking
• Stronger governance and audit trail
• Management MIS and a scalable ERP foundation

Q&A Highlight

One key question asked during the session was:

“When migrating from Tally or other legacy systems, how do you handle incomplete or unreliable historical data, and what’s your rule for deciding what to migrate vs what to leave behind?”

Mantri Banerjee, AVP – Dynamics 365, addressed this question and shared practical guidance on how organisations typically approach this decision during migration planning.

If you have questions that were not covered live, you can reach out using the contact details shared in the session.

Certificate and Lucky Draw Reminder

All attendees have received a Certificate of Participation on their registered email address. We also offered lucky draw gifts. To be eligible for the lucky draw, participants must:

• Register for the webinar
• Attend the session
• Submit the feedback form

If you attended the webinar but haven’t submitted the feedback form yet, please complete the form here: https://custsurvey.cloudaccelerator.microsoft.com/engagement/welcome/3b1d806e-c4d8-4d4a-b9a3-1e8da2c3888b?locale=en-US 

Next Steps

If you are seeing any of these symptoms:

• Reporting delays
• Approvals stuck with no visibility
• Too much Excel
• Time wasted reconciling numbers

Then the best first step is usually not “replace everything at once”.

A better first step is a short readiness discussion:

• Define Phase 1 scope
• Identify data cleanup needs
• Map 2 key workflows
• Confirm integration requirements

Want the Webinar Deck and Demo Walkthrough?

You can request the presentation deck using the form below. For the demo walkthrough, we offer it only as a 1:1 guided session (to keep it relevant to your setup and to protect details). After you submit the form, our team will reach out to schedule a suitable time.

FAQs

1. Is Dynamics 365 Business Central suitable for growing organisations?

Business Central is commonly used by growing organisations that want a more connected approach across finance and operations.

2. Does Business Central support approval workflows?

Yes. Approval workflows can be configured to support governance and accountability.

3. Does Business Central have audit trail or change tracking?

Yes. Audit logs and change tracking help improve traceability and accountability.

4. Can we use Power BI with Business Central?

Yes. Power BI can be used for dashboards and reporting, based on your setup and reporting scope.

5. What is a good first step for a Tally to Business Central migration?

Start with scope, data readiness, process mapping, integrations, and training. Plan a phased rollout to reduce risk and get value early.