Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs. Microsoft Power BI

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly Dynamics NAV) is one of the ERP products in the Dynamics family. The technology is based on the Navision product acquired by Microsoft in 2002. This product is the best-selling Microsoft ERP platform, and is often used by companies in the manufacturing and distribution verticals.
$8
per month per user
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.
$10
per month per user
Pricing
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralMicrosoft Power BI
Editions & Modules
Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members
$8
per month (billed annually) per user
Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials
$70
per month (billed annually) per user
Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium
$100
per month (billed annually) per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralMicrosoft Power BI
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralMicrosoft Power BI
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Used to work on Dynamics AX, an ERP solution which is now discontinued
Chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Really easy to use, user friendly. Its Reliable, when it goes wrong it’s usually easy to fix as the error message tells you what it is. The system looks nice and easy for non financial people to use. The new features with pivot tables is a great addition and the analytical …
Microsoft Power BI

No answer on this topic

Features
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralMicrosoft Power BI
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
6.7
10 Ratings
9% below category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Pay calculation6.810 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration5.98 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files6.89 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.5
23 Ratings
1% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
API for custom integration7.522 Ratings00 Ratings
Plug-ins7.620 Ratings00 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.8
27 Ratings
6% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Single sign-on capability8.723 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.926 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.5
28 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Dashboards7.324 Ratings00 Ratings
Standard reports7.628 Ratings00 Ratings
Custom reports7.627 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.4
28 Ratings
9% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Accounts payable8.727 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.526 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support7.515 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers8.114 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.217 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting7.617 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes8.518 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.5
24 Ratings
7% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking8.324 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.816 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management8.120 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.8
26 Ratings
0% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Pricing8.123 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry8.523 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing6.515 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold8.721 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Orchestration8.412 Ratings00 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.1
18 Ratings
8% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Billing Management8.116 Ratings00 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management8.217 Ratings00 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management7.212 Ratings00 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting8.014 Ratings00 Ratings
Period Close7.917 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.7
8 Ratings
14% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Budgeting and Forecasting10.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Costing10.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost Capture10.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Capital Project Management8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance10.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.5
10 Ratings
7% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Project Planning and Scheduling7.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Task Insight for Project Managers6.79 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality6.68 Ratings00 Ratings
Definable Resource Pools6.59 Ratings00 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.9
7 Ratings
19% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Award Lifecycle Management6.77 Ratings00 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.8
14 Ratings
11% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Bids Analyzed and Compared6.68 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract Authoring6.48 Ratings00 Ratings
Contract Repository6.88 Ratings00 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated7.812 Ratings00 Ratings
Supplier Management7.111 Ratings00 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.1
10 Ratings
21% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Risk Repository6.79 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Management6.89 Ratings00 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments6.89 Ratings00 Ratings
Issue Detection7.19 Ratings00 Ratings
Remediation and Certification7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
Logistics
Comparison of Logistics features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.4
8 Ratings
8% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Transportation Planning and Optimization6.56 Ratings00 Ratings
Transportation Execution Management6.56 Ratings00 Ratings
Trade and Customs Management7.16 Ratings00 Ratings
Fulfillment Management6.98 Ratings00 Ratings
Warehouse Workforce Management8.26 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing
Comparison of Manufacturing features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.7
8 Ratings
4% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Production Process Design8.26 Ratings00 Ratings
Production Management7.97 Ratings00 Ratings
Configuration Management6.56 Ratings00 Ratings
Work Execution8.26 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing Costs7.78 Ratings00 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
7.5
10 Ratings
4% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Forecasting6.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Planning7.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Monitoring6.810 Ratings00 Ratings
Product Lifecycle Management
Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
8.8
7 Ratings
20% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
Ratings
Proposal Management7.16 Ratings00 Ratings
Product Master Data Management7.76 Ratings00 Ratings
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.3
196 Ratings
2% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.3167 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings8.7195 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings8.0178 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
194 Ratings
0% below category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.3191 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings7.8191 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings7.4143 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.4189 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
187 Ratings
2% below category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings8.2177 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.1172 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings7.7144 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.2147 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings7.9110 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
187 Ratings
2% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings8.2181 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.1166 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.4136 Ratings
Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.437 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.5
178 Ratings
0% above category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.7168 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.4146 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.4158 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.347 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.6140 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.0
160 Ratings
3% above category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings7.7150 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings7.6131 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.9153 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
115 Ratings
1% above category average
REST API00 Ratings8.1103 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings7.684 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings7.068 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings7.690 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
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User Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(29 ratings)
8.5
(197 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.5
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(9 ratings)
8.3
(113 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(2 ratings)
10.0
(52 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is well suited for inventory management in all aspects. Its accessibility, along with my other apps, when out of the office is unparalleled. I find it easy to work with on a desktop or laptop; however, it could use some work on a mobile device.
Read full review
Microsoft
Has significantly improved collation of data and visualisation especially with business across Europe. Has given me the ability to see the Site availability at the click of a button to see which Site is in the "money" and seize opportunities based on Market data
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • Automate the creation of bills of materials for production. We can now generate a BoM from a sales order.
  • Organization of all data pertaining to thousands of parts, assemblies, and finished goods. Engineering and purchasing have a common portal.
  • We can create sales orders from quotations instead of re-entering them (this did require some bolt-on software). Less redundant work with fewer entry errors.
  • Accounting can provide reports based on specific criteria stored in NAV. We can pull better and more detailed intelligence.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
  • Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
  • User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Some functions could be a bit more user friendly, intuitive.
  • Better migration from previous ERP software (especially other Microsoft products). "Growing pains" associated with change?! Maybe.
  • A few redundancies and procedural missteps on menus and tabs can make the portal a bit crowded.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • It would be easier for users could Microsoft Power BI and Excel used the same programming languages.
  • Would like to see the online version of Microsoft Power BI be as powerful as the desktop version.
  • Publishing a Microsoft Power BI file online and then having to save the file is somewhat redundant.
  • Would like to export each page or chart as an image.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
We've already decided to continue using this software. It is too expensive for us to upgrade so we made a workaround by using the virtual computer with Windows XP installed on it. We did research replacing this software, but it was a better financial decision to keep what we had instead
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is an excellent and scalable tool. It has a learning curve, but once you get past that, the sky is the limit and you can build from the most simple to the most complex dashboards. I have built everything from simple reports with only a few data points to complex reports with many pages and advanced filtering.
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
Best in terms of reporting or coming up with a great dashboard. Seamlessly collaborated with teams without depending on particular device as its web version is the buddy for people with work flexibility. Licensing price and integrations can be the areas of improvement and can simplify the interface which will be easy for a new user.
Read full review
Microsoft
Automating reporting has reduced manual data processing by 50-70%, freeing up analysts for higher-value tasks. A finance team that previously spent 20+ hours per week on Excel-based reports now does it in minutes with Microsoft Power BI's automated Real-time dashboards have shortened decision cycles by 30-40%, enabling leadership to react quickly to sales trends, operational bottlenecks, and customer behavior.
Read full review
Support Rating
Microsoft
It provides one to efficiently be able to manage bookkeeping and inventory without much challenges. One can easily navigate through workflow processes while managing usages and budgets. Being able to produce reports in Word, Excel or PDF means one is able to have a working document to produce trends and graphs or produce pivot tables.
Read full review
Microsoft
It is a fantastic tool, you can do almost everything related with data and reports, it is a perfect substitutive of Power Point and Excel with a high evolution and flexibility, and also it is very friendly and easy to share. I think all companies should have Power BI (or other BI tool) in their software package and if they are in the MS Suite, for sure Power BI should be the one due to all the benefits of the MS ecosystem.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
I have personally supported all of the Dynamic family of ERP systems and made the decision to concentrate on NAV as the solution of choice. From a support and development standpoint there are few if any packages that can compare. It is not uncommon for most of the companies that I support to only call me once or twice a month after the first year. This is due to the ease of tracking down problems and errors and the ability for a developer to provide the end-user with routines that automatically correct the most basic kind of error
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Power BI is free. If I didn't want to create a custom platform (i.e. my organization insisted on an existing platform that I *had* to use), I'd use Microsoft Power BI. For any start-up or SMB, I'd just use Claude & Grok to build it quickly, also for free. Would not pay for Tableau or Sigma anymore. Not worth it at all.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Automation processing, including EDI functionality, has increased employee efficiency and prevented the need for adding additional employees.
  • Implementation of the warehouse functionality, including cycle counts, has resulted in better inventory control/less shrinkage.
  • Implementation of e-Ship and e-Receive, has resulted in greater efficiency and order accuracy.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Power BI usage reduced the effort of analytical reports creation by about 80%
  • Empowered all the level of employee to be more vigilant of the data and business insights, gained the profit of 8% overall.
  • AI-powered predictive analytics improved forecasting accuracy by 17%, that topped the overall sales.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow