Business Central, localization and regulatory features - A community driven approach

For many years Microsoft has localized Dynamics NAV to assist customers with features that makes it easier for them to comply with local legislation, and we continue this development with Dynamics 365 Business Central. 

Centralized development of regulatory features

Not long after the acquisition of Navision Software, Microsoft centralized the development of local features to the product headquarters in Denmark. This is still the approach for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and as with most other aspects determining the success of this product we rely heavily on partners for knowledge about their customers' business processes, and their domain and local knowledge. We strive to improve user proficiency and business productivity with all the features we build into this great product. Dynamics 365 Business Central is all about empowerment. We call these local features regulatory features, and our process for governing them involves timing, interpretation of local legislation, and validating our features with partners, all of which are critical for the success of these features and - ultimately - our customers.

The punitive circumstances for regulatory features often make them more important than functionality in other domains. The legislative requirements that serve as input for these features typically come with deadlines and penalties for non-compliance. That makes regulatory features highly anticipated in the market and they get a lot of attention. 

Compliance - a customer responsibility

Let's be clear. Compliance is the responsibility of the customer, not a specific product. There are situations where software must be certified to be used, but that is another issue. Requirements that authorities impose on businesses are the responsibility of the customer.

Community is key to delivery of regulatory features

We do our best to deliver features that help customers toward compliance. These features span many areas but mostly concern VAT and taxes, electronic invoicing, banking and payment formats, fixed assets, withholding tax, and installments/post-dated cheques. 

Timing is everything and knowing about upcoming legislation in good time is paramount for our ability to release a regulatory feature ahead of the deadline.

We rely heavily on partners to provide us with that information, so we encourage all our partners to report any upcoming legislation to us, so we can investigate:

• The details of the legislation
• Whether the legislation is relevant for our customers
• Whether, and how, the legislation requires new or changed product features
• Timing and resource allocation for feature development
• Which partners will participate in assuring the feature is fit for the local market from a business process perspective

What can you do?

If you know about upcoming legislation, please create an alert by reporting it at Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services (LCS).

If you do not have access to LCS, please request access by emailing DynRegW (at) microsoft.com

Finally, be sure to read the guidance on how to create alerts in LCS.