Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

How can SMBs use AI & automation in Business Central for low-cost, better forecasting?

Hi Experts,

I’m exploring ways to enhance financial forecasting and real-time decision-making in Dynamics 365 Business Central for an SMB environment.

Specifically, I’d like to understand:

- How can AI-driven insights and automation be effectively used within Business Central?
- What are the best third-party integrations for improving forecasting accuracy?
- How can we implement these capabilities without significantly increasing complexity or implementation costs?

Any real-world examples, best practices, or recommended tools would be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Categories:

Dynamics 365 Business Central

There are a lot of different AI features, really there is more being added every updated and it can be hard to keep track.

Some of them you may be interested in:

You can use Azure AI for predictive cash flow forecasts in Business Central: Set up cash flow forecasts by using Azure AI in Dynamics 365 Business Central - Training | Microsoft Learn
Copilot chat and analysis is a standard free feature in BC: Get item insights with advanced KPIs and summary | Microsoft Learn and Chat with Copilot (preview) - Business Central | Microsoft Learn
For third party integrations the market is changing so fast it would be hard for me to recommend a specific tool. Most ISV's in BC are releasing AI features that are copilot related. If you aren't interested in Copilot its becoming easier to take Claude and integrate Claude into environments. What I do with clients is usually map out what problems they are trying to solve and then pick a tool after.
The best way to save money on implementation costs is to start doing detailed process mapping internally. Once you have a firm grasp of what you are trying to automate it becomes easier to select tools. You can do a lot of the leg work and consult a partner once you've done a lot of that work. Or if you have technical expertise in house I have seen some clients deploy AI automation tools with just minor assistance.

Hopefully that gives you a bit of information to start!

Teagen Boll, CPA

Work: Catapult ERP

Social: LinkedIn

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