A Guide to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Excel Add-In

Microsoft Excel is a useful tool for just about every business. Being able to easily use Excel alongside Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central further streamlines your workflow. Business Central includes an add-in that allows for edits made in Excel to be published in Business Central. It’s called Edit in Excel and differs from Open in Excel.

Use cases for Business Central Excel Add-in

There are several reasons why Microsoft Excel is used in Business Central, to allow you to:

• View or edit Business Central data in Excel.
• Support analytical reporting.
• Manage G/L budgets (export to/import from Excel).
• Import data from other systems.
• Write AL code and use the System app module to create or read Excel files as a developer.

Although some analytics can be performed in Excel, it’s worth noting that it is not a replacement for an advanced analytics platform like Microsoft Fabric. Fabric is an end-to-end, unified analytics platform that brings together all the data and analytics tools that organizations need. Fabric integrates technologies like Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Power BI into a single unified product, empowering data and business professionals alike to unlock the potential of their data and lay the foundation for the era of AI.

Options for Business Central Excel Add-in

Depending on your organization’s needs, you can choose either to have individual users install the add-in themselves, or you can use the centralized deployment option. Each method requires specific steps, which we describe below.

However, if everyone has access to download files from the Microsoft 365 Store, individual acquisition may be the most feasible method for your organization. Here are the steps each user should follow:

1. Open Excel and any workbook
2. Open the Insert menu, choose Add-ins > get add-ins
3. Go to Admin managed and find Microsoft Dynamics Office Add-in. Select it, then choose Add. (if it’s not there, you have to go to the Store, search, and follow the instructions to add it)

Centralized Deployment

For larger organizations, or where only certain users need access to the add-in, centralized deployment may be a better option. With centralized deployment, the entire organization, certain groups, or specific users can be provided with the add-in without each of them downloading files from the Microsoft 365 Store.

Follow these steps to deploy the add-in:

1. Search for Excel Add-in Centralized Deployment in Business Central
2. Read the information on the set up page, then click next
3. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center and choose Integrated Apps, then follow these steps:
   1. Choose Get Apps (opens the app store)
   2. Search for Microsoft Dynamics Office Add-in and choose get it now
   3. On the Add Users page, list the users you want to have the add-in and click next
   4. Review the accept permissions requests, click next and then finish deployment
   5. A green check mark will appear next to deployed, once it’s there, click done
4. Return to the Excel Add-in Centralized Deployment set up assistant in Business Central and click next.
5. Turn on the Use Centralized Deployment, then click finish.

Once you’ve finished, you can go back and make changes as necessary. It may take 24 hours for the add in to deploy to all automatically in Excel for users.

Making Changes to Your Business Central Excel Add-In

Regardless of which way the add-in is deployed, you can make changes, but the files created before the transition are affected. Users will still be able to open Excel worksheets created previously but may not be able to update the data in the file from Business Central or publish changes in Business Central.

Get support from Velosio

If you need help in determining whether the add-in will be beneficial for your organization or workflows, deciding which method of deployment is best for your needs, troubleshooting issues, or changing from one form of deployment to another, our team is here to help. As experts in Business Central, Velosio offers our clients implementation support at all stages.

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