The new version of Dynamics 365 Business Central (2024 Release Wave 2) was released in October 2024, while the new features that will be included in this wave will be implemented gradually during October 2024-March 2025. Let's take a quick look at some of the new features that are already available and that we think you'll find interesting.

Development

With the release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2, developers gain access to several new tools and improvements that simplify coding and customization:

• Set up easier in-client performance profiling with rules

• Use the ternary operator when coding in the AL language

• Use the 'this' keyword for codeunit self reference

• Specify and use full-text search indexes on table fields

• Type testing and casting operators for interfaces

• Extend and customize profiles from other extensions

Performance profiling in Business Central has become simpler and more flexible. Developers now can set up a specific scheduled rule, for example, to profile a given user and session type for a given duration. Once the rule is defined and enabled, the server will trigger a profile each time the rule is met. At the end of the duration, profiling will stop, and the results can be inspected to see if there are any performance issues.

A long-awaited addition, the ternary operator is now available in the AL language. This feature enables concise and efficient conditional expressions, helping developers write cleaner and more readable code.

Also, developers can now use “this” keyword for self-reference on all objects, as known from other programming languages.

The main benefits of using the “this” keyword are that it:

• Allows codeunits to pass a reference to this (which is itself) as an argument to another method.

• Improves readability by signaling that a referenced symbol is a member on the object itself.

One of the exciting updates in this release is the ability to define full-text search indexes on table fields. As an AL developer, you can now specify which table fields are included in full-text search indexes on the database. This functionality enables faster, more powerful search capabilities within large datasets, significantly improving the search experience and productivity for users by providing more precise and relevant search results.

2024 Release Wave 2 also expands extensibility by allowing developers to extend and customize profiles from other extensions. With this feature, you can now create profile extension objects in your AL code. They can be used to modify the target profile's caption, and role center, or even include/remove it from the role explorer. It's also possible to add page customizations to a specified profile.

Copilot and AI innovation

At the same time, Microsoft continues to focus on developing artificial intelligence and improves the features of Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The most interesting innovations, in our opinion, can be found at the links below:

• Suggest number series with Copilot

• Raise awareness of Copilot actions on Card, Document, and ListPlus pages

• Start creating Power Automate flows with Copilot

• Create sales lines easily with Copilot

• Chat with Copilot to learn how to use installed add-on apps

• Create product information faster with Copilot

• Automate tests for your Copilot extensions with the Business Central Test Toolkit

With Copilot’s AI-driven assistance, suggesting number series is now easier than ever. The Generate action opens the Generate No. Series with Copilot dialog, where you can enter a prompt to create new or modify existing, number series.

You can now use Copilot actions on Card, Document, and ListPlus pages to allow users to use your Copilots on such pages. The required AL code follows the same model as when adding Copilot prompt actions to list pages.

Also, Copilot now integrates with Power Automate, allowing users to create and set up automated workflows with minimal effort.

One of the more user-friendly innovations in this release is the ability to chat with Copilot to learn about installed add-on apps:

• Users can ask questions about content from installed add-on apps, such as new pages, fields, and business processes.

• Copilot explains and guides based on documentation provided by the apps installed to your Business Central environment.

Application

The Application improvements in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2 bring a range of new features aimed at improving everyday operations, financial management, and user experience:

• Use a default quantity of 1 for accounts on documents

• Allow more than one user to post warehouse entries at a time

• Use new reports and demo data for financial reporting

• Manage subscription billing and revenue and expense recognition

• See improved usability for service and projects

• Replenish items for projects

• Use Excel reports for consolidation and fixed assets

To reduce errors and speed up data entry, Business Central now allows users to set a default quantity of 1 when adding new lines for general ledger accounts on sales and purchase documents. This small but significant improvement minimizes manual entry and ensures accuracy, particularly in situations where a quantity of 1 is frequently used.

At the same time, Business Central now supports the simultaneous posting of warehouse entries by multiple users. Multiple workers can work on transactions that involve warehouse entries without locking each other out, which means less waiting time and more productivity.

Also, this release lets you manage subscription contracts in Business Central, so you can spend more time selling and less time organizing and invoicing contracts. Business Central now supports many different types of subscription scenarios. There's a simple set of processes that let you manage portfolios of the items and services that you bill on a recurring schedule.

In addition to speed up the process of creating invoices for projects, Microsoft added the Create Project Sales Invoice action to the Project Card page. Now you can create invoices without having to leave the project information. Additionally, to make it faster to access and work with details about projects the following actions were added to the Project List page:

• Assembly Orders

• Put-away, Pick, and Movement Lines

• Registered Pick Lines

• Project WIP Cockpit

User experiences

The user experience updates in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2 focus on improving ease of use and accessibility across the system:

• Experience access keys with key tips in more languages

• Use drag and drop on file upload dialog to attach multiple files

• Resize columns even when personalization isn't enabled

• Change the data search method in lists

Business Central continues to expand its accessibility by introducing access keys with key tips in additional languages. This feature allows users to navigate the system using keyboard shortcuts (key tips) for commands and actions, now available in more localized languages.

One of the most useful enhancements in this release is the ability to drag and drop files directly onto the file upload dialog when attaching multiple files. This feature eases the process of uploading documents, images, or other files to Business Central records.

Users can now resize columns in list views, even if personalization is not enabled. This offers more flexibility when working with any lists, allowing users to adjust column widths as needed for better data visibility without going through the full UI customization process.

The ability to change the data search method in lists gives users more control over how they search for information in Business Central. Users can switch between the “legacy” search, which searches across all columns, and the “modern” search, which searches only in columns optimized for full-text search matching.

Reporting and data analysis

The reporting and data analysis features in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2 empower users with improved tools for financial and operational reporting, as well as deeper integration with analytics platforms like Power BI and Excel:

• Use built-in named formulas in Excel layouts

• Do ad hoc analysis on fixed assets, projects, and services

• Use embedded Power BI reports out of the box

• Use advanced settings in the Power BI connector

Business Central now supports built-in named formulas in Excel layouts, making it easier to work with and reuse formulas when exporting data to Excel. Named formulas allow users to create dynamic Excel reports that automatically update when new data is added. This feature simplifies report building, and reduces the time for development of complicated VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP formulas.

The ability to perform ad-hoc analysis on critical areas such as fixed assets, projects, and services gives users greater flexibility in understanding their data. With this feature, users can quickly generate insights and perform on-the-fly calculations, helping them to make informed decisions without needing to create custom reports.

Embedded Power BI reports are now available out of the box, meaning users can analyze their business data with out-of-the-box Power BI reports for finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, and projects.

Specifically, the following Power BI reports are available:

• Finance: 14 reports

• Sales: 12 reports

• Purchasing: 13 reports

• Inventory: 7 reports

• Manufacturing: 11 reports

• Projects: 6 reports

Also, the Power BI connector in Business Central now includes advanced settings, offering users greater control over how data is shared and visualized in Power BI. The introduction of new parameters to the Power BI connector for Business Central increases the flexibility, performance, and user experience of data integration and analysis, while still ensuring the default values are optimal in the majority of cases. These parameters empower users with more control over their data interactions, leading to more efficient data processing, better performance, and improved user experience.

Governance and Administration

The Governance and Administration updates in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2 provide administrators with greater flexibility, improved visibility, and more efficient tools to manage environments, updates, and system processes:

• Manage environment updates more flexibly

• Migrate record links and notes with cloud migration tooling

• Manage per-tenant extensions in admin center

• View app compatibility with future versions in admin center

• Get external notifications when job queue entries fail

• Get in-product notifications about issues with job queue background processing

• Get list of manageable environments for Microsoft Entra apps

• Support IPv6 for enhanced security and scalability

Administrators now have more control over managing environment updates, allowing for greater flexibility in scheduling updates and applying them at the most convenient times. Previously, relatively rigid update policies were in place for major and minor updates. This release introduces the following changes for much more flexibility:

• Five-month update periods for major updates: This change gives more time for thorough testing and preparation before implementing the update.

• Optional minor updates: This change allows administrators to choose when and whether to implement minor updates based on their needs and schedule.

The cloud migration tools have been enhanced to support the migration of record links and notes during the migration process. This ensures that valuable context, such as attached links and notes, is preserved when moving from on-premises systems to the cloud, providing a smoother and more comprehensive migration experience.

Administrators can now easily manage per-tenant extensions directly within the admin center and its API, similar to how AppSource apps can be managed today. This feature saves time and effort because admins can manage PTEs across different environments and tenants without having to go to the client of each environment.

To ensure smooth upgrades, the admin center now allows you to view app compatibility with future versions of Business Central. To make it easier to plan for these changes ahead of time and avoid upgrade failures, you can now view app compatibility reports directly in the admin center. 

Administrators can now configure external notifications when job queue entries fail, enabling quicker responses to issues in background processes. If something goes wrong and an important background process stops, or isn't scheduled for some reason, being notified about the issue can help you react quickly to resolve it.

In addition to external notifications, Business Central now offers in-product notifications for issues related to job queue background processing. This feature ensures that administrators are immediately alerted to any problems directly within the system.

Adapt faster with Power Platform

In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2, adjustments were also made to the integration with the Power Platform:

• Auto-apply templates when you synchronize data with Dataverse

In this release, Business Central introduces the ability to auto-apply templates when synchronizing data with Dataverse. For example, when you synchronize account data from Dataverse to the customer table in Business Central, you might want to apply different configuration templates for domestic or foreign customers. Configuration templates can contain different posting groups and other settings for the customer records that synchronization creates. The synchronization engine chooses a configuration template based on the country specified for the account record in Dataverse.

Microsoft has also announced other interesting features in the Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2. Information on all released and planned features and improvements can be found on the New and planned features for Dynamics 365 Business Central, 2024 Release Wave 2.

Do you happen to have any knowledge about Xpand?

Xpand is a product and service software development company with over 14 years of market experience and a Microsoft Partner since 2016, assisting organizations worldwide in managing their Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM systems. We provide a broad range of services for clients and partners, including implementation and development for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, as well as upgrades from earlier versions like Navision Financials 2.0. Learn more about our services at https://www.xpandsoftware.com/services.

Are you curious about the key highlights of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 1? Our Xpand experts have picked out the most important updates. Read the full article here.

Business Central is a business management application for small and mid-sized organizations that automates and streamlines business processes. Highly scalable and adaptable with a rich set of capabilities, Business Central enables companies to manage their finances, supply chain, manufacturing, shipping, projects, services, and more. Companies can easily add functionality that's relevant to their specific industry or region of operation by picking apps from the industry-leading ISVs and customizing the app to fit their specific business needs. Business Central is fast to implement and easy to configure. Simplicity guides innovations in product design, development, implementation, and usability. More information about the product is available here.