Business Central 25 — My favorite features

Business Central 2024 wave 2 (version 25) brings a solid set of new features. Here is a look at the ones I am most excited about. You can find the full list in the Microsoft release plan documentation.

1. Subscription billing

   Subscription billing is a long-awaited module that covers recurring revenue scenarios natively in Business Central. Key capabilities include:

   • Recurring contracts and billing schedules
   • Automatic invoice generation based on billing periods
   • Price escalation and contract renewal handling
   • Revenue recognition tied to delivery periods
   • Cancellation and termination workflows
   • Contract reporting and analytics

   This replaces a lot of custom development that partners have been building for years, and having it in the standard product is a big deal.

2. Azure AI document capture

   AI-powered document capture for purchase invoices is on the roadmap, using Azure AI Document Intelligence to extract data from PDF invoices automatically. This feature is not yet available in all regions but is very promising — it should significantly reduce manual data entry for AP teams once it lands broadly.

3. Purchase orders for Projects

   You can now create purchase orders directly from a project (formerly Jobs). This makes the procurement workflow for project-based companies much smoother — previously you had to create the purchase order separately and then link it to the project manually. The new flow keeps everything in context and reduces the chance of misallocation.

4. Automate tests with Copilot

   Copilot can now help generate AL test codeunits from existing production code. This is genuinely useful for partners who want to improve test coverage without writing every test from scratch. Highlights:

   • Copilot analyses your AL codeunit and suggests test structure
   • Generates Given/When/Then style test methods
   • Handles setup and teardown scaffolding
   • Works inside VS Code with the AL Language extension

   Test coverage in the BC ecosystem has historically been low, so anything that lowers the barrier to writing tests is welcome.

5. New Word layout features with conditional visibility

   Word report layouts gain conditional visibility support, meaning you can show or hide sections of a document based on field values without needing a custom RDLC layout. This has been a common workaround requirement — for example, showing a different footer block on the last page, or hiding a section when a field is blank. The new capability brings Word layouts much closer to feature parity with RDLC for common use cases.

6. Optional minor updates and extended window for major updates

   Microsoft is giving administrators more control over update timing. Minor updates can now be made optional rather than automatic, and the acceptance window for major updates is extended to 5 months. This is meaningful for companies that need more runway to test updates before they go live — particularly those with significant customisations or ISV solutions that need compatibility testing.