Upgrading Dynamics NAV to Business Central involves eight core stages: assessment, path selection, the mandatory version 14 technical upgrade, customization conversion, cloud migration setup, data replication and validation, testing and training, and finally go-live.
According to Microsoft's official pricing page, Business Central Essentials starts at $80 per user/month and Premium at $110 per user/month, paid yearly, making a well-planned NAV upgrade one of the most cost-predictable ERP moves a mid-market business can make.
If you are still running Dynamics NAV 2015, NAV 2017, or NAV 2018, this guide walks through the complete dynamics nav to bc upgrade process the way Microsoft's own documentation defines it, along with the pricing, timelines, and partner considerations that determine whether your upgrade nav to business central project stays on budget.
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Why a Dynamics NAV Upgrade to Business Central Cannot Wait
Every version of Dynamics NAV runs on Microsoft's Fixed Lifecycle Policy, which means each release gets five years of mainstream support followed by five years of extended (security-only) support. Once extended support ends, no version of NAV receives any updates, security patches, or regulatory/tax fixes at all.
Based on Microsoft's published lifecycle policy for Dynamics products, here is where the commonly used versions stand:
Dynamics NAV 2015 upgrade urgency: extended support ended January 2025, meaning NAV 2015 environments are already unsupported.
Dynamics NAV 2017 upgrade urgency: extended support runs through January 2027, leaving a narrowing runway.
Dynamics NAV 2018 upgrade urgency: extended support runs through January 2028, the latest deadline of any NAV release since NAV 2018 was the final version issued before Microsoft shifted to Business Central.
Running an unsupported ERP system means no security patches, no compliance updates, and growing integration friction with modern Microsoft 365 and Azure services. This is the core reason a microsoft dynamics nav upgrade to Business Central has shifted from a "nice to have" modernization project to a compliance and continuity necessity for most NAV customers.
Modernize Your Dynamics NAV Environment With Business Central
Move from legacy Dynamics NAV to a modern Business Central environment with a structured upgrade plan. Dynamics Square can help assess your NAV environment, convert customizations, migrate data, validate integrations, test the new system, and prepare your team for go-live.
Step 1: Assess Your Current Dynamics NAV Environment
We, at Dynamics Square, always start every dynamics nav upgrade with a full environment assessment before writing a single line of a project plan. This step determines the scope, cost, and timeline of everything that follows.
Identify your NAV version and build, since the upgrade path differs significantly for NAV 2013 and earlier versus NAV 2015 through NAV 2018.
Inventory customizations written in C/AL, because every custom object, modified table, and third-party add-on has to be accounted for before conversion to AL extensions.
Audit data volume and historical records to estimate how long the data upgrade and replication phases will take.
Document integrations with EDI, payment gateways, CRM, or industry-specific add-ons that must be re-validated in Business Central.
Step 2: Define Your Upgrade Path (Full Upgrade vs. Reimplementation)
Microsoft's official documentation lays out two supported paths for moving from Dynamics NAV to Business Central online, and choosing the right one shapes every subsequent step of your nav to bc upgrade.
Full upgrade carries forward all data, customizations, and historical transactions, but requires converting every C/AL customization into AL extensions first.
Reimplementation using the Business Central 14 reimplementation tool moves only essential master data, balances, and a subset of posted historical entries, skipping the extension-conversion requirement entirely.
Businesses with heavily customized NAV environments typically lean toward a full upgrade to preserve institutional data, while businesses looking to simplify and modernize their processes often choose reimplementation to start with a cleaner, more standardized Business Central setup.
Step 3: Upgrade to Business Central Version 14 (The Mandatory Bridge Step)
This is the step most businesses underestimate when they search for how to upgrade dynamics nav to business central. Per Microsoft Learn, any version of Dynamics NAV earlier than Business Central 14 cannot migrate directly to Business Central online. You must first complete an on-premises technical upgrade to version 14 (Business Central Spring 2019), which involves:
Converting the application database so it runs on the current Business Central platform.
Upgrading application code to bring your solution in line with the version 14 data model and object structure.
Compiling and validating all components after the technical upgrade to confirm nothing was lost in the conversion.
If you are already on Business Central version 14 or later, you can skip directly to Step 4.
Step 4: Convert C/AL Customizations to AL Extensions
C/AL was the proprietary coding language used across classic Dynamics NAV. Business Central runs on AL, a modern, extension-based development language that keeps customizations separate from Microsoft's core code. This separation is exactly what makes future Business Central updates painless compared to the manual, disruptive upgrades NAV customers were used to.
Map every custom object (tables, pages, reports, codeunits) to its AL extension equivalent.
Rebuild third-party add-ons as per-tenant extensions where a native AppSource equivalent does not exist.
Test each converted extension in isolation before bundling them into the full solution.
This step is typically the most technically intensive part of any dynamics nav 2018 upgrade or dynamics nav 2017 upgrade, and it is where an experienced nav upgrade partner earns its value fastest.
Step 5: Set Up Cloud Migration and Data Replication
Once your solution is on Business Central version 14 or later with AL-based customizations in place, Microsoft's cloud migration tooling takes over. This is where an on-premises upgrade from dynamics nav to business central becomes a true cloud transition.
Configure the connection between your on-premises SQL database and your Business Central online tenant.
Install the Integration Runtime so Azure Data Factory can securely move data between environments.
Select companies and set a replication schedule to control which entities migrate and when.
Run the initial replication and monitor for errors or mismatched records before scheduling delta syncs.
Step 6: Run the Data Upgrade and Validate Results
Data replication moves the records, but the data upgrade step transforms that data into Business Central's current schema and validates its integrity.
Run the data upgrade process against the replicated tenant to align records with the latest Business Central data model.
Reconcile financial data including the general ledger, open transactions, and fixed assets against your legacy NAV reports.
Fix flagged discrepancies before moving forward, since unresolved data errors compound quickly once live transactions begin posting.
Step 7: Test, Train, and Prepare for Go-Live
A successful nav upgrade to business central depends as much on people as it does on code. This is the step where Dynamics Square runs structured user acceptance testing (UAT) alongside hands-on training for finance, operations, and warehouse teams.
Run parallel testing of core transactions (sales orders, purchase orders, postings) side by side in NAV and Business Central.
Validate reports and dashboards, including Power BI connections, to confirm outputs match expected results.
Train end users on the modern, role-based Business Central interface, which differs meaningfully from the classic NAV client.
Build a rollback plan in case go-live needs to be paused for critical issues.
Step 8: Go Live and Optimize with Copilot
Go-live is not the finish line. Once your dynamics nav to business central upgrade is complete, Microsoft handles all future updates automatically twice a year, removing the manual upgrade cycle that defined the NAV era. This is also when businesses start actively using the AI capabilities built into modern Business Central.
Monitor the first close cycle closely to confirm financial reporting is accurate end to end.
Decommission the legacy NAV environment only after a full business cycle has been validated in Business Central.
Enable Copilot features relevant to your teams (covered in detail below) to start capturing productivity gains immediately.
Copilot in Business Central: What You Gain After the Upgrade
One of the most significant reasons businesses complete an upgrade dynamics nav to business central project today is Copilot, Microsoft's generative AI assistant built directly into Business Central. According to Microsoft's official Business Central documentation and pricing page, Copilot capabilities fall into two groups.
Included in Essentials and Premium licenses at no extra cost:
Chat with Copilot, a conversational side panel that lets users ask questions about their data and get context-aware answers without navigating menus.
AI-generated marketing text that drafts product descriptions using attributes already stored in Business Central, such as color, material, and category.
Enhanced bank reconciliation, where Copilot analyzes imported bank statements, matches transactions automatically, and proposes entries for anything left unmatched.
E-document matching, which compares incoming electronic invoices against open purchase orders and flags discrepancies before posting.
Data analysis assistance, transforming raw lists into grouped, filtered summaries using plain-text instructions instead of manual pivot tables.
Sales and inventory forecasting, using historical sales data to predict demand and reduce stockouts.
Require separately purchased Copilot Credits:
Sales Order Agent, an autonomous agent that handles incoming customer requests for sales quotes and orders.
Payables Agent, an autonomous agent that monitors mailboxes for vendor invoices and drafts entries for review.
None of these capabilities exist in classic Dynamics NAV. They are only available after completing the migration to Business Central online, which is one more reason delaying an upgrade dynamics nav to business central project has a real opportunity cost beyond the support lifecycle risk.
Dynamics NAV Upgrade Pricing and Cost Breakdown
Dynamics NAV upgrade pricing depends on licensing, data complexity, and the scope of customization conversion. On the licensing side, Microsoft's official pricing (linked above) is straightforward:
Business Central Essentials: $80 per user/month, paid yearly, covering finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, supply chain planning, project management, and warehouse management.
Business Central Premium: $110 per user/month, paid yearly, including everything in Essentials plus service order management and manufacturing.
Team Member licenses: $8 per user/month, paid yearly, for light users who need read access, workflow approvals, or basic data entry such as timesheets and expenses.
Beyond licensing, the variables that most affect your dynamics nav upgrade to business central cost are the volume of C/AL customizations that need AL conversion, the number of third-party integrations, historical data volume, and how much user training and parallel testing your team requires.
A business running a largely standard NAV configuration with light customization will see a materially lower upgrade from dynamics nav to business central cost than one running heavily modified manufacturing or warehouse workflows.
Choosing the Right Dynamics NAV Upgrade Partner
Not every nav upgrade partner has hands-on experience converting large C/AL codebases into AL extensions, and this is usually where upgrade timelines slip. When evaluating a dynamics nav upgrade partner, look for:
Direct Microsoft Solutions Partner certification, which confirms the partner has passed Microsoft's technical and delivery competency requirements.
A documented track record of NAV-to-BC upgrades, not just new Business Central implementations.
In-house AL development capability, rather than outsourced or ad-hoc customization conversion.
Post-go-live support, since the weeks immediately after go-live are when most data and workflow issues surface.
Why US Businesses Choose Dynamics Square?
Dynamics Square is a Microsoft Solutions Partner with 15+ years of experience, 150+ certified consultants, and 500+ successful Microsoft Dynamics implementations across manufacturing, distribution, and professional services businesses. Our US offices in California, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, and Massachusetts support businesses across the country, backed by a global presence spanning the UK and Canada.
We, at Dynamics Square, have guided businesses through every version of the dynamics nav upgrade to business central journey, from NAV 2015 through NAV 2018, handling everything from C/AL-to-AL conversion to post-go-live Copilot enablement.
Ready to move off Dynamics NAV before your support window closes? Connect with us and get a clear, scoped plan for your nav to business central upgrade.
