The Purchase Order Processing in BC Standard

There's hardly any information available about Business Central business processes. Nowhere will you find representations of which tables serve what purpose, how they are linked, or how the data flows. Therefore, there are only empirical values. After many years as a consultant, I have documented several processes.

The following diagram, which I painstakingly created after many years of experience, illustrates a complex purchase ordering process common in large companies. It depicts the processing of purchase orders in Business Central Standard, including optional integration with a supplier portal, bulk order and product management, WMS, and payment providers. It shows the key tables involved, how they are interrelated, and the data flow.

Orders are transferred from suppliers via email, telephone, or EDI. Supplier data and bulk orders are imported, and products are recorded in bulk in the PIM, managed, and synchronized with BC. This data is stored or updated in the corresponding BC tables. The orders created in the Purchase Header/Line tables are supplemented with additional configuration and master data. After review and approval, the orders are posted. The posting process copies the order data and creates invoices and purchase delivery notes. The posting data is stored in item tables, such as Item Ledger Entry.