Over-Customizing Your New System is Costly
When moving from Dynamics GP to Business Central, it’s tempting to rebuild every old customization exactly as it was. After all, those custom reports, workflows, or integrations were designed for a reason. But copying them blindly into the new system can create big problems. Business Central already includes many powerful features out-of-the-box (plus a vast ecosystem of apps and tools) that can replace or improve your old customizations. Over-customizing often means higher costs, longer timelines, and riskier upgrades.
- Upgrade headaches: Every custom extension is more code to test and maintain. Custom code doesn’t always age well, and every new version of your ERP platform introduces risk. In practice, unsupported custom apps can stop workflows or break reports whenever Microsoft releases an update.
- Rising costs: More customization means more development effort today and down the road. You’ll spend extra on testing, fixes, and specialized support. When no one understands how custom features work, even small changes become risky and expensive.
- Missed innovation: Business Central evolves rapidly with new capabilities. If you just port over every old GP workaround, you lose the chance to leverage modern automation, analytics, and improved UX that already exist. For example, many common GP features – flexible dimensions, approval workflows, Power BI dashboards, etc. – are already built into BC.
The Solution: Customize Smarter, Not Harder.
Treat each legacy customization as a question, not a requirement. During planning, catalog every GP customization and ask: “Does Business Central (or AppSource) already offer this? Can we meet the need with native features or low-code tools?” If the answer is yes, great – use the built-in solution and skip the code. Here’s how to keep your modifications lean and your new ERP agile:
- Inventory and evaluate: List all existing custom forms, reports, integrations and ask hard questions: Does BC’s modern UI or reporting engine handle this? Could Power Automate or a third-party AppSource add-on do it? Often you’ll find a standard feature or certified app that covers the use case.
- Leverage out-of-box features: Business Central has extensive native functionality – flexible dimension-based accounting, advanced inventory/warehouse processes, approvals, etc. – that didn’t exist in GP or required custom coding. We make sure you use standard workflows whenever possible, reserving custom code for truly unique needs.
- Use low-code tools: Microsoft’s Power Platform (Power Apps, Power Automate) can often handle specialized workflows and integrations without writing new server code. Imagine automating an approval process with a few Power Automate flows or a Canvas App, instead of a full AL extension. This approach accelerates implementation and minimizes future upgrade work.
- Strategic custom development: When your processes truly demand something different, TrinSoft’s developers step in. We never customize for its own sake; we do it strategically where it supports your unique value proposition. Any required custom solution is built to be upgrade-friendly, ensuring your tailored features survive future BC releases.
- Plan for updates: Whichever route you take, we always test customizations against new BC versions in advance. By building on the approved extension framework and following Microsoft’s best practices, we help prevent the “compatibility trap” where one custom app breaks another.
At TrinSoft, we excel at finding the right balance. We’ll guide you to adjust processes where it makes sense (often, changing the business process is simpler than reproducing an old quirk) and to lean on Business Central’s expansive standard functionality. But we also bring deep custom development expertise, so your ERP will still match your exact needs. If a unique requirement truly adds value, our team will craft that feature in the most maintainable way possible – giving you the best of both worlds.
Don’t Let Legacy Habits Hold You Back
With GP support winding down by 2029, now is the time to modernize smartly and efficiently. A well-designed Business Central system – one that uses built-in power and only the right custom extensions – will reduce technical debt and accelerate your ROI. Contact TrinSoft to see how we can tailor your move: get expert advice, a personalized plan, and even a free demo of Business Central today.
📘 This blog is just one in a 14-part series covering the most common pitfalls we see during GP to BC migrations. Want to see the full list now? Download the full GP to BC Migration Pitfalls guide for all 14 pitfalls, plus expert insights to help you plan your move.
🚀 Ready to get started? Contact us today for a free consultation or a personalized demo of Business Central.
