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Business Central Initial Setup Checklist

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Posted on by CU08052056-0

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Hi all,

I am planning to implement Dynamics 365 Business Central in our company.
When I asked an AI about the initial setup items, the following were mentioned.

What are the minimum initial setup items required?

Also, if you have any suitable tutorial materials, please let me know.

Business Central Initial Setup Checklist
1. Basic Information

・Company Information
・General Ledger Setup
・Accounting Periods

2. Number Series

・No. Series (Customers, Vendors, Items, Sales/Purchase Orders, Invoices, Journals)

3. Chart of Accounts & Dimensions

・Chart of Accounts
・General Journal Templates / Batches
・Dimensions
・Dimension Combinations

4. Posting Groups

・General Business / Product Posting Groups
・General Posting Setup
・VAT Business / Product Posting Groups
・VAT Posting Setup
・Customer / Vendor Posting Groups
・Inventory Posting Groups
・Bank Account Posting Groups
・FA Posting Groups

5. Sales, Purchase & Inventory Setup

・Sales & Receivables Setup
・Purchases & Payables Setup
・Inventory Setup
・Payment Terms / Payment Methods
・Shipment Methods / Shipping Agents
・Locations
・Units of Measure
・Item Categories

6. Japan Localization

・Consumption Tax Setup (Standard / Reduced / Qualified Invoice)
・Withholding Tax Setup
・Bank Codes / Branch Codes (Zengin format)
・Stamp Tax
・Bill Management

7. Bank & Payment

・Bank Account Master
・Bank Account Posting Groups
・Payment Terms
・Bank Transfer Fees

8. Users & Security

・User Setup
・User Groups
・Permission Sets
・User Personalization (Role Center, Language)

9. Approval Workflow

・Approval Workflows
・Approval User Setup
・Notification Setup

10. Reports & Documents

・Report Selections
・Custom Report Layouts (Word / RDLC)
・Email Setup (SMTP / Microsoft 365)

11. Integration & Extensions

・Outlook / Teams / Power BI / OneDrive Integration
・Extension Installation
・Web Services / API Setup

12. Opening Balances

・Customer / Vendor / Item / Fixed Asset Master Data
・Opening Balance Journals (GL, AR, AP, Inventory)

Look forward to herring from you.

Nobuhara

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Dynamics 365 Business Central

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Nimsara Jayathilaka. 4,999 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi

The absolute minimum required setups to begin posting basic financial transactions in Business Central are the Company Information, Accounting Periods, Chart of Accounts, No. Series, and the essential Posting Groups (General, Customer, Vendor, and Bank Account). For the most reliable and up-to-date tutorial materials, you should follow the free "Get started with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central" learning paths available directly on Microsoft Learn.

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Valentin Castravet 32,657 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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It really depends on the functionality you are going to use, which should be based on your business processes.

That is why it is recommended to work with a partner to either handle the implementation or assist with it.

Valentin Castravet
Work: Zander ERP Services
Blog: Dynamics 365 Business Central Insights
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/valentin-c-0500a247/

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OussamaSabbouh 15,144 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hello Nobuhara,
your list is mostly valid, but for a minimum go-live setup I would reduce it to: company information, accounting periods, chart of accounts, dimensions, number series, posting groups/posting setup, VAT/consumption tax setup, sales/purchase/inventory setup only for the modules you use, customers/vendors/items/banks, users/permissions, email/report selections only if you send documents, approval workflows only if required, and opening balances for G/L, AR, AP, inventory, bank, and fixed assets if used. I would not treat Power BI, Teams, Outlook, custom layouts, APIs, every localization feature, or workflows as “minimum” unless they are part of day-one operations or statutory reporting; start with Assisted Setup, review Manual Setup for missing areas, and use configuration packages/RapidStart for master data and opening setup loads. For Japan, confirm the exact localization/app requirements with your partner because tax, bank, bill, and statutory needs depend heavily on how the company operates. Good tutorials are Microsoft Learn’s Business Central quick start, setup overview, Assisted Setup, and configuration package documentation.
Regards,
Oussama Sabbouh

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Jainam M. Kothari 15,959 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hello,

The minimum initial setup required to start operations typically includes Company Information, General Ledger Setup, Accounting Periods, No. Series, Chart of Accounts, Dimensions, Posting Groups, Sales/Purchase/Inventory Setup, Payment Terms, Locations, User Permissions, and master data such as Customers, Vendors, Items, and Bank Accounts. Proper Posting Setup is especially critical because all financial transactions depend on it.

Organizations generally implement Business Central in phases, starting with Finance and core operations, followed by inventory, workflows, reporting, and integrations. Best practices include minimizing customizations, using standard functionality and extensions, maintaining clean master data, and conducting proper user training and testing.

For Japan localization, Consumption Tax, Qualified Invoice, Zengin Bank Format, and withholding tax setups are important considerations. Useful learning resources include Microsoft Learn, official Business Central documentation, and Dynamics community forums.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/dynamics365/business-central

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central

https://community.dynamics.com/business/f/dynamics-365-business-central-forum

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AndrewThomas81 811 on at

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When doing this with customers I normally list every setup page and master data set, and then remove if we don't need.

A checklist is always specific to the deployment, what you have looks like a good starter!

Kind Regards

Andrew Thomas FCCA MCP
YouTube - Use Business Central
LinkedIn

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YUN ZHU 100,185 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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I think it depends on the client's needs, since BC is geared towards SMB businesses.
I've encountered clients who only use the finance module; in that case, they only need to add Chat of Accounts.
Others, for example, might use the sales and purchasing modules but not require the Warehouse module; in that case, they only need to configure the sales and purchasing settings.
Please note that this is not fixed.

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