Dynamics 365 Business Central Customizations: Pros & Cons
- Terri Marello
- Jun 26
- 6 min read
What if I told you that your Dynamics 365 Business Central customizations may seem easy to say yes to, until they’re not?
As a solution architect who has spent the better part of two decades designing and implementing ERP systems, I’ve seen firsthand how the word “customization” can either light up a room or blow up a project.
Perhaps your system isn’t broken. Your Business Central customization strategy could be to blame.
ERP software, especially something as robust as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, promises powerful capabilities out of the box.
However, companies often fall into a familiar trap: if the system doesn’t work precisely the way we do things today, let’s customize Business Central.
That mindset might feel like progress now, but in the long run, it’s often where ERP projects go to die— or at least where they stop delivering a return on investment (ROI).
Our clients often want to know: When should I customize Dynamics 365 Business Central instead of using standard features? My answer: only when the business case proves it.
In this post, I aim to guide you through what I’ve learned from the field, so you understand when Dynamics 365 Business Central customization is beneficial and when it can be risky.
“But we want Business Central to fit how we do business.”
I remember one of my earliest ERP implementations. The CFO told me on Day 1: “We want this system to fit how we do business, not the other way around.” That sounds reasonable, right?
Fast forward 18 months. The project was delayed, over budget, and riddled with custom features that no one wanted to maintain. Every new update from the ERP vendor broke something.
Users were frustrated.
The IT team was exhausted.
And the CFO? He was wondering where things went wrong.
The answer was simple: the system wasn’t the problem. The need to over-customize was.
What Are the Risks of Customizing an ERP System Like Business Central?
ERP customization can feel like a quick win—especially when you’re trying to win over end users or preserve legacy processes.
But as a solution architect, I’ve learned to treat every customization as a long-term contract.
You’re not just building a feature. You’re signing up to maintain, test, and defend it for years to come.
Consider these concerns before you customize:
1. Upgrade Risk
Custom code doesn’t age well. Every new version of your ERP platform introduces risk: Will your customizations break?
Will they need to be reworked?
Can they even be migrated?
If you’ve ever delayed an upgrade “until we sort out the custom stuff,” you know exactly what I mean.
2. Compounded Technical Debt
I’ve worked on custom ERP solutions so deeply tailored that no one on the current team understood how they worked.
They’d lost the documentation—or the original developers.
Every change was risky.
Every fix introduced more unknowns.
3. Vendor Lock-In
Some organizations become reliant on third-party developers or consultants just to keep the lights on.
That creates real risk—not just to operations but to your ability to grow, adapt, or respond to market changes.
4. Slowed Innovation
The more custom you go, the more you isolate yourself from your ERP vendor’s innovation roadmap.
Instead of taking advantage of new features and automation, you spend cycles patching up yesterday’s workarounds.
How Much Customization Is Too Much in an ERP System?
A lot of users want to know where to draw the line. If every enhancement is a custom build and you can’t upgrade without breaking things, you’re likely beyond the tipping point.
When even small tweaks require developer hours, it’s time to rethink your approach.
When Customization Makes Strategic Sense
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-customization. I’m anti-default customization. The best custom ERP software I’ve architected used customization strategically, not reactively.
You should consider it when:
It supports a unique value proposition. For one client, we built a highly customized ERP software quoting engine because it directly tied to their differentiator in the market. That was worth it. Read our related blog about customizing to your industry, A Perfect Fit for Your Industry: Business Central Cloud ERP Solutions
No standard or third-party option exists. Occasionally, regulatory or regional requirements demand something bespoke. Just make sure the need is real and not just “this is how we’ve always done it.”
It’s built within upgrade-friendly frameworks. In Dynamics 365, using AL extensions or low-code Power Platform tools can reduce the long-term pain while still giving you tailored functionality.
There’s business case governance. If you can’t define the measurable value or expected ROI, you probably don’t need it.
Is It Better to Use Extensions or Custom Code in Business Central?
This is a smart question we hear all the time. Microsoft has gone to great lengths to promote AL-based extensions for a reason.
Extensions keep your core system cleaner and your upgrade path simpler. Whenever possible, choose AL extensions or Power Platform tooling over embedded custom code when using Business Central customization services.
Why Standard Functionality Is the Smarter Starting Point
Most of the time, the capabilities you need are already in the system—you just haven’t explored them yet. Standard ERP functionality brings benefits that ERP customization can’t match:
1. Stability and Longevity
You don’t need to worry about breaking changes or unsupported logic when you stick with what’s built-in and supported.
2. Faster Deployment and Adoption
The less you customize, the faster you can go live.
And the more your teams can rely on standard training resources, user communities, and Microsoft’s support ecosystem.
3. Encourages Process Improvement
Here’s the hard truth: many organizations use customizing ERP to avoid hard conversations about process change. But those conversations are exactly where real improvement starts.
Standard functionality nudges teams toward best practices.
4. Lower Total Cost of Ownership
This might be the most important point from a financial lens. Maintenance, support, testing, and developer hours all compound when you go custom.
Out-of-the-box features, on the other hand, just work.
How can I decide what to customize in an ERP implementation?
Over the years, I’ve built a framework I use with clients—whether they’re just starting out or looking to recover from a failed implementation:
Ask:
Is this process truly unique to our business model or customer promise?
Is there a workaround or configuration option that can deliver 80% of the value?
What happens if we don’t build this at all?
How will this impact future upgrades and support?
Who will own and maintain this five years from now?
If the answers don’t add up to real strategic value, the default should be don’t build it.
Lessons from the Field
One of my clients, a mid-market manufacturing firm, was facing an ERP upgrade from an aging legacy system. Their original plan? Recreate all 87 of their old custom reports, workflows, and modules in Dynamics 365 Business Central.
We pushed pause. We ran a full fit-gap analysis and prioritized based on business impact. In the end, only 12 of those 87 were truly needed—and half of those could be handled with native tools like Power BI or standard reporting features.
The result?
A leaner implementation, a faster go-live, and an IT team that could support the system without dreading every update.
Final Thought: Customization Should Be Earned, Not Assumed
ERP isn’t about replicating how you work today. It’s about designing for how you want to work tomorrow.
As a solution architect, my job isn’t to say “yes” to every request. It’s to help clients see when less is actually more.
Standard functionality gives you a foundation. It’s scalable, sustainable, and designed with the future in mind. If you customize, make it count. If you don’t need to, don’t.
Because the most powerful ERP systems aren’t the ones with the most bells and whistles. They’re the ones that quietly deliver value, year after year, with minimal drama and maximum adaptability.
If your ERP feels more like a patchwork than a platform, maybe it’s time to revisit your ERP customization strategy. I’d love to hear how your team is approaching this. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
About the Author
Terri Marello, President of Key Partner Solutions, is a thought leader in the Microsoft Dynamics space and the author of the LinkedIn newsletter "Why Ask Why?", where she explores the intersection of technology and business strategy.
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Key Partner Solutions is an experienced Microsoft VAR with the in-house skills to optimize your business and smoothly migrate to cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
