Like any large financial data migration, you can expect a migration from Dynamics GP to Business Central to create some workflow disruption, data continuity concerns. Sometimes team retraining requirements on the new platform can delay projects and increase costs. This post examines AP-specific migration challenges, explains how unified automation across both platforms maintains operational continuity, and provides timeline recommendations for companies planning or executing ERP transitions.
Learn more about: GP vs BC Key Differences for AP Users
Most migration planning focuses on technical data conversion and system architecture. The AP department faces distinct operational challenges during transition:
Risk Concentration Companies often delay automation projects until "after the migration completes," leaving manual AP processes in place during the most critical operational period. This approach compounds migration stress and extends timeline to realize ERP investment benefits.
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Scenario 1: Considering/Planning Migration (12 Months Out or More) Best approach: Implement Fidesic on GP immediately. Gain automation benefits now. Migrate to Business Central when ready with proven workflows in place.
Scenario 2: Mid-Migration (Business Central Implementation Underway) Best approach: Implement Fidesic on GP now. Maintain AP stability during critical migration period. Switch to Business Central connection when confident in ERP stability.
Scenario 3: Recently Migrated (0-6 Months Post-Go-Live) Best approach: Implement Fidesic on Business Central. Native AppSource app designed specifically for Business Central users. Realize automation benefits while team adjusts to new ERP.
If your organization is planning to migrate from Dynamics GP to Business Central, you might be tempted to wait until after the transition to implement AP automation. But here's the thing—starting with AP automation while you're still on GP actually makes your eventual BC migration significantly smoother.
When you implement AP automation on Dynamics GP first, you're not doing throwaway work. Your entire configuration—approval workflows, user roles, banking information, invoice inbox settings, and vendor preferences—can migrate directly to your new Business Central environment. All that time spent dialing in your processes? It carries forward.
One of the biggest hurdles in any software transition is user adoption. When your AP team is already comfortable with the automation platform before the ERP switch happens, they're not learning two new systems at once. The approval interface remains familiar, which means most users won't need additional training when you move to BC. They can focus on learning Business Central itself rather than juggling multiple learning curves simultaneously.
Starting on GP means you can work out the kinks in your approval routing, capture settings, and payment processes while your current system continues running normally. By the time you're ready to migrate, you've already validated that your workflows function the way your business needs them to. The BC migration becomes a matter of connecting to a new ERP—not redesigning your entire AP process from scratch.
Your historical invoice data doesn't disappear when you migrate. Your original GP-connected account transitions to read-only mode, giving you continued access to past records while your new BC environment handles everything going forward. No gaps, no lost documentation.
Migration to BC with an existing AP automation setup is fundamentally different from a fresh implementation. The discovery phase—understanding your approval hierarchies, identifying stakeholders, mapping out exception handling—has already happened. Your implementation team can focus on the technical connection to Business Central rather than starting from zero on business process design.
The bottom line: implementing AP automation before your Business Central migration transforms what could be two major projects into one continuous improvement. You gain efficiency now, and you set yourself up for a faster, less painful ERP transition later.
Migrating from Dynamics GP to Business Central will disrupt workflows, raise data continuity questions, and potentially stall projects while your team gets up to speed. That's the reality of any major ERP transition.
But it doesn't have to hit your AP department twice.
Unified automation across both platforms keeps invoices flowing, approvals routing, and payments processing—even as the system underneath changes. Your workflows carry over. Your team stays productive. Your historical data stays accessible.
Two platform transitions. One continuous process. Start now, and your BC migration becomes a connection change—not a rebuild.