Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based ERP solution designed for growing organisations that want to bring finance and core business operations together on one platform. It supports areas such as financial management, purchasing, sales, inventory, projects and reporting, while remaining closely connected to the wider Microsoft ecosystem.
That makes Business Central particularly relevant for companies that are expanding across entities, markets or countries and need more structure without introducing unnecessary complexity. Organisations can start with a strong financial and operational core and extend the environment over time through Microsoft technologies, automation, reporting tools and specialist applications.
For internationally growing companies, that flexibility becomes increasingly important. The ERP needs to support a consistent way of working across the group, while still allowing for local requirements, different banking relationships and varying levels of operational maturity.
One of the partners operating in this ecosystem is NORRIQ, which combines Business Central expertise with finance transformation and international rollout capabilities. NORRIQ takes a central approach to implementation while working with local partners where country-specific legal, language and business requirements need to be addressed.
We spoke with Yannick Pauli, Lead International Finance at NORRIQ, about the organisations Business Central is best suited to, what successful international ERP programmes get right and why bank connectivity becomes increasingly important as finance operations scale.
What type of organisations is the Business Central ecosystem particularly well suited for, and what sets it apart from other cloud ERP solutions?
“Business Central is particularly well suited for growing and internationally active organisations. As companies expand, they need to maintain control over finance and operations without creating a different way of working for every entity or country.
For us, the strength of Business Central goes beyond ERP itself. Because it is part of the broader Microsoft cloud ecosystem, organisations can develop processes, data, reporting and automation on the same technological foundation.
That gives companies room to grow. They can start with a strong financial and operational core and gradually add new capabilities as their requirements around insight, automation and international collaboration become more sophisticated.
The value is really in having a platform that can evolve with the organisation without forcing unnecessary complexity from the beginning.”
Where does NORRIQ add the most value as an implementation partner, and what do successful ERP projects get right from the start?
“Technology is only part of a successful ERP project. The real challenge is understanding how the organisation works today, where it wants to go and translating that into processes and systems that remain manageable as the business grows.
That becomes even more important in an international environment. NORRIQ takes ownership of the international rollout, while our partner network adds local knowledge around legislation, language and business practices. This allows us to combine one central approach with the local expertise and support required in each market.
The strongest projects make clear choices early around processes, data, responsibilities and scope. If those foundations are well defined, it becomes much easier to create consistency across countries and to scale the ERP environment as the organisation grows.”
How do you see customer expectations around finance and treasury changing, and what does this mean for the role of ERP?
“Finance is no longer only about knowing what happened. CFOs increasingly want to understand what is happening now and have better support in anticipating what may happen next.
That requires more timely insight, less manual work and, at the same time, stronger control over increasingly complex financial processes.
Cloud technology, automation and AI can support that shift. The goal is not to take judgement away from finance professionals, but to make information available faster, automate repetitive activities and help teams identify exceptions earlier.
For us, the ERP remains the financial foundation. But it does not need to do everything itself. Its value actually increases when it can connect in a controlled way with specialist solutions for areas such as reporting, banking, payments and treasury.”
Where does ERP-to-bank connectivity typically become complex, particularly for organisations working with multiple banks and across different countries?
“The complexity often develops gradually. You add another entity, another country or another bank, and a financial process that was once quite straightforward can quickly become fragmented.
Each additional banking relationship can introduce new payment formats, connection methods, authorisation structures and local requirements. At that point, the challenge is no longer purely technical.
Finance teams still need visibility and control across the organisation, but they do not want to create more manual work outside Business Central in order to achieve it.
As organisations become more international, centralisation and standardisation become increasingly important. The objective is to avoid every country or entity developing its own banking process alongside the ERP.”
What does a good ERP-to-bank setup look like, and what should organisations consider when designing it?
“A good setup should feel simple for the user while giving finance the control it needs.
People should be able to remain as much as possible within familiar Business Central processes, while specialist technology handles the complexity of connecting to different banks. Payments can originate in Business Central, while bank connectivity, authorisations and central control are handled through a specialised platform.
Bank and transaction information can then flow back into the financial process for reconciliation and further processing.
The objective is not to add another technology layer for the sake of it. It is to create one controlled flow with fewer manual steps and better visibility across banks and entities.
That becomes particularly valuable when an organisation continues to add new countries, entities or banking relationships, because the finance process can remain consistent even as the underlying banking landscape becomes more complex.”
Why does NORRIQ like working with Cobase, and what value does the combination of your ERP expertise and Cobase’s banking connectivity bring to customers?
“International finance becomes complicated surprisingly quickly. That is exactly where we see the value of bringing complementary expertise together.
NORRIQ brings the ERP, finance and international rollout expertise and takes ownership of the broader implementation. Cobase brings specialised technology and knowledge around multi-bank connectivity, payments and treasury.
Rather than trying to build every aspect of international banking complexity directly into the ERP, we connect two platforms that each focus on what they do best.
For customers, particularly those growing internationally, that means they can maintain a consistent Business Central approach while adding a scalable way to connect banks, payments and entities. At the same time, finance retains central visibility and control as the organisation grows.”