QuickBooks vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

An in-depth look into the capabilities of both platforms to help you decide which is right for your business.

QuickBooks and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are among the top accounting software platforms on the market. Both cloud-based platforms are used by thousands of organizations worldwide across all industries and contain modern, intelligent tools to help businesses manage their finances.

However, that’s about where their differences end. QuickBooks is a fairly simplistic accounting platform while Business Central is a comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that allows users to manage virtually every aspect of their business. In addition, it is GAAP compliant, ensuring regulatory compliance, and reducing the need for costly customizations.

Below, we’ll take an in-depth look into the features and capabilities of each platform and how they compare.

What is QuickBooks?

QuickBooks is an accounting software platform that teams can use to manage income and expenses as well as track financial health. The platform has a suite of products that work great for freelancers, start-ups, or small-sized businesses. Using the suite of tools, teams can invoice customers, pay bills, generate invoices and other financial reports, prepare taxes, and more.

What is Business Central?

Included in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 portfolio, Business Central is an all-in-one software platform where business teams can manage virtually every aspect of their business—including accounting and finance.

The ERP system is designed for small- to mid-sized businesses experiencing rapid growth and easily scales as operations expand. Business Central features a myriad of tools that can be used to streamline and automate business processes, including inventory tracking, financial reporting, cash flow and budget management, order management, and more.

How QuickBooks and Business Central Compare

Both QuickBooks and Business Central allow users to complete basic accounting tasks; however, as businesses start to grow, they’re quick to outgrow QuickBooks. Business Central has the robustness and scalability needed to meet changing needs.

Below is an overview of the major differences between each platform.

Business Central Features

As mentioned above, Business Central is a robust business management solution that offers a myriad of features that go far beyond conventional accounting software. Below are just some of the features and capabilities included in the platform:

• Seamless financial management: Users can easily manage financial activities such as accounts payable or receivable, general ledger, bank accounts, fixed assets, and more directly within the platform. It is GAAP-compliant ensuring accurate, standardized financial reporting that supports regulatory compliance, streamlines audits, builds stakeholder trust, and reduces the need for costly customizations.
• Unified view across departments: Business Central provides users with a unified view of data from across the enterprise. This integration ensures that decision-makers have a holistic understanding of the company’s performance which enhances collaboration and improves decision-making.
• Supply chain and project management integration: Going beyond traditional accounting, Business Central integrates supply chain and project management features seamlessly. This enables users to manage inventory efficiently, streamline operations, and execute projects from a single interface.
• Customer relationship management (CRM): Business Central incorporates CRM functionalities, allowing businesses to nurture strong customer relationships. Additionally, the platform facilitates the efficient management of leads, opportunities, and customer interactions, contributing to enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Reporting and analytics: Business Central empowers users with robust reporting and analytics tools. Customizable dashboards and reports enable stakeholders to gain actionable insights into key performance indicators, facilitating data-driven decision-making for the organization.
• Workflow automation: The solution includes workflow automation capabilities, allowing organizations to streamline and optimize their business processes. Automation reduces manual errors, accelerates task completion, and enhances overall operational efficiency.

What’s New in Business Central (2025)
Microsoft continues to enhance Business Central with powerful AI and analytics tools, including: 

• Built-in Copilot functionality for: 
  • Generating financial summaries and predictive insights  
  • Automated bank reconciliation suggestions 
  • Generating payment predictions (AI-powered cash flow analysis) 
  • Drafting email replies to customer inquiries directly within the system 
  • Using natural language queries to search business data 
• Tighter integration with Power BI and Microsoft Fabric for unified analytics 
• Streamlined UI and mobile enhancements for on-the-go finance professionals 
• Improved multi-entity and consolidation features for growing organizations 

QuickBooks Features

Known for its user-friendly interface and focus on simplifying financial tasks, these are some of the features included in QuickBooks:

• Invoicing and expense tracking: The platform offers an intuitive interface that allows users to generate professional invoices, track expenses, and manage financial transactions efficiently.
• User-friendly dashboard: The user interface of QuickBooks is designed for accessibility and ease of use. The dashboard provides a clear overview of the financial landscape, enabling users to navigate seamlessly through various features and functionalities.
• Customizable reporting: QuickBooks empowers users with customizable reporting tools, allowing businesses to generate tailored financial reports. This feature enables stakeholders to analyze key financial metrics and make informed decisions based on real-time data.
• Payroll management: From calculating employee salaries to managing tax deductions, QuickBooks automates and streamlines payroll tasks, saving time and reducing the risk of errors.
• Bank reconciliation: The platform includes robust bank reconciliation tools, facilitating the matching of financial transactions with bank statements. This feature ensures accuracy in financial records and helps businesses maintain a clear and up-to-date view of their financial position.
• Budgeting and planning: QuickBooks supports budgeting and planning activities, allowing businesses to set financial goals and track their progress. This feature is invaluable for organizations seeking to manage expenses effectively and allocate resources strategically.

Integrations

Both Business Central and QuickBooks provide integration capabilities; however, Business Central’s integrations outshine those of QuickBooks. Business Central integrates natively with Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.  (including Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Apps).  

Power Automate and Power Apps, as part of the Power Platform, allow businesses to build custom mobile apps and automate workflows across departments without needing IT involvement. For example, finance teams can set up automated approval flows for expenses or create simple mobile apps to track project costs on the go. 

It also supports industry-specific apps via Microsoft AppSource. This enhances data flow and collaboration between departments as well as providing a more in-depth look into business data. 

QuickBooks does offer numerous integrations with third-party applications, especially in the small business ecosystem. However, certain integrations may require additional IT support or manual setup. 

Security

Both platforms prioritize data security and utilize security features such as encryption, access controls, and regular security updates. Here’s a brief look at the different security features included in each platform:

Business Central

• Data encryption and access controls: These are used to protect sensitive information both in transit and at rest. Access controls are implemented to ensure only authorized users can access information. 
• Regular security updates: Microsoft, as a global technology leader, consistently provides regular security updates for Business Central. These updates include patches for potential vulnerabilities, ensuring that the platform is equipped with the latest security measures to guard against emerging threats. 
• Role-based security: Role-based security features enable organizations to assign different levels of access based on user roles. The granular approach ensures individuals only have access to information necessary for their specific responsibilities, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. 
• Azure cloud security: Running on the Azure cloud infrastructure, Business Central leverages the advanced security measures inherent to Microsoft’s cloud services. This includes multi-factor authentication, threat detection, and continuous monitoring to enhance the overall security posture of the platform. 

QuickBooks

• Secure data storage: QuickBooks prioritizes secure data storage, utilizing encryption methods to protect financial data stored on Intuit’s servers. This safeguards against unauthorized access, ensuring that sensitive information remains confidential. 
• User authentication: QuickBooks incorporates user authentication protocols, requiring individuals to provide valid credentials to access the platform. This authentication layer adds an additional level of security, preventing unauthorized users from gaining entry. 
• Intuit’s security measures: Intuit implements a comprehensive security infrastructure for its services. This includes regular security audits, encryption of data in transit, and proactive monitoring for potential security threats to maintain a robust defense against cyber threats. 
• Secure connection protocols: QuickBooks utilizes secure connection protocols during data transmission, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS). These protocols encrypt data as it travels between the user’s device and Intuit’s servers, protecting it from interception by unauthorized parties. 

Scalability

Business Central is designed to scale with businesses and ensures organizations can easily adapt to increasingly large and complex datasets. While QuickBooks does have some scalability, the solution was designed for small to medium-sized businesses. Organizations undergoing rapid growth may experience some limitations with the platform’s scalability. 

Mobile Capabilities

Both platforms feature mobile capabilities, enabling users to access information while on the go. QuickBooks’ mobile app is strong for basic accounting tasks like receipt capture and invoicing. Business Central, however, offers a full-featured mobile experience for smartphones and tablets—including dashboards, workflow approvals, reporting, and real-time access to business data. For users who require more comprehensive business management on mobile devices, Business Central is the better choice.

Reporting

Both QuickBooks and Business Central have reporting capabilities, though QuickBooks is more limited. Users have access to out-of-the-box reports which can be customized to fit teams’ needs. These reports can then be shared across the enterprise. QuickBooks’ standard reporting features are ideal for businesses just starting out as they don’t have to spend time and money creating customized reports. 

Businesses looking for more in-depth and detailed reports should utilize Business Central. Thanks to its integration with Power BI, users can build dashboards, analyze trends, and visualize financial KPIs directly in the platform or Microsoft Teams. This enables data-driven decision-making and self-service analytics for teams across the business.

Customization

Within QuickBooks, users are able to customize and edit the look of financial forms, receipts, and invoice quotes. However, this is where the platform’s customization capabilities end.

Business Central provides significantly more personalization options, including UI personalization, no-code extensions, and full custom development using AL code. Admins can tailor user homepages, automate custom workflows, or build new functionality via AppSource or the developer sandbox environment.

Audit Trails

One of the major drawbacks to most QuickBooks versions is the limited audit trail. However, QuickBooks Online Advanced does include an Audit Log that tracks changes to transactions, login activity, and user actions. Still, it remains limited compared to Business Central’s full audit trail.

Business Central provides robust audit logging, allowing teams to protect against employee errors or data theft more efficiently. Virtually every action performed by employees is logged within the system, giving administrators a complete history of changes and access events.

Price

When comparing costs between the two platforms, QuickBooks is considered to be more budget-friendly, particularly for small businesses. QuickBooks offers the following pricing per user per month:

• Simple Start: $30
• QuickBooks Essentials: $60
• QuickBooks Plus: $90
• QuickBooks Advanced: $200

Business Central, on the other hand, is designed for enterprise-level organizations, which does make it more expensive. However, it offers more scalability and flexibility for organizations, which can save costs overall. Business Central offers two primary plans that are priced as follows:

• Essential Plan: $70 per user per month
• Premium Plan: $100 per user per month

Additional licensing models, such as device-based or team member licenses, can further reduce costs depending on use case.

Ease of Automation

Because Business Central is an ERP system, the platform has far more capabilities and connectivity than QuickBooks. This allows teams to connect and automate numerous business processes, including accounting, inventory, sales, distribution, and more. Additionally, the all-in-one dashboard provides a single location in which to manage business tasks. 

Real-Time Data Analysis

Freelancers and smaller organizations looking to gain insight into the financial health of their business can do so using QuickBooks. The platform provides teams with a snapshot of performance over a limited period of time. However, QuickBooks does not provide teams with real-time data analysis, making it difficult to see up-to-date metrics. 

Thanks to Business Central’s integration with Power BI, teams are provided with real-time data analysis and gain incredible insights into business activities, trends, and overall performance. These real-time insights enable sales and marketing teams to focus their efforts on strategies that yield the best results. 

Multi-Lingual

While both QuickBooks and Business Central have multi-lingual capabilities, QuickBooks can only translate into the following languages:

• English
• Spanish
• French
• Italian
• Chinese (Traditional)
• Portuguese (Brazil)

Additionally, QuickBooks only translates invoices sent to customers. Custom text like the email body and products and services are not translated.

Business Central provides support for more than 30 languages and can easily translate sales documents. An entire list of supported languages within Business Central can be found here.

Multi-Currency

Both software platforms offer multi-currency functionality though QuickBooks’ is more limited than Business Central. Business Central includes multi-currency transactions which are automatically updated through exchange rate services such as the European Central Bank or OANDA. This eliminates manual rate entry and ensures up-to-date currency values for global transactions. 

The Bottom Line

Ultimately, deciding which accounting platform is better for businesses comes down to business size and specific needs. As previously mentioned, QuickBooks was designed with freelancers, start-ups, and smaller businesses in mind. While the platform does not have as many features or robust security options as Business Central, it does feature everything needed for users to complete simple financing tasks. 

Businesses undergoing rapid growth or who have a more complex financial model should opt for Business Central. The advanced features, real-time data analysis, multi-lingual and currency capabilities, tighter security, and customization are ideal for those looking to expand operations and improve efficiency across the enterprise. 

In addition to core accounting functionality, Business Central includes built-in Copilot tools for predictive insights, cash flow forecasting, and even AI-generated email drafts. Users can ask natural-language questions to search financial data and receive intelligent suggestions to reconcile accounts or plan payments. 

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FAQs: Business Central vs. QuickBooks