How Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central Will Transform Your Online Operations

Establishing an online presence is a challenge many businesses face. Reaching the target audience, writing compelling copy or preventing stock shortages are just a few of the countless obstacles web-based businesses must deal with to be successful.

Microsoft’s Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central gives business owners the means to improve online performance by taking tedious, time-consuming tasks off the hands of its employees.

The potential impact this tool can have on a company’s online operations is seismic, but only if it’s implemented correctly into the organisation’s processes in Business Central.  Let’s explore the ways Copilot in Dynamics 365 Business Central can transform your company’s online operations.

Getting to Know Copilot in Business Central

Copilot is a relatively new feature in Business Central that became available in late 2023. Much like Copilot for 365 and other Microsoft Copilots, users can get the AI assistant to complete tasks through prompts.

This feature isn’t enabled by default in Business Central, but deploying it is a straightforward process. The app’s admin must allow the data movement on the Copilot & AI Capabilities page before activating the AI assistant.

Afterwards, the admin can choose which Copilot’s feature they want to activate from the same page. Depending on your company’s needs, you can activate or deactivate Copilot chat, text suggestions, bank account reconciliation and several other features.

Once the admin configures Copilot, they can assign permissions to different team members for using it – for instance only allowing the bank account reconciliation or analysis assist feature to employees that need that functionality for their work.

Configuring the Copilot in Business Central will unlock new possibilities your team members can use to improve the company’s online visibility and boost the sales of its products.

Why SMBs Shouldn’t Hesitate to Start Using Copilot in Business Central

Thousands of SMBs are already using Copilot in Business Central to gain a competitive advantage within their industries. Jumping aboard the AI train can transform the way you do business online and give your company an edge over its competitors.

The tool gives new life to your company’s marketing efforts, simplifies product stock management, and minimises late payments. Let’s see how Copilot in Business Central can modernise your company’s online operations.

Get the Answers You Need Quickly

Onboarding new employees requires resources that can strain SMBs, particularly those undergoing rapid expansion. New team members need time to learn where they can find old documents, get used to internal processes or figure out the best way to answer customer enquiries.

Copilot Chat in Business Central puts all these options at their fingertips. They can find an old document, get answers to questions or get up to speed with a client’s purchase history.

Your employees don’t need permission to use the Chat feature, so all Business Central users have access to it whenever they need assistance performing tasks assigned to them.

Reducing the Time-to-Market with Marketing Text Suggestions

Writing descriptions and marketing text for hundreds of similar products can take a long time and ultimately postpone the launch of new products in your online store.

Copilot’s Marketing Text Suggestions feature analyses the product’s picture and generates copy based on parameters like dimensions, colour or price in seconds. The user can easily edit the copy’s first draft using Style and Format presets that instruct Copilot to use a specific tone of voice or structure the copy in a certain way.

These AI companion’s features allow businesses to craft compelling marketing texts that target their primary audience.

Copilot uses the information it acquires through image analysis to recommend the category for a product to simplify the data entry process and help businesses add products to their stores faster. When done, you can upload the product to your Shopify store with a single click and the product will become immediately available to your customers.

Reconcile Bank Accounts Faster

Copilot expands bank account reconciliation options already available in Business Central. The auto-match feature excelled at matching one-on-one transactions but struggled with transactions that paid for multiple products or services.

The AI companion enhances the auto-match functionality as it scans for unmatched ledger entries after the auto-match completes the initial matches. This option is available for new and existing bank accounts, and you can review the results and decide whether you want to save or discard them.

Using Copilot to reconcile bank accounts in Business Central eliminates the need to go through this process manually and helps make your online operations more efficient.

Monitor Product Stock with Sales and Inventory Forecast Extension

Keeping an eye on stock levels becomes increasingly challenging as you add more and more products to your store. Moreover, unintentionally overstocking can increase your expenses, while keeping the inventory levels low can lead to missed sales opportunities.

The Sales and Inventory Forecast extension is a Copilot feature available to Business Central users that creates sales predictions based on the product’s sales history. This lets you specify the reporting period and decide whether to create a forecast for the next month, quarter, or year.

The AI assistant predicts the sales of a certain product for a specified period and displays them in the Item Forecast pane available for each item on the Items page making it easy for businesses to determine how likely the product is to run out of stock within the next thirty to ninety days.

Using Cash Flow Analysis to Safeguard Your Company’s Financial Health

Keeping track of how much cash your company receives and spends every month gives you a realistic picture of its solvency. Analysing ledgers, purchase reports or sales reports manually requires tons of effort and takes your focus off more important matters.

Copilot in Business Central generates cash flow charts you can access from the Accountant Role Center tab. The AI companion lets you select cash flow setups you want to include in the analysis and helps you determine your company’s eligibility for a loan or market expansion.

The tool also generates cash flow forecasts based on your business’s receivables and payables to give you a long-term outlook of its financial health.

Improve Collections with Late Payment Predictions

Late payments have a major impact on your company’s cash flow. Copilot’s Late Payment Prediction extension shows you how likely a payment from a certain customer is to be late.

This feature helps improve your online business’s collection processes by showing you which clients have a history of delayed payments so that you can adjust your payment policy and keep the overdue receivables at a minimum.

To make the most of Copilot’s predictive functionalities you must ensure that it has access to all the information needed to generate an accurate late payment prediction.

Transforming Your Online Business with Copilot in Business Central

SMBs often struggle with efficiency because their teams aren’t large enough to handle ever-growing workloads. Copilot in Business Central helps reduce the pressure on employees by automating time-consuming tasks like bank account reconciliation or creating product descriptions.

Its features make managing an online store, onboarding employees or predicting your company’s financial performance easier. So, implementing this powerful AI tool into your business’s operations can help you establish a strong online presence and boost its revenue streams.