A Day in the Life of a Business Using Business Central

A Day in the Life of a Business Using Business Central

Modern businesses need more than basic accounting tools. They require an integrated platform that supports every part of the organisation — from sales and finance to operations and leadership. But what does that actually look like inside a working business?

This article offers a practical look at how a typical business operates throughout the day using Microsoft Business Central. Instead of just outlining features, we’ll follow a fictional company through a standard workday and show how each department uses the platform to stay efficient, aligned, and informed.

It forms part of our broader guide on What is Microsoft Business Central and helps bring the technology to life for decision-makers and business owners. If you’re considering Business Central for your team, Wolfe Systems is the trusted implementation partner in Perth ready to guide your journey.

Meet the Business: A Profile

To understand how Microsoft Business Central works in everyday operations, let’s follow a fictional company called Harbour & Co. This is a mid-sized business based in Western Australia that sells commercial kitchen equipment and offers installation and servicing for hospitality clients.

The business includes several teams working together:

• The Sales team manages client relationships and order enquiries
  
• The Operations team oversees stock, purchasing, and delivery logistics
  
• The Finance team handles invoicing, compliance, and cash flow
  
• The Project team manages installations and service jobs
  
• The Leadership team tracks performance, planning, and approvals
  

Before implementing Business Central, Harbour & Co. used spreadsheets, basic accounting software, and several disconnected apps to manage the business. This resulted in delays, double entry, and a lack of visibility across departments.

Now that they are fully integrated with Microsoft Business Central, their workday runs with fewer disruptions and more confidence. Let’s walk through a typical day and see how each part of the business interacts with the system.

8:00 AM – Morning Kickoff with Live Dashboards

The day begins at Harbour & Co. with a quick check-in across teams. Thanks to Microsoft Business Central’s role-based dashboards, each manager logs in to see real-time data relevant to their department — no need to run manual reports or chase numbers.

The Managing Director opens the main dashboard to review the company’s financial health. The live data shows cash flow, outstanding receivables, and net profit margins, all pulled directly from the general ledger and bank feeds. With this immediate visibility, the leadership team can start the day with a clear view of priorities.

In the sales department, the team leader checks the daily pipeline — how many quotes were sent yesterday, how many deals are expected to close this week, and any open orders that require follow-up. This helps prioritise calls and meetings before the day gets busy.

Meanwhile, the project coordinator uses their dashboard to track active jobs, team availability, and overdue tasks. Any alerts or delays from yesterday automatically roll forward for review.

There’s no scrambling for data or comparing spreadsheets. The entire team begins the day aligned and informed, ready to move from insight to action.

9:00 AM – Sales Team Starts Strong

By mid-morning, the sales team at Harbour & Co. is fully engaged with customers. With Microsoft Business Central open on their screens, they have everything they need to manage leads, create quotes, and keep orders moving.

The CRM capabilities built into Business Central give the team real-time access to customer records, including recent purchases, outstanding invoices, and active quotes. There’s no need to call accounts or the warehouse to get the full picture — it’s all right in front of them.

Key tasks the sales team handles with Business Central:

• Review open opportunities and follow up on yesterday’s leads
  
• Create new quotes and convert them into sales orders with a single click
  
• Check product availability instantly without leaving the sales module
  
• View customer-specific pricing and order history
  
• Set calendar reminders for follow-up or proposal reviews
  

A new customer calls requesting a quote for five units of a kitchen exhaust system. The sales rep checks stock availability, creates the quote, and emails it — all within five minutes. No delay, no switching between tools.

Because Business Central connects directly with inventory and finance, the sales team can answer pricing, availability, and payment questions immediately. It makes the team faster, more accurate, and more confident in every customer conversation.

10:30 AM – Inventory and Procurement in Motion

While the sales team continues to process orders, the operations team is hard at work managing stock, preparing shipments, and ensuring upcoming deliveries stay on track.

Using Microsoft Business Central’s inventory and purchasing modules, the warehouse manager checks the live stock dashboard. A low-stock alert for a fast-moving item appears, automatically triggered based on minimum quantity settings. The system has already prepared a draft purchase order, ready to review and send to the preferred supplier.

Across the warehouse floor, bin-level tracking helps staff quickly locate items for picking and packing. Orders that were confirmed earlier in the day are already in the queue, complete with customer delivery instructions pulled from the sales module.

The procurement officer reviews current supplier performance, lead times, and previous delivery accuracy. Because everything is recorded within Business Central, there’s no need to chase external records or double-check spreadsheets. Once the team approves the new purchase orders, they are sent directly to suppliers by email from within the platform.

Tasks completed during this period:

• Monitor stock levels across multiple warehouse locations
  
• Approve and issue supplier purchase orders
  
• Track incoming deliveries and expected stock updates
  
• Coordinate packing and dispatch for same-day orders
  

With clear visibility and streamlined workflows, the operations team keeps things moving smoothly — reducing delays, stockouts, and unnecessary paperwork.

12:00 PM – Finance Team Takes Over

As the day progresses, the finance team at Harbour & Co. steps in to ensure the numbers stay in check. Using Microsoft Business Central, they manage the company’s financials without needing to switch between spreadsheets or chase reports from other departments.

The accounts receivable officer opens the financial dashboard to reconcile bank transactions. Incoming payments are automatically matched with open invoices using smart suggestions. Any variances or partial payments are flagged for review, making reconciliation fast and accurate.

In another tab, the accounts payable coordinator processes supplier invoices that were received earlier that morning. Because the purchasing team already issued corresponding purchase orders through Business Central, the system links everything together automatically — from quote to invoice to payment.

The finance manager prepares a supplier payment run for later in the afternoon. Business Central handles the batching of payments and generates the appropriate bank file for upload. The manager also reviews the BAS dashboard to ensure GST records are correct ahead of the next submission.

Common finance tasks handled with Business Central:

• Bank reconciliation and payment matching
  
• Invoice entry with linked purchase order data
  
• BAS preparation and GST compliance checks
  
• Budget and cash flow monitoring
  
• Expense claim approvals from project managers
  

Because the finance team works from the same system as sales, operations, and projects, there’s no lag between departments. Everyone is working with real-time data, reducing errors and increasing confidence in every financial decision.

2:00 PM – Project and Service Teams in Action

In the afternoon, the focus shifts to delivery and customer service. The project team at Harbour & Co. oversees installations and service work for commercial clients. With Microsoft Business Central, they can easily manage jobs, assign resources, track hours, and keep projects on budget — all within the same platform used by the rest of the business.

The project manager checks the job planning view and sees that a new installation has been approved. Using Business Central, they assign a technician, schedule the work, and allocate the required equipment from available inventory. Because the system is fully integrated, inventory reservations happen automatically and the finance team is notified that a new project is live.

Meanwhile, the technician in the field logs in from a mobile device and views the day’s schedule, customer details, and job instructions. Once the work is complete, they submit time entries and job notes, which update the system in real time.

Back in the office, the project team reviews the work log, confirms completion, and triggers invoicing based on the contract’s billing terms.

How project and service teams use Business Central:

• Plan and assign service jobs or installations
  
• Track actual time and resource usage
  
• View customer warranties and service agreements
  
• Record job notes and update progress from the field
  
• Trigger invoicing based on completed work or milestones
  

Because the project and service teams are working within the same system as sales and operations, there’s no need for duplicate entries or delayed communication. Jobs move from planning to delivery to billing without friction, keeping both customers and cash flow on track.

4:00 PM – Leadership Reviews and Strategy

As the workday winds down, the leadership team at Harbour & Co. takes a step back to review performance and plan ahead. With Microsoft Business Central, they have access to real-time insights across all departments — no waiting on end-of-day summaries or monthly reports.

The Managing Director opens a Power BI dashboard embedded in Business Central to review company-wide performance. Key metrics such as gross margin, sales by region, stock turnover, and job profitability are visualised in one place. Any figures that need a closer look can be drilled down to the transaction level.

The General Manager reviews a capital expenditure request submitted earlier that afternoon. The request was routed through Business Central’s approval workflow, complete with supporting documents and budget comparisons. With one click, the request is approved, triggering a notification to the finance team to proceed.

Meanwhile, the executive team begins planning for next quarter’s strategy workshop. They use Business Central to export custom reports for board presentation, including sales trends, forecasted revenue, and upcoming project schedules.

What leadership gains with Business Central:

• Real-time company-wide insights for strategic decisions
  
• Custom reports and forecasts using Power BI
  
• Automated approval workflows with full audit trails
  
• Clear visibility into each department’s performance
  
• Secure access from any location or device
  

By the end of the day, leadership has not only reviewed the numbers but also taken strategic action — all without requesting manual reports or chasing updates from different teams.

Continuous Collaboration Through Microsoft 365

Throughout the day, Harbour & Co. teams don’t just rely on Microsoft Business Central alone — they also use tools from the Microsoft 365 suite to stay connected, productive, and responsive. What makes Business Central so effective is how naturally it integrates with Outlook, Teams, Excel, Word, and Power BI.

These familiar applications enhance the daily workflow without requiring additional training or switching between systems.

How Microsoft 365 supports a connected workday:

• Outlook: Sales reps create and send quotes directly from customer emails. Account managers can view customer balances, open orders, and payment status from within their inbox.
  
• Excel: Finance teams export live financial data into Excel for deeper modelling, analysis, and reconciliation — then push changes back into Business Central.
  
• Teams: Managers receive real-time approval requests, alerts, and project updates inside Microsoft Teams. This keeps communication quick and centralised.
  
• Power BI: Executives and department heads use embedded dashboards to visualise trends, compare performance, and track business KPIs.
  
• Word: Proposal templates and contracts can be generated using customer data from Business Central, reducing manual input and formatting errors.
  

This deep integration creates a truly connected ecosystem. Staff work more efficiently, respond faster, and collaborate better because they are using tools they already know — now powered by data from a single business management platform.

Instead of bouncing between disconnected software, the team at Harbour & Co. enjoys a unified experience that keeps everything moving.

Why This Matters for Growing Australian Businesses

Efficiency is not just about working faster — it’s about making better decisions, reducing waste, and ensuring every part of the business is aligned. For growing businesses in Australia, particularly those expanding operations, adding staff, or managing multiple locations, this becomes even more important.

Microsoft Business Central addresses the common problems that hold businesses back: disconnected tools, delayed reporting, and manual work. As we’ve seen in the day-to-day operations at Harbour & Co., Business Central brings structure and clarity to every department — from quoting and stock control to invoicing and service delivery.

Here’s what that means in practical terms:

• Less time spent chasing information or correcting errors
  
• Fewer missed sales opportunities due to poor visibility
  
• More accurate forecasting and faster month-end closing
  
• Stronger collaboration between departments
  
• Better customer service with full access to order history and service records
  

Business Central helps teams stay productive and informed, while giving leadership the insights they need to plan for the future. With real-time access to performance data and seamless workflows, growing businesses can scale without the growing pains.

If your current systems are creating bottlenecks or limiting growth, it may be time to explore a more connected way of working — and Business Central offers just that.

Powered by Wolfe Systems: Making It Happen

Technology alone doesn’t guarantee success. The way a system is implemented, configured, and supported plays a crucial role in its long-term value. That’s where Wolfe Systems makes all the difference.

As a Microsoft-certified Business Central partner based in Perth, Wolfe Systems helps Australian businesses transition from disconnected systems to a streamlined, cloud-based solution tailored to their needs. Their team brings deep product knowledge, hands-on training, and local business insight — ensuring that Business Central works not just technically, but strategically.

Why businesses choose Wolfe Systems:

• Personalised implementation: Wolfe Systems works closely with your team to map current workflows and configure Business Central to match your exact needs.
  
• Department-by-department onboarding: From sales to operations, each team receives training and support relevant to their role.
  
• Ongoing local support: With a presence in Western Australia, Wolfe Systems provides support during local business hours and is available for in-person consultation when needed.
  
• Microsoft expertise: As a certified partner, Wolfe Systems stays on top of the latest features, updates, and best practices across the Microsoft ecosystem.
  

Whether you’re just starting to explore ERP options or ready to modernise your entire workflow, Wolfe Systems ensures your transition to Business Central is smooth, efficient, and aligned with your business goals.

Visit Wolfe Systems Business Central to schedule a consultation or request a tailored demo.

From Daily Routine to Long-Term Growth

A well-run business starts with well-connected systems. As shown in this walkthrough of Harbour & Co.’s workday, Microsoft Business Central brings structure, visibility, and automation to every department — not just accounting. It supports the daily routines that drive your business forward and lays the foundation for sustainable growth.

From real-time dashboards in the morning to project tracking in the afternoon and strategic planning before close of business, every action is easier when your data is centralised and your teams are aligned. Business Central replaces scattered tools with one complete system that adapts as your business grows.

But software alone is not enough. The success of your ERP implementation relies on having a partner who understands your goals, your team, and the unique challenges of your industry. That is why working with Wolfe Systems is the smart choice. With their expert guidance, tailored implementations, and ongoing support, your business can move with confidence — every day and into the future.

If you’re ready to streamline your operations and get more from every workday, start with a conversation. Visit Wolfe Systems to learn how Business Central can help your entire business work better, together.