Summary Most project businesses we work with have the same quiet problem. The project team plans and tracks work in Dynamics 365 Project Operations. The finance team bills, buys and closes the books in Dynamics 365 Business Central. Everything the project team decides has to be typed again by finance. The two teams spend their week checking each other’s numbers. At CloudFronts we closed that gap with plugins: small automatic helpers that sit inside Project Operations and act the moment someone saves a record. When a project, a plan, a timesheet or an invoice is saved, the helper creates the matching record in Business Central and writes the Business Central reference back on the project. This integration is available as the PO-BC Integration Module 2.0 on Microsoft Marketplace. To show how this works in practice, we ran a real example through our demo environment: CloudFronts – Smart Office Rollout, Mumbai, a short project to fit out a new office floor. Every screenshot in this post comes from that one project. Table of Contents Summary→ Business Challenges→ The Idea in Plain Words→ Walkthrough: The Mumbai Office Rollout→ What Moves, and When→ The Safety Nets→ What We Learned Building It→ Business Impact / Key Takeaways→ Questions We Get Asked→ Conclusion / Final Thoughts→ Call to Action / Connect With Us→ Business Challenges Picture the Mumbai office rollout without any connection between the two systems. Monday. The project manager sets up the project, splits it into four tasks and plans 104 hours of work in Project Operations. Finance is told about it in an email. Tuesday. Finance creates the same project in Business Central, retypes the four tasks, and builds a budget from a spreadsheet the project manager sent over. One task name is spelt differently. Nobody notices. Wednesday. The plan changes: cabling needs an extra day. Project Operations is updated. The budget in Business Central is not. Thursday. Twenty desks are taken from the warehouse for the new floor. The site team records it in Project Operations. Business Central still believes the desks are on the shelf. Friday. Finance asks why the project margin looks wrong. Two people spend the afternoon comparing screens. None of this is anyone’s fault. Each system is doing its job. They just do not talk to each other. The Idea in Plain Words A plugin is a small piece of code that lives inside Project Operations and wakes up at a specific moment, for example when a project is saved or a timesheet is approved. Ours does three things each time it wakes up: It reads what just changedThe project name, the customer, the task, the hours, the item and quantity: whatever finance would otherwise have to retype. It creates or updates the same record in Business CentralIt signs in to Business Central with its own dedicated account, not a person’s login, so it keeps working when people change roles or leave. It writes the answer backBusiness Central replies with its own reference, such as a project number or an invoice number. That reference is saved on the Project Operations record, so both teams can always find the matching record in the other system. 💡Why a plugin and not a scheduled sync? A scheduled sync runs every hour or every night and moves whatever has changed. A plugin acts on the exact save, so Business Central is updated within seconds, and only the record that changed is sent. It is also packaged with the rest of the Project Operations setup, so moving it from the test system to the live one is a single, repeatable step. Walkthrough: The Mumbai Office Rollout Here is the same week again, this time with the integration switched on. The customer is CloudFronts Technologies, already known to Business Central as customer C00310. The work is 40 new workstations, meeting-room screens and office Wi-Fi. The customer account, integrated to Business Central with its customer number sent back. Step 1: The Project Manager Creates the Project, Once The project manager creates the project in Project Operations with a name, the customer, a start date of 12 October and a finish date in December. The project code is left blank because nobody knows it yet. A few seconds after saving, the code J00700 appears in the Project Code field. That number came back from Business Central. The project integrated to Business Central. The project code J00700 was filled in automatically. Step 2: The Tasks Follow The project manager adds four tasks in the project plan: Site Survey and Floor Plan, Network Cabling and Wi-Fi, Workstation and Screen Installation, and Testing and Handover. Each one is created under project J00700 in Business Central with the same name and dates, numbered 1272 to 1275. Finance did not open anything. Step 3: The Plan Becomes the Budget Next, the project manager assigns a named person to each task: 16 hours for the survey, 40 for cabling, 32 for installation and 16 for testing and handover. The integration turns that plan into budget lines in Business Central, one line per working day per person, so finance sees not only how much work is planned but when it falls. Weekends are skipped automatically. Resource assignments from Project Operations, turned into daily planning lines in Business Central. ⓘWhy one line per day? A single line of "104 hours" tells finance the total but nothing about timing. Daily lines let finance see cost landing in October versus November, which matters at month end. If the plan changes, the same lines are updated, not duplicated. Step 4: Real Work and Real Material Arrive as Actuals On 12 October, the consultant logs a day on the site survey: "Walk-through of the new floor; desk layout and cable routes agreed with facilities." A week later, the site team records 20 ATHENS desks taken from the Main Warehouse for the installation task. The integration does not send rough drafts. Time and material only go to Business Central once they are submitted for approval, and the … Continue reading No More Retyping: How We Connected Project Operations and Business Central with Plugins →

How a Leading Professional Services Organization Eliminated Invoice Posting Blind Spots Between D365 Project Operations and Finance Using Custom Business Events Summary In a D365 Project Operations and Finance integrated setup, invoices are created in Project Operations but posted in Finance. Once the accountant posts the invoice in F&O, the project team in PO has no real-time signal that it happened — so they wait for an email, check a report the next day, or chase finance with “has my invoice been posted yet?” CloudFronts solved this with a custom business event in D365 Finance that fires the moment a project invoice proposal is posted. The event triggers an Azure Logic App, which sends the posted status straight back into D365 Project Operations. The project manager sees the update instantly — no emails, no waiting, no manual follow-up. This article walks through the end-to-end flow, the custom business event, the exact JSON payload, what the Logic App receives, and the related scenarios where the same pattern applies. Table of Contents 01 About the Scenario 02 Why This Matters 03 Why We’re Writing This 04 How D365 F&O Business Events Work 05 The Problem 06 The Fix 07 The Payload 08 The Logic App 09 Other Scenarios 10 Conclusion 11 Your Next Step 01 — Context About the Scenario A Familiar PO–FO Integration Gap In a D365 Project Operations and Finance integrated environment, the billing lifecycle is split across two systems. Project invoices originate as invoice proposals in Project Operations, then get reviewed and posted by the accountant in D365 Finance. The posting creates the general ledger entry, records tax and subledger postings, and finalizes the financial transaction. For growing organizations running this dual-system setup, real-time visibility is non-negotiable. As invoice volume climbs and project teams depend on accurate billing status to communicate with clients and forecast cash flow, even a small gap in how posting status is communicated can quietly erode trust between delivery and finance. One of the most common and most overlooked gaps in a PO–FO integration is surprisingly simple: the project team never finds out, in real time, that their invoice was posted in Finance. Have you ever posted a project invoice in F&O, then spent the rest of the day answering “has invoice AC-000051 been posted yet?” messages from project managers? If you’re nodding, this article is for you. Consider this: in most PO–FO implementations, the only way the project team learns an invoice is posted is through a manual email from finance, a next-day report, or a direct follow-up. Multiply that across dozens of invoices every month, and the overhead — and the risk of a missed update — adds up fast. The cumulative effect on billing visibility, client communication, and finance–delivery trust is significant. By the end of this article, you will understand exactly why this happens, how D365 F&O’s Business Events framework can close the gap, and the single pattern that eliminates the problem entirely. 02 — Impact Why This Matters No Real-Time Posting Visibility Creates Real Business Risk When the project team in PO has no real-time way of knowing that their invoice has been financially posted in Finance, it isn’t just an inconvenience. It leads to delayed client communication that chips away at trust, manual follow-ups that clog up both delivery and finance, and worst of all, project managers who stop trusting the system and start maintaining their own spreadsheets of “what’s been posted.” Once that happens, the entire value of a unified PO–FO integration is gone. Dynamics 365 Finance — Custom Business Event Dynamics 365 Finance — Project Invoice Proposal Posting 03 — Our Perspective Why We’re Writing This A Pattern We See Across D365 PO–FO Integrations At CloudFronts, we’ve implemented and supported Dynamics 365 Project Operations and Finance integrations across professional services, engineering, and project-based organizations. This specific issue — the project team being left blind to invoice posting in Finance — has come up in nearly every engagement where invoices originate in PO and are posted in F&O. We’ve seen the pattern, diagnosed the root cause repeatedly, and built the automation to prevent it. This article distils that experience into something actionable. 04 — The Flow How D365 F&O Business Events Work The Flow: F&O → Business Event → Logic App → Project Operations The integration is straightforward. Four things happen in sequence: Step What Happens Detail 1 Invoice is Posted in D365 Finance The project invoice proposal — which originates from D365 Project Operations — is reviewed and posted by the accountant in D365 Finance. The posting creates the GL entry, records tax and subledger postings, and finalizes the financial transaction. 2 Custom Business Event Fires The moment the posting completes, our custom business event (CFProjectInvoiceProposalUpdatedBusinessEvent) fires automatically. It sends a lightweight JSON payload containing the ProposalId, ProjectContractId, Currency, Company, and event timestamp to the configured endpoint. 3 Logic App Receives and Processes The Azure Logic App (FO-PO-Integration-Invoice-Confirmation) is triggered instantly. It receives the payload, extracts the relevant fields, and executes the configured workflow — updating the invoice status in Project Operations and notifying stakeholders. 4 Status Updated in D365 PO The Logic App calls back into D365 Project Operations and updates the invoice record with the “Posted” status. The project manager sees this immediately in PO without any manual intervention. The entire sequence — from the accountant clicking Post in Finance to the status appearing in Project Operations — takes less than a second. 05 — The Gap The Problem The Project Team Is Left in the Dark Here’s how the issue plays out. A project invoice proposal is created and sent from D365 Project Operations to Finance for posting. The accountant reviews and posts it in D365 F&O. The financial transaction is complete — GL, tax, and subledger all finalized. But in Project Operations, the invoice record still looks unposted. The project manager has no automated signal that the posting happened. Root Cause There is no event-driven bridge between the two systems for this … Continue reading How to Eliminate Invoice Posting Blind Spots Between D365 Project Operations and Finance Using Custom Business Events →

Summary Many project-based organizations evaluating Microsoft solutions often ask the same question: If Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central already includes a project module, why do companies also use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations? This article explains the difference between the two systems, why both exist in the Microsoft ecosystem, and how integrating Project Operations with Business Central helps organizations manage project delivery and financial performance more effectively. Table of Contents 1. Why This Question Comes Up 2. Business Central: Built for Project Accounting 3. Project Operations: Built for Project Delivery 4. Why Companies Use Both 5. The Value of Integration The Outcome Why This Question Comes Up Many organizations assume Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can manage all aspects of project operations because it includes the Jobs module. The Jobs module supports project budgeting, costing, and invoicing, which works well for organizations focused mainly on financial tracking. However, as projects grow more complex, involving multiple resources, time tracking, delivery planning, and client reporting, companies begin to experience limitations. This is when the difference between project accounting and project delivery becomes important. One system manages project finances. The other manages how projects are executed. Business Central: Built for Project Accounting Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an ERP system designed primarily for financial management. Its Jobs module helps finance teams track the financial performance of projects. Using Business Central, organizations can: Track project budgets and costs Manage purchase orders and project expenses Generate project invoices Monitor project profitability Handle revenue recognition and financial reporting For finance teams, this provides strong control over costs, billing, and compliance. However, financial visibility alone does not guarantee successful project delivery. Project Operations: Built for Project Delivery Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations focuses on how projects are planned and executed. It provides tools specifically designed for project managers and delivery teams. Project Operations enables organizations to: Plan projects and manage tasks Schedule resources and manage capacity Track time and expenses Monitor project progress Collaborate across teams These capabilities help project managers manage people, timelines, and delivery commitments. However, Project Operations is not designed to replace an ERP system for financial management. Why Companies Use Both In most project-based organizations, different teams depend on different systems. Team Focus System Project Managers Planning and project delivery Project Operations Finance Teams Cost control, billing, accounting Business Central Trying to manage everything in a single system often creates operational friction. Project teams struggle with financial processes, while finance teams lack visibility into project execution. The Value of Integration When Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, organizations gain the best of both systems. A typical workflow looks like this: Opportunities and project quotes are created Projects are planned and executed in Project Operations Time, expenses, and resource usage are captured Billing data flows to Business Central Finance manages invoicing and accounting This integration connects project execution with financial performance. Project managers gain operational visibility, while finance teams maintain control over billing and reporting. The Outcome Projects are delivered more efficiently Financial reporting remains accurate and compliant Manual work and duplicate data entry are reduced Project managers and finance teams work from connected data This creates a unified platform where project delivery and financial performance remain aligned. Final Thought The question is not whether Business Central can manage projects — it can. The real question is whether one system should manage both delivery and financial operations. For many organizations, combining Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central provides the ideal balance between operational execution and financial governance. At CloudFronts Technologies, we help organizations connect Project Operations with Business Central through our PO-BC integration solution. For more information: PO-BC Integration Solution on Microsoft AppSource If you would like to discuss how this integration can support your organization, feel free to reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com.

Project Operations and Business Central are designed to work together, one managing project execution, the other ensuring financial accuracy. When integrated thoughtfully, they create a clean and reliable flow from project activity to financial reporting. Clear Ownership of Responsibilities In a PO–BC integration: This separation allows project teams to focus on delivery while finance maintains full control over accounting outcomes. Smooth Cost Flow from Projects to Finance Costs captured in Project Operations- time, expenses, and materials – are transferred to Business Central as project journals. Business Central then: This ensures project activity is reflected accurately in financial statements. Consistent Project, Task, and Dimension Mapping A well-designed mapping between: ensures costs and revenue are visible: This makes both project reviews and financial reporting easier and more reliable. Period Control and Financial Accuracy Project Operations captures real-world project activity. Business Central applies: Together, they ensure project data flows into the correct accounting periods without compromising financial governance. Strong Visibility into Commitments and Actuals With the right setup: This combination provides management with a clear view of: To conclude, Project Operations tells the story of the project. Business Central tells the story of the business. When aligned, both stories match, and decision-making becomes easier. Final Thought Project Operations and Business Central integration works best when designed as a financial process, not just a system connection. With the right structure, it delivers clarity for project teams and confidence for finance. We have packaged our Project Operations-Business Central integration to help organizations achieve this alignment with minimal complexity You can explore our PO–BC integration on Microsoft AppSource here: PO-BC Integration I Hope you found this blog useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com.

In today’s data-driven business landscape, organizations strive to enhance visibility into their project operations to make informed decisions. Microsoft’s Project Operations (PO) provides a robust solution for managing projects, finances, and resources. However, to unlock its full potential, integrating PO with Power BI allows businesses to gain deeper insights through real-time analytics and visualization. This blog is specifically designed for Team Leads, CTOs, and CEOs who need to streamline project tracking, financial oversight, and resource allocation. By integrating PO with Power BI, decision-makers can reduce manual reporting efforts, gain actionable insights, and drive operational efficiency. Why Integration Matters Project Operations (PO) enables organizations to streamline project management, resource planning, and financial tracking. However, without effective reporting, extracting meaningful insights from this data can be challenging. Power BI bridges this gap by offering advanced visualization tools, predictive analytics, and customizable dashboards. Benefits of Integrating PO with Power BI Steps to Integrate PO with Power BI Use Cases of PO & Power BI Integration What’s Next? This blog is the first in a series on leveraging data for business growth. Stay tuned for upcoming blogs on: To conclude, Integrating Project Operations with Power BI empowers businesses with real-time, data-driven insights that enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. By leveraging advanced analytics and visualization, organizations can proactively manage projects, optimize resource allocation, and drive profitability. By embracing this integration, businesses can unlock the full potential of their project data and stay competitive in today’s digital economy. Stay tuned for the next blog in this series! We hope you found this blog useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfonts.com

Let’s delve into the concept of Resource Roles and how to incorporate them into your Price Lists. Understanding Resource Roles Resource Roles represent the specific functions or responsibilities assigned to individuals within a project. For example, “Project Manager,” “Software Engineer,” “Consultant,” “Marketing Specialist,” etc. These roles provide a structured framework for managing resources and defining their contributions to project deliverables. Accessing Resource Roles Let’s see how we can add Resource Roles – Add Role in Cost Price List Now, we want to assign a Cost Price to the Consulting Lead role (which is of type Chargeable). Let’s see below on how we can do this – Add Role in Sales Price List Let’s also add the same Consulting Lead role to the Sales Price List as well – We hope you found this blog useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfonts.com.

Are you an organization who has sophisticated Project needs, however your financial requirements are simple?  You may be in a position where you are having Project Operations and Business Central deployed or you are considering going with Project Operations for your sophisticated Project needs, and Business Central because your finances are simple, and you feel D365 Finance & Operations would be an over kill for your requirements.  Once you get into this position, you realise that Project operations and Business Central are two disintegrated systems. Microsoft does not provide this integration out of the box. While it does for Finance & Operations, it has left PO and BC integration for the partners to figure out.  Why a Single Source of Truth Matters  For businesses managing complex projects, real-time, accurate insights into both project progress and financials aren’t a luxury—they’re essential. Without an integrated approach, processes slow down, errors multiply, and operational agility takes a hit.  Our Perspective:  By integrating D365 Project Operations with Business Central, companies can seamlessly connect project and financial data. This integration reduces errors, unifies workflows, and enables decision-makers to act with confidence.  Why Integrated Systems Are Essential  As projects scale, cost tracking, billing, and resource management become harder to manage. An integration of D365 Project Operations and Business Central creates a cohesive environment where data flows naturally, helping teams move past the blockers of siloed systems.  Here’s How Integration Changes the Game  – Unified, Real-Time Data Visibility Imagine having access to all of your financial and project data in one location. Team leads and finance managers can save time, no longer needing to cross-check numbers across systems. Data flows seamlessly between Project Operations and Business Central, enabling accurate budgeting and invoicing.  – Automation Cuts Out Tedious Processes Say goodbye to manual reconciliation. Updates made in Project Operations sync directly with Business Central—eliminating double entries and minimizing errors. This enhances accuracy and efficiency, freeing your team members to focus on other things rather than data entry.  – End-to-End Project Lifecycle Management This integration supports each project phase, from budgeting and invoicing to reporting. Full visibility means greater accountability, and everyone—from managers to teams—has the insights needed to make informed, timely decisions.  – Insights That Drive Better Planning and Execution With integrated analytics and Power BI, you’re not just gathering data; you’re transforming it into actionable insights. View project profitability and resource utilization in one place, enabling better project planning and seamless operations.  – Stock scenarios are covered  If you are an engineering company running heavy, long term deployment projects, you are probably worried how will Project operations cover the scenarios where I need to have stock consumption on my project tasks.  We have you covered here, too, so don’t worry. With the Project operations and Business Central integration we have also figured out how the stocks entries need to flow from Project Operations to Business Central because your stock movements happen in Business Central  This will ensure accurate stock consumption against the projects without worrying about what goes on in the background.  – WIP tracking  With the actuals being passed onto Business Central, your Finance team will have WIP postings in place to give an accurate picture of the progress on the Project. Why Partner with Us?  Having guided numerous businesses through D365 implementations, we know how to bridge gaps between project and financial management to unlock greater flexibility and efficiency. Our team is here to tailor this integration to your unique business needs.  Ready to See the Difference?  Think about your current project and financial workflows. Imagine the time saved and clarity gained by integrating them. Ready to explore what D365 integration can do for your business? Reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com for a free consultation, and let’s work toward operational excellence together. 

If you are a decision maker at an organization and looking to strategize the information at your organization and how the systems should source information from one to another, then this post is for you.  Systems for source of truth at the organization is the question you are looking to get answered.  Dynamics 365 Applications involved for Professional Services firms  Let’s break down the systems from Dynamics 365 Application stack-standpoint –   Sales and Project Management  If you are a Professional Services firm in Construction, Engineering, Accounting, IT Services etc. and you have a Sales cycle running from Opportunity generation all the way to Project and Resource Management, then you need Dynamics 365 Project Operations – below is what Project Operations handles –   Accounting  Dynamics 365 Project Operations itself isn’t designed as an Accounting platform – it can create up to Pro-forma Invoices. But here’s to consider some options for Accounting –   Marketing  Marketing is a key aspect for an organization which primary deals with data like Accounts and Contacts – Here are some options to look out for –  HRMS  Maybe you are coming from an existing HR platforms, but here are some thoughts –   Tying it all together  As you’ve seen so far, the source of truth being Dynamics 365 Project Operations or core CRM application because of its flexibility, it is pivotal to source data from this system to other systems and all CRUD operations are tied to Project Operations upon integration.  Other systems are then used to perform their respective operation and send updates back to Project Operations through integration.  Conclusion  Making Dynamics 365 Project Operations as source of truth works for our customers as they find the information clean, consistent and available for correct reporting through just one system.  This gives a true view of the organization without having siloed systems which result in inconsistencies in data and information mismatch if integrations are not architected correctly. Making a system as source of truth gives you improved accuracy and trust in your organizations’ data and drives efficency in the longer run.  We hope you found this article useful, and if you would like to discuss anything, you can reach out to us at transform@cloudfronts.com