Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: documented agents at a published price
The established ERP whose AI is easiest to inspect before buying. Its agents are real, reviewed by people at each step, capped and billed separately.
Contents
| Type | Established ERP with AI added |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Published |
| Website | microsoft.com |
Microsoft publishes two things most ERP vendors do not: the price of the product and the working of its agents. Business Central costs $80 a user a month on Essentials and $110 on Premium, paid yearly, with Copilot included1.
Best for: Small and mid-sized companies on Microsoft 365 that want a packaged ERP at a published price, with agents for order entry and vendor invoices.
Not the right fit for: Companies that want AI to work outside the ERP’s own pages, or that want to own the system.
The agents
Sales Order Agent. Monitors a mailbox, reads a customer's request and its attachments, identifies the customer, finds the items, checks availability and drafts a quote, then converts it to an order once the customer confirms. Designated users review and approve every outgoing message2.
Payables Agent. Monitors a mailbox for vendor invoices and credit notes as PDFs, extracts their data, identifies the vendor, proposes purchase order matches and prepares a draft for a supervisor. It creates an unposted document and never posts3.
Copilot also drafts marketing text for items sold in online shops, using Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service4.
How the agents work
Microsoft explains that an agent "navigates pages, invokes UI actions, and enters data as a user would", guided by instructions in natural language and the product's own captions and tooltips2. This lets the agent use custom fields. It also means the agent is an operator of the existing ERP and sees what a user of that ERP would see.
Cost and caps
Both agents require Copilot Credits, sold separately, on a pre-purchase or pay-as-you-go plan1. When credits run out, the Sales Order Agent stops processing new emails until more are available2. The Payables Agent does not process more than 100 emails or 500 invoices a day, and is validated in English only3.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- Published per-user prices, with Copilot included in both plans.
- Documented agents with human review: the Sales Order Agent has users approve every outgoing message.
- Agent behaviour is documented in detail, including limits and failure cases.
Limits
- Agents cost extra: both require Copilot Credits, and an agent stops processing when credits run out.
- The agent operates the existing screens. Microsoft says it "navigates pages, invokes UI actions, and enters data as a user would".
- Documented caps: the Payables Agent handles at most 100 emails and 500 invoices a day, is validated in English only and does not post documents.
Choose another option if: Your work runs across email, phone and several systems. An agent that lives inside one ERP sees only that ERP.
Pricing
Published: Essentials $80 and Premium $110 per user a month, paid yearly; Team Members $8. Agents require Copilot Credits, sold separately, with no price shown on the page.
Questions to ask Microsoft or a partner
- How many Copilot Credits would our monthly order and invoice volumes consume, and at what price?
- Are the agents supported in our country and language?
- Which steps can run without review, and which always need a person?
- What happens to unprocessed emails when credits run out?
For Business Central against the other products, see the comparison.
Sources
- Business Central pricing. Microsoft. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Sales Order Agent overview: Business Central. Microsoft Learn, 2 Oct 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Payables Agent overview: Business Central. Microsoft Learn, 3 Nov 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Marketing text suggestions with Copilot overview: Business Central. Microsoft Learn, 2 Oct 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.