Win more work, control costs and manage every build from first enquiry to final account with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, an ERP system designed for builders in the UK.
When information about jobs, materials, labour and costs sits in different systems, it becomes harder for builders to plan work, protect margins and keep customers happy. Dynamics 365 Business Central brings everything together so you can run every project from one place.
Dynamics 365 Business Central is a comprehensive ERP system for builders and construction businesses. It gives you one platform to manage finance, job costing, purchasing, stock, subcontractors, service work and more.
With Business Central, you can replace spreadsheets and disconnected apps with a single connected system. It gives your office and site teams one version of the truth, with clear insight into profit, cash flow and performance on every job. If you want to see what a purpose-built ERP for builders looks like, keep reading.
An ERP system that is designed around building projects will transform how your company operates. Here is how Business Central supports builders.
Business Central connects your core processes, including finance, purchasing, stock, job management and service work, in one system. This helps builders avoid duplicate data entry, cut down on manual chasing and make sure everyone is working from the same information.
You get real time views of jobs, costs and cash flow through clear dashboards and reports. This helps owners, finance leaders and contract managers see which projects are on track, which ones need attention and where profit is really made across the business.
Whether you run a small local building firm or a growing regional contractor, Business Central can scale with you. You can start with the essentials and add users, modules and industry specific apps over time, so the system grows as your workload and team grow.
Business Central helps builders manage applications, stage payments, retentions and variations in a structured way. This makes it easier to bill accurately, collect cash faster and track profitability on every job, which matters when margins are tight and material prices move quickly.
With detailed audit trails, strong security and role-based access, Business Central supports compliance with accounting standards and construction industry requirements. It helps builders stay on top of areas such as VAT, Making Tax Digital and project approvals, without adding extra admin.
Data taken from a survey we commissioned in December 2024. Click here to view
of businesses are utilising an ERP
businesses are dissatisfied with their current ERP
of businesses say using an ERP has contributed to achieving business outcomes
Builders deal with complex work every day, from managing multiple sites and teams to handling price changes, delays and health and safety. Many firms still rely on manual spreadsheets, paper files and separate systems, which wastes time and hides risk. Dynamics 365 Business Central is built to help building companies work in a more joined up, predictable and profitable way.
Create estimates, convert them into jobs and then manage changes, variations and final accounts in the same system. This gives everyone a clear view of what has been agreed, what has changed and what remains to be invoiced, which reduces disputes and protects margin.
In building projects, control and agility matter. Business Central is a powerful ERP for builders because it unifies finance, jobs, purchasing and reporting in one system.
Plan and manage every stage of a build, from initial enquiry and estimate through to completion and aftercare. Business Central gives project managers and site teams clear tasks, budgets and timelines so they can keep work on track and customers informed.
Raise purchase orders, track deliveries and match invoices against agreed prices. This helps builders control spend with merchants and suppliers, prevent unauthorised buying and build stronger relationships with the partners they rely on every day.
Manage subcontractor details, contracts, timesheets and invoices in one system. Business Central can support the information you need for Construction Industry Scheme processes and makes it easier to pay subcontractors accurately and on time.
Because Business Central is a modern cloud based system, your teams can access key information from laptops, tablets and mobile devices. This helps foremen, site managers and supervisors check job details, update progress and capture issues while they are on site.
Use built in reporting and integration with tools such as Microsoft Power BI to understand performance across all your projects. This gives leaders a clear picture of revenue, cost, profit and work in progress, so they can make better decisions about which work to pursue and how to grow.
Get a better understanding of the benefits of using a CRM system - allowing businesses like yours to overcome fragmented systems and disconnected workflows. Don't just read about them either, our report provides you with actionable insights and practical recommendations so that you can begin to make data-led decisions.
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Most trials drop you into a generic demo company that looks nothing like the way you actually work. Ours doesn't. We configure your free trial around your business and the use case you care about, so you and your team can test real scenarios with data and processes you recognise.
It starts with a short questionnaire about your industry, your current systems and what you want to prove out. Once that's back with us, your tailored trial can usually be made available within a few working days. Prefer a guided walkthrough first? A standard demo is still on the table - just tell us which you'd like.
Complete a short questionnaire covering your industry, processes and the things you most want to test.
We set up a Business Central environment around your use case, so you're not clicking through a generic demo company.
Your tailored trial is typically ready within a few working days of the questionnaire coming back to us.
These are the problems that come up again and again when we talk to builders businesses about their systems. If two or three of them sound familiar, the issue is usually structural rather than a matter of trying harder with the current setup.
Estimates get built from the last similar job, but the actual cost of that job is scattered across invoices and never fed back. The business repeats pricing mistakes because nothing closes the loop.
Material accounts, staged payments and retention mean the bank balance says very little about the month ahead. Without forecast cash from live jobs and orders, decisions are made on the current balance.
Materials ordered for one job get used on another, credits get missed and account statements are reconciled line by line at month end.
Small and mid-sized building firms grow past the point where one person can hold every job, but the systems don't grow with them.
Three situations that reflect the patterns we see most often in builders. Each one describes a type of business, the problem it started with and what changed once Business Central was set up around it.
These are anonymised, illustrative scenarios built from common patterns in the sector. They aren't customer stories, and no figures here are attributed to any individual organisation.
Residential builder, around 25 staff, 10 to 15 concurrent jobs
Illustrative scenarioBuilding and maintenance firm, around 40 staff
Illustrative scenarioSmall builder scaling from 12 to 30 staff
Illustrative scenarioLicensing is published and predictable. Implementation isn't, because it depends on what you ask the system to do. Here's the licence position, then the things that genuinely move the number in this sector.
£6.20per user / month
Read, approve, enter time and expenses. No full transactional access
£61.50per user / month
Finance, sales, purchasing, projects, basic stock and warehousing
£84.60per user / month
Everything in Essentials plus manufacturing and service management
Microsoft UK list prices, per user per month on an annual subscription, correct at the time of writing. Check the current figure on Microsoft's pricing page.
For most building firms, Business Central Essentials covers what's needed: finance, purchasing, jobs and basic resource management. Premium is worth considering only if you run a joinery shop or a servicing arm. Team Members licences suit site managers who raise requisitions and approve timesheets without needing the full application.
A builder moving from an accounting package plus spreadsheets is one of the shorter implementations in this list, because the process being replaced is fairly simple. The risk isn't complexity, it's under-investing in training and ending up with a more expensive version of the old habits.
To learn more about Business Central for builders, or to see what an ERP for your building company could look like, get in touch via this short form.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for builders is a modern ERP and finance system that helps building companies manage jobs, budgets, purchasing, subcontractors and reporting in one connected platform.
Business Central lets you set up each job with a clear scope, budget and schedule, then track every cost, purchase order and invoice against it. Project managers and owners can see in real time how each project is performing and take action before problems affect profit or customer satisfaction.
Yes. Business Central is used by many small and mid sized builders who have outgrown basic accounting software and spreadsheets. You can start with a small number of users and core modules, then add more capability as your business grows.
Business Central supports strong financial controls, audit trails and reporting, which helps with areas such as VAT, Making Tax Digital and industry regulations. With the right partner and add on solutions, it can also support specific needs such as Construction Industry Scheme processes.
Yes. Business Central is part of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite and integrates closely with tools such as Microsoft 365, Outlook, Excel, Teams and Power BI. This helps your teams work in familiar applications while still using a single, central source of business data.
Implementation time depends on the size of your business, the number of users, the complexity of your processes and how much data you need to migrate. A specialist partner will work with you to design a realistic plan and help your teams adopt the system in stages.
Business Central is licensed on a subscription basis, usually per user per month, with different licence types depending on the roles in your business. There will also be implementation and support costs, which vary based on your requirements. A Microsoft partner can provide a clear estimate tailored to your building company.
Yes. Most builders choose the cloud version of Business Central, which is hosted and updated by Microsoft. This reduces the need for on site servers and gives your teams secure access to the system from the office, home or site.
Business Central gives you clearer visibility of costs, revenue and margins on every job. This helps builders control spend, reduce rework, invoice accurately and focus on the types of work and customers that deliver the best returns.
Signs that you are ready include relying heavily on spreadsheets, struggling to see real-time job profitability, experiencing frequent data entry errors and spending too much time chasing information across systems. If these challenges sound familiar, it is worth exploring how Business Central could give your building company a more scalable and reliable platform.
Looking at Business Central beyond builders? See the full Dynamics 365 Business Central overview for features, pricing considerations and how implementation works, or read our guide to choosing a Business Central partner.
