Illustrative previewProject resourcing, time & expense capture and milestone billing for consultancies and agencies
— built as a per-tenant AL extension on your Business Central environment, installed and supported by ECOSIRE.
What is Professional Services Automation for Business Central?
Project resourcing, time & expense capture and milestone billing for consultancies and agencies — built as a per-tenant AL extension on your Business Central environment, installed and supported by ECOSIRE. Built to order by ECOSIRE for Dynamics 365 BC (build-to-order) — indicative price from $999.00 USD; request a quote for a scoped proposal.
Key Features
Built to order, done for you
No DIY setup — a working app, built, installed and supported by ECOSIRE.
- 1
You order
Start with a one-time build price. We scope it with you at kickoff.
- 2
We build & install
ECOSIRE builds, configures and installs it on your Dynamics 365 Business Central.
- 3
Go live + support
You go live in about one working week, with two weeks of go-live support. Defects in the code we deliver are fixed free of charge.
About this Product
Professional Services Automation for Business Central is a build-to-order AL extension that turns Business Central's standard Jobs/Projects engine into a complete delivery-and-billing system for consultancies, agencies and other services firms. It is not an instant AppSource download. ECOSIRE scopes it against your real engagements, builds it, installs it as a per-tenant extension on your tenant, and supports it after go-live.
The extension layers on top of native Project (Job) functionality rather than replacing it. We add table and page extensions to the Project, Project Task, Project Planning Line and Resource tables; introduce a resourcing board with capacity vs. demand; and capture time and expenses through web and Business Central mobile, plus optional Power Apps entry written back via the BC REST/OData v4 API. Approvals run through native workflow and the job queue so nothing depends on a person remembering to post.
Billing supports milestone (fixed-fee), time-and-materials and mixed engagements, producing standard Sales Invoices so VAT/tax, dimensions and your chart of accounts stay native. WIP and revenue recognition use Business Central's Job WIP methods with cost/sales accruals posted to G/L. Event subscribers keep custom fields and KPI tables in sync without modifying base objects, so the solution stays upgrade-safe across Microsoft's monthly releases.
Reporting covers utilization, realization, billable vs. non-billable hours, project margin and backlog — surfaced as Business Central pages and queries, and exposable to Power BI or Dataverse via Power Platform integration. Dedicated permission sets keep delivery, finance and partner access separated. You receive the AL source, the deployable .app, and a documented hand-over so you are never locked in.
What you get
- Per-tenant Business Central AL extension (.app) installed on your sandbox then production environment
- Complete AL source code (table/page extensions, codeunits, event subscribers, API pages, permission sets, reports)
- Configured Project/Job setup: WIP methods, billing rules, resource rates and dimensions mapped to your chart of accounts
- Power BI / Dataverse connection or sample utilization & realization dashboards where in scope
- Custom permission sets and a role-mapping document for delivery, finance and partner users
- Deployment runbook, admin documentation and a recorded knowledge-transfer / training session
- Post-go-live support window with bug fixes and a Microsoft monthly-release compatibility check
Who this is for
Operations / Delivery Lead at a consultancy
Owns resource allocation and project margin. Needs a real-time capacity-vs-demand view, accurate utilization, and confidence that billable hours are captured and invoiced without spreadsheet reconciliation.
Finance Manager at a services firm
Responsible for WIP, revenue recognition and invoicing accuracy. Wants milestone and T&M billing to flow into native Sales Invoices with correct tax, dimensions and G/L postings, and clean month-end accruals.
Agency Owner / Principal
Runs a project-based business on Business Central and needs realization, backlog and margin reporting to price work and forecast — without buying a separate PSA platform or duplicating data across systems.
How Professional Services Automation for Business Central Compares
| Criterion | ECOSIRE | Custom Build | Competitor | Dynamics 365 Business Central Native |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built specifically around your billing rules and engagement types | Included | Included | Partial support | Not included |
| Native project resourcing / capacity-vs-demand board | Included | Partial support | Partial support | Not included |
| Milestone, T&M and mixed-mode billing into native Sales Invoices | Included | Partial support | Partial support | Partial support |
| WIP & revenue recognition posted to G/L with dimensions | Included | Partial support | Partial support | Included |
| Utilization & realization reporting (BC pages + Power BI) | Included | Partial support | Included | Not included |
| Upgrade-safe (extensions + event subscribers, no base-object mods) | Included | Partial support | Included | Included |
| Installed, configured and supported on your tenant by the vendor | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| You receive full AL source and avoid per-user SaaS lock-in | Included | Included | Not included | Included |
Frequently Asked Questions about Professional Services Automation for Business Central
Is this an instant download from Microsoft AppSource?
No. This is a build-to-order solution. ECOSIRE scopes it against your engagements, develops it in AL, and installs it as a per-tenant extension directly on your Business Central tenant. It is not a self-service AppSource listing, so there is no instant download link — delivery is a managed engagement.
What is the typical delivery lead time?
After a scoping call we confirm requirements and timeline. A standard build is typically delivered in roughly one working week depending on the complexity of your billing rules, integrations (Power BI/Dataverse/Power Apps) and the number of approval workflows. We install to your sandbox first for UAT, then promote to production once you sign off. Exact dates are agreed in writing before work begins.
How does ongoing support and updates work?
The price includes a post-go-live support window covering bug fixes and a compatibility check against Microsoft's monthly Business Central release waves. Because it's built with table/page extensions and event subscribers rather than base-object modifications, it stays upgrade-safe. Beyond the included window, ECOSIRE offers an optional support and enhancement retainer. You also receive full AL source, so you're never locked to us.
Will it conflict with our existing Business Central setup or other extensions?
The extension builds on Business Central's native Project (Job) module and posts through standard Sales Invoices and G/L, so your tax, dimensions and chart of accounts stay intact. We install to a sandbox first to validate against your other installed extensions and resolve any object-ID or event collisions before touching production.
Can our team enter time on mobile or through Power Apps?
Yes. Time and expense capture work in the Business Central web client and mobile app out of the box. We also expose REST/OData v4 API pages so a custom Power App or Power Automate flow can write entries back into Business Central, and we can integrate with Dataverse virtual tables for low-code scenarios where that's in scope.
Do we own the code?
Yes. On completion you receive the full AL source code and the deployable .app file, plus deployment and admin documentation. The solution runs on your own tenant under your control, so you can have any qualified AL developer maintain it in future.
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Professional Services Automation for Business Central
Project resourcing, time & expense capture and milestone billing for consultancies and agencies — built as a per-tenant AL extension on your Business Central environment, installed and supported by ECOSIRE.
- Resource planning board on the native Resource and Project Planning Line tables — capacity vs. booked demand, role/skill filtering, and drag-to-assign scheduling
- Time capture via web and Business Central mobile with billable/non-billable flagging, posted as Project Journal lines against Project Tasks
- Expense capture with attachments, category mapping and reimbursable flagging, flowing into the same project actuals
- Milestone (fixed-fee) billing schedules that release Sales Invoice lines on milestone completion or date triggers