Growth is exciting. Yet for many small and midsized organisations, it’s also where cracks begin to show.
As transaction volumes increase and reporting requirements expand, finance teams are often left trying to hold things together with disconnected systems, spreadsheets and ageing legacy software. What once worked becomes a constant challenge to keep up.
That challenge sits at the heart of a newly published Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, commissioned by Microsoft and based on interviews with business decision‑makers across multiple industries.
The study provides a financial framework for evaluating what happens when organisations modernise finance and operations on a single, cloud‑based ERP platform and the results are significant.
The headline numbers
According to Forrester’s risk‑adjusted modelling of a composite organisation, adopting Dynamics 365 Business Central delivered:
- More than 200% return on investment over three years
- An estimated payback period of under six months
- Approximately $460K in net present value (NPV)
- Over $680K in total three‑year present value benefits
But the real value of the study lies beyond the headline ROI.
For finance leaders, it shows where value is created, and why modern ERP is as much about confidence as it is about cost savings.
Where the value comes from
1. Faster, more efficient finance operations
Manual processes continue to slow down growing organisations. In the study, interviewees reported significant efficiency gains across accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoicing, and month‑end close after moving to Business Central.
By year three, the composite organisation was projected to achieve:
- Up to 30% reduction in monthly close time
- Up to 50% time savings across AP, AR, and billing activities
These improvements translated to more than $210K in present value from finance productivity alone, allowing teams to shift focus from reconciliation and rework to analysis and insight.
At Evolution Business Systems, this aligns closely with what we see in practice: when finance teams regain time, it’s not just efficiency gains, but decision quality also improves.
2. Lower total cost of ownership through ERP consolidation
The study also highlighted the cost and complexity of running multiple systems in parallel — legacy ERP platforms, spreadsheets, and disconnected third-party solutions.
By consolidating onto Business Central, the composite organisation was projected to realise:
- More than 10% reduction in total cost of ownership
- Over $170K in present value savings from retired systems and reduced maintenance
Beyond direct cost savings, simplification reduces operational risk and makes it easier to scale without layering on more systems to compensate for gaps.
3. Improved profitability through better visibility
One of the most telling findings in the Forrester study was the link between visibility and margin improvement.
With unified, real‑time insight across finance and operations, the composite organisation was projected to achieve:
- Up to a 3% improvement in net profit margins by year three
- More than $240K in present value from improved profitability
Earlier visibility into costs, projects, and performance enables course correction before small issues become expensive problems.
4. Faster reporting and audit readiness
Reporting and audit preparation are often hidden drains on finance teams.
The Forrester study projected that by year three, Business Central enabled the composite organisation to reduce:
- Audit preparation time by up to 30%
- Time spent producing internal and executive reports
These improvements were valued at nearly $50K in present value, while also increasing confidence in data accuracy and consistency.
Beyond the numbers: Building an AI‑ready foundation
While AI‑driven outcomes were not independently quantified in this TEI study, Forrester noted an important principle: Realising AI value depends on clean data, integrated systems, and standardised processes.
By unifying finance and operations in Business Central, organisations establish the foundation needed to adopt capabilities such as Copilot, Power BI, and intelligent agents, helping reduce time‑to‑insight, surface anomalies sooner, and support more proactive decision‑making.
What this means for SMBs
For SMB finance leaders, modern ERP isn’t about the buzz words of digital transformation or over‑engineering the business. It’s about making everyday work better. Closing faster, trusting the numbers, and having the confidence to grow without losing control.
At Evolution Business Systems, we see our role as helping organisations realise this value practically: Through thoughtful implementation, meaningful reporting, and a long‑term partnership that doesn’t end at go‑live.
If you’re questioning whether your current systems can support the next phase of growth, the Forrester TEI study provides a grounded, finance‑first perspective worth exploring.
