Business Central 2025 Release Wave 2 (Version 27) Overview

From 2018 through early 2025, I was the co-host of the A Shot of Business Central and a Beer podcast. One of my favorite segments on the podcast was our bi-annual review of the new features expected to be released with the upcoming Release Wave. Twice per year, we would somehow hear the news that the new Release Plan document was available. We would race to review and download the full document from Microsoft Learn. It felt like Christmas morning opening the document and quickly scanning through the list of new features to identify the best and most exciting features. The Release Plan document is of course still made available twice per year, and I still get pretty excited to see what's on the list, but without the podcast to share and compare with my co-host Michael Intravartolo, for me this twice annual event has lost some of its luster.

Now that I am providing content on Speaking Business Central, I am taking all of my previous experiences with previewing and analyzing each Release Plan and offering a new format for each release.

First, I have decided that I am not going to complete my review until the update has been applied to most users Business Central environments. The reason is two-fold: (1) there is nothing worse than hearing about an exciting new feature and then not being able to immediately begin testing it and putting it to use. (2) I found that the number of new features included in the release plan when the document is initially released is much different than the list of new features that gets deployed - there are usually MANY MORE features on the list after the update has been deployed. Additionally, the expected release date of some of the new features sometimes gets pushed out into the future. These factors are what led me to the decision to complete this review after the update has been deployed to most Business Central environments so that most people can immediately check out the new features.

CATEGORIZATION OF NEW FEATURES

It is currently early December, and as of this moment there are a total of 104 new features list on the Business Central 2025 Release Wave 2 page: What's New and Planned for Dynamics 365 Business Central. The numeric release number for 2025 Release Wave 2 is 27. The initial deployment of this update will be 27.0 (available October 2025) and the versions will increment each month from 27.1 (November 2025) up to 27.5 (March 2026).

Microsoft categorizes the new features each Release to logically group the new features together. This makes it much easier to understand the types of improvements being made and helps understand where Microsoft is investing in the product. As a sidenote: one of the things that is a little annoying is that Microsoft does not use the same categories each release. It would be helpful if there were always the same 8 or 10 categories, but I found that new and different categories are a regular occurrence. Usually, the new categorizations do make sense and provide more clarity on the types of new features, but enough on that.

For this release the new features are broken down into the following categories, with the number of new features in each category included in parentheses below. My guess is that these numbers are likely to change over time. These categories are listed here in the same order as Microsoft lists them on the "What's New" page link included above:

• Copilot and Agents (16)

• Country and Regional (13)

• Development (5)

• E-Commerce (5)

• Electronic Documents (11)

• Financial Management (7)

• Governance and Administration (10)

• Reporting and Data Analysis (12)

• Supply Chain Management (4)

• Sustainability Management (19)

• User Experiences (2)

TIMING AVAILABILITY OF NEW FEATURES

All of these features are scheduled for deployment with Update versions 27.0 through 27.5 scheduled to take place between October 2025 and March 2026.

To confirm what version you are currently running, open the Business Central Admin Center (you need to be assigned the Administrator role from the Microsoft 365 Portal to access this) and you will see the "Current Version" listed as a column on the Environments tab:

Business Central admin center - Environments tab showing the Current Version

Check the "What's New" page which shows if the feature is already deployed, and if not, when it is expected to be deployed:

If we look specifically at the Supply Chain Management category (below), we can see that the first, second, and fourth new feature were deployed on Oct 1, 2025. The third feature on the list is available in Public preview, but it is not scheduled to be deployed until Feb 2026.

Deployment and Availability Date on the "What's New" Microsoft Learn page

If the feature has been released but you still do not see anything in your Business Central environment, it may be because the new feature must be enabled using the Microsoft Learn: Feature Management page. Microsoft uses Feature Management to minimize the disruption to your existing users when new features are released that might impact or at least distract a user. To use a new feature, you can find the new feature on the list and choose to enable the feature for all users.

The Feature Management page used to selectively deploy new features

NOT ALL FEATURES ARE CREATED EQUALLY

Now, back to the list! Of 104 new features, it is safe to say that all features provide the same level of functionality and improvement. Therefore, as you are scrolling down the list of new features and come across some that you find interesting, drill-down to the new feature details page to read the full description of the new feature.

As an example of what I mean, in this release, one of the new features (listed under the User Experiences category) is "Adjust the width of Copilot, Help, and Page Scripting panes". As this name implies, you can now adjust the width of the Copilot pane to provide yourself with more or less space on the rest of the page depending on what you are actively working on. A nice feature to be sure, but not something that is going to get anyone jumping up and down anytime soon.

Contrast this with another one of the new features (listed under the Supply Chain Management category) labeled "Evaluate the Quality of Goods and Materials). This single listing with a relatively subtle or even sneaky name adds new Quality Control (i.e. Quality Assurance, Quality Inspection) capabilities throughout Business Central - including Purchase Receiving, Manufacturing, and Assembly. I am assuming that this feature could possibly get some people jumping up and down.

TOP 4 NEW FEATURES LIST

I have reviewed all of the new features included in 2025 Release Wave 2 and below are what I believe to be the most significant new features that most users need to be aware of. I did not arbitrarily choose the number four. Instead, I included only the most significant and most noteworthy changes on this list. It is possible I have neglected to include something you believe is important, but that diversity of opinion is what makes the world go around!

1) Automate Payables Processes with the Payables Agent

2) Evaluate the Quality of Goods and Materials

3) Use Enhanced Financial Reporting

4) Enhanced Power BI apps (Multiple "Reporting and Data Analysis" features)

USING COPILOT CREDITS WITHIN BUSINESS CENTRAL

If you are planning on setting up the Payables Agent, you will quickly learn that the use of this feature requires the usage of "Copilot Credits". While most of the Copilot features that have been deployed within Business Central are provided as part of the user subscription license and do not require any additional fees, the use of the new Copilot Agents requires the use of Copilot Credits. The good news is that the setup wizard within Business Central makes it really easy to get this setup in your Business Central environment.

The next question is: "OK, how much is this going to cost?" The answer is that each Copilot Credit costs $0.01 each, and each type of task carried out by the Payables Agent requires a specific number of credits. As well-explained on the Microsoft page Manage consumption-based billing for agent capabilities, based on the current Copilot Credit usage schedule, to interpret and automate the entry of 100 single-line Purchase Invoices using the Payables Agent, the total expected cost is $65.00 (USD). I believe this solution offers a strong use-case and return on investment.

DEEPER DIVE VIDEO

"So that's it? That's the review??"

No, there is more. Much more. The video below includes:

(1) a detailed review of each category of new features

(2) additional "color commentary" on selected categories and features

(3) more extensive analysis on the "Top New Features" and why these are so important

(4) detailed demonstrations of several of the new features included 2025 Release Wave 2

Speaking Business Central's 2025 Release Wave 2 Overview video:

Just remember, the Release Plan for 2026 Release Wave 1 is right around the corner... :)