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Apply Company Configuration Packages

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When you onboard a prospect, you can use configuration packages to set up Business Central according to your best practices and their requirements. Apply the relevant configuration packages to an empty company in the customer's tenant. Use the questionnaires to tweak things for individual customers of yours. Optionally, use configuration templates to import existing customer data.

Start by setting up a company in a sandbox so that users can practice before they start using Business Central in production.

If the customer needs more than one company in Business Central, you can copy commonly used values from an existing company to a new one, as long as both companies are in the same tenant. For example, if you have a standard list of symptom codes that is common to all your service management implementations, you can copy the codes easily from one company to another. You can do this from the Configuration Worksheet page.

Migrate customer data

In many cases, to migrate customer data to Business Central online, use the built-in migration tools to migrate data from specific product versions. For more information, see Migrate On-Premises Data to Business Central Online.

Alternatively, you can migrate to Business Central on-premises using Excel or the data migration tools of RapidStart Services, and then switch to the cloud.

You can choose to use the configuration package approach to migrating customer data, such as if the customer is coming from a product that is not supported by the Migrate On-Premises Data to Business Central Online tools, nor by an app for Business Central online, such as Microsoft's own apps to migrate from QuickBooks app.

From both the Configuration Worksheet page and the Configuration Package page, you can import data from Excel or a .rapidstart file. If you prefer to use Excel, the data must be in an Excel workbook that is exported from the Configuration Packages page. This way, the Excel workbook complies with the Business Central data structure. In the Configuration Package page, you can map tables and fields if the data structure is different between where the data came from and where it's going. Business Central treats and handles the mapping based on table relations:

  • If you define a mapping directly for a field in a table, then Business Central uses it.

  • If the field has a relation to another table, Business Central searches for the mapping defined for the primary key field in the related table. The related table, however, must be part of the configuration package.

  • If mapping information is defined in both places, for the field directly and for the primary key in the related table, then Business Central will search for the mapping in both places.

  • If the same mappings are defined directly for a field and in the related table, but have different new values, the mapping that is defined directly for the field takes priority over the mapping that is defined for the table that the field is referencing.

Important

Use RapidStart configuration packages only when setting up a company for the first time. Configuration packages aren't intended to be used for companies that are already in production. Using configuration packages to import large amounts of data can impact performance and prevent all users from using Business Central during the process.

For companies that are in production, we strongly recommend that you use an XMLport to import and export data. Learn more at XMLport Overview.

Import data from Excel

Use your configuration questionnaires and templates to map the existing data to Business Central in Excel. Especially, make sure you capture master data about customers, items, vendors, and the general ledger.

If the customer comes from Business Central or Dynamics NAV, then you can export the customer's data to a .rapidstart file and then import it into the new company. But in many cases, you'll want to work in Excel so that you can tweak or map data.

To validate the configuration questionnaire

It is important to validate the configuration questionnaire before you apply it to the Business Central format. It is also a way to make sure that data formatting is preserved during the import from Excel.

A common validation task is to check that text strings are not entered in date fields. This review process is necessary because the format of the answer in the questionnaire is not validated automatically when you run the Apply Answers function.

Note

In general, validation of the configuration questionnaire is a manual process. However, there are checks for regional formatting inconsistencies. In addition, you will get errors if the structure of your Business Central database does not match the structure of the migration database.

  1. On the Configuration Questionnaire page, select the relevant questionnaire, and then choose the Question Areas action.
  2. Open the relevant question area.
  3. For each question, validate that the value in the Answer field corresponds to the format provided in the Answer Option field. For example, validate that the address of a company is in text format.
  4. If you find errors, you can troubleshoot and make corrections in Excel by exporting the questionnaire, and then importing it again. Alternatively, you can correct errors directly in Business Central as you review the answers on the Config. Question Area page.
  5. Repeat these steps for each question area.

When you have completed your validation, the data is ready to be applied to the database.

To apply answers from the configuration questionnaire

After you have imported and validated information from a configuration questionnaire, you can transfer, or apply the setup data to the corresponding tables in the Business Central database.

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature 4. icon, enter Configuration Questionnaire, and then choose the related link. The Config. Questionnaire page opens.
  2. Select a configuration questionnaire from the list, and then choose the Edit List action.
  3. You can apply answers in one of two ways.
  • To apply the whole questionnaire, choose the Apply Answers action.
  • To apply answers for a specific Question Area only, choose the Question Areas action, select a Question Area in the list, and then choose the Apply Answers action.

To verify that answers have been applied successfully

  1. Check setup pages for the various functional areas of Business Central. To locate the page, choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature 5 icon, enter the name of the setup page, and then choose the related link.
  2. Verify that the fields have been populated with the correct data from the various question areas in the configuration questionnaire.

You have now configured setup with the customer’s business information and rules.

To import customer data

  1. Open the Configuration Worksheet page or the Configuration Package page and import the customer's master data.

    In the No. of Package Errors field, see if there are any errors reported. If there are, drill down to see the errors. The Config. Package Records page opens.

    1. Choose the Show Error action. You will receive an error such as the following: XX is not a valid option. Valid options are: XX. Choose the OK button.
    2. To apply the mapping that you have set up, choose the Apply Data action.

  2. Validate the migration

    1. On the Migration Overview page, review the No. of Migration Errors field to see whether any errors occurred during import.
    2. If there are errors, select the migration table, and then, on the Tables tab, choose the Errors action. The Invalid check box is selected for each record that has an error.
    3. To review errors, select a line, and then choose the Show Error action.

    The Error Text field contains the reason for the error. The Field Caption field contains the caption of the field that contains the error.
    4. To correct an error or otherwise make an update, on the Migration Overview page, choose the Migration Record action, and then, on the Migration Record page, correct the record with the error.

    Now, you have master data in place. Next, you add the opening balances. The following steps describe how to create journal lines for G/L accounts, but the same apply to creating journal lines for customers, vendors, and items.

  3. Choose the Create G/L Acct. Journal Lines action.

  4. Fill in the Options FastTab as appropriate, and set filters as needed. For example, in the Journal Template field, enter a name.

  5. Choose the OK button. The records are now in the journal, but the amounts are empty.

  6. Export the journal table to Excel and manually enter the posting and balancing account information from the legacy data.

  7. Import and apply the table information into the new company. The journal lines are ready for posting.

  8. In the configuration worksheet, select the journal line table, and then choose the Database Data action.

  9. Review the information, and then choose the Post action.

  10. Repeat the steps to import and post any other opening balances.

Important

Specifically for opening balances for bank accounts, do not follow the steps in this article to post directly to the G/L accounts that are associated with the relevant bank accounts. For more information, see Set Up Bank Accounts.

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