What’s New in Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1

e new version of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (2025 Release Wave 1) was released in April 2025, while the new features that will be included in this wave will be implemented gradually during April-September 2025. Let's take a quick look at some of the new features that are already available and that we think you'll find interesting.

Development

The 2025 Release Wave 1 brings exciting updates for developers, making it easier to refactor, code, and test their solutions in Dynamics 365 Business Central. Let’s review the key improvements:

• Work with multiline strings in AL
• Convert simple type values to text using new ToText method
• Use the new continue keyword for AL loops
• Use new IncStr parameter to change integers by more than 1 in string variables
• Overloaded JsonObject data type GetValue method
• Read and write YAML in AL using JsonObject
• Create lists and dictionaries of interfaces in AL
• Move tables and fields with data across extensions as part of refactoring
• Select extensions to open in Visual Studio Code from the web client
• Generate launch json file from the web client
• Mock outbound HttpClient web service calls during testing
• Validate certificates on external web service endpoints called from AL HttpClient
• Extend CardPageId on list and listpart pages
• Embed Power BI content in web client with new page type

AL Language Enhancements

Developers can now work more efficiently with new AL capabilities. Working with long text values is easier thanks to multiline string support in AL. This especially helps when working with more structured string content, like JSON content.

A new ToText method simplifies the process of converting simple type values to text.

Looping in AL is now more flexible with the introduction of the continue keyword, allowing developers to skip to the next iteration. Before, only the break keyword was supported, but that canceled the whole loop, whereas the continue keyword skips the current loop iteration and proceeds with the next.

A new overload of the IncStr method is added to support an arbitrary increase or decrease of a number in a string variable. This allows for incrementing number series or other similar series by more than one position in one go.

Handling structured data becomes even more powerful with updates to the JsonObject, including an overloaded GetValue method and the ability to read and write YAML files.

Additionally, developers can now create lists and dictionaries of interfaces, making code structures more dynamic and maintainable.

Development Tools and Refactoring

Refactoring and managing extensions has also been improved. Developers can move tables and fields with data across extensions. This feature introduces the same controlled process for releasing and taking ownership of tables or fields as part of the extension upgrade process to partner extensions.

From the web client, it's now possible to select specific extensions to open directly in Visual Studio Code, optimizing the development workflow.

Also, developers can generate a launch.json file from the web client itself, making setting up a debugging session faster and more convenient.

Web Service Testing and Security Improvements

Testing and security of web services are getting stronger with new AL features. Developers can now mock outbound web service calls made with HttpClient , making it easier to write and run tests without depending on external systems. The following shows an example of a codeunit making an external web service call, as well as a test codeunit that intercepts and mocks this. Notice the use of the HttpClientHandler in the test codeunit.

On the security side, AL now supports validating certificates on external web service endpoints, helping ensure safer communication. With certificate validation enabled by default, you can ensure a higher level of trust and security in your communications. If needed, you have the flexibility to selectively disable certificate validation for specific calls, and a new telemetry event helps you debug any failures. By providing robust security measures and debugging tools, this feature adds value by protecting your business from potential security threats and ensuring smooth, secure operations.

Extensibility and Integration

Developers can now extend the CardPageId property on list and listpart pages, giving more control either to add a card page when existing lists don't have that, or to replace it with a different card page.

Embedding Power BI reports directly in the Business Central web client is now easier with a new dedicated UserControlHost page type, used to render any single user control in the client. The layout is optimized by the client to maximize the available space for the user control. This page type is ideal for embedding a Power BI report entirely or displaying a single page of a Power BI report.

Copilot and AI innovation

The 2025 Release Wave 1 continues to expand the role of AI in Business Central, making everyday tasks smarter, faster, and easier. The most interesting features for this area are:

• Chat with Copilot to learn how to use installed add-on apps
• Summarize with Copilot
• Use Sales Order Agent to automate sales order-taking
• Suggest gas emissions in sustainability journals with Copilot
• Autofill fields with Copilot
• Automate payables processes with the Payables Agent
• Enhance purchase order line matching with Copilot

Users can now chat directly with Copilot to quickly learn how to use installed add-on apps, removing the need to search through manuals or documentation.

Summarizing a large order, or any other record, has also become easier with Copilot’s new summarization feature, saving users time when reviewing information. Copilot summarizes a record into a couple of brief sentences, greatly reducing the effort needed to get insights about your data and plan your approach.

Look for the Summary FactBox on your pages and expand to get started.

Use the links to scroll to the field or navigate to the page that has more detail.

Display more insights in the Copilot pane, where you can ask follow-up questions to find records, analyze your data, or learn how to act in Business Central.

In sales, the new Sales Order Agent helps automate the entire order-taking process, optimizing operations and reducing manual entry. Using Sales Order Agent, which works independently under your direction, drives efficiencies and cost savings, and helps manage heavy workloads. The agent focuses users’ attention on critical tasks, increasing motivation and job satisfaction across the business function to which it is applied.

In the area of sustainability, Copilot now assists by suggesting gas emissions data in sustainability journals , helping companies track their environmental impact more accurately.

Autofill capabilities powered by Copilot make entering data even faster by intelligently filling out fields based on context and previous entries.

Look for the sparkle icon on fields to ask Copilot for suggestions.

Copilot makes suggestions for multiple fields within the FastTab (group). Use the information icon to understand how Copilot made the suggestion.

Review, keep, or discard a suggestion. You can also do this in bulk by keeping or discarding all suggestions.

Accounts payable processes are also getting a major boost with the new Payables Agent, which automates routine payables tasks and reduces processing time. The agent sources vendor invoice attachments from email and SharePoint and creates purchase invoice documents in Business Central for review. The agent uses available purchase history or the company's accounting policies to register purchase invoices. The Payables Agent allows AP professionals, clerks, and accountants to focus on more demanding tasks, boosting productivity and efficiency.

Finally, Copilot optimizes purchase workflows by improving purchase order line matching, helping businesses validate orders more efficiently and minimize errors.

Application

The Application improvements in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1 include improvements to core application capabilities, making Business Central more integrated and easier to manage:

• Use improved troubleshooting options for cost adjustments
• Integrate Field Service with service management
• View item availability in Field Service work orders

Cost adjustment processes are now simpler to troubleshoot with improved diagnostics and better visibility into how costs are calculated and adjusted. 

Service management gets a major upgrade with new integration between Business Central and Microsoft Field Service, allowing companies to connect their service operations across platforms. It offers a seamlessly integrated solution for managing service tasks, consumption, and financial transactions to benefit service technicians, service managers, and finance teams. It's a powerful solution for managing work orders and consumption in Field Service and efficiently invoicing and fulfilling them in Business Central.

Additionally, users working with Field Service can now view real-time item availability directly in work orders, helping technicians plan better and complete service tasks faster.

User experiences

The user experience in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1 includes several updates that make Business Central more intuitive and comfortable to use in the web client:

• Preview PDF attachments directly in web client
• Optimize screen estate usage on the web
• Adjust the FactBox pane width
• Use user interface enhancements for better experience

Users can now preview PDF attachments directly within the web client, eliminating the need to download files just to see their contents.

The overall layout has been optimized to make better use of screen space, helping users focus on what most matters.

It’s now also possible to adjust the width of the FactBox pane, giving users more control over how much detail they want to see at a glance.

On top of that, a series of smaller user interface enhancements have been rolled out to deliver a smoother, more polished experience across the entire application:

• Updated the FactBox pane with new, curved corners layout.
• Updated the Power BI embedded experience with adjusted controls and look.
• Updated Role Explorer and Report Explorer to display page and report descriptions, when provided, as extended teaching tooltips.
• Added new option to Role Explorer and Report Explorer to open pages and reports in a separate window without closing the Explorer.
• Updated the Search field in the environment and company picker with a search icon and instructional text.
• Added a new divider between system and application actions in context menus on lists.
• Refreshed the icon for prompt guides in a chat with Copilot.

Reporting and data analysis

The reporting and data analysis features in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1 makes reporting and data analysis in Business Central even more powerful and flexible:

• Enhance reports with PDF post-processing capabilities
• Validate report layouts for errors as an admin
• Add fields from related tables in analysis mode
• Access report and request metadata in Word layouts

Reports can now be enhanced with PDF post-processing capabilities, allowing users to manipulate PDF outputs after they are generated. In this release, an AL developer can:

• Append a list of PDF documents.
• Attach a list of documents to be embedded in the PDF.
• Set admin and user passwords.

Admins gain more control with the ability to validate report layouts for errors before publishing them, helping catch issues early and ensuring better reporting processes.

In analysis mode, users can now add fields from related tables, making it easier to build more comprehensive and insightful reports without leaving the page. 

Additionally, Word layouts are now smarter with access to report and request metadata, giving users the ability to create more dynamic and context-aware document templates.

Governance and Administration

The 2025 Release Wave 1 brings important updates that make managing and securing Business Central environments easier and more efficient:

• Add support for MultiSubnetFailover
• Migrate record links and notes with cloud migration tooling
• Support IPv6 for enhanced security and scalability
• Update sandbox environments to preview versions
• Automate environment management with Power Platform connector

Business Central now supports MultiSubnetFailover, improving high availability and disaster recovery setups for SQL databases. MultiSubnetFailover enables faster failover for all Availability Groups (AGs) or Failover Cluster Instances (FCIs) in SQL Server 2012 or later and it significantly reduces failover time for single and multi-subnet Always On topologies.

Cloud migration tooling has been enhanced to migrate record links and notes, making it easier to bring complete data sets into the cloud.

Support for IPv6 has also been added, strengthening security and expanding scalability options for modern networks.

Administrators can now update sandbox environments to preview versions, giving them an early look at upcoming features and helping them prepare for production updates.

Integration with the Power Platform has been deepened with a new ability to link environments and use Copilot Studio messages within Business Central.

On top of that, environment management can now be automated using the Power Platform connector, optimizing common administrative tasks and saving valuable time:

• Creating environments
• Copying environments
• Scheduling environment updates
• Integrating environments with other systems

Service and platform

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1 includes also performance improvements that help Business Central run even faster and more efficiently:

• Calculate values only for visible FlowFields

FlowFields are now optimized to calculate values only for the fields that are actually visible on a page, significantly improving page load times and overall responsiveness. This smart optimization reduces unnecessary computations, making the user experience smoother, especially in pages with large datasets or complex calculations.

Microsoft has also announced many other exciting features in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1 that were not covered in this Xpand’s article. You can find the full list of released and planned features in the official documentation: New and planned features for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1

Please pay attention that Microsoft is undertaking significant housekeeping in Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1. As part of this release, Microsoft will remove deprecated tables and table fields in first-party Business Central applications for the first time. Some ISV and PTE applications may break as a result of this change because they still rely on these deprecated constructs.

Therefore, it is highly recommended to familiarize yourself with the following details:

• Read the Microsoft blog post with more details and background
• View the deleted objects in 2025 Release Wave 1 here

The best place to get updated on what is new is to watch “what’s new” sessions on-demand on YouTube (What's new in Business Central 2025 release wave 1) and join Microsoft Q&A session April 23-24-25 where you can ask questions (aka.ms/BCLEQA).

Do you happen to have any knowledge about Xpand?

Xpand is a product and service software development company with over 15 years of market experience and a Microsoft Partner since 2016, assisting organizations worldwide in managing their Microsoft Dynamics ERP systems. We provide a broad range of services for clients and partners, including implementation and development for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, as well as upgrade from earlier versions like Navision Financials 2.0. Learn more about our services at https://www.xpandsoftware.com/services.

Are you curious about the key highlights of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2024 Release Wave 2? Our Xpand experts have picked out the most important updates. Read the full article here.

Business Central is a business management application for small and mid-sized organizations that automates and streamlines business processes. Highly scalable and adaptable with a rich set of capabilities, Business Central enables companies to manage their finances, supply chain, manufacturing, shipping, projects, services, and more. Companies can easily add functionality that's relevant to their specific industry or region of operation by picking apps from the industry-leading ISVs and customizing the app to fit their specific business needs. Business Central is fast to implement and easy to configure. Simplicity guides innovations in product design, development, implementation, and usability. More information about the product is available here.