Dynamics GP to Business Central Migration Services Move on your terms.
Qixas migrates Dynamics GP to Business Central and quotes the project at a fixed price after a scoping call, with milestone billing. A focused migration takes 8 to 12 weeks, most take 3 to 6 months, and a heavily customized system takes 6 to 9 months.
Microsoft
Solutions Partner
8-12 wks
focused migration, light customization
3-6 mo
typical migration
6-9 mo
heavily customized, multiple integrations
Sound familiar?
What to Confirm Before You Choose a GP Migration Partner
GP still runs your books, but the ground is shifting under it. New GP subscriptions are closed to new customers, and planning starts with the support deadline for your installed version.
Support is ending
Microsoft closed GP subscriptions to new customers on April 1, 2026. Product support and updates end December 31, 2029, and security patches end April 30, 2031. Check the installed GP version first, because version-specific lifecycle deadlines can be earlier.
The cost of staying keeps rising
Servers, SQL licensing, backups, and the people to maintain them add up every year — while enhancement plan fees buy you a product with no roadmap. The economics keep tilting toward moving.
GP wasn't built to scale
Growing data volumes, more legal entities, and international operations strain GP fast — and every workaround is another expensive customization bolted onto aging architecture.
Reporting still means exporting to Excel
Management Reporter, SmartLists, and endless Excel exports. Leadership decides on data that's already stale, and nobody has one live, trustworthy picture of the business.
A patchwork of third-party bolt-ons
Many GP environments rely on third-party products for document management, EDI or other needs. Inventory what your version and add-ons already provide, then decide what to retain, replace or retire.
GP talent is getting scarce
The consultants and staff who know Great Plains are retiring or moving to Business Central. Finding help — and hiring finance people who want to work on legacy software — keeps getting harder.
The platform
Business Central Is Microsoft's Migration Path for GP
Microsoft directs GP customers to Business Central as a cloud migration option. The business case depends on your current infrastructure, add-ons, reporting needs and operating model, so assess cost and process changes against your own baseline.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership
Cloud SaaS retires the servers, SQL licensing, backups, and upgrade projects GP demands. Predictable per-user subscription replaces a stack of infrastructure and maintenance costs.
Less Manual Finance Work
Automated bank reconciliation, approvals and workflows can reduce repetitive finance work. Measure the change against your own current process baseline.
Built to Scale With You
Multi-entity, intercompany, and international operations that strain GP are native to Business Central — grow into more companies and geographies without re-platforming again.
Real-Time Reporting
Retire Management Reporter and Excel exports. Power BI reads your ERP data directly for live, drillable dashboards — one trusted picture instead of a dozen conflicting spreadsheets.
Familiar to GP Users
The chart of accounts, dimensions, batch posting, and period-close concepts your team already knows carry forward — so adoption is an evolution, not a fresh start.
Future-Proof, AI-Ready
Microsoft updates the release plans every six months. Review the current capabilities, licensing and rollout requirements before adopting Copilot or AI features.
Core capabilities
What You Gain on Business Central
Everything GP did for your ledger — plus the modern depth mid-market companies need — on one cloud platform that keeps improving. Here's what the move actually puts in your hands.
Cloud Financials & Operations
The full financial core GP is trusted for, re-engineered for the cloud and extended with the operational depth growing companies need.
Outcomes
What Moving Off GP Actually Delivers
The move isn't just deadline insurance — it changes your cost base, how much manual work your team carries, and how fast you can see the business.
servers to maintain
Business Central online can remove on-premises server and backup responsibilities from the migration scope.
manual finance work
Automation can reduce repetitive tasks; measure the effect against your own baseline.
for your GP version
Finish before your installed version's support deadline. Some versions end before GP's final 2029 date.
reporting
Live Power BI dashboards replace Management Reporter and Excel.
Plan your move
Plan Your GP Migration
Check your support runway, find your timeline tier, see what moves, and estimate Business Central license costs.
Dynamics GP support runway
Bars run from release to the end of Microsoft extended support for that version. Solid blue is support left as of Oct 2026. Dashed lines are the dates that end GP support for every version.
View data
| Version or milestone | Released | Mainstream support ended | Extended support ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| GP 2015 | Feb 2015 | Apr 2020 | Apr 2025 |
| GP 2016 | May 2016 | Jul 2021 | Jul 2026 |
| GP 2018 | Dec 2017 | Jan 2023 | Jan 2028 |
| All GP versions: product support ends | Dec 2029 | ||
| All GP versions: security patches end | Apr 2031 |
Source: Microsoft Lifecycle pages for GP 2015, GP 2016 and GP 2018, and Microsoft’s Dynamics GP end-of-support announcement (product support to December 31, 2029; security patches to April 30, 2031). Version dates are in Pacific Time. Checked October 2026.
Timeline tiers
Which description fits your GP system?
Pick the one closest to your setup to see the typical range for that kind of migration.
Typical: a GP migration like this typically runs 3 to 6 months.
What moves a project between tiers: how deep the customization goes, how many systems connect to GP, and how much data history comes across. Your scoping call sets the real timeline, and you get a fixed-price quote with milestone billing.
Book a scoping callProcess
How a GP to Business Central migration runs
Phase order only, not to scale. Phases overlap in practice.
Assessment and scoping
Inventory your GP version, companies, modules, add-ons, customizations, reports and integrations, and agree how much history moves. You get a fixed-price quote with milestone billing.
Data preparation
Decide on inactive records, finish bank reconciliations and deposit outstanding receipts, because undeposited receipts do not migrate.
Design and configuration
Set up Business Central, map the chart of accounts, posting groups and dimensions, and plan replacements for add-ons and reports.
Trial migrations
Replicate into a sandbox, check the results and repeat. After the final data upgrade succeeds, you do not replicate again from GP.
Testing and training
Your finance team tests real scenarios, reconciles balances and learns the new screens.
Cutover and go-live
Run the final migration in a planned window, validate it, switch users over and retire GP.
Whole-project ranges
- Focused
- 8 to 12 weeks
- Typical
- 3 to 6 months
- Heavily customized
- 6 to 9 months
Microsoft’s process and GP 2015 prerequisite are in its GP to Business Central online migration overview; the rule against replicating after the final data upgrade is in Upgrade data from Dynamics GP. Ranges are Qixas timelines by project size.
Data
What moves with Microsoft’s GP migration tool
The short version. The GP migration guide has the full list and the decisions behind each line.
| GP data | What happens |
|---|---|
| Chart of accounts, customers, vendors and items | Move. The main account segment becomes the account number; other GP segments become dimensions. |
| Open receivables, payables, purchase orders and inventory | Move at the amounts and quantities still open. |
| General ledger history | Moves as summary transactions by fiscal period, back to the oldest year you choose. |
| Detailed history (GL, receivables, payables, sales, receipts, inventory) | Optional GP Historical Snapshot, kept in extension tables for lookups and reporting. |
| Undeposited cash receipts | Do not move. Deposit them in GP first. |
| Customizations, add-ons, SmartLists and Management Reporter layouts | Do not convert. Each is rebuilt, replaced or retired during design. |
Source: Migrate Dynamics GP data to Business Central online, Microsoft Learn. The tool needs GP 2015 or later, per Microsoft’s GP migration overview. Checked October 2026.
Download the GP migration prep checklist (PDF)Scoping
Decisions to settle in scoping
These are the choices that set your timeline and your fixed-price quote. Knowing your answers before the call makes scoping faster.
| Area | What gets decided | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| GP version | Whether you are on GP 2015 or later, or need an update first. | Microsoft's cloud migration tool needs GP 2015 or later (see the migration overview linked in the process above). |
| Companies | All companies at once, or one company or module at a time. | Phasing lowers risk but adds cutovers. |
| Add-ons | For each third-party product: a Business Central capability, an AppSource app, a Power Platform solution, or retire it. | Each replacement needs setup and testing. Check AppSource for a Business Central version before you plan around one. |
| Customizations and reports | Which Dexterity or VBA customizations, SmartLists and Management Reporter layouts people still use. | None of them convert automatically. Each is rebuilt or retired. |
| Integrations | Which connected systems (EDI, e-commerce, payroll, banking, CRM) are repointed, rebuilt or retired. | Each one has to be built and tested before cutover. |
| History | Period summaries only, or summaries plus the detailed historical snapshot. | More history means more trial runs and reconciliation. |
| Cutover window | When to switch, away from year-end and audits. | Once cloud migration is set up, data entry in Business Central is limited to data that is not being migrated, so the window needs planning. |
| Licenses | Which users need full licenses and which need Team Members. | It sets your subscription cost. Use the calculator below for list prices. |
License price calculator
What will Business Central licenses cost?
Microsoft’s list prices for Business Central online. This is the subscription only, not the upgrade project.
Monthly equivalent
$840
Annual: $10,080
- Team Members licenses cover lighter use, such as viewing data, approvals and limited data entry. Check what your people need against Microsoft’s Business Central licensing guide.
- Mixed-plan or multi-environment licensing needs a separate assessment.
- Excludes taxes, add-on apps, partner discounts and the upgrade project itself.
| Users | Monthly equivalent | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| 10 Essentials + 5 Team Members | $840 | $10,080 |
| 25 Premium + 10 Team Members | $2,830 | $33,960 |
Source: Microsoft Business Central pricing (USD, per user per month, paid yearly) and Microsoft’s announcement of the prices effective November 1, 2025. Checked October 2026. Prices in other currencies and regions can differ.
Why Qixas
Why Qixas for Your GP Migration
A GP move is a finance transition, not a file copy — and doing it well takes people who genuinely know the system you're leaving. Qixas has spent 20+ years in the guts of Dynamics, from Great Plains through modern Business Central, with hundreds of migrations completed. We know how GP posts, where its data-quality landmines hide, and how to move you across with the numbers provably intact.
Genuine GP expertise — we read the system you're leaving, so customizations, add-ons, and history are judged correctly, not guessed at
Finance-led migration with reconciliation gates — trial runs with automated reconciliation prove balances, subledgers, and dimensions tie out before anyone relies on the new system
Rationalize, don't lift-and-shift — most clients retire 40–60% of legacy GP bolt-ons by mapping them to native Business Central or modern AppSource apps
Safe cutover — parallel running and a documented rollback plan mean you move with confidence, around your quiet periods
Set up to modernize — we configure the foundation so reporting, automation, and Copilot deliver real value after go-live, not just a checkbox
Client stories
GP Companies That Made the Move
How mid-market companies replaced aging Dynamics GP with Business Central — lower cost, less manual work, and their history fully intact.
“We ran GP for over fifteen years and were terrified to move our history. Qixas migrated everything with zero data loss and cut over without missing a close. Our finance team never had to fall back to the old system.”
Controller
Mid-Market Distribution Company
“Management Reporter was our ceiling for years. On Business Central with Power BI, leadership finally has live dashboards instead of Monday-morning Excel exports. It changed how fast we make decisions.”
VP of Finance
Manufacturing Company
“The bolt-ons we'd stacked on GP for workflow and web access just disappeared — Business Central and the Power Platform do it natively now. Fewer vendors, one platform, and a lower monthly bill.”
CFO
Professional Services Firm
Keep reading
From the Dynamics Toolbox
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions, Answered
How long does a Qixas GP to Business Central migration take?
How much does a GP to Business Central migration cost, and is the price fixed?
How do we get started?
What does Qixas handle in a GP migration?
What about our third-party GP add-ons?
How much of our GP history comes across?
Can we keep using GP while the migration runs?
Does Qixas support us after go-live?
Will moving actually save us money?
When does Dynamics GP reach end of support?
Sources: Microsoft Business Central pricing (US, annual billing), Microsoft Business Central pricing effective November 1, 2025, Microsoft GP migration guidance, Microsoft GP 2015 lifecycle, Microsoft GP 2016 lifecycle, Microsoft GP 2018 lifecycle, Microsoft GP data-upgrade restriction, Microsoft GP support announcement, Microsoft GP 18.x system requirements, Microsoft GP migration options, Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow guide, Microsoft Dynamics GP web client guide
Move Off Dynamics GP — Safely, and on Your Timeline
Start with a free GP migration readiness review. We'll inventory your system and add-ons, map your history, and build a cost-of-staying vs. cost-of-moving comparison and a realistic timeline — before any commitment.