A NAV to Business Central migration checklist that moves you without the risk
Your Dynamics NAV extensions, data, and processes mapped before the Statement of Work is signed. Fixed-fee scope. Zero-downtime parallel run. 30-day hypercare from go-live day. Redefine has delivered 40 plus NAV to Business Central migrations.
Submit your brief, data audit call within 48 hours, fixed-fee scope in 5 days, no commitment required.
NAV Support Status
Every NAV migration at Redefine ships with a data and extension audit completed before the Statement of Work is signed. The scope you receive is built from what we found, not from estimates.
Why staying on NAV is a compounding cost, not a stable decision
Every quarter that goes by on Dynamics NAV adds support, integration, and customization costs that never come back. The two columns below compare what those costs look like today versus what changes the moment Business Central is live.
Customizations that block upgrades
Every new NAV version requires customization re-testing and often re-building. Each cycle costs time and budget with no functional improvement.
No cloud-native access or mobile capability
On-premises NAV requires virtual private network or remote desktop for any access outside the office. Modern field teams and remote finance users work around this with spreadsheets.
Support windows closing on older versions
NAV 2016 and earlier are end of life. NAV 2018 extended support ends January 2028. A migration delayed is a migration started under pressure.
Rising integration and maintenance overhead
Every third-party integration built for older NAV application programming interfaces requires ongoing maintenance. As the vendor ecosystem moves to Business Central, these integrations become harder to find developers for.
Extensions replace customizations, updates no longer break them
Business Central extensions are decoupled from the core. Microsoft updates run without touching your extensions. You stop paying re-build costs on every version cycle.
Browser and mobile access from any location, no virtual private network required
Business Central is cloud-native. Your team accesses it from any browser or the mobile app. Finance closes month-end from anywhere. Field teams pull inventory data on-site.
Continuous Microsoft updates with no migration projects required
Business Central updates twice annually, automatically. You are always on the current version. No more upgrade projects. No more support window anxiety.
Power Platform and Microsoft 365 integration without custom connectors
Power BI, Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint connect to Business Central natively. The integrations your team builds in NAV are replaced by native connectors that stay current automatically.
The NAV to Business Central migration timeline: from data audit to go-live in 12 weeks
Every Redefine NAV migration follows this sequence. The data and extension audit happens before the Statement of Work is signed, so the timeline below matches what gets delivered, not what gets estimated.
Weeks 1 to 2
NAV data and customization audit
Map every data entity, NAV Object, and integration. Output: fixed-fee scope document before Statement of Work signing.
Weeks 3 to 5
Extension compatibility report
Each NAV customization categorized: native Business Central replacement, AL extension rebuild, or deprecated process.
Weeks 6 to 10
Business Central configuration and data migration
Business Central configured, chart of accounts mapped, data migrated, extensions rebuilt. Test environment populated with your data.
Weeks 11 to 12
Parallel run and zero-downtime go-live
NAV and Business Central run simultaneously. Your team validates. Cutover confirmed by you. 30-day hypercare begins on go-live day.
Data Entities Found
Estimated scope: fixed-fee migration, 10 weeks. Report delivered before Statement of Work signing.
Migration Progress · Week 8
NAV system
Read-only archive access
Business Central
Live and processing orders
Hypercare service level
Same-day response
Go-live date
Confirmed by your team
Every deliverable in a Redefine NAV migration
Five deliverables in sequence. Each one builds on the last. The data audit is always the first output, and it happens before any scope is signed.
NAV Data And Customization Audit
Complete inventory of every data entity, NAV Object, and third-party integration. Completed before the Statement of Work is signed. Delivered as a written report with findings and scope recommendations.
Extension Compatibility Report
Every NAV customization mapped to one of three paths: native Business Central replacement, AL extension rebuild, or safe deprecation. Includes estimated rebuild hours per extension.
Business Central Configuration
Modules configured to your processes, chart of accounts mapped and validated, extensions rebuilt in AL, integrations connected. Test environment populated with a real copy of your NAV data.
Data Migration And User Acceptance Testing
Master data, open transactions, and beginning balances migrated to Business Central. Your team runs user acceptance testing against your own data. Every process signed off before go-live is scheduled.
Parallel Run And 30-Day Hypercare
NAV and Business Central run simultaneously. Your team confirms go-live readiness. Zero-downtime cutover. 30-day same-day-response hypercare from go-live day.
A NAV upgrade that added 10 percent to the top line in four months
Company
Manzi Valley
A distribution operation limited by legacy NAV processes and manual workarounds that had accumulated over years of growth.
The Problem
Operations were constrained by a Dynamics NAV environment where every process improvement required a customization rebuild. Manual workarounds had accumulated across the distribution workflow. Reporting cycles were slow and the team had no real-time visibility into operations.
The Result
The NAV upgrade to Business Central removed the operational ceiling and released capacity for growth
in the four months following go-live on Business Central
The NAV upgrade eliminated manual workarounds, connected operations in real time, and gave the team the visibility to act on growth opportunities. Revenue increased 10 percent in the first four months on the new platform.
- Platform: Dynamics NAV to Business Central
- Result: real-time operational visibility
- Timeline: on scope, zero-downtime go-live
NAV 2016 Upgrade
Raw Edge completed a NAV implementation that built the operational foundation for a growing distribution business. Real-time inventory and order visibility from day one.
GP To Business Central Migration
Half Price Drapes scaled to 70 million dollars in annual revenue after migrating to Dynamics 365. If you are evaluating both Dynamics GP and NAV migration paths, see the full migration hub.
Pricing Transparency
NAV migration costs and timelines are published at the Business Central pricing page. Use the migration cost calculator for a scoped estimate.
What to expect from a NAV to Business Central migration partner like Redefine
Every item below is a practice, not a claim. Each one addresses a specific way NAV migrations go over budget or over timeline when managed differently.
| Migration practice | Typical partner | Redefine |
|---|---|---|
NAV data and extension audit before Statement of Work signing
| ||
Extension compatibility report with rebuild hour estimates
| ||
Fixed-fee migration scope with documented change order policy
| ||
Parallel run with zero-downtime cutover methodology
| ||
30-day hypercare period with same-day response included
| ||
Migration cost calculator available before any vendor call
| ||
Independent licensing advisory with no markup on Microsoft seats
|
NAV to Business Central migration questions answered
A standard NAV to Business Central migration takes 8 to 16 weeks. The most important variable is the number and complexity of NAV customizations. A lightly customized single-company environment typically runs 8 to 10 weeks. Heavily customized multi-company environments run 12 to 16 weeks. The pre-migration data and customization audit, completed before the Statement of Work is signed, produces the exact timeline for your environment. Use the migration calculator for an initial estimate.
Each NAV customization is audited before migration begins and placed into one of three categories: native Business Central functionality that replaces the customization, an AL extension rebuild in Business Central, or a deprecated process that can be retired. The extension compatibility report, delivered before the Statement of Work is signed, lists every customization with its recommended path and estimated rebuild cost. No surprises at build time.
NAV to Business Central migration costs range from 40,000 dollars for a lightly customized single-company environment to 200,000 dollars or more for heavily customized multi-company environments. Redefine offers fixed-fee migration scopes agreed before any work starts. Use the migration cost calculator for a range based on your NAV version and user count, or see published ranges at the Business Central pricing page.
Yes. Redefine uses a parallel run approach for all NAV migrations. During the final cutover phase, both NAV and Business Central run simultaneously. Your team validates every process in the new system before the cutover is confirmed and NAV is archived. Users are never locked out while data is moving. The parallel run period is built into the 12-week timeline at no additional cost.
Standard NAV to Business Central migrations include: chart of accounts, vendor and customer master records, item master data, open transactions (accounts receivable, accounts payable, open purchase and sales orders), and beginning balances. Historical transactions are typically archived in NAV for reference access rather than migrated live. The data audit completed before the Statement of Work identifies exactly which entities transfer, which need cleansing, and which stay in NAV for archive access.
Business Central Essentials starts at 70 dollars per user per month. Premium is 100 dollars per user per month. Most organizations find the total cost of Business Central is comparable to or lower than NAV once you factor in server infrastructure, maintenance contracts, and developer costs for customization upkeep. The Dynamics 365 consulting team can model the full cost comparison for your specific environment, including the migration investment, during the assessment call.
Is a Redefine NAV migration the right fit for you
Two short columns. The honest version of who we work well with, and who is better served elsewhere.
- You run Dynamics NAV 2009 through NAV 2018 and want a path off without a forced lift-and-shift.
- Finance, operations, and information technology will each commit a single point person for user acceptance testing and go-live confirmation.
- You want a written scope and timeline before signing the Statement of Work, not afterwards.
- You can dedicate 4 to 5 hours per week from your team across the 12-week timeline.
- You want to keep historical NAV data archived for reference rather than force-migrate every transaction.
- You need a go-live in under 6 weeks. NAV migrations done well need 8 weeks minimum.
- A single individual will own data validation, user acceptance testing, and integration sign-off. The migration needs at least two named stakeholders.
- You want a like-for-like NAV lift-and-shift with every customization preserved unchanged. Some customizations are better retired than rebuilt.
- You want a one-time data dump with no hypercare. The 30-day hypercare is built into the methodology, not optional.
- Your NAV environment has no documented chart of accounts or vendor master, and there is no appetite to clean data before migration.
Book a NAV migration assessment. Commit to nothing.
Submit your brief and a senior consultant builds your NAV to Business Central migration checklist with you. The call comes within 48 hours to run the data audit, then return a fixed-fee scope within 5 days. No commitment to receive it.
Submit your migration brief
NAV version, user count, customization count estimate. 3 minutes.
Data audit call within 48 hours
A senior consultant reviews your NAV environment and maps data entities, customizations, and integrations.
Fixed-fee scope in 5 days
Line-item migration scope with timeline, extension rebuild estimate, and change order policy.
Migration begins within 1 week of sign-off
Your migration lead is assigned at Statement of Work signing. No waiting for resource allocation.
Your team's time during the migration is typically 4 to 5 hours per week: data validation, user acceptance testing, and go-live confirmation. We handle everything else.
No commitment. No pitch.
Book your NAV migration assessment
Data audit call within 48 hours, fixed-fee scope in 5 days, no commitment required.
Call In 48 Hours
Scope In 5 Days
40 Plus NAV Migrations
4.9 Out Of 5 Rating
