Manage Access to Business Central

Note

Azure Active Directory is now Microsoft Entra ID. Learn more

This article gives administrators and application developers a high-level overview of how to control access to Business Central and its features. Use the links to go to other articles that provide more details about the subjects.

Layered access

Business Central uses a layered approach to application security, as outlined in the following diagram. To learn more about each layer, go to Application Security in Business Central.

Licenses

Assign Business Central users to a Dynamics 365 Business Central license so they can view, modify, and act on their business data from any user interface. To learn more about licenses, go to Licensing in Dynamics 365 Business Central.

However, folks who occasionally need read-only access to information in Business Central can use a Microsoft 365 license. To learn more about giving limited access, go to Business Central Access with Microsoft 365 Licenses.

For comprehensive information about the different types of licenses and how licensing works in Business Central, download the Dynamics 365 Licensing Guide.

Business Central administrator tasks

The following table lists how administrators can control access to Business Central and the features people will use. Some of the tasks also help keep access settings up to date.

Task	Learn more
Each person must have a user account before they can sign in to Business Central. The easiest way to set up users is to add them one at a time in the Microsoft 365 admin center.	Add users and assign licenses at the same time
Manage access for all users at the environment level. Create a Microsoft Entra security group and assign it to the environment. You can also use security groups to manage access for specific groups of users.	Manage Access to Environments Control Access to Business Central Using Security Groups
Create users in Business Central, and define who can sign in.	Create Users According to Licenses
In combination with user licenses, permissions define the objects that a user can access within each database or environment. Specify whether people can read, modify, or enter data in database objects.	Assign Permissions to Users and Groups
If an external accountant manages your books and financial reporting, invite them to your Business Central. They'll be able to work more closely with you on your fiscal data.	Accountant Experiences in Dynamics 365 Business Central
If you're a Business Central reselling partner, you can send an email to a customer to request a reseller relationship. You can include delegated administration privileges for Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365 in the email.	Delegated Administrator Access to Business Central Online
An Azure service tag represents a group of IP addresses that traffic for a service can come from or go to. Use service tags to set up firewalls to allow traffic only from certain services. The Dynamics365BusinessCentral tag lets you use firewall and network security group rules to restrict traffic to and from Business Central.	Azure security service tags
When using Microsoft Entra authentication with Business Central, we recommend you take advantage of Microsoft Entra ID Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). MFA further safeguards access to the application and data.	Multi-Factor Authentication for Dynamics 365 Business Central

Business Central developer tasks

There's also a developer story for managing access to Business Central. For example, developers and administrators can build and connect applications to Business Central that benefit the business:

• Streamline business processes
• Improve customer interactions
• Make better decisions, faster

The following table links to information about how to give apps and extensions access to Business Central data.

Task	Learn more
The two main concepts for defining access to features are entitlements and permissions. Entitlements give broad access to objects according to licenses or Microsoft Entra roles. Permissions and permission sets let you fine-tune access to objects.	Entitlements and Permission Sets Overview

See Also

Security in Business Central