Financial Automation for a Canadian Professional Services Firm
A growing Canadian professional services firm had invested in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central — but they were not getting the value they expected. The system was live, the data was in it, but the processes around it were still manual. Invoices were processed by hand. Approvals were paper-based. Bank reconciliation was a monthly spreadsheet exercise. And month-end close consumed a large share of the finance team's month in manual work.
The ERP was underutilized. The problem was not the software — it was the implementation. The original deployment had configured the basics but left the automation, reporting and workflow capabilities untouched.
Underutilized ERP
Having Business Central is not the same as using Business Central. This firm had a modern ERP but was still processing invoices manually, reconciling bank statements in spreadsheets, and producing financial reports through Excel exports. The system was live but the value was locked.
Optimization Approach
Econix was engaged to unlock the automation and reporting capabilities that Business Central offers — moving the firm's finance operations from manual processes to automated workflows.
Zetadocs Deployment
Implemented Zetadocs for Business Central to automate invoice capture, approval workflows and document management. Incoming invoices are now captured electronically, routed through configurable approval chains, and posted automatically — eliminating manual keying and paper-based approvals.
Financial Dimension Rebuild
Rebuilt the chart of accounts and financial dimensions to match the firm's service line reporting needs. The original implementation had used a generic structure that did not support the management reporting the firm needed. Dimensions were restructured for service line, cost center and project-level P&L analysis.
Automated Bank Reconciliation
Implemented Power Automate workflows connected to Business Central's bank reconciliation module. Bank statement feeds are imported automatically, matching rules apply suggested entries, and the finance team reviews exceptions instead of processing every line manually.
Power BI Financial Dashboards
Built a suite of Power BI dashboards replacing manually maintained Excel reports. Real-time financial visibility across service lines, project profitability, cash flow, AR aging and budget variance — connected directly to Business Central data with no manual export or refresh required.
Results
Outcome highlights:
- A dramatically shorter month-end close following automation
- A major reduction in manual invoice processing time
- Manually maintained Excel reports replaced with live Power BI dashboards
- Most bank transactions matched automatically, with staff reviewing exceptions only
- Drawn-out, manual month-end close
- Manual invoice keying and paper approvals
- Spreadsheet bank reconciliation
- Manually maintained Excel reports
- No real-time financial visibility
- Generic chart of accounts
- A dramatically shorter month-end close
- Zetadocs automated capture and approval
- Power Automate bank reconciliation
- Live Power BI dashboards
- Real-time drill-through reporting
- Service line financial dimensions
Optimization Impact
The same Business Central system — with different outcomes. By deploying Zetadocs, rebuilding financial dimensions, automating bank reconciliation and replacing Excel with Power BI, Econix turned a drawn-out manual close into a dramatically shorter one and gave the finance team real-time visibility it had not had before. No new ERP purchase. No migration. Disciplined use of the platform the firm already owned.
Is Your Business Central Underperforming?
If your organization has Business Central but is still running manual processes, exporting to Excel, or struggling with month-end close, the problem is likely not the software — it is the implementation. Econix specializes in optimizing existing Business Central environments to deliver the automation and reporting value you expected.
Book a free ERP Health Check → or schedule a 30-minute assessment call to assess your Business Central utilization.