How to Use Power Platform to Trigger Actions from Business Central Business Events
You can automate with ease by using Power Platform with Business Central Business Events. Power Automate helps you achieve this. Business events allow you to react quickly to changes, enabling better decision-making. Companies that utilize this approach often complete orders 30% faster and save 25% of their time on critical tasks. Many organizations have saved $14.8 million over three years, achieving a remarkable 224% return on investment. This system reduces manual work and ensures your data flows seamlessly between platforms.
Key Takeaways
You can connect Power Platform with Business Central. This helps you automate tasks easily. It lets you react fast to changes in your business.
Business events send you alerts right away. They can start actions by themselves. This helps finish orders faster and saves a lot of time.
It is easy to set up business events in Business Central. You just follow a few simple steps. You can make workflows that help your business work better.
Use Dataverse to keep all your data in one place. This keeps your data safe and the same everywhere. It also makes it easier to automate tasks.
Test and check your automated flows often. This helps you find problems fast. It keeps your business running smoothly.
Business Events Overview
What Are Business Events?
Business events help you link Business Central to other systems. You can use them to send alerts or start actions when something important happens. For example, if a sales order is posted, a business event can tell your team right away.
Here is a table that shows what business events do in Business Central:
Business events help keep your systems working together. They make sure you get updates as soon as something changes in Business Central.
Why Use Business Events?
Business events have many good points. You can make your workflow better and make smarter choices. Here are some reasons to use business events:
You get alerts from finance and operations apps.
You start events during business processes, which helps with integration and alerts.
Business events also help fix common problems in your company. Look at the table below to see how they solve these issues:
You get data right away, so you can react fast to changes. Centralized data helps you decide quickly and correctly. Advanced analytics help you find patterns and plan ahead. Business events help your company act faster and work better.
Set Up Business Events
Enable in Business Central
You can turn on business events in Business Central with easy steps. This lets you link your business data to Power Platform and other services. Here is what you need to do: First, go to Power Automate. Next, click + Create and pick Automated Cloud Flow. A window will pop up. Type a name for your flow and choose a trigger. Use the filter to find When a business event occurs. Pick When a business event occurs (V3) and click Create. In the flow editor, fill in the needed fields like Environment and the business event you want. If you want, set the Company field under Advanced parameters.
Tip: Setting up business events this way helps you automate jobs and get updates from Business Central right away.
Configure Subscriptions
After you turn on business events, you need to set up subscriptions. Subscriptions let your system watch for certain events and do something when they happen. You do this by making event subscriber methods in AL code. To set up a subscription, first pick the codeunit you want for the event subscriber. Then, add a new AL method to that codeunit. Write the code that will handle the event. Mark the method with the EventSubscriber attribute. If you need to, set the codeunit’s EventSubscriberInstance property.
An event subscriber waits for a certain event and runs your code when it happens. You can choose when the subscriber works by setting properties in your code. You can also turn the subscriber on or off to control when it is active.
Here are some common endpoint types you can use for business event subscriptions:
Note: Picking the right endpoint helps you link Business Central to the tools and services you use every day.
Connect Power Platform
Power Automate Setup
You can Automate with Ease by using Power Automate with Business Central. First, open a list, card, or document page in Business Central. Next, do these steps: In the action bar, click More options .... Then choose Automate. Pick Power Automate and click Get Started with Power Automate. Follow the instructions on the screen. When you see the Privacy Notices Status page, read the details. Click Agree if you accept.
Power Automate works with many Dynamics 365 licenses. The table below shows which licenses include Power Automate:
Add Business Central
You must add Business Central as a connector in Power Platform. This step helps you Automate with Ease and link your business data. Here is how you do it: First, log in to Business Central as an administrator. Click 'Set up a connection to Dataverse'. Next, log in to Power Platform. Pick 'Dynamics 365 Business Central' from the connector list.
You can use OAuth authentication for safe connections. Many companies like OAuth because it protects your data. You may also use service accounts or service principals for extra safety.
Use Dataverse
Dataverse helps you store and manage data from Business Central. It works as a bridge between your apps and your business data. Dataverse lets you do these things: Centralize data from different places. Make app development easier by joining data. Lower complexity and keep data the same. Store and manage data in a safe, scalable platform. Control access with role-based and field-level security.
Dataverse keeps your data safe and consistent. It makes it easier to Automate with Ease in your business.
Automate with Ease: Build Flows
Create Flow Triggers
You can begin automating by setting up flow triggers in Power Automate. Triggers help you act fast when something changes in Business Central. You can pick different triggers for your business needs. Here is a table that shows the main trigger types you can use:
To set up a flow trigger for a Business Central event, follow these steps: First, open the Power Automate portal. Next, find the workflow with the "When a business event occurs (V3)" trigger. Turn the workflow OFF and wait for one minute. Then, turn the workflow ON again to refresh the webhook subscription.
These triggers help you Automate with Ease. Your business can respond to important events right away.
Customize Actions
After you set your trigger, you can pick what happens next. Power Automate lets you choose actions that fit your business process. You can send alerts, start approval flows, or update records in other systems. Here are some examples:
If the approver agrees, the system can send a message or update an Excel file.
You can automate making orders, sending invoices, and posting payments in the order-to-cash process.
You can automate creating purchase orders, matching invoices, and approving payments in the purchase-to-pay process.
You can watch stock levels, figure out reorder points, and make purchase orders for inventory.
You can automate tasks like journal entries, reconciliations, and reports for financial closing.
You can automate email campaigns, score leads, and group customers for sales and marketing.
Tip: Use Dataverse business events to keep event management in one place. This makes it easier to fix and manage flows for user actions, data changes, or system triggers.
You can add more actions to your flow to Automate with Ease. You can also use action-based triggers to add extra flows to the Power Automate action menu.
Test and Monitor
Testing and watching your flows is important to make sure they work. You can use different ways to check your flows and fix problems fast:
Use error handling to set up backup actions if a step fails.
Try static result testing to see how your error-handling works.
Use input validation with expressions to check data before using it.
Set retry policies for actions that might fail sometimes.
Use the Flow Checker tool to find problems before you go live.
Use analytics tools to watch how flows perform and find slow spots.
If your flow does not work, try these steps:
Make sure the inputs and trigger conditions are correct.
Confirm you have access to all resources used in the trigger.
Make sure admin mode is off in the environment settings.
Check if the flow is paused because of DLP policy rules.
Make sure all connections in the flow are active.
Check if your flow uses a premium connector trigger and if your license supports it.
Note: Testing and monitoring help you Automate with Ease. This keeps your flows working well and lets you react to changes fast.
Automate with Ease by building flows that connect Business Central to Power Platform. You can make a system that helps you make smart choices and connect in real time. This way, you do less manual work and keep your business running smoothly.
Best Practices
Common Use Cases
You can use Business Central and Power Platform together. This helps you do tasks faster and with fewer mistakes. Many companies use these tools in different ways:
Save email attachments to SharePoint or OneDrive.
Send welcome emails and make accounts for new workers.
Get invoice data and fill in accounting records.
Watch for brand mentions and keywords on social media.
Send documents for approval and reminders.
Keep data the same in different systems.
Make reports and email them to people.
Ask customers for feedback with surveys.
Handle event sign-ups, invites, and RSVPs.
Make IT support tickets from emails.
Approve leave requests with online forms.
Tell sales reps about new leads right away.
Plan audits and make reports for rules.
Warn teams when inventory is low.
Book meetings by finding open times.
Send out employee satisfaction surveys.
Start expense claim approvals.
Record activities in other CRMs.
Tell suppliers about new orders.
Manage hiring from CVs to interviews.
These examples show how you can link business tasks. They help make your work easier.
Optimization Tips
You can make your flows better by using smart steps. These ideas help you build flows that work well and are easy to fix:
You should check how your flows are doing. Look at things like how many runs work, how long they take, and what errors happen. Watch how much API and system power you use. Check how happy users are and how fast you answer. These steps help you find problems and keep your flows working well.
Tip: Check your flows often. Change them to make them faster and better. This helps your business run well and lets you react quickly to new problems.
Automating with Business Central and Power Platform makes work easier. It helps your team do jobs faster and with fewer mistakes. For example, you can set up invoice processing to save time. This also makes approvals happen quicker. Using these tools lets you focus on important goals. You can get more done and work better.
Save lots of time on tasks you do again and again
Talk better with automatic messages
See what is happening right now with live data
Find more ways to automate and keep learning with these resources:
FAQ
How do you trigger a flow from a Business Central business event?
First, make a flow in Power Automate. Pick the "When a business event occurs" trigger. Connect it to your Business Central environment. Choose the event you want to use. Save your flow and test it.
Can you use Power Automate with all Business Central events?
You can use Power Automate with most standard business events. Some custom events might need extra setup in AL code. Always check if your event is in the trigger list.
What should you do if your flow does not run?
Look at the flow’s run history in Power Automate. Make sure the trigger is turned on. Check that all connections work. Read any error messages. Fix problems and test again.
Is Dataverse required for every integration?
You do not need Dataverse for every integration. You can connect Power Automate straight to Business Central. Use Dataverse if you want to keep data together or link with other apps.
How can you monitor your automated flows?
Use analytics tools in Power Automate. Check run history, success rates, and error logs. Set up alerts for failed runs. This helps you keep your flows working well.