When you integrate an ERP such as Dynamics 365 Business Central, you get essential functionality and features out-of-the-box. But if you stop there, you’d miss out on opportunities to make your system work harder for you. Depending on your industry and specialty, you want to take advantage of add-ons, extensions, and ISVs that can take the already powerful ERP functionalities to the next level and more specifically geared to your needs. If we compare ERP customizations to home renovations, these changes are like adding an island and a bay window to your open-concept kitchen - not everyone will renovate a house in the same way, but the changes you make create an even more ideal kitchen for you.

Or maybe, for these two add-ins we’re going to cover here, a more apt comparison is like adding a deadbolt to your door and cameras around your property, because that’s what these two add-ins really do – they add hefty layers to your financial security via double-checking and approval processes. Positive Pay and Continia are tools you can use to extend Business Central, not just to add functionality, but to keep your business safe and running smoothly.

Positive Pay: Multifactor for your bank payments

Levees prevent floods in low-lying geographies. Buildings near fault lines are engineered to withstand earthquakes. We eat nutritious food and exercise to reduce risk of health issues. Mitigating risk is deeply engrained in the human condition.

Today, this reflex extends to our finite monetary resources, where businesses cannot afford to take risks. You use the resources available to you to ensure your assets and money are not being secreted away under your radar. That’s where the Positive Pay tool swoops in for the save.

How does it work? Well, it’s actually a very simple concept – your bank will only fulfill payments from an approved list that you provide, and anything that does not match this list gets kicked back for you to examine and approve/deny.

Sounds good already, right? Let’s dig into the details a bit.

Preconfigured for Bank of America and City Bank and easy to set up for others, this Dynamics 365 Business Central tools will feel familiar to any past or present Dynamics GP users who have used Safe Pay. Positive Pay can be used for:

• ACH payments

• paper check

• wire transfers

• digital payments

It works as a sort of multi-factor verification process for outgoing payments. When using Positive Pay, your bank will match checks that a company issues with checks that are submitted for payment via details like the check number, account number, and dollar amount. If anything looks amiss or suspicious, the check is flagged, compiled into an exception report, and must be reviewed by an authorized individual at the company. Even more, you can setup ACH payment thresholds to tag any payments over a certain amount for review; although you want to catch all fraud attempts (which Positive Pay can achieve!) the bigger attempts have the potential to hit your company harder and warrant an automatic double-check.

Positive Pay helps companies detect errors and fraud before they have the chance to hurt the company, and there is major relief in added layers of protection for the payments exiting your bank account. It’s easy, straightforward, and effective way to protect your financials.

Continia: Easy finances coming in and going out

It’s no surprise that as a company grows, the number of documents coming in and being produced increases considerably. An unclear and messy filing system is the stuff of nightmares that may just make you pull your hair out. So each business needs a sophisticated system to collect, organize, and securely store all necessary documents in a way that makes retrieving and reviewing them a straightforward, non-terrifying experience.

Enter Continia. In short, it makes Business Central your all-in-one for money going in and coming out and makes for easy digital retention of all related documents. Ready to unclench your jaw and release the tension in your shoulders?

This 3rd party ISV sells two Accounts Payable Automation tools in the US: Document Capture and Expense Management. Depending on the needs of your organization, either or both of these functionalities can be utilized to reduce repetitive, manual tasks required of your financial team (Continia’s website claims that these tools can reduce time spent on these tasks by up to 90%). The integration with Business Central is seamless, and the interface is intuitive and straightforward.

What are some tangible AP automation situations you’ll use Continia for?

• correctly log travel, food, and other expenses while employees are on business trips

• submit receipts

• request approval for expenses

• match documents to items for accounts payable

• auto-transfer data into Business Central from various file forms for approval

• record archiving

Here are some granular, nitty gritty details for Continia’s functionalities. But we get that there’s a lot here and you may have more questions if you’re thinking about using Continia in your Business Central environment. So if you do, let us know!

• Document Capture is described as a “complete digital invoice workflow” and is an end-to-end solution for all accounts payable processes within Business Central. You can scan paper documents or use PDFs or XML files. Document Capture works by importing documents via built-in OCR tech to automatically capture and transfer data to document lines or fields into corresponding fields in Business Central to be registered, approved, and archived. These advanced capture capabilities reduce (and can sometimes entirely) remove manual data entry, saving heaps of time and eliminating manual entry errors. Purchase and return orders can be matched to incoming documents automatically by matching lines of the document (like item price and number).

• With Expense Management, it’s never been easier to keep track of employee spending (cash or card) and approve these expenses and related activities right in Business Central or the Expense App or Web Portal. Expense users can submit expenses for approval via picture or email and, after filling any required fields that are not auto-captured, submit it for approval. Registered credit card transactions are automatically matched to expenses that are reported, and if receipts are needed for an expense, a request is sent off to the user. Mileage and per diem for meals and accommodations can be set up based on reimbursement rates, travel duration, and other rules are configurable within Business Central based on the business’ own specifications.