The cost has two separate parts: the recurring Microsoft licences, which are public, and the one-off upgrade project, whose price depends above all on how heavily your system is customised. This page explains both — and what moves the project price up and down.
The part you can calculate yourself. Microsoft's list prices for Business Central, net, per user per month with annual billing:
Example: 25 full users on Essentials and 15 occasional users on Team Members come to €1,836.00 per month, roughly €22,032.00 per year — net, licences only. Prices as reviewed on 10 August 2026.
You will deliberately not find a headline figure here. Two companies on the same NAV version with the same number of users can differ several-fold in upgrade cost, depending on how much special-purpose logic has moved into the system over the years.
That is why the work starts with a detail analysis and results in a binding fixed-price quote based on a jointly documented scope. An estimated range before that analysis would be worthless to you: you could not plan with it, and we would have to correct it later.
Seven factors, ordered by their usual weight. Anyone who can answer these for their own system already has half of the detail analysis in their head.
Moving from NAV 2018 to Business Central is a different project from moving off Navision 2009 or something older. The wider the version gap, the more intermediate steps in the data migration and the more customisations that can no longer be carried over one to one.
Usually the largest single item. Every C/AL customisation has to be assessed: carry it over as an AL extension, replace it with standard functionality, or drop it. An installation running close to standard is considerably cheaper than a special-purpose solution grown over fifteen years.
Every connection to a shop, DMS, payroll, time tracking, shipping or production system has to be rebuilt and retested. Modern API connections are quick; file-based interfaces and legacy direct database access cost more.
Master data and open items move in practically every project. The question is history: how many years of documents should come across, and in what depth? That is a decision with a direct cost effect, and it can be made deliberately.
Custom report layouts in NAV have often grown over years. They have to be rebuilt — frequently the point at which moving to Power BI pays off, rather than recreating old layouts one to one.
Business Central Online removes server operation, update effort and infrastructure cost, but requires every customisation to be cloud-ready. On-premises operation allows more special cases, but hosting and updates stay with you.
Business Central does not look like Navision. The effort depends on the number of users and on how many processes change along with the upgrade. Planned too tightly, it comes back as support load after go-live.
30 to 45 minutes: NAV version, number of users, known special cases, interfaces. Afterwards both sides know whether the project makes sense and roughly what size it is. Free of charge.
We examine the installation technically and assess every customisation, every interface and the data set individually. The result is a documented scope — the basis for everything that follows.
On the basis of that documented scope you receive a binding fixed-price quote. Anything outside the scope is agreed separately, so the agreed price stays stable.
Test migration, sign-off by your departments, training, go-live and a supported initial period afterwards.
It can only honestly be quoted after a detail analysis, because the price depends mainly on the extent of your customisations rather than on the number of users. Two companies on the same NAV version can differ several-fold. We analyse the existing installation first and then give a binding fixed-price quote based on a jointly documented scope.
Because a range reaching from a low five-figure to a six-figure sum is not a basis for planning. You could neither budget nor compare with it, and we would have to correct it after the analysis anyway. Instead of a number we state openly which factors drive the price — so you can assess your own system.
The initial call of 30 to 45 minutes is free. The detail analysis that follows is a separate, clearly bounded piece of work at a fixed price you know in advance. Its output — the assessment of every customisation and interface — belongs to you and stays usable even if you have the upgrade implemented by someone else.
Yes, they are two separate items. The Microsoft licences are a recurring per-user, per-month cost published in Microsoft's own price list; the upgrade project is a one-off engagement. This page sets out both blocks, with a worked example for the licence side.
Yes — once the detail analysis is complete and on the basis of the jointly documented scope. Anything inside that scope is covered. Requests that come up during the project are agreed separately, so the price originally agreed stays stable instead of creeping upwards.
Duration follows the same factors as price: the version gap, the depth of customising, the number of interfaces and the scope of the data migration. An installation running close to standard is a manageable project; a special-purpose solution grown over many years is considerably more. A reliable schedule comes out of the detail analysis.
Usually yes, provided the customisations are cloud-ready. Business Central Online removes server operation, update effort and infrastructure cost; in return all extensions have to exist as AL extensions. Since every customisation is touched during the upgrade anyway, this is the cheapest moment to take that step.
Free initial consultation, 30–45 minutes, remote. An honest assessment — even if the answer is that you don't actually need it.
