How-toMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business CentralUpgrade / Release Management

Upgrade Business Central 14 to 27: Path, Work and Release Updates

Question

upgrade business central 14 to 27

Also searched as

business central latest updates
business central process only report
business central format time
business central consultant certification

Short answer

You cannot jump from Business Central 14 straight to 27 in one move; Microsoft's supported upgrade paths go through intermediate versions, and the real work is converting C/AL customizations to AL extensions before the first step. Check the current upgrade documentation for the exact path, run the upgrade in a copy, and treat it as a project, not a patch.

Applies to: Business Central on-premises version 14 (Spring 2019 era) upgrading to the current wave (version 27 is the 2025 release wave 2). Online tenants are updated by Microsoft and follow release waves instead.

Plan the upgrade from 14 to 27

1Confirm the starting point: version, build, and whether the system runs C/AL code in the base application or extensions only.
2Read Microsoft's current upgrade documentation for supported paths from version 14, and list the intermediate versions you must pass through.
3Inventory customizations: C/AL object changes, third-party add-ons and reports. Each needs an AL extension or a supported ISV version for the target.
4Convert C/AL customizations to AL extensions, using the dependency and conversion tooling, and move them into events and extension points instead of modified base objects.
5Restore a copy of production into a test server and run the upgrade steps there, including data upgrade, on the same hardware class you will use for go-live.
6Validate with real users: posting routines, costing adjustments, reports, integrations and permissions.
7Plan cut-over: freeze, final backup, upgrade, smoke tests, rollback criteria and who signs off.
8After go-live, adopt a cadence for updates so you never fall 10 versions behind again.

Why 14 to 27 is a project

Version 14 predates the extension-first model. Many version 14 systems carry customizations directly in base objects, and newer versions no longer allow that. So the cost is not the data upgrade itself but rewriting customizations as AL extensions and retesting every business process.

Add to that the changes between 14 and 27: new permission model, new web client behaviors, retired features, and renamed or moved pages. A realistic plan budgets more time for conversion and testing than for the technical upgrade.

Release updates: what the latest versions mean for you

Microsoft ships two major release waves per year (April and October), with monthly minor updates. Online customers are updated by Microsoft; on-premises customers choose when to upgrade but only supported versions get updates and security fixes. Check the Business Central release plan and lifecycle pages for dates before choosing a target.

For latest-updates questions, the practical rule is to target the newest version that all your ISV add-ons support, and keep a test environment on the next wave to catch problems early.

Process-only reports and Format time in AL

A process-only report in AL is a report with the ProcessingOnly property set to true; it has a request page and code but no layout, and is used for batch jobs such as updating records. In version 14 they were report objects without a layout too, so they usually convert cleanly.

Formatting a time value in AL uses the Format function with a format string, for example Format(MyTime, 0, '<Hours24>:<Minutes,2>'), and Format(MyTime, 0, 1) for the standard format of the user's regional settings. Check the Format function reference for the other tokens.

report 50100 "Update Customer Flags"
{
    ProcessingOnly = true;
    UsageCategory = Tasks;
    ApplicationArea = All;
    // dataitem and code here
}

// Format a time
TimeText := Format(MyTime, 0, '<Hours24>:<Minutes,2>');

Certification for the consultants on the project

The functional consultant exam is MB-800, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant. Developers usually study the AL language through Microsoft Learn rather than a dedicated exam. Check Microsoft's certification pages for current exam codes before booking.

Try it here, free

Business Central AL Extension Skeleton Generator

Open full tool

Fill in publisher, prefix and ID range to get app.json, a table extension, a page extension, an event subscriber codeunit and a permission set.

Fill in

Publisher

App name

Object prefix

Use your reserved AppSource or partner prefix.

ID range from

ID range to

New customer field

Field length

Application version

Generated code

Download:

app.json

{
  "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
  "name": "Customer Loyalty",
  "publisher": "Contoso Partners",
  "version": "1.0.0.0",
  "brief": "Customer Loyalty extension",
  "platform": "26.0.0.0",
  "application": "26.0.0.0",
  "idRanges": [
    { "from": 50100, "to": 50149 }
  ],
  "runtime": "15.0",
  "target": "Cloud"
}

Table extension: Customer

tableextension 50100 "CLY Customer Ext" extends Customer
{
    fields
    {
        field(50100; "CLY Loyalty Tier"; Code[20])
        {
            Caption = 'Loyalty Tier';
            DataClassification = CustomerContent;
        }
    }
}

Page extension: Customer Card

pageextension 50100 "CLY Customer Card Ext" extends "Customer Card"
{
    layout
    {
        addafter(Name)
        {
            field("CLY Loyalty Tier"; Rec."CLY Loyalty Tier")
            {
                ApplicationArea = All;
                ToolTip = 'Specifies the Loyalty Tier of the customer.';
            }
        }
    }
}

Codeunit with event subscriber

codeunit 50100 "CLY Customer Events"
{
    [EventSubscriber(ObjectType::Table, Database::Customer, 'OnAfterInsertEvent', '', false, false)]
    local procedure SetDefaultOnInsert(var Rec: Record Customer; RunTrigger: Boolean)
    begin
        if Rec.IsTemporary() then
            exit;
        if Rec."CLY Loyalty Tier" = '' then begin
            Rec."CLY Loyalty Tier" := 'STANDARD';
            Rec.Modify();
        end;
    end;
}

Permission set

permissionset 50100 "CLY ALL"
{
    Assignable = true;
    Caption = 'Customer Loyalty all permissions';

    Permissions =
        tabledata Customer = RIMD,
        codeunit "CLY Customer Events" = X;
}

Each object here uses the same ID, which is allowed because IDs are unique per object type, but change them as you add objects so they stay inside your range. Generate a fresh GUID for app.json. Set the runtime value to match your target BC version in the AL Language extension. Add a ToolTip on every page field to satisfy AppSource validation. Verify syntax in VS Code with the AL Language extension before publishing.

Planning to port NAV customisations to AL?

Optional: a review of which customisations to rebuild, replace with standard or retire.

Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.

Common pitfalls

!Planning a single jump from 14 to the latest version without checking supported paths.
!Leaving customizations in base objects and finding at upgrade time that they cannot be applied.
!Forgetting ISV add-ons. Each needs a version for the target release.
!Testing the technical upgrade only and skipping process testing such as costing and posting.
!Waiting until the version leaves support before starting.

How an ERP-grounded AI assistant handles this

Before an upgrade an assistant can read your object list, extensions and permission sets and produce an inventory of what is customized and what depends on what. It does not do the conversion for you, but it shortens the discovery phase. Netray runs this on-prem on a copy of the system.

See ERPray

Frequently asked questions

Can I upgrade Business Central 14 directly to 27?

Not in a single supported step. Microsoft publishes upgrade paths that go through intermediate versions, and customizations must be extensions first. Check the current upgrade documentation for the exact sequence and run it on a test copy before production.

How do I make a process-only report in AL?

Create a report object, set ProcessingOnly to true, add a request page if needed, and put your logic in the triggers. It has no layout and is typically exposed through a page action or a search entry.

How do I format a time in Business Central?

Use the Format function with a format string, for example Format(MyTime, 0, '<Hours24>:<Minutes,2>'). Without a format string, a number such as 1 gives the standard regional format.

Which certification covers Business Central consulting?

MB-800, Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant, is the functional exam. Verify the current exam code and skills outline on Microsoft's site.

How-to

Creating and selecting custom report layouts in Business Central

Business Central reports can render through a Word layout (simple, single-level documents like invoices) or an RDLC layout (complex, multi-level, grouped reports). Custom layouts are uploaded and assigned per report through the Report Layout Selection page, or shipped inside an AL extension with the rendering(...) property.

How-to

Calling and extending the Business Central API v2.0

The Business Central API v2.0 is a REST/OData endpoint at api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/{tenant}/{environment}/api/v2.0, authenticated with Azure AD OAuth 2.0. It exposes standard entities like customers and items, and lets you publish your own with an AL API page.

Error fix

Fixing "You do not have the following permissions on TableData (table): (permission)" in Business Central AL

This runtime error means the current user's assigned permission sets do not grant the required Insert, Modify, Delete, Read, or Execute right on that specific table. It is most common right after installing or updating a custom AL extension, because Business Central checks object-level permissions even for tables an extension owns.

Error fix

Fixing "Cannot create a record in (table). The record already exists" in D365 F&SCM data entity imports

This is the standard kernel duplicate-key exception, thrown when the Data Management Framework tries to insert a staging row into a target table whose unique or alternate key already matches an existing record. It almost always means the entity's insert-vs-update logic did not recognize the target row as an update, not that you have a true accidental duplicate in your source file.

Error fix

Fixing "There are currently no batch servers available for processing" in D365 F&SCM

This message means the batch framework cannot find any AOS instance flagged as a batch server and available for the batch group the job is assigned to. The fix is almost always in server configuration (System administration > Servers) or batch group assignment, not in the batch job itself.

Error fix

Fixing "The CIL object was not found" in Dynamics AX 2012

This error appears when the AOS tries to execute compiled CIL for a class or method that has not actually been regenerated since a code change was imported or edited, so the .NET runtime has nothing matching to run. The fix is a full compile followed by a full CIL generation and an AOS restart, not just a partial or incremental rebuild.

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Software

TermsDynamics 365 Business Central

Upgrade Business Central 14 to 27: Path, Work and Release Updates

Plan the upgrade from 14 to 27

Why 14 to 27 is a project

Release updates: what the latest versions mean for you

Process-only reports and Format time in AL

Certification for the consultants on the project

Fill in

app.json

Table extension: Customer

Page extension: Customer Card

Codeunit with event subscriber

Permission set

Planning to port NAV customisations to AL?

Common pitfalls

How an ERP-grounded AI assistant handles this

Frequently asked questions

Related

Creating and selecting custom report layouts in Business Central

Calling and extending the Business Central API v2.0

Fixing "You do not have the following permissions on TableData (table): (permission)" in Business Central AL

Fixing "Cannot create a record in (table). The record already exists" in D365 F&SCM data entity imports

Fixing "There are currently no batch servers available for processing" in D365 F&SCM

Fixing "The CIL object was not found" in Dynamics AX 2012

AI for Dynamics 365 Business Central, on-premises or SaaS, beyond Copilot

AI for Business Central manufacturing operations, beyond Copilot

Stuck on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central?

Keep exploring

Free tools

ERP fixes and how-tos

AI on your ERP

Integrations

Comparisons

Software

Fill in

app.json

Table extension: Customer

Page extension: Customer Card

Codeunit with event subscriber

Permission set

Planning to port NAV customisations to AL?