Business Central is an accounting and operations system that replaces Xero, at NZ$129.40 per user per month for Essentials on Microsoft's NZ price list, plus a partner-led implementation. Most firms under 20 staff who search for it do not have an accounting problem; they have a job, quote or scheduling problem sitting next to a Xero that works fine. That is a Power App with a Xero sync, built once, with no per-user ERP licence. The test is one question: is the pain in the ledger, or next to it?
For a 10-person NZ business
Verdict: for 10 people, Business Central costs NZ$7,140 to NZ$21,360 a year in licences before an implementation, while a Power App on top of Xero costs $0 to about NZ$4,180 and leaves your accounts alone. Pick Business Central only if the ledger itself is the problem.
| 10 users | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Business Central Essentials, 10 full users | NZ$1,294.00 | NZ$15,528.00 |
| Business Central Premium, 10 full users | NZ$1,780.00 | NZ$21,360.00 |
| Business Central Essentials, 4 full plus 6 Team Members | NZ$595.00 | NZ$7,140.00 |
| Power App on Xero, SharePoint lists | $0 on top of Microsoft 365 | $0 |
| Power App on Xero, Dataverse, 10 Power Apps Premium | NZ$324.00 | NZ$3,888.00 |
| Same, plus one Power Automate Premium for the third-party Xero connector flow (the connector vendor's own licence is extra) | NZ$348.30 | NZ$4,179.60 |
Microsoft NZ list prices, paid yearly, read on microsoft.com/en-nz on 30 September 2026. Your Xero subscription is the same in both columns, except that Business Central replaces it. Implementation is on top for Business Central and covered by the build price for the Power App, both in the table below.
What each one is
| Business Central | A Power App on Xero | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Microsoft's small and mid-business ERP: ledger, sales, purchasing, inventory, projects, manufacturing (Premium) | A custom app for the operational process (jobs, quotes, scheduling, compliance) with Xero left as the accounting system and invoices pushed across |
| Licence, NZD, paid yearly | Essentials NZ$129.40 per user per month; Premium NZ$178.00; Team Members NZ$12.90 for read and approve | $0 on SharePoint lists; NZ$32.40 per user per month on Dataverse; Xero stays at its current plan |
| 10 people, licences per year | Say 4 full users and 6 team members: NZ$7,140 | $0, or NZ$3,888 on Dataverse |
| Implementation | A partner project: chart of accounts, opening balances, data migration from Xero, training; from the low tens of thousands for a small firm | $4,000 to $8,000 for one process, $8,000 to $18,000 for a system with history migrated |
| Who runs the accounts afterwards | Business Central; your accountant needs to work in it or export from it | Xero, unchanged; your accountant notices nothing |
| Right when | The accounting itself has outgrown Xero: multi-entity, inventory with costing, manufacturing, a ledger the accountant is asking for | The accounting is fine and the pain is operational |
Licence prices from microsoft.com/en-nz, September 2026. The implementation range is what NZ partner comparisons put a small Business Central project at; I do not implement Business Central, so treat it as the shape of the number, not a quote.
The one question
Where does it hurt: in the ledger, or next to it? Ledger pain sounds like: we have three entities and consolidate in Excel; we hold stock and do not know what it cost us; we assemble things; the accountant says Xero cannot do what we need. Next-to-the-ledger pain sounds like: quotes take a day; nobody knows which jobs are on this week; timesheets are on paper; the job costing lives in a spreadsheet; invoices get typed into Xero from somewhere else. The first list is Business Central territory and I will say so, though if the pain is genuinely stock and assembly rather than the ledger itself, a dedicated inventory platform is worth pricing before a full ERP migration; see Cin7 Core pricing in NZ. The second is a Power App with a Xero sync, and it is most of the enquiries I get that start with "we were looking at Dynamics".
Why small firms end up looking at the wrong one
Because a Microsoft partner's answer to an operational problem is the product they sell, and Business Central is the product. It is a good product. It is also a new accounting system, which means a new chart of accounts, a migration of opening balances, GST filing from a new place, bank feeds re-set, and an accountant who now works in software they may not know. For a 12-person firm whose real problem is a job board, that is a year of disruption to get a job board. The comparison of who quotes what, and why, is in why the big Microsoft consultancies will not take your small migration.
What does the Power App route involve?
- Jobs, quotes and scheduling in a Power App on SharePoint lists or Dataverse, on phones and desktop.
- Xero stays the ledger. Approved invoices go across through a third-party Xero connector (premium, so its flow's owner needs Power Automate Premium at NZ$24.30, plus the connector vendor's own licence) or through the job software's own sync if you keep one; payments come back so the job shows paid. The mechanics are the same as Tradify to Xero, without the subscription.
- Job costing from timesheets and purchase orders in the app, with Xero's actuals matched by invoice number; the report Xero cannot give you, without changing Xero. Xero job costing for trades is the detail.
- Handed over with source and documentation, no partner retainer, and the accountant never logs into anything new.
When should you contact a Business Central partner?
If your answers land in the ledger list, or you are a manufacturer or wholesaler with real inventory, a Power App will be a detour and I will say so on the first call. Business Central plus a partner is the right tool for that firm, at the price above, and Power Apps then extends it rather than replacing it. The cost of the wrong choice runs both ways: an ERP for a job-board problem costs a year, and a job board for an inventory problem costs a rebuild. The wider list of things I would not build on the Power Platform is in when Power Platform is the wrong answer.
Common questions
How much does Dynamics 365 Business Central cost in NZ?
On Microsoft's NZ price list (checked September 2026) Business Central Essentials is NZ$129.40 per user per month, Premium NZ$178.00, and Team Members NZ$12.90, all paid yearly. That is the licence only. An implementation by a NZ partner is a separate project that, for a firm this size, typically runs from the low tens of thousands upward, and it replaces Xero rather than sitting next to it.
Is Business Central overkill for a small business?
For most firms under 20 staff that are happy with Xero, yes. Business Central is an ERP: general ledger, inventory, purchasing, manufacturing, projects, in one system. If the pain is job tracking, quoting, scheduling or reporting while the accounting is fine, a Power App on SharePoint or Dataverse that syncs with Xero solves the pain for a build price and no per-user ERP licence.
Can I run Business Central alongside Xero?
Not sensibly. Business Central is the accounting system; running both means two ledgers. The realistic choices are: stay on Xero and build the operational system next to it, or move the accounting into Business Central and let it own the ledger. The second is a change of accountant workflow, GST filing and bank feeds, not a software add-on.
When is Business Central the right call for a small NZ firm?
When the business has outgrown Xero on the accounting side itself: multi-entity consolidation, inventory with landed costs and bins, manufacturing or assembly, or an accountant who is asking for a general ledger Xero cannot give them. Then Business Central at NZ$129.40 a user, with a partner, is the right shape, and a Power App is the wrong one.
Where to start
Tell me where it hurts, in Xero or next to it, and roughly how many people. One free 30-minute call and you get Business Central or a Power App, with the yearly licence number and, if it is mine to build, a fixed price.