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Making changes to Dynamics GP while prepping for a future move: Needing new reports
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Time to read: 4 min
As organizations continue to rely on Dynamics GP, the pressure to create new and more complex reports increases even as the product approaches the end of its lifecycle. With mainstream support for GP ending December 31, 2029, many report enhancements built in native GP today will have a limited shelf life. At the same time, creating new reports in GP can be cumbersome, especially when requirements extend beyond basic lists and summaries.
Ultimately, making large SmartList Builder reports, especially complex sales or operational reporting that pull from multiple GP tables, often requires significant time, technical effort, ongoing maintenance, and sometimes even ISVs, making them costly short-term solutions on a platform nearing the end of life.
If you’re in need of new reports, this is one of many chances to plan strategically for your eventual move out of GP. Developing new reports in Power BI or similar reporting platforms provides greater flexibility, scalability, and long-term value. Many of these tools are compatible with both Dynamics GP and Business Central, so your reports can be carried forward instead of left behind during a migration or new implementation. Doing this will reduce rework, prepare key staff to work in Power BI, and ensure reporting investments made today remain relevant when you do end up moving to another ERP like Business Central.
What we cover:
Why would I change reporting now versus wait for my (eventual) move out of GP?
Reporting needs rarely pause just because a system is aging, and businesses continue to request new sales, operational, and financial insights. Knowing this, the question becomes how you can get what you need in the short term while looking forward into future investments and continuity across applications.
Adopting dynamic, modern reporting tools now ensures new reports are not locked into Dynamics GP. SmartLists and SmartList Builder reports are tightly tied to GP table structures and must be rebuilt during a Business Central migration, meaning a longer and more expensive migration. But, dynamic reporting tools, such as Power BI, exist outside of your ERP platform. Reports in these tools can often be disconnected from GP data and later connected to Business Central data sources with far less redesign. With this in mind, why would you add yet another report to that roster of rebuilds?
Handling complex, multi-table reporting
As reporting requirements expand, many organizations find they need reports that pull data from multiple Dynamics GP tables, such as sales transactions, customers, inventory, pricing, and financial dimensions. Building these reports using SmartList Builder or Report Designer can quickly become difficult to manage. Complex joins, performance limitations, and fragile logic often result in reports that are difficult to verify and risky to modify. Each additional requirement increases the risk of errors and extends development time, especially since GP data structures were not designed for advanced analytics.
Image: Dated Report Designer View
Image: Smartlist Builder
Image: In GP, Report Writer shows its age
Power BI is built specifically to handle complex multi-table data models in a more scalable and controlled way. You can combine data from multiple GP sources, create reusable data relationships, and apply business logic in a centralized model rather than embedding complexity into individual reports. All this leads to a more reliable report that is easier to maintain and work with—via interactive visual filters and drilldowns that require no report redesign.
Staff will appreciate cloud reporting
Power BI is also highly accessible, which makes this transition easier for a wider audience. It integrates naturally with Excel, Microsoft Teams, and other familiar Microsoft tools, and offers both desktop and cloud-based access. This lowers the barrier to entry for users who are not technical report developers and enables broader adoption across the organization. As a result, teams are better prepared to support internal reporting needs after moving to Business Central, reducing reliance on report building services outside the organization and accelerating the value of your new ERP system.
Image: Reports can be run from anywhere
Faster, better decision-making, today
Dynamic reporting tools improve modernization efforts not just by preparing for the future but by delivering immediate value. Power BI enables interactive dashboards, drill-downs, and near-real-time insights that are difficult to achieve in GP reporting tools. Business leaders gain faster access to sales trends, operational performance, and financial metrics, which support better decision-making in the present. Modernizing reporting now means organizations can adopt more data-driven habits before Business Central enters the picture.
Image: Reports in Business Central and Power BI
Moving to cloud-based reporting solutions represents more than a technical upgrade. It is a key step in modernizing how the organization uses data to operate and make decisions. By shifting reporting away from GP-specific tools and into platforms like Power BI, businesses gain more flexible, scalable, and interactive reporting capabilities now while planning for a future ERP move. These tools deliver immediate improvements through better visibility, faster insights, and richer analytics while ensuring reporting investments remain relevant as GP approaches end of life.
Just as importantly, cloud reporting improves change management by spreading transformation over time. Teams can adopt new tools, build skills, and validate reports before an ERP migration rather than absorbing all change at once. This reduces risk, increases user confidence, and allows the Business Central transition to focus on core process improvements rather than rebuilding reports under pressure. Modern reporting serves as both a foundation for ERP modernization and a catalyst for better decision-making today.
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