Role Centers are the homepages users see when they log in to Business Central. Each Role Center is designed to display information, shortcuts, and activities relevant to a specific job function. For example, an accounting manager sees different information than a business manager or sales order processor. This helps users focus on the tasks that are most important to their daily work.
Changing your Role Center
Users can switch between available Role Centers by:
- Selecting the Settings gear icon.
- Choosing My Settings.
- Selecting a different role from the available options.
Each role presents different navigation menus, activities, and shortcuts based on the needs of that position.
Roles vs. permissions
It's important to understand that roles and permissions are not the same thing.
- A role determines what appears on the homepage and navigation menus.
- Permissions determine what data and functions a user can access.
This means users may have permission to access information that does not automatically appear in their assigned Role Center.
Adding and removing shortcuts
Users can customize shortcuts by adding or removing bookmarks. For example:
- Remove shortcuts that are not needed.
- Search for frequently used pages and bookmark them.
- Add commonly accessed functions back to the navigation menu.
This allows users to create a more efficient workspace tailored to their responsibilities.
Personalizing your Role Center
Individual users can personalize their own Role Center without affecting other users. Using the Personalize option, users can:
- Hide sections they do not use.
- Rearrange lists and activities.
- Move important information higher on the page.
- Adjust the layout to better match their workflow.
These changes apply only to the individual user.
Using activity cues
Activity cues provide visual indicators that help users monitor important work. Depending on the configuration, tiles may display different colors to indicate various conditions, such as:
- Normal activity levels
- Warning conditions
- Items requiring attention
Users can modify certain thresholds and settings to better support their daily processes.
Resetting personalizations
If a user wants to return to the original layout, Business Central includes options to clear personalizations and restore the default Role Center configuration. This allows users to experiment with changes without permanently affecting their experience.
Creating company-wide Role Center changes
Administrators can make Role Center changes that apply to all users assigned to a specific profile. Using Profiles (Roles), administrators can:
- Customize page layouts.
- Reorganize homepage content.
- Hide unnecessary sections.
- Establish consistent experiences across teams.
These changes help simplify training, support, and everyday system use.
Disabling personalization
Organizations can prevent users from modifying Role Centers by enabling Disable Personalization within a profile. This ensures that all users assigned to the profile see the same standardized layout.
Best practice: copy profiles instead of modifying standard profiles
When creating company-wide customizations, it is recommended to copy an existing profile rather than editing Microsoft's standard profile directly. Benefits include:
- Preserving the original Microsoft profile.
- Reducing potential issues during future updates and upgrades.
- Making it easier to manage organization-specific customizations.
- Providing greater flexibility when testing new layouts.
After creating a copied profile, organizations can customize it as needed and assign users to the new profile.
Key takeaway
Role Centers are a powerful way to personalize the Business Central experience. Individual users can customize their own workspace, while administrators can create standardized layouts for entire teams. By understanding the difference between roles and permissions and following best practices for profile management, organizations can create a more efficient and user-friendly Business Central environment.
