Dynamics NAV 2016 to Business Central Migration for a Distribution Business
Brisbane distribution business migrated from Dynamics NAV 2016 to Dynamics 365 Business Central before the April 2026 end-of-support deadline. Eight years of inventory and transaction data migrated. Five C/AL customisations rebuilt as Business Central AL extensions. Shopify and 3PL integrations reconnected.
Distribution business: 42 staff, wholesale distribution across Queensland and New South Wales
A Brisbane-based wholesale distributor of safety and PPE products supplying trade customers across Queensland and New South Wales. The business processed 200 to 350 orders per week through their Dynamics NAV 2016 environment, with inventory across two warehouse locations.
Eight years on NAV 2016 had produced a well-customised environment. The business had five C/AL customisations: a freight calculation module integrated to their carrier, a custom inventory replenishment alert, a modified sales order screen that added contract pricing logic, a debtor credit hold workflow, and a supplier EDI order format generator.
External integrations connected NAV to Shopify (for their trade e-commerce portal), their 3PL for one of the warehouses, and their CRM for customer account data. All three were built on direct SQL access to the NAV database.
What needed to change
Microsoft's end-of-support date for NAV 2016 was April 14, 2026. The business had approximately eight months when they approached us. That was enough runway for an 18-week project, but only if scoping started immediately and there were no significant delays in the C/AL assessment.
The C/AL customisations were the main unknown. The freight calculation module and the EDI order generator were the most complex, both built by a Microsoft partner who no longer supported NAV. Source code was available, but documentation was limited.
The SQL-based integrations were a known problem. The Shopify connection ran a nightly SQL query against the NAV database to sync stock levels and pull orders. The 3PL integration pushed despatch confirmations back into NAV via a scheduled task. Both were fragile — they had broken twice in the previous year and required manual intervention each time.
The business had evaluated the upgrade once before, three years earlier, and abandoned it when the estimated cost came back higher than expected. There was some internal scepticism about whether the migration could be completed within budget and on time.
What we built
Migrated to Dynamics 365 Business Central with eight years of distribution and financial data. Five C/AL customisations rebuilt as AL extensions: three are now native BC features, two required custom AL builds. Shopify and 3PL integrations rebuilt on the Business Central REST API. Live six days before the NAV 2016 end-of-support date.
NAV Data Extraction & Migration
Full SQL extraction from NAV 2016: chart of accounts, 1,800 customer accounts, 420 supplier records, inventory catalogue with 8,500 SKUs across two locations, eight years of order and financial history. Python ETL pipeline with PostgreSQL staging. Two test migrations run before production.
C/AL Assessment & AL Rebuild
All five C/AL customisations assessed. The debtor credit hold workflow and inventory replenishment alert were found to be covered by standard Business Central features — no rebuild required. The freight calculation module, EDI order generator, and modified sales order screen were rebuilt as three AL extensions. The freight module was the most complex: it integrated to the carrier API directly from the AL code.
Integration Rebuild
Shopify integration rebuilt using the Business Central REST API and Shopify webhook: stock levels update to Shopify in real time on inventory transactions rather than nightly batch. Orders pull from Shopify to Business Central via webhook on order placement. The 3PL integration rebuilt as a REST connection, with despatch confirmation updating Business Central in near real time and automated alerting on failure.
CRM Integration
CRM customer sync rebuilt on the Business Central API. Customer account updates and new account creation now flow bidirectionally. The original SQL-based CRM sync had been one-directional and required manual reconciliation when records diverged.
How it works
NAV Environment Audit
Connected to NAV 2016 SQL database. All five C/AL customisations documented: table modifications, form changes, codeunit logic. All three integrations mapped. Eight years of data volumes assessed. Full scope document produced with complexity ratings.
C/AL Assessment
Each C/AL customisation mapped to Business Central standard features. Two identified as covered by standard BC functionality. Three confirmed as requiring AL builds. Freight module carrier API dependency confirmed and carrier's test environment accessed for integration testing.
Data Mapping & ETL Build
NAV to Business Central data model mapping. ETL pipeline built. First test migration at week 7: finance team validated customer balances and open AP/AR; warehouse team validated inventory quantities and location data.
AL Extension Development
Three AL extensions built in parallel with the data work: freight calculation (with carrier API integration), EDI order generator (rebuilt in AL with updated format), and modified sales order screen (contract pricing logic). All tested in Business Central sandbox.
Integration Rebuild
All three integrations rebuilt on Business Central REST API. Shopify integration moved to webhook-based real-time updates. 3PL integration rebuilt with monitoring. CRM sync converted from one-way to bidirectional. Each tested against partner sandbox environments.
Parallel Running & Cutover
Two-week parallel run with full order processing in both systems. Finance team validated financials; warehouse team validated inventory and order processing; customer service validated the Shopify integration. End-of-month cutover, six days before NAV 2016 end-of-support.
Measurable outcomes
We had been told by another partner that the C/AL rebuild would take six months on its own and could not be done before the NAV deadline. HELLO PEOPLE assessed the customisations properly in the first week and told us two of the five did not need rebuilding because Business Central already covered them. That changed the whole scope. We went live with six days to spare.
How we delivered it
NAV Audit & C/AL Assessment
3 weeksSQL database catalogued. Five C/AL customisations assessed. Integration dependencies mapped. Full scope document produced.
Data Mapping & ETL Build
4 weeksNAV to BC data model mapping. ETL pipeline built. First test migration and finance team validation.
AL Extension Build
6 weeksThree AL extensions developed: freight module, EDI generator, sales order screen. Tested in sandbox.
Integration Rebuild
4 weeksShopify, 3PL, and CRM integrations rebuilt on BC REST API. Tested against partner environments.
Parallel Run & Cutover
2 weeks (+ 1 week buffer)Two-week parallel run. Validation across finance and warehouse. End-of-month cutover.
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