- Feature
- Reduce report dataset complexity
- Availability
- Generally available (October 2026)
- Industry focus
- Outsourced finance and business process outsourcing (BPO) providers
Outsourced finance providers run the back office for many client companies, often in one Business Central tenant with a separate company for each client. Every client needs invoices, statements and remittances showing its own name, address, VAT number and bank details. Getting that company information onto reports has traditionally been fiddly work for report developers. Business Central 29.0 simplifies it.
The industry challenge
In a Word report layout, company information such as name, address, registration number, VAT number and bank details comes from the report's dataset. Historically, each report defined how company information was included, and not always in the same way. As a result:
- Report developers had to add company fields report by report
- Different reports could show company details slightly differently
- Custom reports for clients often missed fields or used inconsistent captions
For an outsourced provider managing dozens of client companies, these inconsistencies multiply. A client might notice that its invoice shows a VAT number but its statement doesn't.
What Microsoft delivered in Business Central 29.0
According to Microsoft, Word layouts now include a company information data item that is shared across all report datasets. Microsoft says this reduces the work needed by report developers and standardizes how company information is used across report layouts.
In practice, report designers can rely on the same company information being available in a consistent way, whichever report they're working on.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for an outsourced finance provider |
|---|---|
| Report development | Less work to add company details to each report |
| Consistency | The same company information on every client document |
| Multi-company scale | Each client company's details appear automatically |
| Maintenance | Fewer report-specific customizations to look after |
| Client experience | Professional, complete documents for every client |
This also fits well with the other composable layout features in 29.0, such as reusable headers and footers. A shared header that shows company information works across every report because the data is consistent.
A worked scenario
Consider an outsourced finance provider serving 40 small businesses from one Business Central tenant (an illustrative example). Each client has its own company and its own document layouts for invoices, credit notes and statements.
Before 29.0, the provider's report specialist added company details to each custom report separately, and some layouts missed the bank details or VAT number. With Business Central 29.0, the specialist rebuilds the provider's standard layouts using the shared company information data item. Every client's documents now pull the same set of company details from that client's own company information, consistently and without extra work.
Adoption considerations
- Review company information. Make sure each company's details are complete and correct.
- Standardize layouts. Rebuild key layouts to use the shared data item.
- Combine with headers and footers. Use reusable header and footer layouts that draw on the shared company information.
- Test across companies. Check documents in several client companies before rollout.
- Retire workarounds. Remove custom code that existed only to add company details.
The bottom line
Outsourced finance providers win on efficiency and quality at scale. The shared company information data item in Business Central 29.0 removes repetitive report work and makes client documents consistent. It's a small change for one report and a big one across dozens of client companies.
If you manage many companies in Business Central, it's worth reviewing your report layouts with an experienced adviser to take advantage of the simpler dataset.
Source: Microsoft roadmap 573321