Creating & Configuring Companies
Every Business Central implementation starts with creating a company. Learn the three ways to do it — manually, with Assisted Setup, or with configuration packages — and when each approach makes sense.
Creating a company in Business Central
Creating a company in Business Central is like setting up a new phone.
You can do it from scratch (blank phone, install everything yourself), use a setup wizard (guided setup that asks what you need), or restore from a backup (copy settings from another phone you’ve already configured).
In Business Central, these translate to: blank company, Assisted Setup, or configuration packages. Most consultants like Priya use configuration packages because they’ve already figured out the right settings for similar clients.
Three ways to create a company
| Method | Best For | What You Get | Effort Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual (blank) | Learning, testing, greenfield setups | Empty company — you set up everything | High |
| Assisted Setup wizard | Quick starts, simple businesses | Guided walkthrough of core settings | Medium |
| Configuration package | Professional implementations, repeatable setups | Pre-configured data imported in bulk | Low (once packages exist) |
Creating a company manually
Navigate to Companies page (Tell Me > “Companies”) and select New. You choose:
- Company name — must be unique within the environment
- Display name — what users see
- Production/Evaluation — evaluation companies are for testing and have sample data options
When Priya creates a blank company for a client, she starts here — then uses configuration packages to populate it.
Assisted Setup
The Assisted Setup page (Tell Me > “Assisted Setup”) provides step-by-step wizards for common configuration tasks:
- Company Information — name, address, logo, VAT registration
- Chart of Accounts — choose a pre-built template or set up manually
- Accounting Periods — define your fiscal year
- Email Setup — configure SMTP or Microsoft 365 email
- Bank Accounts — link your company bank accounts
Exam tip: Assisted Setup vs manual setup
The exam may ask when to use Assisted Setup vs manual configuration. Key distinction:
- Assisted Setup is ideal for first-time setup of core features
- It doesn’t replace configuration packages for bulk data import
- You can run Assisted Setup guides multiple times — they don’t overwrite existing data
- Some guides create default records (like a default bank account posting group)
Configuration worksheets
The configuration worksheet is a planning tool that Priya uses to organise which tables need to be configured for a new company.
Think of it as a checklist of database tables:
| What It Does | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Lists all tables that need setup data | Nothing gets forgotten |
| Groups tables by functional area | Work through setup systematically |
| Tracks which tables are done | Progress visibility for the project |
| Links to configuration packages | Tables can be exported/imported in bulk |
How Priya uses the configuration worksheet
- Open the Configuration Worksheet (Tell Me > “Configuration Worksheet”)
- Add table ranges — for example, tables 1-99 (General Ledger), 300-399 (Sales)
- Or use Get Tables to add all tables from a functional area
- Review and mark tables as you configure them
- Package the configured tables for import into the client’s company
The worksheet itself doesn’t hold data — it’s a planning and tracking tool. The actual data lives in configuration packages.
Configuration packages
Configuration packages are the workhorse of professional Business Central implementations. They’re how Priya moves settings and master data between companies.
A configuration package is like a recipe box for a company.
Priya has a “standard recipe” for distribution companies — it includes a chart of accounts, posting groups, number series, and dimension values that work for most distributors. When she starts a new project, she imports the recipe box and then customises the ingredients for the specific client.
The configuration package workflow
Create Package → Add Tables → Export to Excel → Edit Data → Import → Validate → ApplyKey concepts:
- Export to Excel makes data accessible to business users like Olivia who can review chart of accounts in a familiar format
- Validation catches errors before applying (duplicate codes, missing required fields, invalid references)
- Apply writes data to the live tables — this is the irreversible step
- Error log shows what failed and why
Configuration package gotchas
Common mistakes Priya has learned to avoid:
- Field inclusion matters — if you don’t include a field in the package, it gets the default value, not the value from the source
- Apply order matters — tables with dependencies must be applied in the right sequence (posting groups before customers, for example)
- Existing data — applying a package to a company with existing data can create duplicates if primary keys don’t match
- Dimensions — dimension values should be in the package BEFORE master data that uses those dimensions
When to use each method
| Scenario | Recommended Method |
|---|---|
| Learning Business Central | Manual + Assisted Setup |
| First implementation for a simple business | Assisted Setup + manual fine-tuning |
| Repeatable implementations (consulting firm) | Configuration packages |
| Migrating from another ERP | Configuration packages (with data transformation in Excel) |
| Setting up a second company in the same environment | Configuration packages from the first company |
| Creating a test/sandbox copy | Copy company (not covered in MB-800 — that’s admin-level) |
Knowledge check
Priya is setting up Business Central for her fifth distribution client this year. She has a proven chart of accounts, posting groups, and number series that work for distributors. What's the most efficient approach?
During a configuration package import, Olivia notices errors in the validation log. What should she do?
Next up: Your company exists — now let’s migrate real data into it with opening balances and data migration techniques.