Many businesses are actively seeking ways to save on their Business Central licenses. The cost of several, and often numerous, full licenses can be relatively high, prompting the question of whether all system users genuinely require full access. Here, the Team Member license comes to the rescue. It is perfect for users who need access to data but do not need to create transactions within the system. Often, it is used by owners, directors, and individuals responsible for information approval workflows. Let's explore how you can save on Business Central licensing.

Team Member User Capabilities

A Team Member license allows users to perform the following actions:

  • Read all information in Dynamics 365 Business Central.
  • Modify existing customer, vendor, and inventory records.
  • Modify entries, when permissible from an accounting perspective, to update specific information.
  • Approve or reject tasks in all user-assigned workflows.
  • Create, edit, or delete quotes.
  • Enter orders (projects) and tasks.
  • Edit timesheets for approval.
  • Utilize Power Automate for Dynamics 365.

Practical Application

Reading Information: Users with a Team Member license can read all pages and data stored within the Business Central system, enabling them to view any data within the system.

Modifying Records: Users with this license can edit customer, vendor, and inventory records, with the ability to modify any field. However, Team Member permissions do not allow the creation of new objects.

Modifying Entries: Under this license, users can edit purchase orders, sales orders, purchase and sales invoices, and warehouse documents. This means that a user with a Team Member license can freely edit documents, such as adding lines to a sales order or changing the price on a purchase order. However, they cannot post documents or create records in the ledgers for inventory, customers, vendors, or production.

Workflow Flows: Within the license scope, users can send documents for approval and approve or reject them. Importantly, they can also add and configure approval workflows themselves. For instance, a Team Member licensed user may be requested to correct the price on a sales order via a workflow.

Creating, Editing, or Deleting Quotes: Users can create both sales and purchase quotes. However, they cannot directly create sales orders or purchase orders from these quotes; higher-level licenses are required for that.

Project Management: The license allows users to create new projects and edit existing ones, including adding or modifying lines. However, similar to other ledgers, they cannot record resource usage in a journal or register this information on resource task cards.

Timesheets: With the Team Member license, users can input, edit, and submit timesheets for approval. For example, a project manager responsible for recording the time spent on various project tasks does not require higher permissions, making the Team Member license suitable.

Utilizing Power Automate: Users with this license can leverage Power Automate tools. For instance, they can configure information flows. For example, when creating a new sales quote, Power Automate can automatically notify a designated Business Central or Office user, such as the person responsible for approving such quotes.