In today’s fast-paced business world, companies need efficient tools to manage finance, sales, purchasing, and operations, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central delivers exactly that. As more organizations turn to Business Central for their ERP needs, the demand for certified professionals who can configure and optimize the system is growing rapidly. Suppose you are looking to step into the world of ERP consulting or strengthen your role as a functional expert. In that case, the MB-800: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant exam is a valuable milestone. This certification validates your ability to implement, configure, and support core business processes using Business Central.
But what exactly does the MB-800 exam cover? How difficult is it? And what is the best way to prepare? In this blog, we will walk you through everything you need to know—from the exam structure and key skill areas to a step-by-step study plan and the most useful resources. Whether you are just starting your ERP journey or already working with Dynamics 365, this guide will help you prepare smartly and confidently for the MB-800 exam.
What is the MB-800 Exam?
The MB-800: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant exam is designed for professionals who implement and manage core business processes using Business Central—Microsoft’s cloud-based ERP solution for small and medium-sized enterprises.
By passing this exam, you earn the Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant Associate certification. This credential proves that you can configure Business Central to support finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, and operations, while also managing integrations, user roles, and data migration tasks.
The MB-800 exam is ideal for:
- Functional consultants working on Dynamics 365 projects.
- ERP professionals are transitioning to Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem.
- Analysts or project leads are involved in configuring or supporting Business Central for clients.
Unlike developer or admin certifications, MB-800 focuses on the business logic and functional setup behind ERP processes. It tests your ability to translate real business needs into effective configurations within Business Central.
Skills Measured in the MB-800 Exam
The MB-800 exam focuses on the practical skills needed to configure and support Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for small and medium-sized businesses. The exam is structured around key functional areas, each representing a core part of a business process.
Below are the main skill domains tested in the exam:
a. Set Up Business Central (20–25%)
- Configure company information, users, permissions, and profiles.
- Set up general application settings like number series, posting periods, and role centers.
- Manage currencies, languages, and global settings.
Why it matters: These are the foundational configurations that affect how the entire system functions.
b. Configure Financials (30–35%)
- Set up chart of accounts, posting groups, and dimensions.
- Configure general journals, bank accounts, cash flow, and VAT.
- Manage fixed assets, depreciation, and financial reporting.
Why it matters: Financial configuration is at the heart of every ERP system. Business Central must reflect accurate financial structures and rules.
c. Configure Sales and Purchasing (15–20%)
- Set up customers, vendors, sales and purchase orders, and invoices.
- Manage pricing, discounts, payment terms, and posting setups.
- Handle returns, credit memos, and prepayments.
Why it matters: Sales and procurement drive business operations, and Business Central’s flexibility in handling these processes must be understood deeply.
d. Perform Business Operations (15–20%)
- Configure and manage inventory, warehousing, and item tracking.
- Set up and execute transfer orders and assembly management.
- Work with item journals, adjustments, and stocktaking.
Why it matters: Efficient business operations depend on accurate inventory and item handling. This section ensures you can support logistics needs.
e. Implement and Manage Solutions (10–15%)
- Install and configure extensions, manage AL-based customizations.
- Perform data migration using RapidStart Services or Excel templates.
- Integrate Business Central with Microsoft 365, such as Outlook and Teams.
Why it matters: Implementation is more than configuration—it involves setup, migration, and ongoing app lifecycle management.
These skill areas reflect the end-to-end role of a Business Central functional consultant, from setting up a new environment to optimizing day-to-day operations. To succeed in the exam, you need both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience with real scenarios.
Microsoft MB-800 Exam Course Outline and Documentation
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant (MB-800) Exam covers the following topics –
Set up Business Central (15–20%)
Create and configure a company
- Create a company in Business Central (Microsoft Documentation: Create New Companies in Business Central)
- Create a company by using Assisted Setup (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Company Configuration Packages)
- Describe the use cases and capabilities of configuration packages
- Create a configuration worksheet (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Company Configuration Packages)
- Create and use a configuration package (Microsoft Documentation: Create configurationPackage, Apply Company Configuration Packages)
- Create journal opening balances (Microsoft Documentation: Create a project beginning balance)
- Migrate data
Manage security
- Create and manage user profiles (Microsoft Documentation: Manage User Profiles)
- Set up a new user
- Create and assign permission sets and permissions (Microsoft Documentation: Assign Permissions to Users and Groups)
- Apply security filters (Microsoft Documentation: Using Security Filters)
- Manage user permissions by using security groups
Set up core functionality
- Set up company information (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Company Information)
- Set up reports and custom report layouts (Microsoft Documentation: Create and Modify Custom Report Layouts)
- Set up and use job queues (Microsoft Documentation: Job Queue)
- Set up email accounts (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Email)
- Set up number series (Microsoft Documentation: Create number series)
Set up dimensions
- Set up dimensions and dimension values (Microsoft Documentation: Work with Dimensions)
- Set up global dimensions and shortcut dimensions (Microsoft Documentation: Set up dimensions in Dynamics 365 Business Central)
- Set up dimensions to master data
- Set up blocking combinations of dimensions and dimension values (Microsoft Documentation: Work with Dimensions)
- Describe the Dimension Correction Tool (Microsoft Documentation: Troubleshooting and Correcting Dimensions, Dimension corrections (for G/L Entries))
- Set up default dimensions for account types
- Set up default dimension priorities
Manage approvals by using workflows
- Set up native workflows
- Set up a notification system
- Set up users for approval and workflow user groups (Microsoft Documentation: Configure approval processes in a workflow)
Describe Business Central integrations with other products
- Describe use cases for Microsoft 365 integration, including Microsoft Excel, OneDrive, Outlook, Teams, and Word
- Describe uses cases for Microsoft Power Platform integration
Configure financials (30–35%)
Set up Finance Management
- Configure General Ledger setup (Microsoft Documentation: Understanding the General Ledger and Chart of Accounts)
- Configure accounting periods (Microsoft Documentation: Work with Accounting Periods and Fiscal Years)
- Set up payment terms
Manage the chart of accounts
- Set up G/L Account Card
- Create account categories and subcategories (Microsoft Documentation: Understanding the General Ledger and Chart of Accounts)
- Create financial reports based on the Account Categories field and statistical accounts
Set up posting groups
- Create specific posting groups including bank, customer, vendor, and inventory posting groups (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Posting Groups)
- Create general posting groups (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Posting Groups)
- Configure General Posting Setup
- Configure Inventory Posting Setup
Set up journals and bank accounts
- Set up bank accounts (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Bank Accounts)
- Create journal templates, including no. series
- Create batches (Microsoft Documentation: Create a batch job)
- Implement recurring journals (Microsoft Documentation: Work with General Journals)
Set up accounts payables
- Create vendor accounts including payment terms, vendor bank accounts, and related records (Microsoft Documentation: Create a vendor bank account, Set up vendor accounts)
- Configure Purchases & Payables Setup (Microsoft Documentation: Setting Up Purchasing)
- Set up payment journals (Microsoft Documentation: Making Payments)
- Describe the relationship between vendors, vendor ledger entries, and detailed vendor ledger entries
Set up accounts receivables
- Create customer accounts (Microsoft Documentation: Create a customer account (Project Service))
- Configure Sales & Receivables setup (Microsoft Documentation: Setup Setting Up Sales, Configure Accounts receivable and credit and collections)
- Set up cash receipt journals (Microsoft Documentation: Reconcile Customer Payments with the Cash Receipt Journal or from Customer Ledger Entries)
- Set up payment registration (Microsoft Documentation: Reconcile Customer Payments from a List of Unpaid Sales Documents)
- Configure customer payment methods (Microsoft Documentation: Manage payment methods)
- Describe the relationship between customers, customer ledger entries, and detailed customer ledger entries (Microsoft Documentation: Reconcile Customer Payments with the Cash Receipt Journal or from Customer Ledger Entries)
Configure sales and purchasing (15–20%)
Set up inventory
- Configure inventory set up (Microsoft Documentation: Setting Up Inventory)
- Manage items, including item categories, item attributes, and units of measure
- Create locations (Microsoft Documentation: Manage locations)
- Describe the relationship between items, item ledger entries, and value entries (Microsoft Documentation: Design Details: Inventory Posting)
- Differentiate between costing methods (Microsoft Documentation: Design Details: Costing Methods)
Configure master data for sales and purchasing
- Configure core customer settings including shipping agents, locations, and shipping addresses (Microsoft Documentation: Set Up Shipping Agents)
- Configure core vendor settings including order address, lead time, and locations (Microsoft Documentation: Party and global address book)
Configure pricing and discounts
- Manage vendor purchase prices (Microsoft Documentation: Purchasing)
- Manage purchase line and invoice discounts (Microsoft Documentation: Record Special Purchase Prices and Discounts, Set Up Prices and Discounts)
- Manage customer sales prices (Microsoft Documentation: Manage sales prices in Dynamics 365 Business Central)
- Manage sales line and invoice discounts (Microsoft Documentation: Record Special Sales Prices and Discounts, Set Up Prices and Discounts)
Perform Business Central operations (30–35%)
Perform basic tasks in Business Central
- Differentiate between designing, customizing, and personalizing pages (Microsoft Documentation: Customize Pages for Profiles, Personalize Your Workspace, Page Customization Object, Designing Card and Document Pages)
- Customize pages (Microsoft Documentation: Customize Pages for Profiles)
- Apply and save filters (Microsoft Documentation: Sorting, Searching, and Filtering, Save and Personalize List Views)
- Find documents and related entries
- Use the Inspect pages and data feature (Microsoft Documentation: Inspecting Pages in Business Central, Inspecting and Troubleshooting Pages)
- Perform data updates by using the Edit in Excel feature (Microsoft Documentation: Viewing and Editing in Excel From Business Central)
- Attach and share files by using Microsoft OneDrive
- Describe and analyze telemetry
Process purchases
- Manage quotations (Microsoft Documentation: Create and edit sales quotations)
- Create a purchase order (Microsoft Documentation: Create a purchase order)
- Receive items for a purchase order (Microsoft Documentation: Receive Items with Warehouse Receipts)
- Describe the over-receipt feature
- Undo a receipt (Microsoft Documentation: Reverse Journal Postings and Undo Receipts/Shipments)
- Create a posted invoice from a purchase order (Microsoft Documentation: Record Purchases with Purchase Invoices and Orders)
- Configure recurring purchase lines (Microsoft Documentation: Create Recurring Sales)
- Manage blanket purchase orders
Process sales
- Manage quotation (Microsoft Documentation: Generate and manage project quotations, Create and edit sales quotations)
- Convert a sales quote into a sales order or sales invoice (Microsoft Documentation: Invoice Sales)
- Analyze item availability (Microsoft Documentation: View the Availability of Items)
- Ship items for a sales order (Microsoft Documentation: Make Drop Shipments)
- Undo shipments (Microsoft Documentation: Undo transfer shipments)
- Create a sales invoice from a sales order (Microsoft Documentation: Create sales order invoices)
- Configure recurring sales lines (Microsoft Documentation: Create Recurring Sales and Purchase Lines)
- Manage blanket sales orders
Process financial documents
- Process purchase invoices (Microsoft Documentation: Record Purchases with Purchase Invoices and Orders, Record Purchases)
- Process purchase credit memos (Microsoft Documentation: Process Purchase Returns or Cancellations)
- Process sales invoices (Microsoft Documentation: Invoice Sales)
- Process sales credit memos (Microsoft Documentation: Process Sales Returns or Cancellations)
- Combine sales shipments into a single sales invoice
- Combine purchase receipts into a single purchase invoice (Microsoft Documentation: Combine Receipts on a Single Invoice, Combine Shipments on a Single Invoice)
- Correct a posted purchase invoice (Microsoft Documentation: Correct or Cancel Unpaid Purchase Invoices)
- Correct a posted sales invoice (Microsoft Documentation: Correct or Cancel Unpaid Sales Invoices)
- Release and reopen documents (Microsoft Documentation: Release and reopen multiple documents)
- Process prepayment invoices for purchases and sales
Process payments and journals
- Process payments by using payment journals
- Process receipts by using the cash receipts journal (Microsoft Documentation: Enter payments in the cash receipt journal)
- Process payment registrations (Microsoft Documentation: Reconcile Customer Payments from a List of Unpaid Sales Documents)
- Apply ledger entries and undo applied entries (Microsoft Documentation: Remove and Reapply Item Ledger Entries)
- Reverse posted journals (Microsoft Documentation: Reverse journal posting)
Step-by-Step Study Plan to pass the MB-800 Exam
This study plan typically takes 3–5 weeks, depending on your background. Functional consultants may move faster, while newcomers may need more time for hands-on practice and understanding financial workflows.
| Step | Focus Area | What to Do | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Understand the Exam Guide | Download and review the official MB-800 skills outline from Microsoft. Break it down into key topic clusters. | Helps you understand what will be tested and prioritize your learning efforts accordingly. |
| Step 2 | Learn via Microsoft Learn | Complete the MB-800 Learning Path on Microsoft Learn. Covers all modules with interactive lessons. | It is official, free, and structured by Microsoft to directly map to the exam content. |
| Step 3 | Use a Business Central Sandbox | Set up a trial or use a demo environment. Practice configuring users, financials, and business processes. | Hands-on experience is essential—many exam questions are based on real system scenarios. |
| Step 4 | Master Financial Configurations | Focus on general ledger setup, dimensions, VAT, bank accounts, and fixed assets. | The largest portion of the exam is centered on financial configuration and reporting. |
| Step 5 | Practice Sales, Purchasing & Inventory Flows | Create and post sample sales/purchase orders, returns, credit memos, and item tracking setups. | These are common in customer scenarios, and tested through real-life workflows. |
| Step 6 | Study Data Migration & Extensions | Learn how to use RapidStart Services for configuration packages, and how to manage apps/extensions. | This ensures you are prepared for implementation, migration, and solution lifecycle questions. |
| Step 7 | Integrate with Microsoft 365 | Understand how Business Central connects with Outlook, Excel, and Teams. | Integration features are a part of modern ERP projects and can show up in practical questions. |
| Step 8 | Take Practice Tests | Attempt mock exams from Skilr to test your knowledge under timed conditions. Analyze results and revisit weak areas. | Reinforces concepts, boosts confidence, and prepares you for the exam environment. |
| Step 9 | Join the Dynamics 365 Community | Follow Business Central forums, LinkedIn groups, and Microsoft Tech Community threads. | Helps you stay updated with tips, experiences, and changes in the platform or certification. |
Microsoft MB-800 Exam Preparation Resources
Preparing for the MB-800 exam becomes much easier when you have access to the right resources. Microsoft offers a range of official and practical learning materials designed to help you grasp both the theoretical knowledge and the functional hands-on skills needed for success. Below is a curated list of essential tools and platforms that will support your preparation journey.
| Resource | Purpose | What It Covers | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Learn – MB-800 Learning Path | Core Learning Resource | Modules on setting up Business Central, financials, inventory, sales, and purchasing | Directly mapped to the MB-800 exam objectives and updated by Microsoft |
| Microsoft Docs – Business Central | Technical Reference | In-depth content on features, setup, VAT, banking, dimensions, and extensions | Great for clarifying details and deepening your functional understanding |
| Business Central Sandbox Environment | Hands-On Practice | Trial instance to simulate real business setups, transactions, and configuration | Critical for mastering configuration tasks and workflows tested in the exam |
| RapidStart Services Guide | Data Migration Practice | Tutorials on creating and importing configuration packages | Helps with migration-related questions and functional implementation topics |
| Business Central YouTube Channel | Visual Learning | Video tutorials, use-case demonstrations, and update reviews | Ideal for visual learners and for seeing features in action |
| Practice Tests | Self-Assessment | Timed mock exams from Skilr to evaluate readiness and reinforce key topics | Prepares you for the question format and identifies gaps in your knowledge |
| Microsoft Tech Community / ERP Forums | Peer Learning | Discussions, tips, and support from certified professionals and users | Keeps you up to date and provides practical advice from the field |
These resources cover everything from structured learning to hands-on experience and community insight—exactly what you need to build real confidence before the exam.
How the MB-800 Exam Can Fast-Track Your Tech Career?
Earning the MB-800 certification opens up strong career opportunities in the ERP and business applications space, especially for professionals working with small and medium-sized enterprises. This certification shows that you are capable of implementing and supporting end-to-end business processes in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central—a cloud-based ERP platform that is increasingly adopted by growing businesses worldwide.
Key Career Benefits:
- Qualifies you for roles such as Functional Consultant, ERP Specialist, Business Systems Analyst, or Dynamics 365 Consultant.
- Strengthens your profile if you are working with a Microsoft Partner or delivering Business Central solutions to clients.
- Demonstrates your ability to handle real-world ERP scenarios like financial configuration, inventory control, sales/purchasing workflows, and data migration.
- Enhances your credibility in digital transformation and ERP modernization projects.
- Serves as a foundation for advanced Dynamics 365 certifications, especially if you plan to expand into Finance, Supply Chain, or Solution Architect roles.
In short, the MB-800 certification does not just validate your technical skills—it positions you as a trusted advisor who can guide organizations through effective ERP implementations.
Conclusion
The MB-800 certification is a valuable milestone for anyone looking to build a career in ERP consulting or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It equips you with the skills to configure core business processes, support financial operations, and deliver real-world solutions that help organizations run efficiently.
Although the exam can be challenging, it is highly achievable with the right preparation. By combining structured learning through Microsoft Learn, hands-on practice in a sandbox environment, and a clear understanding of real-life business scenarios, you will be well-positioned to succeed.
Whether you are an aspiring functional consultant, an ERP analyst, or already supporting Business Central implementations, passing the MB-800 exam will give your career a strong, credible boost—and help you make a real impact in the world of business applications.
