It's the question almost nobody asks in the first email, but everyone has in mind: how much does it cost to migrate from Dynamics NAV to Business Central? There's no single figure that works for every company, and anyone who gives you one without knowing your case is guessing. What we can tell you are the factors that genuinely move the budget, so you know what to ask and what to expect.

The two line items you should never mix up

A migration budget always has two independent parts:

  • The Business Central licence. A monthly per-user subscription paid to Microsoft, and it depends on how many licences of each type you need (we cover this in detail in our article on how many licences you need).
  • The migration project. This is the implementation work: assessment, data migration, extensions, training and go-live. It's a one-off cost, not a recurring one.

Mixing both line items into a single figure is the most common way to compare quotes from different providers unfairly.

The factors that move the project's cost

1. Customisations and custom development

By far the biggest factor. A company with an «out of the box» Navision, barely touched, migrates in far less time and at far lower cost than one with years of accumulated development. We cover this in detail in our article on what happens to your customisations when you migrate.

2. Active integrations

Every external system connected to your ERP (online store, banking, EDI, POS) needs to be reviewed and reconnected. If it uses a standard Business Central connector, the cost is low; if it's a very specific integration, it needs more development work.

3. Volume of historical data to migrate

Migrating just current balances and master data is faster than migrating fifteen years of documents. It's not always worth bringing everything across: sometimes it's better to leave old financial years in a read-only environment and not carry that cost into the main project.

4. Training needed

The more people use the ERP day to day, and the more distinct profiles there are (finance, sales, warehouse, production), the more role-specific training sessions are needed. It's not the biggest factor, but it adds up.

5. Whether you're eligible for Microsoft incentives

If you have an active maintenance contract on your NAV licence, you may qualify for a Microsoft programme that reduces the cost of the Business Central licence during a transition period. We cover this in our article on Bridge to the Cloud. This factor doesn't affect the cost of the migration project, but it does affect the licence side.

Why to be wary of a figure with no prior assessment

Any serious migration quote starts with an assessment: reviewing your actual customisations, integrations and historical data, not generic ones. A figure given without that step is, at best, a very wide range; at worst, a price that will be adjusted — upwards — as soon as work begins.

Frequently asked questions

Does the initial assessment cost anything?

No, at AXPA365 the first consultation and the initial assessment of your case are free and carry no obligation whatsoever. During that first contact we look at your current customisations, integrations, historical data volume and the training your team will need, which are exactly the factors that determine the final price. Only once we have that picture do we give you a fixed, itemised quote broken down by project phase, rather than a rough figure based on guesswork. This is deliberate: it's the same principle we apply when estimating how many licences your company needs, where a real answer always requires looking at your specific case first.

Can the project be paid in stages?

Yes, and in practice it's the most common way to structure a migration project rather than the exception. The usual breakdown follows the natural phases of the project — assessment, data and customisation migration, staff training and go-live support — and each phase carries its own payment milestone tied to a deliverable, instead of a single invoice issued at the very end. This makes the investment easier to plan for and gives you visibility of progress at each stage, since you're paying for completed work rather than a lump sum committed up front before anything has been delivered.

Does migrating cost more than staying on Navision?

In the short term, yes, there's an upfront investment that staying put doesn't require. But that comparison only tells half the story if you leave out what staying on an unsupported system actually costs over time: no security patches, no automatic updates to keep up with changing tax and legal requirements, and a maintenance bill that climbs every year simply because fewer and fewer professionals still know how to work with the older versions — a dynamic we cover in more detail in our article on the end of support for Dynamics NAV. Seen over several years rather than just the first invoice, migrating is very often the cheaper option, not the more expensive one.

In summary

The cost of migrating depends mainly on your customisations, your integrations and how much history you want to bring with you, not on a fixed rate per company. The only way to get a real figure is to start with an assessment of your specific case.

Tell us your situation and we'll give you an indicative estimate with no obligation, before you commit to anything.