Business Central 2026 release wave 2, version 29 (often shortened to BC29), became generally available at the start of October 2026. It brings improvements to AI agents, financial reporting and document layouts, practical changes for manufacturers, distributors and Shopify sellers, and a preview of further Expense Agent capabilities. It is also the first Business Central release without a Microsoft release plan behind it. This article covers what's in BC29, which changes matter most for UK SMEs, and how to plan your update.
Updated November 2026: This article has been checked against Microsoft's what's new page for Business Central update 29.0. Features marked preview are available to try but are not yet generally available, so they aren't recommended for production use. Microsoft adds features through monthly updates during the release wave, so we'll keep this article up to date.
What is Business Central 2026 release wave 2?
Business Central online receives two major updates a year, in April and October. Release wave 2 is the October update, and this year it brings version 29. Smaller monthly updates then follow through the winter, each of which can include new features, regulatory changes and fixes.
What's different this time is how Microsoft tells you about it. From September 2026, Microsoft stopped publishing release plans for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. New Business Central capabilities are now published to the AI at Work roadmap instead. Existing release plans remain available for reference, but for version 29 the most useful single source is Microsoft's what's new page on Microsoft Learn, which links each feature to its roadmap entry.
Source: What's new in Business Central update 29.0, Microsoft Learn
When will my business get BC29?
New Business Central online customers get version 29 automatically. Existing customers are notified when the update is available for their environments, and administrators can schedule it for any date within the five-month update period, which for version 29 ends in February 2027. There's no need to take a major update in the middle of a busy month-end.
If you created a preview environment in September to test BC29, Microsoft deletes preview environments 30 days after the version becomes generally available, and they can't be updated to a different version. Any testing you want to keep should be repeated in a normal sandbox on version 29.
For on-premises customers, Microsoft's Modern Lifecycle Policy supports each major version for a fixed period. Version 29 is supported until April 2028, so check the exact date on Microsoft's lifecycle page when planning your next upgrade.
What's new in Business Central BC29?
Microsoft's list of changes for update 29.0 runs to about 80 items, and over a quarter of them are for developers. Most are generally available, but around a dozen are released as previews. The changes below are the ones most likely to matter to a UK business running Business Central online. Unless we say otherwise, each one is generally available.
Agents: easier to supervise
Business Central's AI agents were the headline of the April release. BC29 focuses on making them easier to live with day to day. You can now review content that agents generate directly on the pages where it appears, and lists show notifications when agent actions are waiting for review, so work that needs a person doesn't sit unnoticed. A dedicated task pane brings tasks from all your agents into one place, agent permissions are easier to manage, and the agent interface has been updated.
The Payables Agent, which drafts purchase invoices from incoming documents, gets improved matching against purchase orders.
For businesses connecting Business Central to other AI tools, the Business Central MCP Server can now run data queries. That's powerful, so it needs the same access controls you'd apply to any other integration.
BC29 also includes a preview of the Microsoft Copilot chat experience inside Business Central.
Expense Agent: new capabilities in preview
The Expense Agent gains several capabilities in BC29. All of them are released as previews, so they're for trying out rather than relying on in production:
- AI-driven approvals
- Improved prevention of duplicate expenses
- Mileage calculations that use date ranges and vehicle types, so rate changes and different vehicles are handled
- VAT calculated and reported from expense reports
- An option to show only assigned projects in the web app
- Support for more countries and languages
For UK businesses with travelling or field-based staff, VAT handling and mileage are the two to watch as they move towards general availability.
Financial reporting: fewer exports, better audit trails
Finance teams get some of the most useful changes in this release. You can now run several financial reports together and get a single PDF, and report outputs can be automated. For month-end board packs, that removes a lot of manual collation.
Report authors can trace how G/L accounts are used across financial reports, and changes to financial reports are now always logged, which helps with audit and internal control.
BC29 also includes a preview of vendor-specific number series for self-billing invoices, which may interest businesses that operate self-billing arrangements with suppliers.
Document layouts: consistent branding without rework
You can now brand document reports with report themes and reuse header and footer layouts across document reports, so invoices, statements and other documents stay consistent without rebuilding each layout. The updated Word add-in supports designing themes, headers and footers, and conditional visibility. Administrators can also control the lifecycle of every report layout, which makes it easier to manage which layouts are in use.
Manufacturing, warehousing and subcontracting
Manufacturers and distributors get a set of practical changes rather than a new module:
- Subcontracting is easier to set up and explore
- Subcontracting instructions carry through into purchase orders
- Inventory put-aways and picks can be used for subcontracting
- Direct transfer orders can be posted from warehouse-enabled locations
- Quality tests and inspections involve less manual work
- Manufacturing documents and capacity calendars are more efficient to work with
Shopify and ecommerce
The Shopify connector continues to mature. BC29 adds management of Shopify B2B companies, catalogues and pricing (B2B features need an eligible Shopify plan), processing of order changes, exchanges and refunds, and more control over how sales documents are created from Shopify orders and returns. Tariff numbers and origin values can now be synchronised with Shopify, which is useful for UK businesses shipping overseas. Microsoft has also made changes to keep Shopify connections current.
Electronic documents
The E-Documents framework gains the ability to exchange EDI documents, released as a preview. If you trade electronically with customers or suppliers, it's one to watch, but it isn't yet a replacement for an existing EDI solution.
Sustainability reporting
Carbon tracking extends further into everyday transactions. Business Central can now track emissions for fixed assets, item journals and item reclassification journals, use formulas to calculate emissions in purchase documents, and estimate your carbon footprint in Service Management. A specific calculation method is available for items that use item tracking, and Sustainability Ledger entries can be reversed. These changes matter most for businesses that have to supply emissions data to larger customers.
Everyday usability and governance
Smaller changes will be noticed by most users. Lookups now show recently used records, Tell Me shows recent searches, and images can be previewed directly in the web client. Users can bookmark list views and analysis tabs, and system audit fields can be used in analysis mode and in profiles.
For IT and compliance teams, use of Open in Excel can now be monitored through telemetry, so data exports can be audited. Microsoft has also improved the data model for table extensions, for faster data loading.
For developers and partners
Much of BC29 is aimed at AL developers, including AI agents that can debug recorded failures and profile slow sessions, AL tests that run from the command line and in CI/CD workflows, and indexes that span fields from a base table and its table extensions. Page Scripting, used to record and replay tests of user journeys, is now generally available. You won't see these directly, but they should make extensions faster to build and test. If you run custom extensions or ISV apps, confirm with your partner or supplier that they've been tested on version 29.
BC29 at a glance
| Area | What changes in BC29 | Status | Most relevant to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agents | Review agent content on pages, review notifications on lists, a task pane for all agents, easier permissions, better purchase order matching in the Payables Agent, MCP Server data queries | Generally available | Finance teams piloting agents |
| Copilot chat | Microsoft Copilot chat experience in Business Central | Preview | All users |
| Expense Agent | AI-driven approvals, duplicate prevention, mileage by date and vehicle type, VAT from expense reports | Preview | Businesses with travelling or field staff |
| Financial reporting | Several reports in a single PDF, automated report outputs, G/L account tracing, automatic change logging | Generally available | Finance directors and month-end |
| Document layouts | Report themes, reusable headers and footers, layout lifecycle control | Generally available | Multi-company groups |
| Manufacturing and warehousing | Easier subcontracting, put-aways and picks for subcontracting, direct transfers from warehouse locations, less manual quality inspection | Generally available | Manufacturers and distributors |
| Shopify | B2B companies, catalogues and pricing; order changes, exchanges and refunds; tariff numbers and origin values | Generally available | Ecommerce sellers |
| E-Documents | Exchange EDI documents | Preview | Businesses trading electronically |
| Sustainability | Carbon tracking for fixed assets, item journals and Service Management; formula-based purchase emissions; reversible entries | Generally available | Businesses reporting emissions to customers |
| Usability and governance | Recently used records in lookups, recent searches, image preview, Open in Excel telemetry | Generally available | All users, IT and compliance |
What's less relevant for UK businesses?
Some of the release is aimed at markets with different tax regimes. Withholding tax for employee transactions, automatic withholding tax in expense reports and multiple excise duties per item are all previews aimed at countries where those regimes apply. They won't affect a typical UK deployment, but it's worth checking with your partner if you trade or have subsidiaries in those countries.
How should UK businesses prepare for BC29?
A major update shouldn't be treated as routine IT maintenance. Before scheduling it, we recommend:
- Updating a sandbox copy of your environment to version 29 and testing your main processes, reports and integrations with your extensions installed
- Scheduling the production update for a quiet period, away from month-end and year-end
- Reviewing your document layouts before moving to themes and shared headers, so you only rebuild what needs rebuilding
- Choosing which agents to pilot, setting their permissions deliberately, and confirming how their usage is licensed in your tenant
- Trying preview features in a sandbox only, and waiting for general availability before using them in production
- Checking your Shopify connector settings if you use it
- Agreeing a monthly or quarterly review of the AI at Work roadmap for Business Central, now that there's no release plan
You don't need to adopt every new feature. The aim is to take the update safely and switch on the changes that remove real work for your team.
Talk to Advantage About Your Business Central Update
Advantage is a Microsoft Solutions Partner supporting SMEs across the UK with Dynamics 365 Business Central. We work with businesses in manufacturing, professional services, distribution and not-for-profit to plan updates, test extensions and make practical use of new features. If you'd like help preparing for BC29, or deciding which agents are worth piloting, we're happy to talk it through.
Call us on 020 3004 4600, email hello@advantage.co.uk, or request a conversation with our team.
Related Resources
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Dynamics 365 2026 release wave 2: what's changed for Sales, Customer Service and Field Service
The new Microsoft Copilot: what Home, Code and Autopilot mean for UK SMEs
What is Microsoft 365 E7? What UK Businesses Need to Know
Frequently asked questions about Business Central 2026 release wave 2
Common questions about what's in Business Central BC29, when it's available and how UK businesses should prepare for the update.
What is Business Central 2026 release wave 2?
Business Central 2026 release wave 2 is Microsoft's October 2026 major update to Dynamics 365 Business Central, delivered as version 29 (BC29). It improves AI agents, financial reporting, document layouts, manufacturing, Shopify integration and sustainability reporting, and previews new Expense Agent capabilities. Further features arrive through monthly updates.
When was Business Central BC29 released?
Business Central version 29 became generally available for Business Central online at the start of October 2026. New customers receive it automatically, and existing customers can schedule the update within a five-month update period that ends in February 2027.
Is there a release plan for Business Central 2026 release wave 2?
No. Microsoft stopped publishing release plans for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform from September 2026. New Business Central capabilities are published to the AI at Work roadmap, and Microsoft Learn's what's new page for each version lists the features it includes.
What are the main new features in Business Central BC29?
The main generally available changes are easier supervision of AI agents, better purchase order matching in the Payables Agent, data queries through the MCP Server, a single PDF from several financial reports, G/L account tracing, report themes and reusable headers and footers, subcontracting and warehouse improvements, and Shopify B2B features. Expense Agent enhancements and Copilot chat are included as previews.
Do I have to update to BC29 straight away?
No. Administrators can schedule the major update for any date within the five-month update period. We recommend testing in a sandbox first and scheduling the production update away from month-end.
What does BC29 add to the Expense Agent?
BC29 previews AI-driven approvals, improved duplicate prevention, mileage calculations by date range and vehicle type, VAT calculated from expense reports, and support for more countries and languages. These are preview features, so they aren't yet recommended for production use.
How does BC29 change financial reporting in Business Central?
You can run several financial reports together and get a single PDF, and automate report outputs. Report authors can trace G/L account usage across financial reports, and changes to financial reports are now always logged.
Is Business Central version 29 available on-premises?
Yes. Microsoft publishes on-premises downloads for version 29, and it's supported until April 2028 under Microsoft's Modern Lifecycle Policy. Check Microsoft's lifecycle page for the exact end date when planning your next upgrade.
