1. Purpose and Scope
This Licensing Guide describes the principles, requirements and procedures for licensing apps and features from 365 business development GmbH in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
It applies to:
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Online (SaaS)
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises
This guide serves as a central reference for end customers and Microsoft partners. The current product documentation, the license options displayed in Business Central, and the contractual agreements remain authoritative.
Further Information
2. Licensing Model
365 business development uses different license methods for apps and features. The following models are currently documented:
- User License
- Company License
- Tenant License
Which license method is available for a specific app feature depends on the respective app or feature and is shown during license activation in Business Central.
Further Information
3. License Management in Business Central
Licenses are managed within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. For this purpose, the 365 business development License extension is deployed during installation. This extension adds license management and license validation capabilities to Business Central.
The central page is the Extension License Management (365 business development). It provides the following information and functions in particular:
- installed apps and features
- current license method
- documentation and support links
- Tenant ID
- Tenant Name
- number of users
- number of companies
- license information
- license update
- user licensing overview
- company licensing overview
- license activation
- license assignment
- spending limits
- invoices
- cancellation
Each 365 business development app is provided with a 30-day trial period. During the trial period, it can be extended once by a further 10 days.
Further Information
4. License Methods
4.1 User License
The user license is restricted to individual users within a company. Each licensable user requires their own license to access the respective app or feature.
User licensing enables targeted assignment to individual users. At the same time, the documentation explicitly notes that depending on the app or feature, licensing all active users may be mandatory, as otherwise functionality within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central may be restricted.
Business Central Online (SaaS)
In Business Central Online, all active users with the status Enabled are evaluated. They are then assessed based on their assigned Business Central plans.
Users with the following plans are licensable in particular:
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Basic Financials plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Member plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Essential plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Essential - Attach plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central Device plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central for IWs plan
As documented, this applies including the embedded variants of the plans mentioned.
Users with the following plans are not licensable in particular:
- Delegated Admin agent - Partner plan
- Delegated Helpdesk agent - Partner plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central External Accountant plan
Shared Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central licenses, such as Device Plans, do not change the fact that the actual number of relevant users is authoritative for licensing 365 business development apps.
Business Central On-Premises
In Business Central On-Premises, all active users with the status Enabled are also evaluated. The check can be performed regardless of whether the respective user actually uses the app or feature.
Data Basis for License Validation
User license validation takes place within the respective Business Central environment. Only the determined count of licensable or licensed users is transmitted to 365 business development.
Further Information
4.2 Company License
The company license is restricted to a single company within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. With a company license, all users within that company can access the licensed apps and features without the need for a separate user license.
All companies are licensable except those that are test companies. Companies marked as Evaluation Company are hidden in the company licensing overview and are excluded from licensing.
Validation takes place within the respective Business Central environment. Only the determined count of licensable or licensed companies is transmitted to 365 business development.
Further Information
4.3 Tenant License
The tenant license is generally restricted to a single Microsoft Entra ID tenant. With a tenant license, all environments, companies and users within that tenant are licensed.
Special Consideration for Business Central On-Premises
In Business Central On-Premises, the tenant license does not cover the entire tenant in the SaaS sense, but a specific Business Central environment or database. Within this environment, all companies and users are then covered.
Data Basis for License Validation
For tenant licensing, the Microsoft Entra ID tenant ID is used as the primary identifier. In addition, the tenant ID and tenant name of the onmicrosoft.com domain are transmitted for license validation.
If no Microsoft Entra ID tenant ID is available in an On-Premises environment, a random GUID is generated, which uniquely identifies the environment. In this case, the generated tenant ID and the DNS name of the server are transmitted for license validation.
Further Information
5. Product-Specific Rule for 365 business Print Agent and 365 business Banking
For 365 business Print Agent and 365 business Banking, the following binding rule applies to user-based licensing:
All active users must be licensed.
Excluded are those users who, according to the documentation, are explicitly not licensable, in particular:
- Delegated Admin agent - Partner plan
- Delegated Helpdesk agent - Partner plan
- Dynamics 365 Business Central External Accountant plan
This product-specific rule supplements the general documented note that, depending on the app or feature, licensing all active users may be mandatory.
Further Information
6. License Activation
License activation takes place via the Extension License Management (365 business development) in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
During license activation, the following are defined in particular:
- license method
- subscription term
- payment method
- type of license provisioning, in particular end customer licensing or partner licensing
- automatic or manual license assignment
Microsoft partners can activate licenses on behalf of end customers. Partner licensing is only available to Microsoft partners with a valid partner agreement.
Depending on the activation type, different registration details are required. For end customer licensing, these include in particular the billing email address, company name, address and VAT ID. For partner licensing, the Microsoft Partner ID must be provided.
Further Information
7. License Assignment
Depending on the selected license method and the automatic license assignment setting, manual assignment may be required.
If automatic license assignment is disabled, user or company licenses must be assigned manually so that the respective users or companies can use the app or feature.
Assignment is performed using the Assign User License and Assign Company License actions within the Extension License Management (365 business development).
Further Information
8. Usage-Based Spending
Some apps or features include a set number of usages within a billing period and may incur additional costs if exceeded.
Usages that exceed the included number within the respective billing period are billed separately with the invoice of the following billing period.
8.1 Usage Types
Depending on the app or feature, different usage types may be defined, for example:
| App/Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 365 business ERiC | Number of successful tax data submissions |
| 365 business Address Validation | Number of validated addresses |
| 365 business Barcode | Number of encoded or decoded barcodes |
| 365 business PDF | Number of processed PDF documents |
| 365 business E-Invoice | Number of processed e-invoices |
| 365 business Sanction Screen | Number of sanction, watch or PEP list checks performed |
| 365 business Banking | Number of payment instructions |
8.1.1 Product-Specific Special Rules
For some apps or features, specific special rules may apply that deviate from the general evaluation of usages.
8.1.1.1 Payment Instructions - 365 business Banking
Payment instructions in 365 business Banking are defined as outgoing payments, direct debits or payment collection orders that are initiated and processed via the app. These include in particular:
- SEPA Credit Transfers
- SEPA Direct Debits
- SEPA Instant Credit Transfers
- SEPA Scheduled Credit Transfers
- SEPA Batch Credit Transfers (each individual transfer within the batch)
- SEPA Batch Direct Debits (each individual direct debit within the batch)
- Payment collection orders from payment services
8.2 Spending Limits
To limit such additional costs, a spending limit can be set. This defines the maximum number or volume of usages permitted within a billing period. When the spending limit is reached, usage is blocked until the billing period ends or the spending limit is increased.
The spending limit can be viewed and adjusted in the license management. To remove the limit, set the value to 0.00.
Further Information
9. Billing and Payment Methods
Subscription licenses are used for 365 business development apps and features. Billing is made in advance for the chosen billing period. Monthly and annual billing models are available.
Billing differs between:
- End Customer Licensing
- Partner Licensing
For end customers within the EU, payment is generally made by invoice. For end customers outside the EU, payment is made by credit card.
Further Information
9.1 Invoice
Invoices can be viewed and downloaded via the Extension License Management (365 business development). They are provided as e-invoices in ZUGFeRD/Factur-X format.
The Invoices function is only available for End Customer Licensing - i.e. without provisioning through a Microsoft partner - for data protection reasons.
Further Information
9.2 Credit Card and Other Payment Methods
Credit card payments are processed via Stripe. Payment is generally charged in advance for the respective billing period.
The following cards are supported among others:
- Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
- Discover
- Diners Club
The following additional payment methods are also available:
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- Link
- PayPal
- SEPA Direct Debit
If a stored payment method cannot be charged, the license will be automatically deactivated after prior notification and a grace period of 7 days.
Further Information
10. Cancellation
A subscription can be cancelled via the Extension License Management (365 business development). Cancellation takes effect at the end of the respective billing period.
Before confirming the cancellation, the displayed cancellation date should be reviewed.
Further Information
11. Special Rules for Business Central On-Premises
Additional technical and licensing requirements apply to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises.
11.1 Runtime Packages
For On-Premises environments, so-called Runtime Packages are provided. These are version-specific. It is therefore necessary to use the version matching the deployed platform version.
11.2 Extension of the BC Customer License
Since all 365 business development apps are provided as ISV modules in the ISV object range, an extension of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central customer license (*.bclicense) is required for On-Premises in order to gain access to the ISV object range and thus to the respective app functionality.
The following also applies:
- This extension is only required for Business Central On-Premises.
- It does not require that the customer has already purchased the specific 365 business development app license.
- The 365 business development app license is provided free of charge to Business Central customers as long as a valid BC customer license exists.
11.3 Partner Requirement
To obtain access to the 365 business development app license for extending the BC customer license, the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central partner must have signed the 365 business development Partner Agreement.
11.4 Unified ISV Module
Since early 2025, 365 business development apps are no longer split into individual ISV modules for licensing purposes. Instead, they are provided as a single ISV module:
- ISV Provider: 7058648
- Module ID: 78954
- ID: 5523650
- Name: 365 business development Apps
11.5 Installation
For technical deployment, 365 business development provides the 365 business development App Installer as a PowerShell script. Execution must be performed with elevated privileges on the Business Central server, as the Business Central PowerShell modules are required.
Further Information
12. Data Protection and Scope of License Validation
License validation for user and company licenses takes place within the respective Business Central environment. Only the determined quantity information is transmitted - i.e. the number of licensable or licensed users or companies.
For tenant licenses, the tenant-related data required to identify the environment is used. In On-Premises environments without a Microsoft Entra ID tenant ID, a unique GUID is generated; additionally, the DNS name of the server is transmitted.
Further Information
13. Final Provisions
This Licensing Guide summarises the documented principles of licensing for 365 business development apps in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
The following remain authoritative:
- the current product documentation,
- the specific license options in the Business Central environment,
- the contractual agreements,
- and product-specific licensing rules.
The current documentation is available here: