Dynamics GP to Business Central Migration: What Happens to Your Timesheets and Expense Reports

Most Dynamics GP to Business Central migration plans start with the general ledger. The chart of accounts gets reworked, open payables get reconciled, and someone decides how much history to bring across. The timesheets and expense reports that post into those ledgers often get scoped weeks before cutover.

If your organization runs a separate timesheet and expense system alongside GP, the part employees see usually doesn't need to change. People keep entering hours and submitting receipts under the same policies and approvals. The real work sits in the connection behind it: where approved entries land in Business Central, and how your project and account coding maps once they get there.

When does Microsoft end support for Dynamics GP?

Microsoft ends Dynamics GP support for product enhancements, regulatory (tax) updates, and technical support on December 31, 2029. Security updates, if needed, continue until April 30, 2031, according to the Dynamics GP lifecycle policy on Microsoft Learn. Microsoft originally announced September 30, 2029, so older planning documents may still show that date.

GP will keep running after 2029. It stops getting tax updates and fixes at that point, but to be clear, Microsoft's July 2026 blog says GP product availability ends April 30, 2031. Older versions run on a shorter clock: extended support for GP 2016 ended in July 2026, and GP 2018 support ends in January 2028.

What does a GP to Business Central migration move, and what does it leave to you?

Microsoft's cloud migration tool moves GP setup data, master records, open transactions, Vendor 1099 data, and selected history into Business Central online. It does not move a separate timesheet and expense application, and it doesn't need to. That system sits outside GP and connects to it.

A few details in Microsoft's migration documentation matter to the people who own timesheets and expense reports. The GP main account segment becomes the Business Central account number, and the remaining segments become dimensions. General ledger history arrives as summary transactions by fiscal period, with optional transaction detail stored in GP Historical Snapshot tables.

Microsoft's list of migrated data also doesn't include GP Project Accounting. Confirm with your Dynamics partner how projects and tasks will be set up in Business Central. None of this changes how employees record their week. It does change every value your timesheet and expense system sends to the ERP.

Does your timesheet and expense system need to be rebuilt?

Usually not. When timesheets and expense reports run in a dedicated application, employees can keep the same app, policies, approval chains, and submission history through the move. What changes is the integration behind it: the destination, the data mappings, and sometimes the workflows that depend on GP-specific codes.

The exception is a timesheet or expense add-on built to run inside GP. Because it lives in GP's own database and screens, it typically has to be replaced when GP is retired. If that describes your setup, treat it as a selection decision and start it early.

For DATABASICS customers, the change happens at the integration layer. DATABASICS supports both the Dynamics GP integration and the Dynamics 365 Business Central integration. Your users, policies, and approval setup stay in place while the implementation team points the connection at Business Central.

How do project codes, cost centers, and dimensions map from GP to Business Central?

GP account segments become Business Central dimensions, and GP projects and tasks correspond to Business Central projects (formerly called jobs) and project tasks. Your timesheet and expense system needs a mapping for each one, so every approved entry posts to the same place in Business Central that it reached in GP.

Take a consultant who logs six billable hours to a client project. In GP, the labor cost might post to account 200-6100-01, where 200 is the department, 6100 is consulting labor, and 01 is the division. The same hours also post to the project and task in GP Project Accounting.

After the migration, Business Central splits that account string apart. The entry posts to account 6100, with 200 as a Department dimension value and 01 as a Division dimension value. The hours land in the project journal against the matching project and task. The consultant still picks the same project in the app.

Your Dynamics partner chooses which two segments become Global Dimension 1 and 2 during migration setup; any additional segments become shortcut dimensions. Lock those choices before you finalize the timesheet and expense mapping. DATABASICS implementation teams help configure these mappings and test them against real entries.

Which approval and audit records should you keep, and where will they live?

Keep two kinds of evidence, and know where each one lives. Posted transactions belong to the ERP, and their history moves with the GP migration. The submission trail (original entries, edits, approvals, and policy exceptions) stays in your timesheet and expense system, where it was created.

That split matters when an auditor asks how a number reached a project. The posted journal line shows the amount and coding. The record of who entered the hours, who approved them, and what changed after submission sits upstream.

For government contractors, that upstream record is often the timekeeping evidence a DCAA review asks to see. Creative Associates International connects DATABASICS to Microsoft Dynamics SL. Its case study puts the goal plainly: "We wanted to be able to capture, store and retrieve documentation electronically, so when we get audited, all of that documentation is immediately accessible."

Before cutover, decide where auditors will look for each record type and write it down. If you limit how many years of GP history migrate, note which system holds the older posted detail.

Dynamics GP to Business Central migration checklist for timesheets and expense reports

Use this checklist alongside your partner's ERP migration plan. The owners listed are typical, so adjust them to your team.

Plan the connection, not a rebuild

A Dynamics GP to Business Central migration changes where your approved timesheets and expense reports land. It rarely needs to change how employees submit them. Teams that map segments, projects, and approval records before cutover tend to find their gaps in a sandbox instead of at the first close in Business Central.

Support through that change matters as much as the mapping. Across more than 80 weeks of DATABASICS customer feedback, average customer ratings stayed between 4.9 and 5.0 out of 5.

Still evaluating how timesheets and expense reports should work across Dynamics? Our 7 questions to ask a Dynamics timesheet and expense reporting vendor cover system ownership, validation, and audit evidence in more depth.

DATABASICS works with GP, Business Central, and the rest of the Microsoft Dynamics family, so your integration can follow you through the move. In the demo, you will see how your GP projects, dimensions, and approval chains would map into Business Central. Attending Community Summit North America in Nashville, October 11 to 15? Book a meeting with our team or stop by booth 1312.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Microsoft Dynamics GP being discontinued?

Microsoft is ending Dynamics GP support rather than removing the software. Product enhancements, tax updates, and technical support end December 31, 2029, and security updates end April 30, 2031. GP will still run after those dates, but without regulatory updates or fixes. Microsoft encourages GP customers to move to Business Central.

Does the GP to Business Central migration tool move timesheets and expense reports?

No. Microsoft's cloud migration tool moves GP data such as setup, master records, open transactions, and selected history. A separate timesheet and expense application isn't part of the GP database, so it stays where it is. Its integration is reconfigured to send approved entries to Business Central instead of GP.

Will employees need to learn a new timesheet and expense app after moving to Business Central?

Usually not, if they already use a dedicated application. Employees keep the same app, mobile entry, policies, and approval steps, because only the back-end connection changes. The exception is an add-on built to run inside GP, which typically has to be replaced when GP is retired.

Do GP account segments carry over to Business Central?

Yes, in a different form. Microsoft's migration maps the GP main account segment to the Business Central account number and turns the remaining segments into dimensions. Any rule, report, or integration that references full GP account strings needs to be remapped to the new account and dimension values.

Microsoft lifecycle and migration details are from Microsoft Learn as of October 2026. Microsoft, Dynamics GP, and Dynamics 365 Business Central are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. This post does not imply endorsement by Microsoft.