As part of Microsoft’s 2025 update cadence, the 10.0.45 major release for Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (F&O) introduces a wide array of new capabilities, optimizations, and platform shifts across modules. Whether you’re an IT owner, finance analyst, or supply chain leader, this release contains important functionality to be aware of — some optional, some mandatory, and others now turned on by default.
This blog breaks down the most important changes so your team can get ahead of the curve. We’ve grouped the information using the same four categories Microsoft uses in their release documentation shown below.
Customer invoice logging framework (Preview): Enables lifecycle logging for invoices, improving traceability in the Customer invoice workspace.
Asset Leasing: Adds workflow for lease impairment, mandatory journal descriptions, and auto-posting on lease termination.
Cash and Bank Management: Auto-matches vendor accounts via IBAN and optimizes auto-settlement performance.
Electronic Reporting (ER): Includes in-app PDF conversion, enhanced label access, batch import/export options, and several performance-focused runtime features.
Fixed Assets: Adds centralized proposal creation, intercompany asset transfer (Preview), and unified catch-up depreciation posting.
General Ledger: Reverses out-of-balance ledger settlements and detects dimension variability (via flight).
Message Processor: Automates cleanup of processed and canceled messages.
Product Info Management: Foreign trade parameters enabled globally.
Preview to GA Transition: Features like Approved Customer Lists, Advanced Quality Management, and foreign trade parameter configuration are now generally available.
Commerce
Store Commerce Offline for iOS & Android (Preview): Adds offline support, SQLite integration, a new SDK, and upgraded database functionality for Store Commerce on mobile platforms.
Human Resources
Streamlined Employee Entry: Becomes mandatory with a new parameter available to disable it.
Recruiting Add-On: Now in public preview, expected to reach GA within this release.
Feature Enhancements in This Release
Finance
Accounts Receivable: Fixes incorrect totals on posted invoice journals and adds invoice details to My Cases.
Cash and Bank Management: Improves reconciliation logic and account matching.
Credit and Collections: Enhances customer interest notes and email template variable support.
Fixed Assets: Refactors asset split logic to remove dependency on localized labels.
General Ledger: Adds audit trail columns and improves support for partial ledger settlements.
Subscription Billing: Enhances billing termination logic to reuse original exchange rates for credit notes.
Supply Chain Management
Procurement:
Calculate earliest confirmed receipt date for vendor responses.
Remove vendors from RFQs after bids have been sent or received.
Production Control:
Improves decimal precision for numpad input on production floor interface.
Shared AP/AR:
Enables multiple batch tasks for rebate processing.
Features Turned On by Default
Finance
Accounts Receivable: Custom search, penny difference voucher support, free text invoice tag support.
Cash and Bank Management: Expanded bank reconciliation settings, including prepayment logic and exchange rate usage.
Credit and Collections: Separate accounts for credit notes (Mandatory).
Fixed Assets: Numerous features including automated depreciation split logic and prevention of asset creation via project PO (some Mandatory).
Tax: Tax exemption defaults, batch sync, and external provider support (some Mandatory).
Supply Chain Management
Asset Management: Print work order attachments, role-based lifecycle access, forecast hour adjustments.
Inventory & Warehouse: Inventory Visibility integrations, dimension history cleanup, reservation offsets, soft reservation on SO lines.
Production Control: Streamlined registration for indirect activities, validation logic for expiration, and job progress tracking.
Sales & Marketing: Product bundle journal integration and performance optimizations.
Duplicate ID Prevention and Streamlined Employee Entry are both Mandatory by default.
Features Removed from Feature Management
Finance
ER format lookups, Globalization Studio features, and legacy ER PDF conversion replaced by in-app methods.
Multiple obsolete or localized AR features (e.g., Lithuania VAT label) removed.
Tax-related feature controls such as Czech zero-amount logic and payment report generation are now default.
Supply Chain Management
A range of previously feature-managed modules—including procurement workflows, cost logic, production control toggles, and inventory behavior filters—have been removed or consolidated.
Final Thoughts
The 10.0.45 release continues Microsoft’s focus on performance, automation, and simplification — with the most impactful changes landing in Finance and Supply Chain Management. From updates to bank reconciliation, Electronic Reporting, and subscription billing in Finance to new capabilities in production, inventory, and warehouse management in Supply Chain, this release brings valuable improvements across core operational areas.
We recommend reviewing your organization’s Feature management workspace to see which updates require manual enablement and aligning with your internal change calendar before the October auto-update window.
Managing each Microsoft update can be time-consuming — especially when manual testing slows you down. TheTestMart is here to help. If you’re unsure where to focus your testing efforts or want to speed up validation, we can help reduce the risk of every release and free up your team to focus on higher-value work.
A few members of our leadership team attended the Biz Apps Partner Executive Summit last week. Microsoft shared a clear vision for the future of Dynamics 365 and the role of AI in transforming business applications. Below, Dan Diefendorf, TTM’s CEO, shares his perspective on the key takeaways and how they align with what we’re building at TTM.
Last week’s Biz Apps Partner Executive Summit reaffirmed Microsoft’s commitment to AI and the rapid growth of the Dynamics 365 platform. In our team’s visit with Microsoft, this was underscored as we discussed direct industry scenarios where AI can help create previously unknown efficiencies- especially customers seek deeper and meaningful insights from connected systems into their D365 instances. As partners, we were urged not only to offer AI-powered solutions but to become “customer zero”—adopting tools like M365 Copilot and D365 pre-built agents internally to understand and demonstrate their value. But this is only the starting point and many partners are beyond internal adoption and building foundational solutions for customers real-time.
From my perspective, this resonates deeply with our approach at TTM. We’re seeing the benefits firsthand: by embedding AI and agentic thinking into our products and workflows, we’ve compress our time to ship, turnaround customer feature requests faster, and have full observability across all our tech stack and those we touch. AI is now a catalyst for faster, more secure innovation.
Microsoft also emphasized that Dynamics 365’s growth is accelerating—Business Central’s expansion is “stunning”—and that partners must align with FY26 priorities: copilots on every device, strong M365/D365 execution, frontier AI solutions, and secure cloud migrations. At TTM, we’re leveraging these priorities to help customers modernize their testing processes, gain deeper insights, and ensure end-to-end compliance and security across their business applications.
Embracing AI internally has been a game-changer for us. It’s given our team the confidence to guide customers through their own AI journeys.
But the impact goes beyond technology. Adopting AI has reshaped how we think about hiring and culture. We look for people who are curious about AI, eager to learn, and who value collaboration over silos. It’s not just about recruiting data scientists and engineers. It’s about finding teammates who are comfortable working alongside AI and who see it as a tool to amplify human potential. And while AI can do amazing things, we never lose sight of the people behind the tools. Investing in their training and providing the right support is essential to making AI work responsibly and securely.
In short, the future of business applications is AI-first.
As the Dynamics 365 ecosystem continues to evolve at pace, it’s clear that AI isn’t just an enhancement—it’s becoming the foundation for how modern businesses operate. At TTM, we’re committed to staying at the forefront of this transformation, both by adopting these tools internally and helping our customers unlock their full potential. The insights and momentum from the Biz Apps Summit only strengthen our focus: building smarter, faster, and more resilient solutions for the future of business applications.
With more companies driving cloud transformations and upgrading to modern ERPs like Microsoft Dynamics 365, test automation has become an essential way to ensure critical business processes stay reliable and efficient.
In this guide, we break down what test automation is, why it matters for organizations using modern ERPs like Microsoft Dynamics 365, and how it helps teams move faster and with more confidence.
If you are exploring automation for the first time or want a deeper understanding of how it fits into your organization, you are in the right place. We will show you how moving from manual checks to automated testing reduces risk, saves time, and helps you stay ahead of every update.
What Is Test Automation?
Test automation is a software testing approach where automated tools perform a set of pre-defined tests or actions on an application to quickly verify its functionality before release, minimizing the need for manual testing.
In simple terms, it means using software to test software. Automated tests handle repetitive checks faster and more consistently than manual testing, freeing up your team to focus on higher-value work.
While manual testing is still important for exploratory checks or unique scenarios, automation takes care of the heavy lifting that slows teams down.
Do I Still Need Manual Testing if I Automate My Testing?
Yes. Manual and automated testing work best together. They are complementary, not replacements for each other.
Automated testing is excellent for repetitive, large-scale, and business-critical validations. It ensures your core processes continue to work smoothly after updates, like those frequently pushed by Microsoft Dynamics 365.
However, manual testing remains essential for areas where human judgment, flexibility, and creativity matter most. The insight that people provide when manually exploring workflows or catching subtle usability issues is irreplaceable and critical for a complete quality strategy.
As TheTestMart’s Chief Product and Technical Officer, Matthew Sabath, puts it: “Automation should empower people, not replace them. When humans and automation work together, one person can do the work of many, without losing the critical insight that only people can provide.”
Why Is Test Automation Important?
Updates, new features, and customizations keep your ERP system secure and competitive, but they also introduce risk. Even small changes can impact financial postings, integrations, or supply chain workflows.
Automated testing helps you catch issues early before they disrupt operations or reach your end users. It reduces last-minute surprises and allows you to adopt updates on schedule without compromising stability.
Organizations that invest in automation see faster, more predictable release cycles and fewer production issues. JMP Equipment Company shared in their story that automation helped them adopt Microsoft updates on time and improve team confidence in each deployment.
Automation also strengthens compliance and audit readiness by providing clear, automated evidence that your processes work as intended. It builds trust with IT, business teams, and leadership by proving updates can move forward without putting operations at risk.
What Types of Tests Can Be Automated?
Automated testing covers multiple types of tests to protect every layer of your system:
Unit tests check that individual areas of an application work correctly on their own.
Integration tests ensure your application connects and works properly with other systems or external services.
End-to-end tests confirm that complete, real-world process flows (like order to cash) work as intended from start to finish.
Performance tests ensure the system stays stable under heavy loads and peak usage.
Regression tests check that existing features continue to work after changes or updates.
When identifying strong candidates for automation, focus on these three areas:
Stable and predictable functionalities, which change infrequently and can be reliably automated.
Repetitive and time-consuming tests, which drain resources and are prone to human error.
High-risk and critical business functions, where failures would cause significant operational or financial impact.
Is Test Automation Hard or Expensive to Implement?
Many organizations think automation is too complex or too costly to get started. That perception comes from the early days when automation required heavy coding and specialized skills that only a few IT team members had.
Today, no-code tools and prebuilt test libraries make automation far more accessible and practical for organizations of all sizes.
The initial investment pays off quickly by saving time, reducing the risk that comes with new updates pushed from Microsoft, and avoiding operational disruptions.
At the same time, it is important to recognize that relying on manual testing alone also carries a cost. Not just in time and resources, but in delayed updates, increased errors, and higher long-term risk. As we shared in The Hidden Costs of Manual Testing, these hidden drawbacks often end up being more expensive and disruptive than organizations expect.
Why Automated Testing Matters for Dynamics 365
Microsoft’s One Version model means updates are mandatory and delivered on a set schedule. While organizations can still choose when to take certain updates within a limited window, they have far less flexibility than before and must stay current to remain supported and secure.
Even small changes can disrupt critical processes like financial postings, supply chain flows, and integrations if not thoroughly tested. This is why regression testing is not optional. It is a critical requirement with every update.
Automated testing ensures your core business processes continue to work as expected after each update. It helps you stay on track with Microsoft’s One Version cadence, minimize downtime, and adopt updates without putting your business at risk.
How TheTestMart Helps
At TheTestMart, we believe testing should empower business users, not burden them with complex tools built for developers.
Our platform provides a seamless experience designed to help teams validate critical workflows without needing to write code or rely on IT resources.
With prebuilt test libraries maintained in line with every Microsoft release, your team can skip the heavy lift of scripting and maintenance. We handle execution and updates for you so you can focus on your business instead of chasing broken processes.
Key advantages include:
No developers needed. Business users can easily digitize and validate workflows.
Zero in-house QA overhead. We manage everything for you.
Lower total cost. Eliminate hidden expenses from manual test maintenance and rework.
Expert oversight. Every test is validated to reduce errors and avoid retests.
Our platform combines intuitive recording, automated test execution, and real-time analytics to give your team confidence in every release, minimize downtime, and support safer, more reliable updates.
Automated testing is not just a technical upgrade. It is a strategic investment that supports stability, faster innovation, and business confidence.
As more organizations move to the cloud and push forward with digital transformation, reliable and scalable testing has become essential to keep pace with updates and protect critical processes.
Whether you are just starting or looking to strengthen your current strategy, investing in automated testing empowers your team to move faster, reduce risk, and focus on what drives your business forward.
How to handle test maintenance across Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O updates without starting from scratch.
Every month, Microsoft pushes proactive quality updates that include bug fixes and performance improvements. In addition, major service updates are delivered quarterly, with two of them required for organizations to take each year.
These service updates may introduce new features, interface changes, or deprecated elements. While Microsoft designs updates to avoid breaking existing configurations, they can still disrupt business workflows, key processes, or brittle automated tests.
If you’re using the Regression Suite Automation Tool (RSAT), relying on manual testing, or working with a third-party platform, test breakage and maintenance remain a constant challenge.
At TheTestMart, we hear questions like these all the time:
“Do we have to rebuild our tests every time there’s a UI or logic change?”
“How do we keep up with Microsoft’s upgrade release cadence”
“How can we reduce the cost of test maintenance?
The good news: Test automation doesn’t have to collapse when Microsoft moves fast.
Why Test Maintenance Is a Top Concern for D365 Teams
Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations allows for customization to meet specific business needs, which offers valuable flexibility but also introduces challenges for test stability. That flexibility is great for tailoring business workflows, but it also introduces challenges for test stability. Even small updates to forms, fields, labels, or business logic can cause tests to fail unnecessarily. The result is delays, false positives, and frustrated teams.
The more customized your environment is, the harder it becomes to rely on one-size-fits-all tools like RSAT. These tools tend to be brittle and require significant effort to maintain.
Microsoft does perform internal testing before releasing updates, but they cannot account for every customer’s unique configuration or environment. Most deployments include extensions, integrations, or custom logic that go far beyond Microsoft’s default test coverage.
“Microsoft does regression testing, but the data composition, specific customer configurations, and unique extensions mean customers must perform their own regression testing in their own environment”
What Test Automation Should Look Like for D365
To be effective, test automation in a Dynamics 365 environment should offer:
Environment-aware execution that supports sandbox, UAT, and test environment flows
Built-in audit trails and reporting for compliance and validation
Centralized test management to track what breaks and why
No-code test creation for easier updates
Service-backed support to keep your test suite healthy
This is especially important given Microsoft’s One Version policy, which ensures all customers are on the same version. That makes timely, reliable test maintenance critical.
How TheTestMart Solves This
TheTestMart was purpose-built for Microsoft D365 ERP environments. Our platform and team:
Maintain and update your test cases as part of our service
Use intelligent test design to minimize brittleness
Support D365 applications such as Finance & Operations, Customer Engagement, and POS
Keep your tests in sync with Microsoft’s update cadence
Help you prioritize what to test, and when
You don’t need to hire more engineers to keep up with Microsoft’s updates. You need a solution that does the heavy lifting for you.
What This Means for Your Team
With TheTestMart, test maintenance fades into the background instead of becoming a roadblock. Rather than rebuilding test cases from scratch, your QA and IT teams can stay focused on delivering value.
No more last-minute scrambling. No more brittle test scripts. Just clean, stable, automated testing.
Not sure where to start with test automation in D365?
Let’s talk through your use case and we’ll map out a practical path forward.
What it means for your business and how to stay ready for every update
If your organization runs Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, you’re likely already working within Microsoft’s managed update model known as One Version. This model defines how and when updates are delivered and ensures all F&O customers stay current with Microsoft’s latest features and security improvements.
This article focuses specifically on the One Version update lifecycle for Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. While Dynamics 365 Business Central follows a different update process, we will briefly outline its cadence for comparison — particularly as both platforms require disciplined testing strategies to stay ahead of change.
What Is the One Version Model?
Microsoft’s One Version model is a unified release approach designed to keep all Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations apps running on the latest version of the product.
Instead of delivering large version upgrades every few years, Microsoft now pushes regular quarterly service updates and twice-yearly feature updates that all customers must adopt. It is a shift to a cloud-first model where software evolves continuously, not in large jumps.
The goal is to keep every customer current, secure, and able to take advantage of the latest capabilities without major disruption.
How the One Version Update Schedule Works in Finance and Operations
Microsoft follows a predictable quarterly update schedule for Finance and Operations, helping organizations stay aligned with the latest features, performance improvements, and security enhancements.
Quarterly Releases: Updates are delivered in February, April, July, and October.
Update Requirements: Customers must take at least two updates per year and may pause one update at a time.
Each service update includes performance improvements, bug fixes, and new features that help your system stay secure, compliant, and aligned with Microsoft’s evolving roadmap.
Flexible Auto-Update Windows: Each release offers two auto-update windows, spaced four weeks apart. If no action is taken, Microsoft will apply the update automatically.
Organizations are strongly encouraged to validate updates in sandbox environments early using realistic data and real-world processes. This is the most effective way to identify and resolve issues before they affect your production systems.
Microsoft’s Targeted Release Schedule for Finance and Operations in 2025 and 2026. Dates subject to change. Photo source: Microsoft
What About Proactive Quality Updates?
As part of the One Version approach, Microsoft also releases Proactive Quality Updates, or PQUs. These monthly updates are automatically applied to all Dynamics 365 applications and are a required part of the platform’s lifecycle.
Unlike other updates, PQUs cannot be delayed or opted out of. Every organization using Dynamics 365 is automatically enrolled and receives these updates according to Microsoft’s published schedule.
To give teams time to prepare, Microsoft provides early access to each PQU in sandbox environments roughly one week before it is applied to production. This allows customers to run targeted tests and confirm that key processes still perform as expected.
While PQUs typically contain small fixes and stability improvements rather than new features, they can still affect workflows or integrations. Proactive testing remains important to avoid disruption.
Although not part of the One Version model, Dynamics 365 Business Central also follows a consistent update pattern that requires attention and preparation.
Wave Releases: Microsoft delivers two major updates per year, known as Wave 1 (April) and Wave 2 (October). These include significant functional, performance, and platform enhancements.
Monthly Updates: Between waves, monthly cumulative updates provide minor improvements, bug fixes, and regulatory changes.
Testing & Release Strategy: Customers are encouraged to deploy wave updates to sandbox environments immediately, then pause production updates for up to 60 days. This allows time to test for compatibility issues, especially with ISV solutions or customizations.
Even though Business Central is not governed by One Version, the need for proactive testing and planning remains just as critical.
Why Should I Test or Care About This?
Each update may introduce:
Changes to platform behavior
New features that interact with existing customizations
Modified APIs, integrations, or business logic
Even if a change seems small, a failed posting, missed approval, or integration error can lead to serious business disruption.
Without testing, you risk:
Financial discrepancies in reporting
Delayed shipments or purchases
User confusion and escalated support tickets
Broken integrations with upstream or downstream systems
The bottom line is this: you cannot afford to skip testing, even for updates labeled as minor.
How Can I Stay Ahead and Ensure a Smooth Update Process?
Smart teams follow a simple formula:
Know the release schedule Monitor Microsoft’s targeted release calendar.
Test early in sandbox Use realistic test data and simulate key business flows.
Automate what you can Manual testing is repetitive time-consuming and difficult to scale.
Stay informed and evolve your test library As your business changes, so should your tests.
In a One Version world, automated testing is no longer optional. It is the only sustainable way to reduce risk, move quickly, and keep your systems stable.
Automated testing helps organizations:
Reduce the risk of defects by validating changes before they reach production
Shorten testing cycles from weeks to hours, making it possible to test every update thoroughly
Increase confidence in each release by consistently verifying that business-critical processes still work as expected
Lower the risk of downtime or disruption, even during back-to-back update cycles
At TheTestMart, we have built our testing platform specifically for Microsoft Dynamics 365 environments, including both Finance and Operations and Business Central. We help organizations move fast without breaking things by delivering:
A prebuilt test library across core modules like Finance, Supply Chain, and Warehouse Management
Test maintenance with every Microsoft update so your tests do not break when the platform changes
A no-code builder so analysts, not developers, can manage testing
Auto-generated documentation to support audit and training efforts
TheTestMart supports both the One Version update model for Finance and Operations and the wave-based release cycle of Business Central — with tailored testing strategies for each.
Highlights from the newest Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2025 Release Wave 1 Update
Microsoft has officially rolled out Update 26.2 for Dynamics 365 Business Central, part of the 2025 Release Wave 1. This is a minor update following the major platform and application improvements introduced in April with Version 26.0. Update 26.2 is available as of June 2025 and includes key platform stability, performance, and compliance enhancements to keep environments secure and current.
At TheTestMart, we’re closely tracking each update cycle to help teams validate, test, and deploy changes with confidence. Here’s what you need to know about this latest release.
Update 26.2: What’s Included
According to Microsoft’s official release notes, this update contains:
Application Build: 26.2.34832
Platform Build: 26.0.34736
While no major new features were introduced, this release continues Microsoft’s emphasis on incremental improvement. You’ll find updates focused on:
Minor bug fixes across finance, warehouse, and configuration
Localization improvements for regulatory compliance
Performance optimizations in batch processing and page loading
These refinements are essential for maintaining reliability between major update waves.
Understanding the Business Central Release Cadence
Microsoft delivers two major Business Central updates per year, typically in April and October. These major updates introduce new features, architecture improvements, and usability upgrades. Each major update is followed by monthly minor updates like 26.1 and 26.2, which deliver bug fixes and optimizations without introducing breaking changes.
Recent Business Central update schedule showing application and platform builds for Release Wave 1 in 2025, including Update 26.2 released in June.
Why These “Minor” Updates Still Deserve Testing Attention
Even when no new features are introduced, minor updates can still affect core business processes. That’s why TheTestMart recommends validating every release—especially in areas like:
Workflows across finance, supply chain, or sales
Role-based permissions and user training
While preview environments are only provided for major updates, organizations can still use sandbox environments to test the impact of monthly updates like 26.2. This is especially important for customers with custom extensions or integrations.
You can manage your update timing and configuration settings in the Business Central Admin Center, where Microsoft provides controls for update deferral, scheduling, and environment setup.
TheTestMart Can Help
Whether you’re preparing for a minor patch or a full-wave upgrade, TheTestMart helps teams ensure updates don’t introduce risk. Our no-code platform automates validation and testing across Dynamics 365 environments, helping you catch issues before they impact users.
Want to talk about how we can simplify your update cycles? Contact us here to set up a quick call.
