Blog · Document Capture

AI Document Processing for Dynamics 365 Business Central

March 5, 2026 · 9 min read · By Guillaume Fernandes

Every company using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central deals with the same tedious workflow: a supplier invoice arrives (PDF, scan, or photo), someone opens it, reads the vendor name, types it into BC, adds each line item manually, enters amounts, validates totals, and posts the invoice. For a company processing 100+ invoices per month, this is a full-time job.

AI document processing changes the equation entirely. Instead of humans reading documents and typing data, AI reads the document, extracts structured data, and creates records in BC — with human oversight for accuracy.

How AI document processing works in Business Central

Zentriq Document Capture is built directly into the Zentriq Agent sidebar in Business Central. The workflow is simple:

  1. Upload — Drag and drop an invoice PDF or image into the Agent chat window in BC.
  2. Extract — AI reads the entire document and extracts: vendor name and address, invoice number, invoice date, due date, payment terms, line items (description, quantity, unit price, total), tax amounts, and currency.
  3. Match — AI matches the extracted vendor to your BC vendor records using name, address, and tax ID. Item descriptions are matched to your BC item catalog when possible.
  4. Review — The Agent shows you all extracted data in a structured format. You review, correct if needed, and approve.
  5. Create — One click creates a Purchase Invoice in BC with all data pre-filled — vendor, lines, amounts, dates. Ready for posting.

AI vs traditional OCR: what's different?

You might be thinking: “We've tried OCR before, and it was unreliable.” That's a fair concern. Traditional OCR (Optical Character Recognition) works by scanning images for text characters. It has fundamental limitations:

FeatureTraditional OCRAI Document Processing
How it worksCharacter recognition + templatesSemantic understanding of documents
Template setupRequired per vendor/layoutNo templates — works on any layout
New vendorNeeds new template, days of setupWorks immediately, zero setup
Accuracy70-85% (depends on scan quality)95%+ (understands context)
Multi-languageLimited, language packs neededNative — reads any language
Handwritten textUnreliableGood accuracy on clear handwriting
Understanding contextNone — just reads charactersUnderstands what a “due date” or “total” means

The key difference is that AI doesn't just see text on a page — it understands what the text means. When AI reads “Zahlbar innerhalb 30 Tagen” on a German invoice, it knows that's a 30-day payment term, even though no template told it where to look.

What documents can you process?

Supplier invoices

The primary use case. Upload invoices from any supplier in any format — AI extracts vendor, line items with quantities and prices, tax, payment terms, and due date. Creates Purchase Invoices in BC.

Receipts and expense reports

Photo or scan of a purchase receipt. AI extracts vendor, amounts, date, and tax. Useful for employee expenses and petty cash reconciliation.

Delivery notes

Upload a delivery note to validate received quantities against purchase orders. AI extracts PO references, item descriptions, and quantities for matching.

The business case for AI document processing

Let's look at the numbers for a company processing 200 supplier invoices per month:

Manual processing

  • Time per invoice: 8 minutes average (open PDF, find vendor, type lines, validate)
  • Monthly time: 200 × 8 min = 26.7 hours/month
  • Error rate: 3-5% (wrong amounts, wrong vendor, typos)
  • Error correction time: ~2 hours/month
  • Total cost: ~CHF 4'000/month (at CHF 140/hour fully loaded)

With AI document processing

  • Time per invoice: 30 seconds (upload, review, approve)
  • Monthly time: 200 × 0.5 min = 1.7 hours/month
  • Error rate: <1% (AI extraction + human review)
  • Credit cost: 200 credits × ~CHF 0.50 = CHF 100/month
  • Total cost: ~CHF 340/month

Net savings: CHF 3'660/month (CHF 43'920/year). The ROI is immediate and scales with volume.

Security and compliance

Document processing in a business context raises legitimate security questions. Here's how Zentriq handles them:

  • Authentication: Microsoft Entra ID (OAuth 2.0). No separate credentials.
  • Data processing: Documents are processed in real-time. Extracted data is used only to create BC records.
  • Storage: Processed documents are stored for audit trail purposes and can be deleted at any time from your dashboard.
  • GDPR: Full compliance. Data processing agreement available. Your data stays in your tenant.
  • Permissions: The Agent uses your BC permission sets — it can only create records you have permission to create.

Getting started

Document Capture is part of the Zentriq Agent. To start processing documents:

  1. Install the Zentriq AL extension in your Business Central environment
  2. Sign in with your Microsoft account
  3. Open the Zentriq Agent sidebar in BC
  4. Upload your first invoice and watch AI extract the data

There's a free tier to test with. Credit packs for document processing start at CHF 25 for 50 credits.

Conclusion

AI document processing for Business Central isn't a future concept — it's available today. If your AP team is manually typing invoice data into BC, they're spending hours on work that AI can do in seconds — with better accuracy and a full audit trail.

Start free or learn more about Document Capture.