Dynamics NAV CRM integration links the customer, quote and order data in your CRM with the financial and inventory records in NAV. When it is done properly, sales can see credit status and stock without calling finance. When it's done badly, you get duplicate accounts and invoices nobody can trace back to a deal.
The timing matters this year. NAV 2016 left extended support on 14 April 2026, and NAV 2017 follows on 11 January 2027.
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Therefore, the integration question is now tied to a bigger one: do you stay on NAV, or move to Dynamics 365 Business Central?
This article covers both, with the Canadian rules that affect the setup.
What is Dynamics NAV CRM integration?
In most companies NAV is the system of record for customers, items, prices, invoices and payments. CRM holds the softer side such as leads, opportunities, emails and service cases. Integration keeps the records they share consistent.
The practical gain is licensing and focus. Rapidi's integration team argues that sales reps should work in CRM only, because every jump between systems mid-process drags productivity down. If a rep can see NAV order status inside Microsoft Dynamics CRM, they do not need NAV seats. They also do not need to ask for accounts receivable for a favour.
Is Dynamics NAV the same as Dynamics 365?
No, Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) is the older ERP. Microsoft stopped releasing new NAV versions after NAV 2018 and now points new customers to Dynamics 365 Business Central, which is built on the same codebase. Business Central belongs to the Dynamics 365 family; NAV doesn't.
What data should sync
Most projects need the following flows that we mentioned below:
Customers and contacts
Items and prices
Quote to sales order
Order status updates
Invoices and payments
Rapidi lists customers, contacts, items, prices, quote-to-order, order updates, sales history and payments as the basic flows. Prices deserve more attention than they usually get. If reps quote from a stale price list, finance spends the following week fixing orders.
Three methods to integrate
Here are the threemethods to integrate:
Native connector
Microsoft's connector is free. It only became dependable with NAV 2016, and most data moves one way, from NAV to CRM. Customers, contacts and sales orders can sync both ways.
Integration platform (iPaaS)
DCKAP notes that cloud iPaaS has become the preferred approach over point-to-point and service-bus models. The catch is that it costs more upfront and can take longer to show returns.
Middleware
Connecting Software's Connect Bridge is one example. It converts SQL-style queries into the target system's native API calls, so it never writes to the database directly. That protects your data integrity.
Note: Weigh each vendor's claims against what they sell.
Where the native connector falls short
Rapidi's list of limits is long. These are the ones that cause real trouble:
Once an order is submitted in CRM, it can only be changed in NAV. That means a NAV licence, or a handover to someone who has one.
Several NAV databases cannot feed a single CRM.
Custom field rules need a developer to edit code inside NAV.
A customer cannot be coupled to a CRM account until its salesperson is coupled to a CRM user. Where sales turnover is high, this setup breaks constantly.
Prospects cause their own mess. Dynamics Consultants advisedeleting prospect records from NAV and managing them in CRM, otherwise you end up with orphaned contacts. That advice dates from 2013. The orphaned-contact problem has not gone anywhere, and it still turns up in projects today.
Also ask whether you need a separate CRM at all. Business Central Essentials already includes customer relationship management capabilities, and for some teams that's enough.
Dynamics 365 Business Central CRM integration
If you are leaving NAV, integration gets simpler. Business Central has a built-in route to Dynamics 365 Sales. You set up the Dataverse link first, then configure Sales integration from within Business Central. This is the setup most partners mean when they say Dynamics 365 CRM integration.
The upgrade has a quirk, though. Microsoft's cloud migration tool does not run directly from NAV. You upgrade to Business Central on premises first, then move online.
One partner estimate puts NAV-to-Business Central migration at six to twelve weeks, including testing and training. Nevertheless, customisations and data quality can move it a long way in either direction.
CRM pricing and costs in Canada
These are Microsoft Canada list prices:
Business Central pricing:
Essentials CA$108.50 per user per month
Premium is CA$149.20 per user per month
Dynamics 365 Sales pricing:
Professional is CA$88.20 per user per month
Enterprise is CA$142.50 per user per month
Premium is CA$203.50 per user per month
Canadian points that affect the build
Records
The CRA requires you to keep business records, electronic ones included, for at least six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Records stored outside Canada but accessed from Canada arenot treated as records kept in Canada.
So, before you sync invoices into a CRM, find out where your tenant and Dataverse environment are hosted.
Tax
Keep GST/HST and PST logic in the ERP, not the CRM. Ontario uses HST, British Columbia charges GST plus PST, and Alberta has GST only. A quote built in CRM should pull its tax from NAV or Business Central.
If it calculates its own, sooner or later the quote and the invoice won't match.
Multi-province finance
An ERP helps a decentralised finance function stay consistent.
Picture a head office in Calgary with finance staff in Vancouver and Toronto. With one ledger and one customer master, every branch sees the same balance.
Business Central pricing includes multiple companies, which suit groups with separate legal entities. That same ERP data then feeds the CRM.
Payments: EDI payment on bank statement
Payment status is where integration often lets people down. An EDI payment on a bank statement must be matched to the right open invoice in the ERP before the CRM can show "paid". If that matching is manual, reps end up chasing customers who already paid, which is awkward for the relationship. Make sure the paid status flows back from the ERP. Rapidi's list of core flows includes payments for this reason.
Steps that avoid rework
Decide which system owns each record including customers, prospects, prices.
Clean up duplicates before syncing. DCKAP advisesstandardising and correcting data before integration starts.
Couple salespeople to CRM users first, then customers.
Test a full quote-to-invoice cycle in a sandbox.
Check the sync logs weekly for the first month.
Choosing a partner
Ask any Business Central partner in Canada these three questions:
Who owns the sync when it breaks, and which version of NAV or Business Central do they have live integrations on?
Can they support your province's tax setup?
Can they give you a reference customer in your industry? Ask this whether you are after a Dynamics CRM partner in Ontario, Toronto or British Columbia.
Dynamics Square Canada can review your current NAV version and tell you whether to integrate now or upgrade first.
For more information, you can call us at +1 778 381 5388 or drop an email at info@dynamicssquare.ca.
