Dynamics GP End of Life: The BC Hiring Wave Is Already Here

If you've got Dynamics GP on your CV and you've been quietly wondering whether to take it off, don't. Leave it right where it is. The GP end of life is the biggest single source of Business Central work in North America for the next few years, and the people who understand both systems are in short supply.

Here's what's actually happening, what the numbers say, and how to position yourself whether you're a GP veteran, a BC consultant or a partner trying to hire.

The dates you need to know

Microsoft has been clear about the timeline, and it's changed once already, so it's worth getting it straight from the source:

• 1 April 2025: no new customers for GP perpetual licences.
• 1 April 2026: no new customers for GP subscription licences.
• 31 December 2029: end of product enhancements, tax and regulatory updates, service packs and technical support. This was moved from 30 September 2029 so customers could get through the full tax year.
• 30 April 2031: end of security updates. On that date Service Plan coverage ends, subscription licences can't be renewed and you can no longer add perpetual users to an existing system.

That's all from Microsoft's own end of support announcement, its migration options post and the GP lifecycle page on Microsoft Learn.

There's also a nearer deadline lots of people miss. Extended support for GP 2018 and GP 2018 R2 ends on 11 January 2028, and for GP 2016 it ended in July 2026 (Microsoft Learn). Plenty of customers on older versions are already out of support.

How many companies still need to move?

Nobody has a perfect count, but the estimates cluster in the same place:

• Sparkrock, citing Enlyft data, says more than 14,000 organisations use Great Plains (Sparkrock).
• DynamicsFocus puts it at between 10,000 and 14,000 companies (DynamicsFocus).
• Rand Group estimates around 15,000 in North America (Rand Group on LinkedIn).

GP was always strongest in the US and Canada, so that's where most of the work sits. There's still a GP base in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, but it's smaller.

Why this turns into a hiring problem

Rand Group did some back-of-an-envelope maths that's worth repeating. They reckon there are roughly 40 North American Microsoft partners with proven GP to Business Central migration capability. Even at an aggressive two migrations a month each, that's fewer than 1,000 a year, which would take 15 years or more to get through the installed base. Their point is that anyone who waits until 2027 or 2028 will hit a capacity wall (Rand Group).

You can argue with their assumptions, and not every GP customer will go to Business Central. Some will go to F&O, some to NetSuite or Sage Intacct, and a few will cling on past 2031. But even if you halve the numbers, the conclusion holds. There's more work than there are people to do it.

The talent side is worse than the partner side. DynamicsFocus makes the point that Microsoft first signalled GP's future years ago, so many experienced GP consultants, administrators and Dexterity developers have either retrained or retired. Every GP customer that pulls the trigger will be chasing the same, shrinking group of people (DynamicsFocus).

At the same time, Business Central itself keeps growing. One US recruiter quotes Microsoft's figures as more than 55,000 BC customers, up from 40,000 in 2024 (DMCG Global). That's a lot of new demand landing on a BC talent pool that was already stretched.

Who's most in demand?

I'd split it into a few profiles.

GP functional consultants who've learned BC

This is the jackpot. Someone who knows why a client set up their GP chart of accounts the way they did, understands the quirks of their third party add-ons and can map it all into BC dimensions is gold dust. If that's you, your phone should already be ringing.

BC consultants with finance depth

Most GP customers are finance-led businesses. A BC consultant who's comfortable with multi-company, consolidations, dimensions, fixed assets and month end close will be in every migration.

Data migration specialists

The migration itself is where projects come unstuck. In Nigel Frank's survey of partner staff, issues with data mapping and migration from legacy systems was the most commonly reported client challenge, mentioned by 38% (Nigel Frank). People who can handle Microsoft's cloud migration tooling, clean historical data and reconcile balances are worth their weight.

Developers who can replace customisations

Many GP sites have Dexterity customisations, VBA, SQL reports and ISV products layered on over 20 years. Somebody has to work out what's still needed and rebuild it as AL extensions or Power Platform apps.

Project managers who've done it before

GP customers tend to be mid-sized firms with small IT teams. A PM who has already run a GP to BC move and can tell the CFO what's coming is a very easy sell.

What a GP to BC project actually looks like

If you've only ever supported GP, it helps to know what you'd be walking into. Most migrations I hear about follow roughly the same shape:

1. Discovery. Work out which GP modules, ISVs, reports and customisations are actually used. On an old system, a surprising amount isn't.
2. Design. Map the GP chart of accounts and segments to BC dimensions, decide how much history to bring across and choose replacements for each add-on.
3. Data migration. Microsoft provides cloud migration tooling for moving GP data into Business Central, and partners layer their own tools and scripts on top. Master data and open transactions come first, with summarised history after.
4. Rebuild. Replace Dexterity, VBA and SQL customisations with AL extensions, standard BC features, AppSource apps or Power Platform.
5. Testing and reconciliation. Parallel runs, trial balance checks and a lot of time with the finance team.
6. Go live and hypercare. Usually timed around a period or year end, which is another reason the calendar gets crowded.

Every one of those steps needs a different skill. That's why partners are hiring several profiles at once rather than one "GP person".

The other thing to understand is that GP customers aren't just buying new software. Many are moving from on-premises servers to the cloud for the first time, so you'll be fielding questions about security, backups, user licensing and reporting that have nothing to do with ledgers. A consultant who can calmly explain all of that to a finance director who's used the same GP screens for 15 years is worth a lot.

What I'd do if I were a GP consultant right now

• Get Business Central properly under your belt. Microsoft Learn's BC paths are free, and the Business Central Functional Consultant certification (MB-800) gives you a credential to point at.
• Do one migration, even a small one. One real project beats any number of courses. If your current employer isn't doing them, that's a good reason to look elsewhere.
• Keep GP front and centre on your CV. List versions, modules, ISVs and the size of the systems you've supported. Partners search for those keywords.
• Learn the data side. Get comfortable with the GP to BC cloud migration process, Excel and configuration packages, and reconciling trial balances before and after.
• Pick a lane. Finance, distribution, manufacturing or not-for-profit. Specialist GP shops often have a strong vertical, and so should you.
• Look beyond partners. Many GP end users will want an internal lead to own the project. Those roles are often less travel and better pensions.

What I'd do if I were hiring

• Start now. If you're a partner with a GP book, your clients will come knocking at the same time. Hire before 2027, not during it.
• Train your BC people on GP. It's easier than finding unicorns. Pair them with your remaining GP experts while you still have them.
• Offer remote. GP talent is scattered. Insisting on five days in an office cuts your pool down to almost nothing.
• Pay properly. Check our salary guide before you set a range, because cheap offers for scarce skills don't get accepted.

Is the wave real or just partner marketing?

A fair question, because a lot of the loudest voices are partners selling migration workshops. My view: the dates are Microsoft's, not a partner's, and they don't move much. The installed base estimates from different sources agree with each other. And the talent shortage follows logically from a product that's been winding down for years. So yes, I'm quite certain the demand is real. The only question is how quickly customers act, and history says most will leave it later than they should, which bunches the demand up even more.

What to do next

• Search current GP and Business Central roles on our jobs board.
• Check what BC consultants are earning on our salaries page.
• If you're independent, list yourself in the consultants directory with GP and BC both mentioned.
• If you're a partner with migration capacity, make sure your profile on the employers page says so.