What does a Business Central developer do?

What the work looks like day to day

Every piece of Business Central functionality lives in objects: tables, pages, codeunits and reports. You never edit Microsoft's base code. You write extensions in AL, saved as .al files, that add new objects or extend existing ones. A typical request is a customer who wants two extra fields on the item card. You add them with a table extension and show them with a page extension, then publish to a sandbox from Visual Studio Code using the AL Language extension.

Microsoft's own description of the role adds more. You build integrations with other systems, including Power Platform. You debug and find the root cause of faults, tune slow code, and make sure data stays intact through upgrades. In practice that means REST calls, JSON handling, custom APIs, test codeunits built with the Test Toolkit, and telemetry. Source control and CI/CD pipelines are expected skills. A developer who only works inside a sandbox will struggle on a real project.

Per-tenant extensions, AppSource apps and who hires you

There are two kinds of extension work. A per-tenant extension (PTE) is unique to one customer environment. You decide when to publish, install, upgrade or remove it. Microsoft partners that implement Business Central for clients write most PTEs. Global apps come from Microsoft or are installed from the marketplace. Microsoft's Business Central docs now call AppSource "Marketplace". Independent software vendors build these apps and sell the same code to many tenants. You don't control when a global app is published or unpublished.

ISV work is stricter. Before an app can be listed, it must pass Microsoft's automated technical validation. The .app file has to be signed, and the publisher has to register its affixes and an object ID range. The app must carry its own permission sets, translation files and upgrade code. Once an app is in the marketplace, that version becomes the baseline for every later submission. After that, you cannot make breaking schema changes to its tables, and you must mark AL objects obsolete before you remove them. End users with in-house Business Central teams hire developers too, mostly for PTEs and integrations.

Upgrading from NAV and C/AL

A lot of steady work comes from old Dynamics NAV and early Business Central systems that were customized in C/AL. Version 14 was the last C/AL release. Moving its custom code to a later version, or to Business Central online, means converting it to AL extensions. Microsoft documents the steps. You compile everything in C/SIDE, export the objects to the new text syntax with PowerShell cmdlets, and run the Txt2Al conversion tool. You then rebuild the result as AL projects without breaking the database schema.

Developers who can still read C/AL and also write clean AL are useful on these projects. If you come from NAV, your table, page and codeunit knowledge carries over. The new skills are events and subscribers instead of direct code changes, Visual Studio Code, Git, and building to marketplace rules.

What MB-820 tests

The certification is Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Business Central Developer Associate, earned by passing Exam MB-820. The largest section is developing with AL objects (35 to 40 percent). It covers tables, pages, enums, reports, XMLports, codeunits, permission sets and queries. The other areas are writing AL code (15 to 20 percent) and four sections at 10 to 15 percent each: describing Business Central, installing and deploying, development tools, and integration. The skills outline was last updated on June 10, 2025.

The exam is proctored, takes 100 minutes and is booked through Pearson VUE. It is offered in English, Chinese (Simplified), German, Spanish, French, Japanese and Portuguese (Brazil). The price depends on the country where you take it. If you fail, you can retake it 24 hours after the first attempt. The certification lasts 12 months. You renew it free by passing an online assessment on Microsoft Learn.

Pay

USD a year, before tax. The Business Central and developer rows are advertised pay from US adverts on D365 Market that state pay, snapshot 2026-11-05. They show what adverts offer, not what people earn. The Business Central rows are a small sample (9 adverts from 8 employers) and cover Business Central roles in general. The BLS row is OEWS May 2025 for Software Developers, moved to 2026 with the Employment Cost Index. It is the nearest generic occupation, not a Dynamics figure. None of these is an official Dynamics 365 pay rate. Refer to the Business Central salary guide for figures from live adverts.

What you need

• AL and Visual Studio CodeYou write all Business Central customization as AL extensions using the AL Language extension in Visual Studio Code. Marketplace apps must be developed there.
• Business Central functional knowledgeYou need to know how sales, purchasing, inventory and finance documents flow. Microsoft lists document and master data standards as exam topics.
• Integration skillsYou need HTTP classes, JSON, REST services, custom APIs and OData actions to connect Business Central to other systems.
• Source control and CI/CDMicrosoft expects developers to know application lifecycle management, including source control and continuous integration and delivery.
• Testing and telemetryYou write test codeunits, run the Test Toolkit, and configure and read telemetry to find faults and performance problems.
• MB-820 (optional)No law requires a certification for this work. Many partners and ISVs ask for MB-820 because it counts toward their Microsoft partner standing.
• C/AL reading skills for upgrade workIf you work on NAV or version 14 upgrades, you need to read C/AL and convert it to AL with the Txt2Al tool.

How to get there

1. Months 0-3Learn the productGet a Business Central sandbox and learn the core processes, either as a user or from Microsoft Learn modules.
2. Months 2-6Build your first extensionsSet up Visual Studio Code with the AL Language extension. Build table, page and report extensions and keep them in Git.
3. Year 1Join a partner or ISVStart as a junior developer writing per-tenant extensions, fixing bugs and supporting upgrades under a senior developer.
4. Year 1-2Pass MB-820Take the 100-minute proctored exam once you have hands-on AL work behind you, then renew it every 12 months.
5. Years 2-4Take on integrations and upgradesOwn API work, CI/CD pipelines and C/AL-to-AL conversions, or move to an ISV building Marketplace apps.
6. Years 4+Lead or architectRun a development team, set coding standards and design extension structure across projects.

Open now on D365 Market

Dynamics 365 Business Central DeveloperOrisha · Seville, Andalusia

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Dynamics 365 Business Central DeveloperOrisha · Logroño, La Rioja

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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Developer Zamara · Nairobi, Nairobi County

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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central DeveloperCapgemini · Milan, Lombardy

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Sources

1. Microsoft Learn: Dynamics 365 Business Central Developer Associate certification
2. Microsoft Learn: Study guide for Exam MB-820
3. Microsoft Learn: Developing extensions in AL
4. Microsoft Learn: Extension types and scope
5. Microsoft Learn: Code conversion from C/AL to AL
6. Microsoft Learn: Add your app to Marketplace
7. Microsoft Learn: Technical validation checklist
8. D365 Market: advertised salaries
9. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Software Developers