Business Central document management that keeps files with the record

Business Central document management features you already own

Most cards and documents have an Attachments area where you can add any file. For example, a customer can hold a signed contract. An item can hold a drawing. A purchase order can hold a supplier quote. Attachments can flow from a customer or item onto sales documents. They can also print or email with them.

Incoming Documents is the second tool. A vendor's invoice PDF becomes an incoming document, linked to the purchase invoice you build from it. It stays reachable from the posted entry. So auditors can go from a ledger entry to the original paper in two clicks.

OneDrive, SharePoint and database storage for document management

Business Central keeps attached files in the database. They count toward your environment's storage capacity. However, for a company that attaches a scan to every transaction, that grows quickly. Part of our design work is to decide which files stay inside and which move to Microsoft 365.

The OneDrive integration opens an attachment in the browser and lets you share it with colleagues. In addition, Excel and Word reports can open there too. For structured libraries with their own folders and metadata, SharePoint is the better home. You connect it through an add-on or an extension that stores a link on the record.

How we design Business Central document management

We start with a list of document types and three questions for each. Who creates it? Which record does it belong to? Who needs to find it later? That gives simple rules. First, vendor invoices go through incoming documents. Second, customer contracts sit on the customer card.

Then we configure. We switch archiving on. Business Central then keeps every version of a quote or order. Report selections and sending profiles control what we email. Also, permissions decide who may delete an attachment. Where volume justifies it, we assess capture tools that read invoice data.

Capturing vendor invoices with Business Central document management

Accounts payable produces the most paper, so it gains the most. Staff can record invoices from a shared mailbox as incoming documents. They become purchase invoices and go through an approval workflow. The approver sees the PDF the whole way. Instead, nobody prints or walks anything around the office.

Some electronic invoices arrive in a structured format. For those, Business Central's e-documents features can create the purchase document from the data itself. Do you receive mostly PDFs in volume? Then a capture add-on that extracts header and line data may be worth its subscription. We compare options against your real invoice mix before we suggest one.

Pitfalls in Business Central document management

The usual failure is having no rule at all. Some people attach files, some save them to a network drive, and some keep them in email. Then nobody can find the signed copy when it matters. A one-page filing rule that everyone follows beats any software purchase.

Other traps include large scans that fill your storage. Links to folders that later change name are another. Another is letting anyone delete attachments. Files with personal data need care over who can open them and how long you keep them. We address each of these in the design.

Business Central document management FAQ

Can we attach files to any record in Business Central?

Attachments are available on most master records and documents. That includes customers, vendors, items, projects, fixed assets, and sales and purchase documents. Where a page lacks the attachments area, a small extension can add it. Posted documents keep the attachments from the original, so the paper trail stays whole.

Do attachments use up our database storage?

Yes. Business Central stores attached files in the environment's database, and they count toward its capacity. You can see this in the admin center. For large volumes, we design storage in SharePoint or OneDrive with a link on the record. That keeps the database lean and the files easy to find.

Does Business Central integrate with SharePoint?

Business Central includes OneDrive integration for opening and sharing files. For SharePoint libraries, you use an add-on from Microsoft's marketplace or a custom AL extension. We suggest one after we see how you organize your libraries. Then the choice rests on your folders and your users, not on guesswork.

Can vendor invoices be read automatically?

The e-documents features can process structured electronic invoices. For PDF and scanned invoices, capture add-ons extract the vendor, amounts and lines. They then create a draft purchase invoice. Someone still checks the draft before you post it. So you save typing time, but you keep control of what reaches the ledger.

How are old versions of quotes and orders kept?

Switch archiving on in sales and purchase setup. Business Central then stores a numbered version each time you archive a document. It does the same when you change a document after sending or delete it. You can open any version and restore it if needed. That makes it easy to answer questions about what a customer was told. That is a core part of Business Central document management.

Related record-keeping services

Good filing supports payables, invoicing and audits alike. The pages below cover the neighboring services that use the same attachments, workflows and archives in Business Central. Read them to see how Business Central document management fits with approvals and e-signatures. Then send us a short list of your document types. We will suggest a simple filing rule. For the product detail, see Record incoming documents in Business Central on Microsoft Learn.