Connect Business Central
You sign in with your Microsoft work account and approve Docentra. Docentra then reads your posted supplier invoices with their documents, and can see what has been paid.
Who does it: You, in a couple of minutes. In many organisations, your IT administrator must approve Docentra once first.
Before you start
- A Microsoft work account with a Business Central licence. The account must be able to see vendors and posted purchase invoices, because Docentra sees only what the account sees.
Steps
Choose Business Central in Docentra
In Docentra, open Settings › Accounting system and choose Connect next to Business Central.
Sign in with Microsoft
Pick the work account you use for Business Central.
Approve Docentra
Microsoft shows what Docentra asks for. Choose Accept.
If Microsoft says “Need admin approval” or “Approval required” instead, see “If your IT administrator has to approve Docentra” below.
Pick the company
If you have several companies in Business Central, Docentra asks which one to read. Microsoft's demo company is often listed next to your own, so pick the right one.
Docentra starts reading
You're back in Docentra. From now on, Docentra reads the supplier invoices you book, and syncs automatically every six hours. Invoices booked before you connected are read only if you ask Docentra, for example to check the last year too.
If your IT administrator has to approve Docentra
In many organisations, only an administrator can approve a new app. Microsoft then doesn't show the approval, but says “Need admin approval” or “Approval required”. “Approval required” comes with a button to ask for approval. Send this page to your IT administrator.
Docentra asks for access to Business Central as the person who connects. It also asks to keep that access, so it can read when no one is signed in. It asks for nothing else.
If someone asked for approval
If the person connecting chose Request approval, the request is in the Microsoft Entra admin center (entra.microsoft.com), under Enterprise apps › Admin consent requests › My Pending. Open the request and approve it.
Otherwise, grant consent for the organisation
Once someone has tried to connect, Docentra is listed under Enterprise apps › All applications. Open Docentra, go to Security › Permissions and choose Grant admin consent. This needs one of the roles Cloud Application Administrator, Application Administrator or Privileged Role Administrator.
A Global Administrator can also choose Connect in Docentra themselves, tick “Consent on behalf of your organization” and then choose Accept.
Connect again
Once Docentra is approved, the person connecting chooses Connect in Docentra again. Microsoft no longer asks for an administrator.
What the access allows
Microsoft doesn't offer apps read-only access to Business Central, so the approval says Docentra may read and write. Docentra sees only what the person who connected can see. On every request, it also asks Business Central for a read-only session.
Docentra only reads. It never creates, changes or deletes anything in your system.
Removing access
In Docentra: open Settings › Accounting system and choose Disconnect. The booked entries are removed from Docentra, but invoices Docentra has already read stay.
At Microsoft: the person who connected can remove Docentra in the My Apps portal (myapplications.microsoft.com). Open the “…” menu next to Docentra and choose Manage your application › Revoke Permissions. An IT administrator can delete Docentra in the Microsoft Entra admin center, under Enterprise apps › Docentra › Properties › Delete.
Docentra also stops reading if the person who connected leaves the organisation.
If something goes wrong
- Microsoft says “Need admin approval” or “Approval required”
- In your organisation, only an administrator can approve new apps. See “If your IT administrator has to approve Docentra” above.
- Microsoft says the account can't sign in to Docentra
- Use your work account. Personal Microsoft accounts and guests from other organisations can't connect.
- “Connecting was cancelled”
- You cancelled, or closed the page before you were done. Choose Connect again.
- “Another accounting system is connected”
- Docentra reads only one accounting system per company. Disconnect the other system first, then connect this one.
- “Business Central no longer gives Docentra access”
- The access was removed in Business Central, or the person who connected it can't sign in any more. Choose Connect again.