NetSuite Migration · Microsoft Business Central

NetSuite Promised Enterprise ERP. You Got Enterprise Costs.

NetSuite is a capable platform, for the companies it was built for. For mid-market companies in the Microsoft ecosystem, it’s the wrong fit: escalating license fees, middleware-heavy integrations, and a support model that doesn’t match what was sold. TechWise moves companies off NetSuite to Business Central, cleanly, completely, and at significantly lower ongoing cost.

Full NetSuite History Preserved

90–120 Day Go-Live Standard

License Cost Drops 30–50%

Former Controllers on Every Project

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Tell Us If This Sounds Familiar

You Bought NetSuite to Solve
a Problem. It Created New Ones.

These aren’t implementation failures. They’re the structural realities of running a mid-market Microsoft business on a platform that was designed for a different customer.

Our NetSuite renewal came in 40% higher than last year. No new functionality, no improvements. Just a number that arrived and was non-negotiable.

CFO, $95M Distribution Company, Chicago

We use Microsoft 365 for everything. NetSuite connects to none of it natively. Teams, Outlook, Power BI, everything requires a connector that breaks on every update.

Controller, $60M Manufacturer, Philadelphia

Our NetSuite implementation took 14 months. We went live on half the scope. Three years later, we still have workflows that were in the original spec that haven’t been built.

VP Finance, $80M Food & Beverage Company

Every time we call NetSuite support we get a ticket number. Two years ago we had a named account manager. Now we have a portal and an SLA that nobody actually enforces.

CFO, $120M Multi-Entity Company, Los Angeles

Switching ERPs is not a decision anyone makes lightly. But staying on the wrong platform has a cost too, and it compounds every renewal cycle. The question isn’t whether Business Central is better for your company. It’s whether the migration cost is lower than the ongoing cost of staying.

The Real Cost Comparison

NetSuite vs. Business Central:
The Honest 3-Year Cost Picture.

License fees are just the starting point. The total cost of ownership for a mid-market company in the Microsoft ecosystem tells a different story than the sales deck.

NetSuite, 3-Year TCO Drivers

What the renewal conversation doesn’t cover

License fees escalate 15–25% annually at renewal

Module pricing, each add-on billed separately

SuiteScript development for every customization

Third-party middleware for every Microsoft 365 connection

Middleware maintenance and breakage support

Separate Power BI licensing and connector costs

Support tier fees for anything beyond basic tickets

NetSuite-certified developer scarcity premium

Business Central (TechWise), 3-Year TCO

What the same investment looks like

Predictable per-user licensing, Essentials $70 / Premium $100

Most modules included natively, no add-on billing

AL extensions, larger developer pool, lower rates

Native Microsoft 365 integration, no middleware

No connector maintenance or breakage costs

Power BI included in Microsoft 365, already paying for it

TechWise managed services, one relationship, one invoice

Broader Microsoft partner ecosystem, competitive rates

The migration cost pays back in 12–18 months from NetSuite license savings alone, before factoring in middleware elimination, developer cost reduction, and the productivity gains from native Microsoft 365 integration. We’ll model this specifically for your company in the assessment call.

Your Data Is Safe

Everything You’ve Built in NetSuite
Comes With You to Business Central.

The data migration from NetSuite is technically cleaner than most legacy systems. NetSuite’s data structure is well-documented, and our methodology is proven across dozens of NetSuite-to-BC migrations.

Full Transaction History

Every posted NetSuite transaction: invoices, payments, journal entries, expense reports, migrated and validated against your final NetSuite trial balance. Full historical P&L from Day 1 in BC.

Open AR & AP Balances

Every open invoice and bill migrates with aging intact. Your AR and AP aging in Business Central on Day 1 matches your final NetSuite reports exactly, down to the penny and subsidiary.

Multi-Subsidiary Structure

NetSuite’s subsidiary and intercompany structure maps directly to Business Central’s multi-entity architecture. Consolidations, eliminations, and intercompany transactions all migrate with their relationships intact.

Customers, Vendors & Contacts

Every customer and vendor record, contact, payment terms, credit limit, and relationship history migrates and is deduplicated. CRM connections are remapped to Dynamics 365 if applicable.

Items, Inventory & Pricing

Products, services, assemblies, and pricing matrices migrate with their full structure. Advanced pricing rules and customer-specific pricing are rebuilt natively in Business Central.

Integrations & SuiteScript Logic

Every SuiteScript and integration is inventoried before the project starts. Each one is categorized, rebuild, replace, or retire, with a documented disposition before any cost commitment.

Your SuiteScripts & Customizations

SuiteScript Inventory Before
You Commit to Anything.

The SuiteScript list is what makes most NetSuite companies hesitate on a migration. Here’s the reality: many SuiteScripts exist to work around NetSuite limitations that Business Central handles natively, meaning the rebuild list is almost always shorter than it looks.

Category 01, Rebuild

Rebuilt as a Business Central Extension

Business-critical SuiteScripts with no native BC equivalent are rebuilt as proper AL extensions, supportable, upgrade-safe, and documented.

  • Industry-specific workflow and approval logic
  • Custom pricing and discount calculations
  • Compliance-specific audit controls
  • Proprietary EDI and integration logic
  • Custom financial calculation engines

Category 02, Replace

Replaced by Native BC or a Better ISV

Many SuiteScripts compensate for NetSuite limitations that BC handles out of the box, or that a proven ISV covers better.

  • Custom approval workflows → BC native workflow engine
  • Manual bank reconciliation scripts → BC auto-reconciliation
  • Custom reporting exports → Power BI native dashboards
  • AP automation hacks → Continia
  • Custom EDI scripts → SPS Commerce or Lanham

Category 03, Retire

Retired, No Longer Needed

Some SuiteScripts were workarounds for NetSuite limitations or one-time fixes that have since become permanent. Many can simply be retired.

  • Workarounds for NetSuite posting edge cases
  • Manual consolidation scripts (BC handles natively)
  • Legacy currency conversion patches
  • Outdated compliance workarounds
  • Unused modules and orphaned scripts

The SuiteScript inventory is the first deliverable we produce, before any configuration, before any timeline. Every script is categorized with a disposition and a cost estimate. Most NetSuite clients find their genuine rebuild list is 40–60% smaller than the total SuiteScript count suggested.

The Migration Process

From NetSuite to Business Central.
90–120 Days. No Operational Gap.

A migration away from a live ERP system has to be executed precisely. Here’s the process we use, and why the parallel run period is non-negotiable.

01

NAV Audit

SuiteScript inventory, subsidiary structure analysis, integration audit, report catalog, and 3-year TCO model. The conversation always starts with the numbers.

Deliverable: NetSuite audit + TCO model

02

Migration Design

BC multi-entity architecture designed to match and exceed your NetSuite structure. Fixed timeline and scope agreed before any configuration begins.

Deliverable: Migration plan + fixed scope

03

BC Build

Business Central configured for your subsidiary structure, compliance requirements, and Microsoft 365 integration. NetSuite workflows rebuilt natively where possible.

Deliverable: Configured BC environment

04

Data Migration & Validation

Full NetSuite transaction history, open AR/AP, multi-subsidiary structure, and chart of accounts migrated and validated. Every balance reconciled before go-live.

Deliverable: Validated data, zero loss

05

Training &
UAT

Role-based training for finance and operations. UAT against your real NetSuite data in BC. Your team signs off on every number before cutover is set.

Deliverable: Trained team + UAT sign-off

06

Go-Live &
Strategic Support

Cutover on the agreed date. TechWise present for Day 1 and your first close. Quarterly Business Reviews with Power BI dashboards. NetSuite license retired at renewal.

Deliverable: Live in BC + ongoing partnership

The Zero-Surprise Guarantee

Every TechWise NetSuite migration includes a weekly status checkpoint covering timeline, budget, SuiteScript build progress, and data validation by subsidiary. If anything is off track, you know immediately. Not at go-live. Not on the invoice. Before it becomes a problem.

Why TechWise for This Migration

You Made a Careful Decision
to Go with NetSuite. This One Should Be Too.

A NetSuite-to-BC migration is a significant decision. Here’s what makes TechWise the right partner for a company that’s been burned once and needs to get it right this time.

01

Former Controllers Who Model the ROI

We don’t just quote the migration, we model the 3-year TCO comparison specifically for your company. License savings, middleware elimination, developer cost delta, and productivity gains. You’ll know the payback period before you decide.

02

We Read SuiteScript

Most Business Central partners don’t have NetSuite expertise. We’ve built a team that understands both platforms, so we can accurately categorize every SuiteScript and give you a realistic rebuild scope, not a worst-case estimate.

03

Your Budget Model. Zero Surprises.

Fixed-Fee or Time & Materials, you choose. The SuiteScript inventory we produce before any commitment gives you a precise scope. You’ve already been surprised by one ERP vendor. We’re structured so it doesn’t happen again.

04

Multi-Entity Expertise

NetSuite’s subsidiary model is the most complex part of the migration. Business Central’s multi-entity architecture handles consolidations, intercompany eliminations, and dimensional reporting natively, we configure it to match and exceed your NetSuite structure.

05

Compliance Built In, Not Promised

SOX, HIPAA, FDA 21 CFR, CMMC controls built into the BC architecture from Day 1, not configured during implementation based on what you ask for. Your auditors will see the difference from the first close.

06

The Microsoft Stack Finally Works Together

Native Teams integration. Native Power BI. Native Outlook. Native Copilot. No middleware. No connectors. No breakage on every Microsoft update. The platform you’ve already invested in starts pulling in the same direction.

Migration Results

What NetSuite Clients Find
on the Other Side.

Numbers from actual TechWise NetSuite migrations, not projections.

30–50%

Typical reduction in annual ERP licensing cost

NS license + middleware vs. BC license

3

Average days to close after migration

vs. 10–14 days on NetSuite

12–18

Months to full migration cost payback from license savings

Before productivity gains

100%

NetSuite historical data preserved on every migration

Full validation pre-cutover

“We’d been on NetSuite for three years and spent more time managing the system than running the business. Our licensing cost dropped 40% when we moved to Business Central. Our close went from 11 days to 4. And the Microsoft 365 integration alone was worth the entire migration, no more connectors, no more breakage, no more tickets.”

CFO, $95M Distribution Company, Chicago Metropolitan Area

Common Questions

NetSuite Migration Questions
We Hear Every Week.

The most common reasons: escalating license costs that weren’t projected at purchase, a system that requires constant middleware to work with Microsoft 365 and Teams, an implementation that never fully delivered on its original scope, and account support that has deteriorated since the sale. For mid-market companies in the Microsoft ecosystem, Business Central generally delivers lower total cost of ownership and deeper native integration with the tools they already use.

No. TechWise migrates your full NetSuite transaction history, open AR and AP balances, multi-subsidiary structure, customer and vendor records, and chart of accounts, all validated before go-live. Your financial history is fully preserved and auditable in Business Central from Day 1. The NetSuite data model is well-documented, which makes the data migration technically cleaner than most legacy system migrations.

For a standard NetSuite migration, TechWise delivers go-live in 90–120 days. Environments with multiple subsidiaries, complex SuiteScript logic, heavy third-party integrations, or regulated industry requirements generally run 120–150 days. The timeline is fixed before Day 1, you know your go-live date before the project starts.

Every SuiteScript is inventoried in the discovery phase and categorized as rebuild, replace, or retire. Most SuiteScripts fall into replace or retire, many exist to work around NetSuite limitations that Business Central handles natively. The inventory is the first deliverable we produce before any cost commitment, and it almost always reveals a smaller genuine rebuild scope than clients expect.

TechWise offers Fixed-Fee and Time & Materials engagements. NetSuite migrations generally range from $100,000 to $250,000 depending on subsidiary count, SuiteScript complexity, and compliance requirements. Most clients recover this full cost within 12–18 months from NetSuite license savings alone, before accounting for middleware elimination and productivity gains. We model this specifically for your company in the assessment call so you can make the decision on actual numbers.

It’s worth understanding your contract terms, but being mid-contract doesn’t mean you should wait to start planning. The migration itself takes 90–120 days, and the preparation work (SuiteScript inventory, BC architecture design, team readiness) can begin well before go-live. Starting the plan now means you go live close to your renewal date, which is generally the lowest-disruption transition point. We can help you model the timing.

Also in Migrations

Not on NetSuite?
We Migrate From These Too.

Most Common

QuickBooks to Business Central

over 150 migrations from QuickBooks and QuickBooks Enterprise. Zero data loss. 90-day go-live. The most common path to Business Central for growing mid-market companies.

See QB migration →

Legacy Microsoft

NAV to Business Central Migration

Every version from Navision 1.x through NAV 2018. Your customizations rebuilt, your reports replaced, your institutional knowledge preserved.

See NAV migration →

End of Life

Great Plains to Business Central

GP support has ended. Every day you stay is an unpatched compliance and security risk. We have a proven GP-to-BC path with full historical data preservation.

See GP migration →

Tell Us What’s Broken.
We’ll Tell You How to Fix It.

Every managed engagement starts with a free assessment of your environment: no scope surprises. Tell us what’s broken, what’s keeping you up at night, or what you’re trying to build. We’ll tell you exactly what it takes and which model fits.

  • Free environment assessment, before any scope is finalized

  • 30-minute call with a senior engineer, not a sales rep

  • Six engagement models, from project to enterprise SOC

  • Chicago · Philadelphia · Los Angeles

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Free assessment. No commitment. No pitch before we understand your situation.