Business Central Localization Kazakhstan: Dynamics 365 NAV Upgrade for ALTEL

ALTEL, a leading mobile operator in Kazakhstan, was growing fast while running core finance on an aging Microsoft Dynamics NAV alongside SAP for group consolidation. As transaction volumes and regulatory demands increased, month-end dragged on, tax reporting took days, and sales offices pushed paper.

Awara IT partnered with ALTEL to deliver Business Central localization Kazakhstan: a Dynamics 365 NAV upgrade with a new KZ chart of accounts, automated tax and payroll, OCR-enabled sales office flows, and tight integration with telecom billing and SAP. The result: cleaner data, faster close, and a platform designed for telecom-scale operations.

Client / Industry / Country

ALTEL is a Kazakhstan-based mobile operator in the telecommunications and IT sector, serving millions of subscribers nationwide with a distributed retail footprint and high transaction volumes.

Business challenge

ALTEL ran a mature but heavily customized Microsoft Dynamics NAV for core accounting, while SAP served group-level consolidation. Dual systems created reconciliation bottlenecks and duplicated master data. The legacy NAV version limited automation and made it hard to adopt a new Kazakhstan chart of accounts and current statutory reporting without manual workarounds.

Operationally, finance teams spent too long preparing VAT and ESF (electronic invoices), mapping payment purpose codes (KNP), and validating IIK/IBAN details. HR and payroll ran on spreadsheets and scripts outside NAV, increasing error risk. Sales offices processed thousands of contracts and IDs daily, but documents were retyped manually, delaying activations and introducing data quality issues. Integration with the telecom billing system (OSS/BSS) was brittle, causing posting delays and month-end crunch time.

Why Dynamics 365 was selected

ALTEL evaluated options including staying on legacy NAV, moving finance to SAP S/4HANA, or adopting a local 1C stack. SAP promised deep enterprise integration but came with higher TCO and a longer timeline to meet telecom-specific processes in Kazakhstan. 1C was familiar locally, yet maintaining consistent controls, auditability, and enterprise-grade integrations at ALTEL's scale was a concern.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with Awara IT's Kazakhstan localization offered a balanced path: a modern ERP core, rapid adoption of the KZ chart of accounts and tax specifics, native Microsoft ecosystem integrations, and a practical SAP Dynamics integration pattern for group reporting. It enabled a clean Dynamics 365 NAV upgrade path without overhauling the entire ERP landscape.

Modules implemented

• Finance & Accounting (KZ chart of accounts)
• Tax & Statutory Reporting (VAT, ESF, KNP/IIK)
• Payroll & HR
• Budgeting
• Fixed Assets
• Inventory & Procurement
• Sales & Customer Service
• Consolidation & Management Reporting
• OCR Document Capture for sales offices
• Mobile Sales App (Power Apps)

Integrations

• Billing system (telecom OSS/BSS)
• SAP (consolidated reporting)
• OCR engine for sales offices
• Mobile app for field sales
• ESF/e-invoicing gateway
• Banking (IIK/IBAN, KNP codes, statements)
• Active Directory / Azure AD for SSO

Localization & compliance

Awara IT's Kazakhstan Localization pack for Business Central covers the national chart of accounts, payment purpose codes (KNP), and IIK/IBAN validation; automates VAT returns and ESF (electronic invoice) formats; supports PIT/CIT and social contributions; and produces standard statutory reports in Kazakhstan-compliant layouts. Payroll calculations reflect local tax brackets, deductions, and employer contributions, with predefined reports for auditors and regulators. Templates and validations reduce manual rework and ensure each posting aligns to KZ requirements end-to-end.

Business value

ALTEL reduced the financial close from nearly two weeks to under a week, with clear audit trails and Kazakhstan-compliant postings by design. OCR and mobile workflows shortened sales office cycle times, while automated ESF, KNP/IIK validation, and VAT reporting removed the bulk of manual checks.

By keeping finance on Business Central and integrating with SAP for group consolidation, ALTEL achieved lower TCO than a full SAP-only move and more agility than local point solutions. The platform now scales with subscriber growth, supports new products from the billing system with controlled postings, and aligns with the Microsoft stack adopted across Dynamics 365 Kazakhstan projects.