Support & Expansion of Dynamics 365 Business Central at COST

COST | European Cooperation in Science and Technology manages funding networks across Europe. As their pan‑European activity expanded, the finance and procurement landscape increased in complexity: multiple VAT regimes, multi‑country bank relationships and decentralised purchasing for funded projects. COST had an existing Dynamics NAV/Business Central environment but required targeted operational support, tax automation and tighter bank handling to scale without increasing headcount.

Awara IT was engaged as the implementation and support partner to stabilise the Business Central environment, implement European tax rate management and streamline purchasing, inventory and bank processes. The engagement delivered continuous support and targeted functional extensions that reduced manual tax adjustments, improved month‑end bank reconciliation and standardised procurement workflows for COST’s funding operations across EU member states.

Client / Industry / Country

COST | European Cooperation in Science and Technology is a Belgium‑based funding organisation that coordinates research and innovation networks across Europe. The organisation operates as a professional services entity supporting dozens of transnational projects and requires centralized financial control with multi‑jurisdiction compliance.

Business challenge

COST operated a Business Central instance inherited from previous NAV deployments but lacked a sustainable support model and the functional extensions required for pan‑European operations. Key pain points were frequent manual adjustments to VAT on cross‑border transactions, disparate bank handling processes across jurisdictions, and long purchase‑to‑pay cycles driven by manual purchase orders and three‑way matching exceptions.

The finance team spent significant time correcting tax codes, reconciling bank statements from multiple countries and resolving inventory discrepancies for project supplies. These issues increased month‑end close time, introduced audit exposure for VAT reporting and reduced the finance team’s capacity to focus on programme funding decisions. COST engaged Awara IT to deliver both short‑term stabilization and medium‑term process automation while ensuring compliance with European e‑invoicing and data protection requirements.

Why Dynamics 365 was selected

COST selected Dynamics 365 Business Central as the target platform because the organisation already ran Dynamics NAV/BC and needed a solution that supports multi‑company, multi‑currency and multi‑jurisdiction finance operations. Business Central offers native capabilities for core financials, flexible tax configuration and extensibility to integrate with European e‑invoicing standards such as Peppol, which were essential requirements for COST’s operations across EU member states.

Another deciding factor was alignment with COST’s Microsoft ecosystem—Microsoft 365 for document management and Azure Active Directory for identity—enabling a single security and collaboration model. Awara IT was chosen as the partner for its experience migrating NAV/BC environments, implementing VAT automation across Europe and delivering support services that combine functional expertise with secure integration practices.

Modules implemented

• General Ledger & Core Financials
• Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable
• VAT / Tax Rate Management (EU multi‑jurisdiction)
• Bank Account Management & Reconciliation
• Purchase‑to‑Pay (Purchasing and Approvals)
• Inventory & Warehouse Management
• Project Accounting for research grants
• Compliance & Security configuration (role‑based access, audit trails)

Integrations

• Peppol e‑invoicing gateway for EU electronic invoicing
• Multi‑country bank interfaces (secure file exchange and API connectors)
• Microsoft 365 (SharePoint/Teams) for document storage and approvals
• Azure Active Directory for authentication and SSO
• Power BI for consolidated financial and project reporting
• Awara IT monitoring and ticketing for managed support

Localization & compliance

The engagement included configuration of EU VAT rules and a centralized tax table to handle variable VAT rates and reverse‑charge scenarios across member states. Awara IT implemented Peppol e‑invoicing integration to meet cross‑border invoice submission requirements and reduce manual invoice handling.

Data protection and local compliance were addressed by enforcing role‑based access, audit trails and secure Azure AD authentication, aligning Business Central operations with GDPR obligations. Reporting packs were configured to support Belgian tax authorities and to produce audit‑ready VAT reports for multi‑jurisdiction submissions.

Business value

Awara IT’s engagement stabilized COST’s Business Central environment and delivered targeted automation that reduced manual tax corrections and shortened reconciliation and procurement cycles. By centralizing tax rates and integrating Peppol e‑invoicing, COST reduced VAT error exposure and improved the timeliness of invoice processing—benefits that directly support accurate grant accounting and audit readiness.

Centralized bank handling and automated imports shortened month‑end closing and freed finance capacity for programme financial analysis. Standardized purchasing and improved inventory accuracy reduced project delays and procurement exceptions. The combined improvements lowered operational risk, improved compliance across EU jurisdictions and provided a sustainable support model to scale COST’s funding operations without proportional headcount increases.