Dynamics 365 Business Central for White Rock: Finance & Procurement

White Rock, a UAE-based business consulting firm operating across 10+ legal entities, moved from spreadsheet-driven finance and procurement processes to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with Awara IT as the implementation partner. The program targeted accounts payable, purchase-to-pay controls and payment approval workflows to reduce manual work, improve auditability and consolidate multi-entity reporting.

Awara IT delivered a phased Business Central implementation that migrated historical Excel data, standardized processes across entities and introduced automated approval flows and bank integrations. The result delivered faster month-end closes, clearer cash visibility and a governed control framework suitable for further digital transformation across the group.

Client / Industry / Country

White Rock is a professional services firm specializing in business consulting, headquartered in the UAE and operating across the Middle East with 10+ legal entities under a single group structure. The company supports regional clients and required consolidated finance controls to scale operations.

Business challenge

Finance and procurement at White Rock relied on multiple Excel workbooks managed by different legal entities. Intercompany transactions, purchase approvals and payment runs were managed with ad-hoc email chains and spreadsheets, creating reconciliation gaps, duplicate entries and long approval cycles. There was limited centralized visibility into cash positions across entities and no consistent audit trail for supplier invoices.

Growth and the need for consistent governance triggered a move away from spreadsheets. Key pain points were slow month-end consolidation, manual matching of invoices to purchase orders, inconsistent VAT handling across entities, and limited ability for the CFO and IT leadership to enforce segregation of duties and approval controls.

Why Dynamics 365 was selected

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was selected because it provides a cloud-based, modular ERP suited to mid-market professional services firms, with strong finance, purchasing and multi-company capabilities out of the box. Business Central integrates natively with Microsoft 365 and Power Platform, which aligned with White Rock’s existing Microsoft ecosystem and reduced integration risk.

Awara IT was chosen as the implementation partner for its practical experience migrating Excel-driven finance operations to Business Central and its regional knowledge of UAE statutory requirements. The combination delivered a lower total cost of ownership than on-premise alternatives and allowed White Rock to adopt a staged deployment focused on core finance and procurement use cases first.

Modules implemented

• General Ledger and Multi-entity consolidation
• Accounts Payable (AP) and Purchase-to-Pay
• Purchasing and Supplier Management
• Bank Reconciliation and Cash Management
• Approval Workflows (Power Automate + BC Approvals)
• Basic Project Accounting (time & expense foundations)
• Reporting & Analytics (Power BI)

Integrations

• Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Excel, SharePoint) for document management and user productivity
• Power Platform (Power Automate for approvals, Power BI for dashboards)
• Bank feeds/payment gateway integrations for UAE banks
• Data migration from legacy Excel workbooks via RapidStart configuration packages
• AP document capture into SharePoint / OneDrive

Localization & compliance

The implementation included UAE-specific finance localization: VAT calculation and reporting configured to UAE tax rules (5% standard rate at project time), VAT reporting schedules and formatted audit trails for tax submissions. Awara IT configured ledger posting groups, VAT posting setups and supplier invoice templates so each legal entity met statutory requirements. Document storage and invoice formats were aligned with UAE e-invoicing and reporting expectations where applicable, and Arabic language labels were enabled for user-facing forms when required.

Business value

The Business Central implementation standardized finance and procurement processes across White Rock’s legal entities, reducing manual effort and strengthening internal controls. Automation of purchase approvals and AP processing reduced operational delays and supplier risk while improving payment accuracy. Centralized ledger and multi-entity consolidation cut the month-end close time substantially and improved the CFO’s ability to produce timely management reports.

By implementing Business Central with Awara IT, White Rock now has a governed finance backbone that supports scalable growth, easier regulatory reporting in the UAE and a platform for staged additions such as advanced project accounting or HR/payroll integrations in future phases.