This post was originally published in 2024 and has been updated in 2026 with new information on AI, Copilot, Business Central reporting features, Cosmos capabilities, and current reporting best practices. Inventory management is a vital cornerstone for organizations of any size that can make or break their long-term growth, profitability, and productivity. Robust inventory management systems ensure accurate, real-time control of physical goods and their ever-changing quantities, locations, and statuses while preventing profit loss due to stockouts or surplus. Empowering your business with a state-of-the-art ERP solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the first step to a seamless, well-executed approach to inventory management. The question is, how do you use all the valuable inventory data you collect every day? Like most ERPs, Business Central includes out-of-the-box reporting and BI capabilities to help you increase visibility into your supply chain and inventory operations. But those reporting capabilities don’t always satisfy companies’ complex and stringent reporting requirements in this unforgiving marketplace. That’s where third-party reporting solutions come in. In this blog post, we will share why businesses with additional reporting needs choose to invest in a third-party reporting and analytics solution to get the most out of their Business Central data. From there, we’ll show you just how easy it can be to get the critical inventory reports you’re looking for to meet customer demands, optimize supply chain management, and ultimately fuel your success. Why Getting Business Central Inventory Reports Can Be Challenging Business Central comes with several built-in reporting options, including standard inventory report templates. From inventory picking lists to inventory valuation and cost reports, these out-of-the-box Business Central standard reports may seem convenient at first – they’re anything but. These reports are complex and take a lot of time, money, and technical expertise that many of today’s manufacturers and distributors don’t have. As a result, true inventory analysis, management, and optimization are not attainable. So why are Business Central inventory reports so difficult to build and customize? We’ve narrowed it down to five main reasons: Data is spread across multiple sources. Without a developer or data warehouse to simplify the structure, it’s difficult to pull clean, organized inventory data together for accurate reporting. Extensions limit access. Third-party Business Central inventory management extensions often restrict how easily their data can be extracted for reporting. Integration adds risk. Combining inventory data with finance, sales, or manufacturing data requires extensive consolidation work, which increases the chance of errors. Performance suffers at scale. As data volume grows, large datasets and complex reports slow down speed and system performance. Technical skills are required. Modifying or building custom reports in Business Central typically requires developers with specialized coding knowledge. Dig Deeper into Business Central’s Top 7 Reporting Challenges Download Free Whitepaper Why Clean Inventory Data Matters Even More With Copilot and AI Microsoft is pushing Copilot deeper into Business Central, including inventory and supply chain scenarios. But Copilot can only summarize and surface insights from the data it can clearly read. If your inventory data lives across extensions, modules, and inconsistent formats, Copilot will inherit the same blind spots your team already has. Clean, consolidated data isn’t just a reporting requirement anymore. It’s what makes AI-assisted inventory decisions trustworthy in the first place. This changes the stakes of the data problem we just described. Teams that lean on AI to move faster need to trust what’s feeding it, which means the data governance and consolidation work has to happen before AI enters the picture, not after. A cloud reporting layer that organizes inventory data isn’t just solving today’s reporting problem. It’s laying the groundwork for every AI tool Business Central users will rely on next. Learn how to AI-proof your data today with the AI Ready Reporting Playbook Download Now How to Quickly and Easily Create Custom Business Central Inventory Reports The solution to building and customizing inventory reports is quite simple: invest in third-party reporting software that bypasses these challenges entirely. As a Business Central customer, you can choose from several third-party reporting and analytics solutions depending on your business needs, reporting requirements, and technical resources on staff. Many of them are legacy reporting tools built for Microsoft’s on-premise ERP systems, which doesn’t really bode well for delivering fast reporting speed and reliable performance. If you’re weighing your options, we’ve compared the top Excel-based reporting tools for Business Central to help you evaluate what fits your team. To get instant access to all inventory data in Business Central and inventory-related data in your extensions and other modules, you’ll need a cloud-first reporting solution like Cosmos. Fully supported by Microsoft Azure, Cosmos provides a unified, intuitive platform to easily create and modify inventory reports, edit data models, manage users, and share information – all without technical expertise or familiarity with the underlying data structure. Unlike other on-premise reporting solutions for Business Central, Cosmos includes a powerful data warehouse to clean and organize data from multiple sources and optimize it for reporting and business intelligence. Its seamless integration with Microsoft Azure Active Directory lets users easily log in with their Microsoft Business Central or Office credentials and start building reports and dashboards immediately in Excel or Power BI. With governed data, a familiar Excel interface, and self-service data visualization at your fingertips, Cosmos is designed to make report creation easier for everyday Business Central users – equipping them with the data and tools they need for faster operational analysis, smarter decision-making, and instant results. Top Pre-Built, Fully Customizable Inventory Reports in Cosmos To simplify and speed up the report creation process, Cosmos includes a set of pre-built inventory reports that give you valuable insight into your inventory levels from day one. Without any complex configurations or coding required, these reports are easily customizable and work immediately with your Business Central data. View the Full Cosmos Excel Report Library Here It’s important to note that the Cosmos development team regularly adds to these pre-built reports. Report What It Shows Best For Inventory Valuation by Item Category Quantity on hand, ending value, and average unit cost, grouped by item category Teams tracking value trends across product lines Inventory Valuation by Location Quantity on hand, ending value, and average unit cost, grouped by warehouse or location Multi-location businesses comparing inventory value by site Inventory Valuation Summary Quantity on hand, ending value, and average unit cost across all items A single, company-wide snapshot of inventory value Inventory Quantity on Hand by Item Category Beginning quantity, net change, and ending quantity by item category over a date range Monitoring stock movement trends by product line Inventory Quantity on Hand by Location Beginning quantity, net change, and ending quantity by location over a date range Comparing stock movement across warehouses Item Quantity on Hand Summary Beginning quantity, net change, and ending quantity across all items A full inventory movement view for a chosen date range See Sample Reports in Action Want a closer look before you start building? Here are a few examples of what these reports look like inside Cosmos. Inventory Valuation by Item Category:Shows all item categories along with the items associated with each item category. Inventory Valuation Summary: Shows quantity on hand, ending value, and average unit cost for each item. Inventory Quantity on Hand by Location:Shows the beginning quantity, net change, and ending quantity for each item based on the date range the user specifies for the report. One of our partners recently pointed out that Cosmos’ pre-designed reports are one of the biggest reasons why many of their Business Central customers have recently adopted the cloud reporting solution. Tired of wasting time and money on reporting, Cosmos provides a full gallery of pre-built reports that can be modified and shared by anyone in your organization – without technical knowledge and development skills. “Unlike any other reporting tool,” explains Richard Parkinson from PYA Solutions, “Our Business Central customers can literally start building valuable reports on the first day of implementation.” 30 Business Central Reports in 30 Minutes We know that many Business Central customers are still struggling to access the data and reports they need. To get them producing valuable and accurate reports immediately, Cosmos includes a set of 30 essential pre-built business reports out-of-the-box. Browse the eBook below for a comprehensive overview of each of these free reports. View Report Library Explore a New Universe of Reporting If you’re having trouble getting the inventory data and reports you need from Business Central, it’s time to book a 30-minute demo of Cosmos! With a user-friendly, centralized cloud platform built for Business Central users, you will see firsthand how easy it is to create and modify inventory reports in just a few clicks. Let us know your inventory reporting requirements, and we’ll even show you how simple it is to build custom reports from scratch! Book a Demo Today Business Central Inventory Reports Frequently Asked Questions What inventory reports come standard with Business Central? Business Central includes basic, built-in reports like inventory valuation, availability, turnover, aging, status, location, and lot reports. These out-of-the-box reports work for basic needs, but they’re often too rigid and it is too technical to customize for specific business requirements without developer support. Can I build a custom Business Central inventory report without a developer? Yes, with the right reporting tool. Third-party cloud reporting solutions like Cosmos let users build and modify inventory reports directly in Excel or Power BI, without writing code or understanding Business Central’s underlying data structure. Why is Business Central inventory data hard to report on? Inventory data in Business Central often lives across multiple places, including extensions, modules, and integrated systems. Without a tool to consolidate and clean that data first, reports can be slow, incomplete, or require significant technical work to build correctly. How many pre-built inventory reports does Cosmos offer? Cosmos currently includes six pre-built inventory reports covering valuation and quantity on hand, broken out by item category, location, and company-wide summary. All six are fully customizable without coding, and bespoke inventory reports can be built from scratch quickly and easily using Cosmos Excel embedded interface or Power BI integration. Does Copilot work with Business Central inventory data? Copilot can surface insights from Business Central data, but it depends on that data being clean and consolidated first. If inventory data is fragmented across extensions and modules, Copilot inherits the same gaps a manual report would have. How long does it take to set up custom inventory reporting in Business Central? With a cloud-first reporting tool like Cosmos, most users can start building inventory reports within days, not months. Legacy or on-premise reporting tools typically take longer due to setup complexity and infrastructure requirements. Anthony Bonaduce Chief Revenue Officer About the Author Latest Posts Anthony Bonaduce brings nearly a decade of sales leadership expertise to the Microsoft Channel, where he has built lasting partnerships and driven significant growth for data analytics solutions. As co-founder of Cosmos Data Technologies, Anthony combines his passion for relationship building with deep industry knowledge gained through executive roles at Jet Reports (now insightsoftware) and Rand Group. Anthony’s business philosophy centers on exceptional customer service and transparent communication—principles he credits as the foundation of his success. His proudest achievement includes expanding Jet’s partner channel to unprecedented levels, earning him the trust of countless Microsoft partners and clients. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Marketing from the University of Oregon. When he’s not helping clients unlock their data potential, Anthony enjoys cheering on the Oregon Ducks, playing golf, and spending time with family and friends. How to Get Custom Business Central Inventory Reports in Minutes August 17, 2026 What is Cloud Reporting? Benefits, Tools, and How it Works August 7, 2026 Best Business Central Reporting Tools (2026): Compare Top 5 Excel-Based Options July 27, 2026 Cloud Reporting for Business Central: The Missing Step Between Spreadsheets and AI June 4, 2026 AI Won’t Help Your Ungoverned Data May 11, 2026 Fact Checked & Editorial Guidelines Our Fact Checking Process We prioritize accuracy and integrity in our content. Here's how we maintain high standards: Expert Review: All articles are reviewed by subject matter experts. Source Validation: Information is backed by credible, up-to-date sources. Transparency: We clearly cite references and disclose potential conflicts. Your trust is important. Learn more about our Fact Checking process and editorial policy. Reviewed by: Subject Matter Experts Our Review Board Our content is carefully reviewed by experienced professionals to ensure accuracy and relevance. Qualified Experts: Each article is assessed by specialists with field-specific knowledge. 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