Dynamics 365 AP automation
Procurement and AP automation, in sync with Dynamics 365
A single module live in as little as a week. The full source-to-pay suite in 8 to 16 weeks.
Raindrop Systems connects to Microsoft Dynamics 365 so approvals, invoice status, and supplier records stay in sync in both directions, with Dynamics as the system of record. It connects to Great Plains too. No side spreadsheet tracking what the ERP doesn’t show yet.
If invoice capture is all you need, Microsoft’s own AP features or an add-on may be the right call. If purchase requests, sourcing, and contracts still live outside Dynamics, a source-to-pay suite closes that gap in one integration instead of several.
Search for Dynamics 365 AP automation and you’ll find three different answers: the AP features Microsoft builds into Business Central and Finance, a long list of add-ons on Microsoft’s marketplace, and full source-to-pay suites like Raindrop. Which Dynamics you run changes the answer, and so does whether you’re still on Great Plains. This page lays out what each option covers, so you can pick the smallest thing that fixes your problem.
Three Ways to Automate AP on Dynamics
Microsoft's own AP features
Business Central’s Payables Agent drafts invoices from emailed PDFs and proposes matches to purchase orders and receipts. Finance adds Invoice capture and three-way matching. GP has a payables approval workflow.
Best when AP is the whole problem and your purchase orders already live in Dynamics.
An AP add-on
Stampli, Tipalti, BILL, and Continia each publish Dynamics integrations, with different coverage of Business Central, Finance, and GP, and different pricing models.
Best when you want stronger capture, approvals, or payments without changing how you buy.
A source-to-pay suite
Raindrop covers intake, sourcing, contracts, purchasing, AP automation, and payments on one connection to Dynamics 365 or Great Plains.
Best when late invoices start upstream: requests outside any system, contracts nobody can find at invoice time.
What Dynamics Already Does for AP
Start here, because it may be enough. In Business Central, Microsoft’s Payables Agent watches a mailbox for vendor invoices, reads them with AI, and shows drafts to a person for review. The drafts then go through your normal approval workflow and posting. Microsoft’s release plan lists the agent as generally available since November 7, 2025, and matching to purchase orders and receipts since February 6, 2026.
Know the limits before you count on it. The agent reads PDF invoices that arrive by email, up to 500 invoices a day, and it’s validated in English only. It’s billed in Copilot Credits. Microsoft says its account and vendor suggestions can be inaccurate, and any vendor it creates stays blocked until someone unblocks it.
Dynamics 365 Finance has Invoice capture, which creates vendor invoices from invoice images. It runs as a Power Platform solution with AI Builder. Each tenant gets 100 invoices a month included, and more capacity costs $300 a month for each extra 1,000. Finance also does three-way matching with tolerances, and workflow can approve invoices that meet your policies automatically.
Dynamics GP (Great Plains) handles vendors, invoice entry and posting, and check runs, and it has had an approval workflow for payables since GP 2015 R2. Microsoft ends GP support on December 31, 2029, with security updates, if needed, until April 30, 2031, and it’s steering GP customers to Business Central.
Which Dynamics, in Microsoft’s words
Business Central
Cloud ERP for small and mid-sized organizations. Native AP: the Payables Agent.
Dynamics 365 Finance
Core financial management, from forecast to close. Native AP: Invoice capture and three-way matching.
Dynamics GP
Business management for small and mid-sized organizations. Support ends December 31, 2029; security updates, if needed, until April 30, 2031.
AP Automation Options for Dynamics, Side by Side
What each option says about itself: the Dynamics products it names, how it connects, and what pricing it publishes. Sync details vary by configuration, so confirm yours in a demo.
The third-party details above come from each vendor’s own pages. For apps sold through Microsoft’s marketplace, Microsoft says it isn’t a party to the publisher’s terms and doesn’t support publisher offers, so confirm sync and support details with the vendor.
How Raindrop Connects to Dynamics 365 and Great Plains
Raindrop’s integration layer, RainConnect, is built into the core platform from day one rather than bolted on afterward.
On Dynamics 365, approvals, invoice status, and supplier records sync in both directions with Dynamics 365’s financial management modules. Dynamics stays the system of record; Raindrop reads from it and writes back to it. Tell us which Dynamics 365 app you run when you book a session, and we’ll walk through how it connects.
Still on Great Plains? Raindrop connects to it too, including the common setup where GP runs alongside a newer Dynamics 365 instance during a phased migration. That matters with GP support ending December 31, 2029: AP and procurement keep one connected workflow while the ledger moves to Dynamics 365.
One mid-market healthcare group on Dynamics 365 started with invoice and payment integration as a light first phase, saw AP efficiency gains inside 90 days, and has full three-way matching as the next phase. No ERP replacement was required.
Underneath, RainConnect runs on Workato, an enterprise-grade integration platform. Dynamics 365 and Great Plains sit alongside NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Sage, and Workday on Raindrop’s list of maintained ERP connections.
Full integration details, including architecture and connector list.
What stays in sync with Dynamics 365
Both directions, through RainConnect.
- ◆Approvals
- ◆Invoice status
- ◆Supplier records
Dynamics stays the system of record. Great Plains connects too, including alongside Dynamics 365 during a migration.
How fast Raindrop goes live on Dynamics
1 week
Fastest go-live for a single module
AP automation on its own, in as little as a week.
8 to 16 weeks
The full source-to-pay suite
End to end, Raindrop’s own stated range.
Built in
RainConnect is part of the core platform
Built in from day one rather than bolted on.
Dynamics stays the system of record the whole way through. There’s no rip-and-replace ERP project.
What AP Automation for Dynamics Looks Like on Raindrop
Every invoice runs the same loop, whether it starts with a purchase request or lands cold in an inbox.
Intake and capture
A purchase request comes in through Raindrop, gets routed and approved, and becomes a purchase order. Or an invoice arrives with no PO behind it: a utility bill, a subscription renewal, a one-off vendor charge. Either path feeds the same AP process.
Raindrop’s AI reads whatever format the invoice arrives in, whether that’s a PDF, a portal upload, an EDI feed, or a photo of a paper receipt. There’s no OCR template to configure.
Matching and fraud checks
For PO-backed invoices, automated 2-way and 3-way matching reconciles the invoice against the PO and the receipt without someone cross-referencing systems by hand. For non-PO invoices, machine learning auto-codes them using historical patterns and your GL rules.
Before anything gets approved for payment, Raindrop flags duplicate invoice numbers, suspicious payment patterns, and mismatched supplier data. That check happens before the money moves.
Approval routing and payment
Invoices route through your approval rules. Once approved, payment runs through RainPay, and approvals and invoice status sync back to Dynamics so the ledger matches what actually happened.
Raindrop’s AP Automation module documents this in more depth, including how a JD Edwards-based global manufacturer (Cordis) used it to cut AP cycle time by 76% (about 30 business days down to about 7) and reach 56% touchless processing across three regions. See the AP Automation module for the full picture.
Native, Add-On, or Suite? The Honest Answer for Dynamics Shops
When an AP-only tool is enough
If your Dynamics AP problem is genuinely just AP (invoices are slow, matching is manual, approvals chase people over email), start with what Microsoft includes, then a purpose-built AP add-on if you need more on capture, approvals, or payments. Adding a suite is more than that problem needs.
When a suite pays off
The calculation changes when AP is one symptom of a bigger pattern: purchase requests living in email and spreadsheets, sourcing decisions made without contract terms in view, supplier data duplicated across tools that don’t talk to each other. An AP tool fixes the loudest problem and leaves the rest in place. Raindrop covers intake and orchestration, sourcing, contract lifecycle management, procurement, AP automation, RainPay, and e-invoicing on one connection to Dynamics instead of several.
Here’s the honest trade-off. A suite is a bigger decision and a slightly bigger first scope than turning on a module. What it buys you is one integration to maintain, one data model instead of copies drifting apart, and a platform that can take on procurement or contract work later without a second vendor evaluation.
Built for the Four Rooms That Have to Agree
A Dynamics AP automation decision rarely gets made by one person. Here’s what each side of the table checks.
Controller / CFO
You need the numbers in Dynamics to be right as well as fast. Approvals and invoice status sync back to Dynamics, so close isn’t waiting on a reconciliation between two systems. Fraud checks run before payment. If a move from GP to Business Central is on your calendar, plan the AP cutover too: Microsoft’s migration tool brings open payables over at their remaining amount and turns the remaining GP account segments into dimensions.
CPO / Procurement Operations Manager
Paying invoices faster is only part of the job. Requests, approvals, and supplier data often live outside Dynamics entirely. Raindrop puts intake, sourcing, and supplier data on the same platform as AP, so a purchase decision and the invoice it produces stay connected.
CIO / CTO
RainConnect is a native part of Raindrop, running on Workato, with role-based access controls, secure API communication, and full audit trails. The platform runs on Google Cloud infrastructure. Dynamics stays the system of record.
Legal / Compliance
Every action, from invoice approval to payment release, leaves an audit trail. Fraud detection runs before payment, which matters for your control environment.
Why Analysts and Buyers Rate Raindrop
Raindrop is named a Sample Vendor in the 2026 Gartner Hype Cycle for Procurement and Sourcing Solutions, and has been recognized in Gartner Hype Cycles for five consecutive years. See the recognition.
On Gartner Peer Insights, Raindrop is rated 4.3 out of 5 from 23 ratings in the Source-to-Pay Suites market. Read the reviews on Gartner Peer Insights.
Both reflect the platform buyers evaluate regardless of which ERP sits underneath it. For a Dynamics shop building a shortlist, that’s third-party evidence next to whatever an AP-only vendor can show you.
The Hackett Group, 2026 Customer Value: AP Automation/Invoice-to-Pay and Source-to-Pay
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, and what you get depends on the app. Business Central has the Payables Agent, which drafts invoices from emailed PDFs for review and, since February 2026, proposes matches to purchase orders and receipts. Dynamics 365 Finance has Invoice capture, with 100 invoices a month included per tenant, plus three-way matching and vendor invoice workflow.
For now. Microsoft ends GP product enhancements, tax updates, and technical support on December 31, 2029, and will provide security updates, if needed, until April 30, 2031. The last day for new customers to license GP subscriptions was April 1, 2026. Microsoft encourages GP customers to move to Business Central.
Yes. Raindrop maintains a connection to Microsoft Great Plains, including organizations running GP alongside a newer Dynamics 365 instance during a phased migration.
Stampli names Business Central, Finance, and GP. Tipalti names Business Central and GP. BILL's Dynamics page covers Business Central, and Continia Document Capture runs inside Business Central. Check each vendor's own integration documentation for which records sync and in which direction.
Through RainConnect, Raindrop's built-in integration layer running on Workato. Approvals, invoice status, and supplier records sync in both directions with Dynamics 365's financial management modules, and Dynamics stays the system of record. Tell us which Dynamics 365 app you run and we'll confirm how it connects.
A single module, including AP automation, can go live in as little as one week. The full source-to-pay suite typically takes 8 to 16 weeks.
Yes. Machine learning auto-codes non-PO invoices, such as subscriptions, services, and one-off purchases, using historical coding patterns and your GL rules instead of routing them to someone's inbox to guess at.
Raindrop fits organizations where Dynamics 365 or Great Plains is the financial system of record and procurement, sourcing, or supplier management still run outside it. If AP is the only problem, Microsoft's own AP features or an AP add-on may be enough, and that's a fine answer.
See How Raindrop Connects to Your Dynamics Setup
The fastest way to evaluate this is against your own Dynamics setup. Request a session and we’ll walk through how AP automation and procurement connect to it.
Keep reading
- ◆Raindrop Integrates Anywhere: the RainConnect architecture and the full ERP connector list.
- ◆AP Automation and Procurement for NetSuite: the same approach for NetSuite shops.
- ◆Tipalti Alternatives and Competitors: seven AP and payments platforms compared on scope, pricing, and payments.
- ◆AP Automation module: the complete capability set, including the JD Edwards case study referenced above.
- ◆RainPay: how payments run once an invoice is approved.