How Manuchar Saved 75 Hours Every Day by Building a Reporting Foundation It Could Trust

What happens when reporting becomes a strategic advantage instead of a daily struggle?

Every growing business reaches a point where reporting becomes either a competitive advantage or a daily frustration.

For Manuchar South Africa, spreadsheets, manual reconciliation and fragile Power BI reports were consuming valuable time across finance and leadership. Although Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central held all the data they needed, turning that data into trusted insight had become increasingly difficult.

Today, the story is very different. By implementing Business Central Insights, Manuchar's South African group now saves a combined 75 hours every day across 25 users. More importantly, the business has built a reporting foundation it can trust.

At a Glance

Customer: Manuchar South Africa

Industry: Chemical Distribution

ERP: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Solution: Business Central Insights

The Challenge Wasn't the ERP

Moving to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central gave Manuchar access to accurate operational and financial data, but having data wasn't the problem. Turning that data into trusted management information was. As reporting requirements grew, spreadsheets multiplied, Power BI models became fragile and every major Business Central update risked breaking carefully built reports. Gareth Seymour knew the business needed more than another dashboard, it needed a single source of truth.

Manuchar considered several options. Building a bespoke reporting platform was certainly possible, but it would introduce another system to maintain. Every Business Central update would require testing, redevelopment and ongoing support. The business wanted reporting that could grow with it, not another IT project.

Gareth Seymour, Head of Controlling and Reporting, says: “I had the passion to build it myself but not the time. And I needed something I could trust as a single source of truth.”

Why Business Central Insights

Rather than investing months building and maintaining a custom reporting platform, Business Central Insights provided a professionally maintained solution built specifically for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It delivered hundreds of ready-made reports, governed semantic models and transaction-level drill-through, allowing the team to focus on insight instead of report maintenance.

“Within an hour of testing, I knew this was the one.”

From Reporting to Decision-Making

Instead of exporting data into spreadsheets and validating formulas, users could immediately analyse live Business Central information. They could drill from executive dashboards into suppliers, documents and individual transactions, dramatically reducing the time required to investigate issues.

Reporting stopped being something people produced at the end of the month and became part of everyday decision-making. Instead of spending time proving that the numbers were correct, teams could focus on understanding what those numbers meant and deciding what action to take.

"You can drill from the top-level report right down to the actual entry, see the supplier, the document, even who posted it."

Business Impact

The impact was felt across the organisation almost immediately.

Across Manuchar's South African group, 25 users now save approximately three hours every day - a combined 75 hours returned to the business daily.

Time previously spent exporting data, reconciling spreadsheets and maintaining Power BI reports is now invested in analysing performance, supporting decision-making and identifying opportunities for improvement.

Beyond the measurable time savings, Business Central Insights has given the business a stable reporting platform, real-time visibility across five companies and confidence that everyone is working from the same trusted information.

What Other Business Central Users Can Learn

"It saves me hours every day. Instead of building reports, I can focus on insights and decision-making."

That simple statement from Gareth Seymour captures the real value of modern business reporting.

Every organisation reaches a point where reporting either becomes a competitive advantage or a growing maintenance burden. The issue usually isn't Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central itself - it's how easily people can access, trust and analyse the data it contains.

Manuchar's experience shows that investing in a professionally maintained reporting platform doesn't just save time. It creates a trusted foundation that allows finance, sales and leadership teams to work from the same information, make decisions faster and spend more time improving the business instead of preparing reports.

Whether you're reporting across one Business Central company or twenty, the principle is the same: the easier it is to trust your reporting, the easier it is to trust your decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Manuchar save 75 hours every day?
Business Central Insights replaced manual spreadsheet reporting and fragile Power BI models with real-time dashboards connected directly to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Does Business Central Insights replace Power BI?
No. It is built on Microsoft Power BI and provides professionally maintained semantic models and ready-made reports for Business Central.

What was the biggest benefit?
Beyond the time savings, Manuchar established a trusted reporting foundation that improved visibility, confidence and decision-making.

Ready to Build a Reporting Foundation You Can Trust?

Discover how Business Central Insights can help your organisation replace manual reporting with real-time Power BI dashboards built specifically for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Learn more: https://businesscentralinsights.com
Book a personalised demonstration: https://businesscentralinsights.com/demo