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Get ready to synchronize master data

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When two or more companies use some of the same master data, you can synchronize the data rather than add it manually in each company. For example, synchronizing data is useful when you're setting up new subsidiary companies.

Master data includes settings and non-transactional information about business entities. For example, customers, vendors, items, and employees. The data provides context for business transactions. The following are a few examples of master data for a customer:

  • Name
  • Identification number
  • Address
  • Payment terms
  • Credit limit

You set up synchronization in the subsidiary companies. Using a pull model, subsidiaries pull the data from the source company that they need to do business with them. After you set up synchronization and synchronize data for the first time, you're all set. Job queue entries update coupled records in the subsidiaries when someone changes data in the source company.

Uni-directional synchronization only

You can synchronize data only from the source company to the subsidiary companies in a pull fashion. Subsidiaries can't push data to the source company.

Note

Although it's possible, we don't recommend that you set up bi-directional synchronization. That is, synchronizing data from the source company to the subsidiaries, and from the subsidiaries to the source company. Synchronizing data in both directions can lead to conflicts or unwanted overwrites.

Before you start

The following are requirements for setting up synchronization.

  • All companies must be in the same environment.
  • The user who sets up the subsidiary must have the Essential, Premium, or Basic ISV license.

Note

The Team Member and Internal Administrator licenses let you access but not modify records, so they can't be used to set up the synchronization. The Delegated Admin license doesn't let you schedule background tasks, so you won't be able to complete the setup.

Specify the source company

The first steps are to specify the company that will be the data source and enable synchronization. Subsidiary companies pull data from the source company.

Note

When you enable synchronization, Business Central creates and schedules the job queue entries that synchronize the data. It might look like the entries immediately sync the data, but that isn't the case. The created job queue entries only sync coupled records, and at this point you haven't set that up yet. Synchronization starts after you Enable or disable tables and fields and Synchronize for the first time.

  1. In a subsidiary company, choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Master Data Management Setup, and then choose the related link.
  2. In the Source Company field, specify the company that you'll pull changes from.
  3. Turn on the Enable Synchronization toggle.
  4. In the confirmation dialog, choose OK. Business Central will find the tables and fields that are available from the source company.

The next step is to enable tables and fields for synchronization.

Enable or disable tables and fields

To save time, Business Central provides a list of tables that businesses often synchronize. By default, these tables are enabled for synchronization. You can modify, disable, or delete them as you see fit. As an extra time-saver, some fields on the tables are already disabled because they probably aren't relevant for the subsidiary.

Note

If one or more extensions are installed in the source company, when a subsidiary sets up synchronization the Synchronization Tables page includes tables from the extensions, and you can access their fields. However, if the source company adds an extension after synchronization is set up, each subsidiary must manually add the tables. To learn more about adding tables, go to Add or delete tables from the synchronization tables list. To learn more about extending Business Central, go to Developing extensions in Visual Studio Code.

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Master Data Management Setup, and then choose the related link.
  2. Choose the Synchronization Tables action.
  3. Fill in the fields as necessary. Choose a field to read a short description of the field or link to more information.

Tip

The Table Filter field is helpful for controlling what to synchronize for a table. You can set up filters to synchronize only when certain conditions are met. For example, you can add filters that specify that you synchronize only vendors in a certain region. Or, customers that use a certain currency.

If the subsidiary already has data in their tables, another good way to set criteria for synchronization is to set up match-based coupling. To learn more about matching, go to Use match-based coupling.

  1. To enable fields for a table, choose the table, and then choose the Fields action.
  2. Fill in the fields as necessary. Choose a field to read a short description of the field or link to more information.

Tip

A fast way to enable or disable multiple fields at the same time is to select them in the list, and then use either the Enable or Disable actions.

Use match-based coupling

You can specify the data to synchronize for a table by matching records based on criteria. On the Master Data Management Setup page, choose the Match-Based Coupling action to open the Select Coupling Criteria page. You can define the following criteria for your matching:

  • Whether to synchronize after you couple records.
  • Whether to create a new record in the subsidiary company if a unique, uncoupled match can be found by using the match criteria. To activate this capability, turn on the Create New if Unable to Find a Match action.
  • The fields to use to match records, and whether the match is case-sensitive.
  • Prioritize the order in which records are searched by specifying a match priority. Business Central will search for a match in ascending order based on the match priority. A blank value equals priority 0, which is the highest priority. Fields with the 0 priority are considered first.

Synchronize for the first time

When you're ready, on the Master Data Management Setup page, choose the Start Initial Synchronization action. On the Master Data Initial Synchronization page, choose the type of synchronization that you want to use for each table.

  • If you already have records in both the source and the subsidiary companies, and you want to match existing records, choose the Use Match-Based Coupling action. Business Central matches records in the subsidiary company with records in the source company. The matches are based on matching criteria that you define. For several default tables, Business Central has already matched existing records by using their primary key, but you can change that if you want. You can also let the synchronization create new records in the subsidiary for records in the source company that the subsidiary doesn't have. To learn more about matching, go to Use match-based coupling.

  • If you choose Run Full Synchronization, synchronization creates new records for all records in the source company that aren't coupled yet. For example, this option is useful in the following scenarios:

    • The subsidiary doesn't have data in the table.
    • You want to add records from the source company without matching.

After you choose the option to use, choose the Start All action to start the synchronization.

While synchronization is running, the Job Status column on the Master Data Initial Full Synchronization page shows the status of each job queue entry. Press F5 on your keyboard to update the status.

Tip

Tables synchronize in a predefined order. If synchronization get's stuck on a table, select the table and then choose the Restart action to get it going again.

To access details, such as the number of records that are inserted or modified, choose the value in the Job Status column to open the View - Integration Synchronization Jobs page. For records that were inserted, you can choose the number in the Inserted column to access more details about the new records.

Add or delete tables from the synchronization tables list

Add a table

Important

Although tables that contain transactional data are available in the list, such as tables that contain ledger entries, you shouldn't choose them. Synchronization works only for tables that contain non-transactional data.

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Synchronization tables, and then choose the related link.
  2. Choose New, and then choose the table to add.
  3. Fill in the fields as necessary. Choose a field to read a short description of the field or link to more information.

Delete a table

Note

If you delete a record in the source company, it isn't also deleted in the subsidiary. This helps prevented unwanted loss of data. The subsidiary can decide to delete the table if they want.

  1. Choose the Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. icon, enter Synchronization tables, and then choose the related link.
  2. Choose the Delete action.

Use export and import to share a synchronization setup

If you're setting up several subsidiaries that use the same or similar synchronization settings, there's a time saver. Set up one subsidiary company and then export its setup to an .xml file. The file contains the entire setup, including table and field mappings and filter criteria. You can then import the file to the next subsidiary. To import or export a setup, on the Master Data Management Setup page, use the Import or Export actions.

See Also

Manage Master Data Synchronization