Jet Reports Business Central: What It Does and Costs

Jet Reports is an Excel-based reporting tool that pulls live data from Dynamics 365 Business Central into the spreadsheets your finance team already knows. If month-end means copying figures out of Business Central, reformatting them and hoping the totals still tie, this is the kind of tool built for you.

It is not a dashboard platform and it is not a data warehouse. This guide sets out what it does, what it costs to run, and where native Business Central reporting or Power BI is the better choice.

What Jet Reports actually is

insightsoftware describes Jet Reports as real-time Dynamics reporting directly in Excel. Its page says the add-in connects live to Dynamics GP, NAV or Business Central, so you build reports with the Excel skills you already have.

The same page lists more than 100 pre-built report templates, drill-down from any number to the transactions behind it, and consolidation across several companies in one report. The headline benefit is that finance stays in Excel and keeps its own formatting.

Key PointKey point: Because reports are built in Excel against live Business Central data, a well-built report keeps working as new accounts and periods are added. Test that on your own chart of accounts before you rely on it.

What it does well

1. Financial reporting from the chart of accounts. Management accounts with rows for account groups and columns for periods, budgets and variances.
2. Drill-down for auditability. Click a figure and see the entries behind it, which hand-keyed spreadsheets cannot offer.
3. Several companies in one report. insightsoftware lists consolidation across entities as a core feature, useful for groups that run more than one company.

What it costs

insightsoftware does not publish a price list for Jet Reports; its pages ask you to request pricing or book a demo. Treat any exact figure you read online with caution, and ask for a quote for your own team.

Plan the budget in three parts rather than one number:

• The licence. Ask how it is licensed, which users need a licence to build reports, and which only need to run them.
• Setup. Someone has to install it, connect it to Business Central, set up security and build your core report set. Ask for that as a fixed quote.
• Ownership. Someone has to maintain the report library as your chart of accounts and reporting needs change, either in-house or through a support agreement.

For independent guidance on choosing finance software, the ICAEW technology resources are a useful reference.

Watch OutWatch out: Get the licence, setup and support costs in writing for your own user count before you decide. A comparison with Power BI only makes sense when both quotes are for the same people.

What it does not do

• It is not a data warehouse. Jet Reports reads Business Central for reporting. insightsoftware sells Jet Analytics separately, which it describes as cloud-native integration that ingests, models and delivers Dynamics data, with pre-built data models called cubes. Our guide to what Jet Analytics is explains when you need it.
• It is not a dashboard tool. Jet output is a workbook you refresh. If you want interactive visuals that people open on a phone, look at Power BI.
• It lives in Excel, with Excel's limits. A very large workbook full of live formulas will be slow, so good report design matters.

When you do not need Jet at all

Here is the point against our own interest. Many teams do not need Jet Reports. Business Central has its own Financial Reporting, the feature that replaced account schedules, included in your licence and capable of a profit and loss and balance sheet with budgets.

If what you want is visual, shareable dashboards, our guide to Power BI for Business Central covers that route. Reach for Jet when your reporting is Excel-shaped and needs row and column logic the built-in reports cannot express.

Pro TipPro tip: List the five reports you produce every month. If native Financial Reporting can produce all of them, you may not need another tool at all.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Jet Reports cost? There is no public price list. Ask insightsoftware or a partner for a written quote covering licences, setup and support for your user count.

What is the difference between Jet Reports and Jet Analytics? Jet Reports is the Excel reporting add-in. Jet Analytics is a separate data platform that models Dynamics data for Power BI, Excel and other tools.

Does Jet Reports work with Business Central online? insightsoftware says it connects live to Business Central. Confirm your own environment in a demo on a copy of your data.

Ready to talk it through?

If you are weighing Jet Reports against native reporting or Power BI, our complete guide to Jet Reports and our reporting checklist are good next steps. We will tell you if you do not need it. Talk to our team.