Top Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Dynamics 365 Implementation Partner
By the final round of a partner selection, the proposals start to blur. Each one has a Microsoft logo, a phased plan, a reassuring timeline and a team slide full of certifications. The differences that will decide whether your project goes well are rarely in the document. They come out in conversation, when someone asks a question that can't be answered from the deck.
We spend a lot of time on the other side of these interviews. As a Business Central partner focused on moving companies off Dynamics GP and QuickBooks, we're often one of two or three firms a finance team is talking to. The buyers who choose well don't ask more questions than everyone else. They ask more specific ones, and they follow up.
This is the question bank we'd use if we were hiring a partner ourselves, grouped by theme, with what a strong answer sounds like and the red flags to listen for. It's written for owners, CFOs, controllers and IT leads running a Dynamics 365 implementation partner selection, particularly for Business Central. If you need a credentials checklist first, start with this guide to choosing the right Dynamics 365 partner, then come back here for the interviews.
How Should You Run a Partner Interview?
A good interview is closer to a working session than a pitch. Send each shortlisted partner the same short brief a week ahead: your current system, number of companies and users, key integrations, and two or three real scenarios. "A customer pays three invoices with one wire and short-pays one of them" tells a partner far more than "we need AR."
A few ground rules help:
- Ask for the delivery team, not just sales. If the project manager and lead consultant can't attend, that tells you something.
- Follow up with "tell me about the last time that happened." Stories about real projects are harder to fake than hypotheticals.
- Have each evaluator score independently, straight afterwards, and ask every finalist the same core questions.
You're not looking for perfect answers. You're looking for specific ones, and for a partner who is comfortable saying "it depends, and here's what it depends on."
Experience: Have They Delivered Projects Like Yours?
"Tell us about two recent projects similar to ours. What went wrong on each?"
What a strong answer sounds like: The partner describes companies close to yours in size, industry and starting point, such as "a 60-user distributor coming off GP with three companies and an EDI integration." Then they volunteer a real problem (a late integration, a messy inventory conversion, a slow first month-end) and explain what they now do differently.
Red flags: Only success stories. Examples from a different product, such as a Finance and Supply Chain project when you're buying Business Central. Reluctance to connect you with those customers.
"Which of our requirements are standard, which need configuration, and which need an extension?"
What a strong answer sounds like: They can sort your list roughly on the spot and name the capability involved: dimensions for departments and locations, deferral templates for prepaid expenses, approval workflows for purchase orders. They're equally clear about gaps, and whether an AppSource add-on or a custom AL extension is the usual fix.
Red flags: "Business Central does all of that," with no detail. Or the opposite: a proposal that customizes processes the standard product already handles, which adds cost now and upgrade work later.
Team: Who Will Actually Do the Work?
"Who exactly will be on our project, and how much of their time will we get?"
What a strong answer sounds like: Named people with roles and an allocation for each phase: a project manager part-time throughout, a lead consultant close to full-time during design and testing, a data migration specialist who joins early rather than in the final month. They'll also tell you how many other projects those people are carrying.
Red flags: "We'll staff the project once the contract is signed." A senior architect who appears in the pitch and then at five percent on the plan. Subcontractors nobody mentions until kickoff.
"What happens if our lead consultant leaves or is reassigned?"
What a strong answer sounds like: A second consultant who knows your configuration, design decisions documented somewhere you can access, and a commitment in the statement of work about notice and handover.
Red flags: "That doesn't happen." On a multi-month project, at any firm, it eventually does.
Scope and Estimates: How Did They Arrive at the Number?
"Walk us through how you built this estimate."
What a strong answer sounds like: The estimate is broken into workstreams (project management, configuration, data migration, integrations, reports, training, testing support and go-live), with effort for each and written assumptions underneath. Contingency is visible rather than buried in the rates.
Red flags: A single lump sum. A figure well below the other bids with no explanation of what's been left out. Assumptions that only appear when you ask for them.
"What's excluded, and how are changes handled?"
What a strong answer sounds like: A written list of exclusions, a change-request process with an approval step, and a rate card, ideally with an example of a typical change on a project like yours.
Red flags: "We'll be flexible." Flexibility isn't a process, and scope disputes are where partner relationships most often sour.
"How many hours a week do you need from our people?"
What a strong answer sounds like: Real numbers by role and phase. Your controller or finance lead will be heavily involved during design, data validation and testing, and someone internal must own decisions. Good partners say this plainly because projects stall without it.
Red flags: "Very little, we'll take care of it." That usually means design decisions get made without the people who will live with them.
Data Migration: What Moves, and Who Cleans It?
"What data do you recommend we bring over, and what stays behind?"
What a strong answer sounds like: A clear split between master data (chart of accounts, customers, vendors, items), open transactions (unpaid invoices and bills, open orders, inventory on hand) and history, where they'll usually suggest summary balances by period plus an accessible archive for the detail. Coming from GP, they should know Microsoft's cloud migration tooling and its limits. Coming from QuickBooks, they should describe a template-driven approach rather than a single import.
Red flags: "We'll bring everything." Years of detailed history slow the project, rarely get used, and carry old mistakes into a clean system.
"How many trial migrations will we run, and how do we reconcile them?"
What a strong answer sounds like: At least two mock conversions before cutover, each reconciled by your finance team: trial balance by account, AR and AP agings by customer and vendor, inventory quantity and value by location. Sign-off criteria are agreed before the first load, and the partner expects you to own data cleansing with their templates and deadlines.
Red flags: One load, at go-live. "The tool validates it."
Testing: How Will You Know It Works Before Go-Live?
"What does user acceptance testing look like, and who writes the scripts?"
What a strong answer sounds like: End-to-end scenarios run by your users (order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, a payroll journal import, a full month-end close), with scripts drafted jointly, a defect log with severity levels, and exit criteria agreed in advance. Integrations are tested with realistic volumes and failure cases, such as an e-commerce order for an item that doesn't exist yet.
Red flags: "We test as we configure." Acceptance testing squeezed into the final week. Testing on demo data instead of a migrated copy of yours.
Training: Will People Be Able to Do Their Jobs on Day One?
"How do you train users, and when?"
What a strong answer sounds like: Role-based sessions on your configured system with your migrated data, scheduled close enough to go-live that it sticks. A train-the-trainer model with internal super-users, plus short task guides for the jobs people do every week: entering a purchase invoice, applying a customer payment, running aged receivables.
Red flags: Links to generic online courses presented as the training plan. One long session for everyone. Training in the demo company.
Support: What Happens After Go-Live?
"What does hypercare cover, and what does ongoing support look like?"
What a strong answer sounds like: A defined hypercare window that includes your first month-end close, then response targets by severity, a ticketing process and a named team who know your system. They should explain how they handle Business Central's twice-yearly major updates, including testing your extensions in a sandbox before the update reaches production.
Red flags: "Just call your consultant." No plan for updates. Support handed to people who have never seen your configuration.
"Who manages our licensing, and can we move it later?"
What a strong answer sounds like: A plain explanation of how they bill licenses through Microsoft's Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, how adding or removing users works, and confirmation that you can move to another partner if needed.
Red flags: Vague answers, or terms that make leaving difficult.
Commercial Terms: What Are You Actually Signing?
"Is this fixed fee, time and materials, or a hybrid, and where does the risk sit?"
What a strong answer sounds like: A reasoned split. Discovery on time and materials, for example, then fixed fees for well-defined workstreams and a not-to-exceed figure for the rest. Payments are tied to deliverables you can verify, not just calendar dates.
Red flags: A fixed price on vague scope, which tends to be recovered later through change orders. Large payments before any work is delivered.
"Who owns what you build for us?"
What a strong answer sounds like: You own, or hold a perpetual license to, custom extensions built for you, with access to the source code. If they use their own add-on products, those license and support terms are spelled out separately.
Red flags: Custom code you can't take with you.
Which Questions Matter Most If You're Short on Time?
If you only get one question per theme, these are the ones we'd keep.
| Theme | Ask this first | Listen for |
|---|---|---|
| Experience | "What went wrong on a similar project?" | A specific problem and what changed afterwards |
| Team | "Who exactly is on our project, and at what allocation?" | Named people and realistic percentages |
| Scope and estimates | "Walk us through how you built this estimate." | Workstreams, written assumptions, visible contingency |
| Data migration | "What stays behind?" | Master data, open items and history treated differently |
| Testing | "Who writes and runs the test scripts?" | Your users, real scenarios, agreed exit criteria |
| Training | "When and how do you train?" | Role-based, on your data, close to go-live |
| Support | "How do you handle major updates?" | Sandbox testing before production |
| Commercial terms | "Where does the risk sit?" | Payments tied to verifiable deliverables |
Key takeaway: Strong partners answer with specifics, volunteer a mistake they learned from, and are clear about what they need from you. Vague confidence is the most expensive answer you can accept.
Conclusion
A partner interview is your best chance to see how a firm thinks before you're committed to it. Send a brief in advance, meet the delivery team, and ask every finalist the same questions. Listen less for polish and more for detail: how the estimate was built, what history stays behind, who tests, and how updates are handled after go-live. When you're ready to build a shortlist, the Dynamics 365 partner directory is a sensible place to start, and if you'd like to understand the roles you'll be meeting, read what an ERP implementation partner does.
If you'd like to test a few of these questions on us, the team at Summitline Business Central is always glad to talk.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Dynamics 365 partners should we interview?
Three is usually enough to compare approaches without exhausting your team. With fewer than two you have nothing to compare against, and beyond four the sessions tend to blur together. Shortlist on fit first, then interview the finalists in depth.
What should we ask a partner's references?
Ask for references from projects similar to yours in size, product and starting system. Then ask what surprised them, how the partner handled a disagreement, and whether the same people are still supporting them today.
Is a fixed-price Dynamics 365 implementation safer?
Not automatically. A fixed price only shifts risk to the partner when scope is well defined; on vague scope it often moves the risk into change orders. A hybrid, with paid discovery followed by fixed or capped phases, is common and usually fairer to both sides.
What Microsoft credentials should a Dynamics 365 partner have?
Look for a Microsoft Solutions Partner designation for Business Applications and relevant certifications for the consultants assigned to your project. Credentials show baseline competence. They don't replace references or a well-run interview.
How long should partner selection take?
For a small or mid-size Business Central project, a focused selection often takes four to eight weeks from brief to signature. Rushing it to hit a go-live date usually costs more time later than it saves now.
