Microsoft's 2025 Release Wave 1 for Dynamics 365 is now available. This covers the functionality and capabilities planned to be delivered via two releases from April to September 2025. Release Wave 1 introduces a range of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven enhancements across various applications to help improve business operations.
Finance
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance continues to be a driving force behind business growth. AI makes D365 Finance even more powerful, boosting productivity and helping teams make smarter, data-driven decisions. In this release, Microsoft is taking autonomous finance to the next level with enhanced Copilot capabilities and AI-driven automation, setting the stage for seamless, end-to-end financial operations.
What’s Planned in Wave 1
- Live Financial Reporting: AI-assisted real-time account reconciliation for faster, more accurate closings.
- Updated Framework: A next-gen journal framework with multicompany support for better control and efficiency.
- Improved Automation: Smarter bank reconciliation automation is designed with user feedback in mind.
- Increased Global Reach: Expanded global support, with new localizations for Turkey and Argentina, plus evolving tax automation and compliance tools.
- More Scalability: Business performance analytics with faster data refresh and greater flexibility for deeper insights.
- Smarter Planning Templates: Intelligent planning templates to simplify and accelerate financial strategy.
With a Copilot-first approach, finance teams can work smarter, automate tedious tasks, and stay ahead of compliance updates—all while reducing manual effort.
Supply Chain
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is built to help keep manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumer product companies running smoothly. It handles everything from product management and forecasting to inventory, procurement, and logistics.
What’s Planned in Wave 1
- Smarter DemandPlanning: AI-powered Copilot, generative insights, and cell-level explainability boost forecasting accuracy.
- Enhanced Manufacturing: Optimized testing and digital quality records help improve precision, while Copilot-assisted updates fine-tune production planning.
- Better Planning Optimization: Lean manufacturing, catch weight, and step consumption help ensure smarter material management.
- Simplified Contract Management: Seamless integration with external systems makes handling supplier contracts easier.
- Flexible Vendor Rebates: New reconciliation and resubmission workflows can streamline vendor transactions.
With more AI-powered automation and data-driven insights, this release can help businesses optimize their supply chain, boost efficiency, and stay ahead in an ever-changing market.
Commerce
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce is designed to unify in-store, digital, and call center sales into one powerful AI-driven platform. By seamlessly integrating sales, intelligence, and productivity, retailers get a 360-degree view of their customers, enabling more personalized shopping experiences that help drive loyalty and boost conversions.
What’s Planned in Wave 1
- Modern Retail Operations: A mobile-first point of sale (POS) supports fixed, roaming, endless aisle, and self-checkout, making stores and pop-ups more efficient.
- Flexible Headless Commerce: A native API-driven engine ensures smooth cross-channel operations and supports evolving retail models.
- Expanded Digital Commerce: Supports DTC, B2B, and wholesaler operations in a unified e-commerce platform.
- Next-Gen Payments: The Adyen payment connector enables QR code transactions, buy-now-pay-later options, e.g., Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay, and real-time payment notifications for better financial oversight.
- Easier iOS POS Integration: No more shared hardware stations—third-party payments and fiscal integrations work seamlessly on iOS.
- Smarter Offline Device Management: New dashboards help IT teams monitor device health, boost database performance, and send real-time POS notifications.
- Flexible Pricing Strategies: Omnichannel pricing supports advanced pricing models, including segmentation, trade agreements, promotions, discounts, and rebates.
Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance
Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance can help transform financial operations by automating tasks, delivering real-time insights, and seamlessly integrating with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Designed to keep finance professionals in the flow of work, Copilot can help enhance Excel, Outlook, and Teams, enabling smarter decision making and streamlined collaboration.
Microsoft Excel Experiences
Excel experiences can transform how finance professionals work with data in Excel while helping ensure ERP data integrity. With AI-powered reconciliation, users can seamlessly compare financial structures, generate detailed reports, and spot discrepancies before they become issues. Say goodbye to manual data crunching—Copilot can help finance teams work faster, smarter, and with greater accuracy.
Microsoft Outlook Experiences
Outlook experiences can make it easier than ever for accounts receivable teams to manage customer interactions—right from Outlook. No need to jump between systems—users can seamlessly connect to their ERP, access real-time customer insights, and get AI-powered assistance when crafting emails. Copilot can keep finance professionals organized by automatically saving conversation summaries and action items into the ERP system. Faster responses, better insights, and effortless follow-ups—all within Outlook.
Microsoft Teams Experiences
Teams experiences can allow professionals to collaborate and manage financial data within Microsoft Teams—no more switching between apps. Users can access real-time customer data from their ERP system during Teams calls, streamline collections planning, and automatically save key action items directly to their ERP.
How Forvis Mazars Can Help
Stay ahead with these updates and use them to their fullest with assistance from our Microsoft consulting team at Forvis Mazars. Our technology consultants are ready to help you prepare and implement these updates to help streamline financial and operational efficiencies. Contact us to learn more about how our team can help you utilize these upcoming releases to help achieve your business objectives.