Applies to Product - Dynamics 365 Business Central
What’s happening?
Customers are inquiring whether users with a Business Central (BC) Premium license can access both Premium and Essentials environments within a single tenant, and if they require an additional Essentials license.
Reason:
The licensing structure of Business Central does not allow mixing Essentials and Premium licenses within the same environment. Each environment must be configured exclusively for either Essentials or Premium users.
Resolution:
- Users with a Business Central (BC) Premium license can access both environments—one configured for Premium and the other for Essentials—within a single tenant.
- A user with a Premium license can log into an environment where the "User Experience" is set to Essentials. However, they will only be able to use features available under the Essentials license, and the additional features provided by the Premium license (e.g., service management and manufacturing) will not be accessible in the Essentials environment.
- Users with a Premium license do not need an additional Essentials license to access the Essentials environment, as the Premium license inherently includes all capabilities of the Essentials license.
- Conversely, users with an Essentials license cannot access environments configured for Premium due to lack of permissions for Premium-specific features.