Sterling for Business Central

Sterling already connects to Business Central through its standard API. The add-in gives Sterling the extra access it needs for accounting work that the standard API does not cover.

Posting setup: Sterling reads your general and VAT posting groups, general and VAT posting setup, vendor and customer posting groups, and the default posting groups on each G/L account. It uses these to code bills and invoices with combinations your ledger accepts.

Bank reconciliations: Sterling reads bank account statements, statement lines and bank account ledger entries.

Journal drafts: Sterling adds unposted lines to a journal batch: G/L and bank lines, and customer payments and refunds. A customer payment is applied to one open invoice and cannot be more than the amount still owing.

Posting preview: Sterling asks Business Central to preview how a purchase invoice would post. It sees the G/L and VAT entries Business Central would create, or the reason Business Central would refuse the invoice. The preview is rolled back, so nothing is posted.

Projects: Sterling reads projects, project tasks, planning lines and project ledger entries. It can add billable item lines to a project task and create a project sales invoice from a planning line. The invoice stays open for you to review and post.

Vendor and customer posting groups: Sterling can change the general business, vendor or customer, and VAT business posting groups on a vendor or customer card.

Notifications: Business Central tells Sterling when a purchase invoice or sales invoice is posted, a payment is applied, a journal line is posted, or a vendor, customer or G/L account is created or changed. Each notification is recorded on the Sterling Activity Log page in Business Central.

You need Business Central online, version 26 or later. The add-in does not support Business Central on-premises.

Connect Business Central to Sterling first. In Sterling, open the Business Central app and sign in with the Microsoft work or school account that Sterling will use in Business Central.

An owner or admin of your Sterling account downloads the add-in. Someone who can install apps in the Business Central admin center installs it. This is usually your Business Central administrator or partner.

In Sterling, open the Business Central app page and download the add-in. The page also shows the file’s SHA-256 checksum if you want to verify the download.

Open the Business Central admin center, select the environment Sterling is connected to, then choose Manage Apps and Install Extension.

Upload the .app file, choose an immediate installation and set Sync mode to Add.

Accept the terms and confirm. Wait until Operations shows Complete, then check that the installed version matches the version shown in Sterling.

Return to Sterling and choose Check Again. When Sterling finds the add-in, the page shows “Sterling add-in is active”.

To update, install the newer file the same way. Business Central upgrades the add-in in place and keeps its settings. Business Central does not update the add-in on its own, and each environment needs its own install, so update your sandbox first if you have one.

For more detail on installing apps, see Microsoft’s guide to managing apps in the admin center.

You do not need to enter anything. When Sterling finds the add-in, it fills in the Sterling Setup page for each connected company, turns notifications on and sets the connection status to Connected.

To see the settings, search for Sterling Setup in Business Central.

API Base URL: the Sterling address that receives notifications. It must start with https://.

Webhook Secret: signs each notification so Sterling can check it came from your Business Central. It must match the value in Sterling, so do not change it.

Connection Status, Last Connection Test and Last Error Message: show whether the last connection test worked, when it ran, and why it failed if it did.

Webhooks Enabled: turns all notifications to Sterling on or off. Below it, one setting per event lets you turn off a single type of notification.

Test Connection: sends a test message to Sterling and updates the connection status. If the status shows Error, read Last Error Message.

Sterling works in Business Central as the user who connected it, so it can only do what that user’s permissions allow. The add-in comes with two permission sets.

STRL Admin (Sterling Administrator): everything in the add-in, including the Sterling Setup page. Give it to the user Sterling connects as, because Sterling needs it to find the add-in and fill in setup. Also give it to anyone who manages Sterling Setup.

STRL User (Sterling User): the same add-in features without access to Sterling Setup, and read-only access to the Sterling Activity Log.

Both sets cover only the add-in. Users also need their usual Business Central permissions for the records Sterling works with, such as journals, purchase and sales documents, vendors, customers and projects.

The add-in itself never posts. Journal lines it adds are unposted drafts, posting previews are rolled back, and project invoices it creates stay open.

The add-in cannot delete journal lines, invoices, vendors, customers or projects. Apart from vendor and customer posting groups, it cannot change existing records.

Through Business Central’s standard API, Sterling can also create and post purchase invoices, sales invoices and journals, and create or update vendors and customers.

You decide which actions Sterling takes on its own. In Sterling, on the Business Central app’s permissions, set each action to Always, Ask (a person approves each time) or Never. Changing a vendor’s or customer’s posting groups is set to Ask by default.

To stop Sterling working in a company, disconnect that company on the Business Central app page in Sterling.

To remove the add-in, open Extension Management in Business Central, select Sterling AI Assistant Accountant and choose Uninstall. Business Central stops sending notifications to Sterling, and Sterling can no longer use the add-in’s features.

For help with Sterling, visit the Sterling help centre.

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