Custom Fields

Functionality Description

The Custom Fields functionality enables adding additional fields to standard cards in Business Central for the following areas:

  • Customer
  • Vendor
  • Item
  • Fixed Asset
  • G/L Account
  • Sales Documents (Archive, Quote, Order, Invoice)
  • Purchase documents (Archive, Order, Invoice)
  • Warehouse documents (Shipment)
  • Sales Lines - collective view of all sales lines
  • Purchase Lines - collective view of all purchase lines
  • Posted Sales Invoice Lines - list of posted sales invoice lines
  • Posted Purchase Invoice Lines - list of posted purchase invoice lines

For each area, 25 fields with different data types are available:

  • 10 text fields (Text[300])
  • 2 boolean fields (Boolean)
  • 2 date fields (Date)
  • 5 decimal fields (Decimal)
  • 2 code fields (Code[20])
  • 2 code fields with dictionary (Code[20])
  • 2 long text fields (BLOB) - for storing long texts without character limits

Custom fields are automatically added to cards and lists in a dedicated "N24C Custom Fields" group and are visible only when enabled in the configuration.

Configuration

Enable the Functionality

Enable the functionality in CORE Extension Setup by checking "Custom Fields Enabled".

Field Configuration

Configure fields in N24C | Custom Field Setup page:

  • Enabled - whether the field should be visible and active
  • Caption - field label displayed to the user

Default Field Values

For each field, you can configure a default value that will be automatically filled when creating a new record:

  • Text fields - default text
  • Boolean fields - default true/false value
  • Date fields - default date
  • Decimal fields - default numeric value
  • Code fields - default code

Data Transfer (Sales and Purchase Documents)

For sales and purchase documents, you can configure automatic data transfer from appropriate source fields:

  • Transfer From Area - source area (e.g., Item for document lines, Customer for sales headers)
  • Source Field Name - click to select source field from the appropriate table
  • Transfer Data - enable/disable automatic transfer

The Source Field Name lookup automatically filters fields by data type, showing only compatible fields (Text→Text, Boolean→Boolean, etc.).

Note: Some areas (e.g., "Sales Lines", "Purchase Lines", "Posted Invoice Lines") do not support data transfer. These are collective views where custom fields display data from specific documents, but you can individually configure field visibility and captions for them.

The Dictionary Count field shows the number of elements available for selection from the drop-down list (if the field is enabled). When clicking the field, a new page opens where the dictionary elements can be edited.

Copy Settings to Other Companies

When is this useful?

If you have multiple companies in Business Central and want them all to have the same custom fields - this feature lets you copy the entire configuration from one company to others with a single click.

Example: You've configured custom fields in your main company and want exactly the same setup in your branch companies.

What gets copied?

✅ All field settings - which fields are enabled, what they're called
✅ Translations - field names in different languages
✅ Dictionaries - dropdown value lists
✅ Feature enablement - automatically enables custom fields in target companies

How to do it?

  1. Go to the company that already has configured fields (source company)
  2. Open the N24C | Custom Field Setup page
  3. Run the synchronization function - click the "Synchronize Settings to Company..." action
  4. Select companies where you want to copy the settings
  5. Confirm the operation - system will show you the list of selected companies
  6. Wait for completion - you'll see a progress bar

⚠️ Important warnings

Warning: This operation will replace all existing custom fields in the selected companies!

  • If target companies already have custom fields - they will be deleted
  • All existing settings, captions, and dictionaries will be replaced
  • The operation cannot be undone

Tip: Before synchronization, check if target companies have any important data in their custom fields.

Examples and Scenarios

Scenario: Tracking customer project number on sales orders

Need: A company fulfills orders linked to customer investment projects. Salespeople must enter the customer's project number on each order so the warehouse knows how to label packages.

Configuration:

  1. Open N24C | Custom Field Setup and select the Sales Documents area.
  2. Enable Text 1 field — set the caption to Customer Project No..
  3. Save settings.

Result: On every sales order, the N24C Custom Fields group displays the Customer Project No. field. The salesperson enters the number, and the warehouse worker sees it during order fulfillment.

Scenario: Automatic transfer of item category to document line

Need: The controlling department wants to report sales by a custom product category (e.g., "Premium", "Standard", "Eco") assigned to items. The category should automatically appear on sales order lines.

Configuration:

  1. Open N24C | Custom Field Setup → Items area.
  2. Enable Code with Dictionary 1 — caption: Product Category.
  3. Click Dictionary Count and add values: Premium, Standard, Eco.
  4. Go to Sales Documents (Lines) area.
  5. Enable Code with Dictionary 1 — caption: Product Category.
  6. Set Transfer From Area = Item, Source Field Name = Code with Dictionary 1, Transfer Data = Yes.

Result: After selecting an item in a sales order line, the Product Category field is automatically filled with the value from the item card (e.g., "Premium").

Tip

With dictionaries, users select values from a list — this eliminates typos and makes filtering in reports easier.

Scenario: Marking vendors with a "Strategic Vendor" flag

Need: The purchasing department wants to flag key vendors with a boolean field to quickly filter the vendor list and prioritize negotiations.

Configuration:

  1. Open N24C | Custom Field Setup → Vendors area.
  2. Enable Boolean 1 — caption: Strategic Vendor.
  3. Save settings.

Result: A Strategic Vendor field (Yes/No) appears on the vendor card. Buyers mark key vendors, then filter the vendor list by this field to quickly display only strategic vendors.