Pradeep
Managing Animals and Managing Accounts Are Two Different Jobs
A livestock business generates information at two very different levels.
At the farm, teams work with:
Animals
Batches
Breeding
Pregnancy
Birth
Feed
Weight
Vaccination
Treatment
Mortality
Transfers
Growing stages
Farm inventory
At the business level, management needs:
Purchasing
Vendor payments
Inventory valuation
Sales
Customer receivables
Costing
General ledger
Cash flow
Profit and loss
Financial reporting
Trying to manage both sides in a standard accounting system can leave the farm team without the operational depth it needs.
Running farm operations in a completely separate application creates another problem: finance and farm data remain disconnected.
This is where NAVFarm with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can provide a practical model.
NAVFarm manages livestock-specific farm operations.
Business Central manages the wider ERP and financial processes.
The two can work together as one connected business environment.
Why a Standard ERP Alone May Not Be Enough for Livestock
A normal ERP understands transactions such as:
Purchase order
Goods receipt
Inventory issue
Sales invoice
Payment
Journal entry
These are essential.
But a livestock farm needs to understand transactions that are biological and operational.
For example:
A sow moves from gestation to farrowing.
Piglets are born.
Some piglets are weaned.
Animals move from weaner to grower.
Feed is consumed by an animal group.
An animal receives treatment.
An animal is culled.
An animal is sold based on actual weight.
These are not simply accounting entries.
They are livestock operations.
The system architecture therefore needs to respect both sides of the business.
What Is NAVFarm?
NAVFarm is designed to manage farm and livestock operations.
Depending on the livestock business, it can support processes around:
Animal registration
Batch management
Animal lifecycle
Breeding
Pregnancy
Birth
Farrowing
Weaning
Growing stages
Feed consumption
Body weight
Health
Vaccination
Medication
Mortality
Culling
Transfers
Farm inventory
Costing
Traceability
The exact process depends on whether the business manages pigs, cattle or another livestock operation.
What Does Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Manage?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can provide the core ERP environment for areas such as:
Finance
General ledger
Purchasing
Vendors
Inventory
Sales
Customers
Receivables
Payables
Banking
Fixed assets
Financial reporting
Business Central therefore handles the wider commercial and financial side of the livestock company.
NAVFarm and Business Central Should Not Duplicate Each Other
A good integration does not mean entering every transaction into two systems.
The responsibility of each system should be clearly defined.
For example:
NAVFarm
Animal operations
Farm activities
Breeding
Feed consumption
Mortality
Weight
Health
Farm-level production information
Business Central
Purchase
Vendor
Financial inventory
Sales
Customer
General ledger
Receivables
Payables
Financial statements
Then integration connects the transactions that need to cross between them.
This is much cleaner than trying to make both systems perform the same job.
Start With Master Data
Integration should begin with master-data ownership.
The business needs to decide where important masters are created and maintained.
These may include:
Item
Feed
Medicine
Vaccine
Farm
Location
Vendor
Customer
Unit of measure
Livestock category
Cost dimensions
If the same master is created differently in two systems, transaction integration will eventually fail.
One system should normally remain the master source for each shared record.
Item Master Integration
Feed, medicine, vaccines and farm consumables may need to exist in both environments.
For example, an item can be created or approved in Business Central and made available to NAVFarm.
Farm users can then use the same item reference while recording consumption.
This avoids creating:
Feed Item 001 in ERP
and
Feed A in the farm system
for the same physical material.
Farm and Location Structure
The ERP structure should reflect the livestock operation properly.
A business may have:
Company
Farm
Site
Warehouse
Animal house
Pen
Stage
The accounting system does not necessarily need every operational level as a financial location.
The solution design should decide which dimensions belong in Business Central and which remain operational within NAVFarm.
Livestock Purchase Process
Consider purchased animals.
The commercial transaction may begin with a purchase order in Business Central.
The process can include:
Vendor
Animal category
Quantity
Purchase price
Tax
Receipt
Invoice
Payment
At the farm, NAVFarm may need additional information such as:
Animal ID
RFID
Breed
Sex
Date of birth
Weight
Farm
Location
Health status
Batch
The commercial purchase and animal registration are related, but they serve different purposes.
Animal Birth Is Different From Animal Purchase
This is one of the reasons livestock ERP requires proper design.
A newborn animal has entered the livestock population.
But there may be no supplier invoice.
The system needs to distinguish between:
Animal purchased externally
Animal born internally
Both increase the livestock population, but their financial and operational origins are different.
Breeding Operations Stay Operational
Breeding activities may include:
Heat detection
Service
Artificial insemination
Natural mating
Pregnancy confirmation
Expected delivery date
Birth
Litter information
Parity
These are farm-management activities.
They do not need to create unnecessary accounting transactions every time something happens biologically.
Instead, relevant financial impact can be transferred according to the agreed accounting and costing design.
Piggery Lifecycle Management
A piggery may operate through stages such as:
Gilt
Service
Gestation
Farrowing
Piglet
Weaner
Grower
Finisher
Each movement represents an important operational event.
NAVFarm can maintain the animal or batch lifecycle while Business Central manages the related business transactions that need financial recognition.
Cattle Lifecycle Management
A cattle operation may require:
Animal identification
Breed
Sex
Birth
Breeding
Pregnancy
Calving
Feed
Weight
Health
Movement
Sale
The same principle applies.
Animal-level detail remains where farm teams need it, while ERP manages the commercial and financial side.
Feed Purchase Starts in ERP
Feed may be one of the largest costs in a livestock business.
A typical purchase process can begin in Business Central:
Purchase Requisition or Requirement → Purchase Order → Vendor → Receipt → Invoice → Payment
Once feed is available, relevant stock information can be made available for farm operations.
Feed Consumption Starts at the Farm
The farm knows where the feed was actually consumed.
For example:
Farm A
Grower Batch 12
1,250 KG
Feed Type X
NAVFarm can capture that operational consumption.
The transaction can then affect the relevant inventory and costing process according to the integration design.
Why This Connection Matters
Without integration, finance may know:
20 MT of feed was issued.
But operations may know:
8 MT went to Grower Batch A.
7 MT went to Grower Batch B.
5 MT went to Finisher Batch C.
Connecting the two gives management both:
financial stock control
and
livestock performance visibility.
Medicine and Vaccine Integration
Medicine and vaccine may follow a similar process.
Business Central can manage:
Purchase
Vendor
Receipt
Inventory value
Payment
NAVFarm can manage:
Animal or batch
Treatment
Vaccination
Dose
Date
Medicine used
Reason
The consumption can then connect with inventory and livestock cost.
Farm Inventory
Not every inventory transaction needs to originate from the central warehouse.
Livestock businesses may maintain stock at:
Central store
Farm store
Medicine store
Feed store
Other locations
Stock transfer can move material to the farm.
Farm consumption then reduces the appropriate inventory.
Opening Farm Inventory
During implementation, the business needs to define how existing farm stock will be brought into the system.
Typical categories may include:
Feed
Medicine
Vaccines
Consumables
Other farm stock
Accurate opening inventory is important because future consumption and costing depend on it.
Animal Movement Between Farms
Animals may move between locations.
NAVFarm can maintain the operational movement:
From farm
To farm
Animal or batch
Quantity
Weight
Date
Reason
Where the movement has an inventory or accounting impact, the required transaction can connect with Business Central.
Mortality Has Both Operational and Financial Impact
When an animal dies, the farm needs to record:
Animal or batch
Date
Stage
Reason
Weight where required
Farm
This immediately changes the physical livestock population.
Depending on the accounting policy, mortality may also affect livestock value or cost.
This is where the operational transaction and financial treatment need to be connected correctly.
Culling
Culling is different from normal mortality.
An animal may be removed because of:
Health
Age
Poor performance
Breeding performance
Physical condition
Other management reasons
The business may subsequently:
Dispose of it
Sell it
Transfer it
The system should maintain both the operational reason and the commercial outcome.
Livestock Costing
Management eventually needs to know:
How much is this animal costing us?
How much has this batch cost?
What is the feed cost?
What is the medicine cost?
What other farm expenses have been incurred?
What is the cost by stage?
NAVFarm provides the operational drivers.
Business Central provides the financial transactions.
Together, they can create a much stronger livestock costing model.
Cost Per Animal
Cost per animal may include components such as:
Opening or acquisition cost
Feed
Medicine
Vaccination
Farm expenses
Labour allocation where applicable
Mortality impact
Other overheads
The exact costing method should follow the company’s accounting and management policy.
Cost by Livestock Stage
For pig farming, management may want to understand cost across:
Breeding
Gestation
Farrowing
Weaning
Growing
Finishing
This provides much more useful information than knowing only the final total cost.
Standard Cost Versus Actual Cost
Some livestock businesses may use standard costs during the production cycle and analyse variances later.
Others may require actual cost accumulation.
The solution should be designed around the company’s accounting method rather than forcing one approach on every farm.
Biological Assets
Livestock accounting may involve biological assets depending on the nature of the business and applicable accounting standards.
The operational livestock register and financial accounting treatment need to be designed carefully.
NAVFarm can maintain operational animal information while Business Central can support the required financial structure based on the approved accounting design.
The exact treatment should be confirmed with the company’s finance and accounting team.
Livestock Sales
Animals may be sold:
Per animal
By weight
By batch
By category
By contract
A sales transaction may include:
Customer
Animal or batch
Quantity
Actual weight
Rate
Value
Dispatch
Invoice
Receipt
NAVFarm can provide the livestock information while Business Central manages the commercial and financial transaction.
Weight-Based Animal Sales
For businesses selling animals by live weight, actual weight becomes commercially important.
For example:
100 animals
Average weight 105 KG
Actual total weight 10,500 KG
Agreed price per KG
The sales value can then follow the company’s pricing method.
Customer and Credit Control
The farm team does not need to manage the entire customer ledger.
Business Central can manage:
Customer master
Credit limit
Payment terms
Outstanding balance
Invoice
Receipt
This keeps financial control within ERP.
From Farm Transaction to General Ledger
This is where the combination becomes valuable.
A farm manager records what happened operationally.
Finance should not need to re-enter the same information manually in another system.
Where a financial posting is required, integration can move the relevant transaction into the ERP process.
This reduces:
Duplicate entry
Delayed posting
Manual reconciliation
Different numbers between farm and finance
Use Dimensions Instead of Creating Hundreds of GL Accounts
A common ERP mistake is trying to represent every farm, animal group or activity through separate GL accounts.
This can make the chart of accounts unnecessarily complicated.
Business Central dimensions can be used where appropriate for analysis such as:
Farm
Business unit
Cost centre
Location
Livestock category
The final design should balance operational detail with manageable financial reporting.
Farm-Level Profitability
Management may want to compare:
Farm revenue
Feed cost
Medicine cost
Animal cost
Operating expenses
Mortality impact
Gross margin
Profitability
This requires operational and financial data to work together.
Multi-Farm Operations
A livestock company may operate several farms.
NAVFarm can maintain detailed farm activity.
Business Central can provide consolidated financial reporting.
Management can therefore compare:
Farm A versus Farm B
Cost
Feed
Mortality
Animal performance
Sales
Profitability
Multi-Company Livestock Businesses
Larger groups may operate separate legal entities.
For example:
Breeding company
Growing company
Feed company
Sales company
The solution architecture needs to consider both operational movement and legal financial transactions between companies.
Management Reporting
The combined environment can provide information such as:
Animal population
Feed consumption
Mortality
Weight
Breeding performance
Farm inventory
Cost per animal
Cost per batch
Sales
Revenue
Outstanding receivables
Farm profitability
Management gets operational and financial information without maintaining separate manual reports.
Power BI
Where deeper management reporting is required, Power BI can be used to bring together relevant operational and ERP data.
Dashboards may show:
Animal performance
Feed cost
Mortality
Farm comparison
Cost trend
Sales
Profitability
The reporting model should be designed around actual management questions rather than simply showing more charts.
Mobile Farm Data Entry
Farm users should not need to sit at a desktop ERP terminal for every activity.
Mobile or web-based livestock entry can make it practical to record:
Birth
Mortality
Feed
Weight
Treatment
Vaccination
Movement
Daily farm activity
The relevant information can then become available to management and ERP processes.
A Practical Pig Farm Example
Consider an integrated pig business.
Feed is purchased through Business Central.
Stock is transferred to Farm A.
The farm records feed consumption against a grower batch in NAVFarm.
The batch moves through the growing stage.
Mortality is recorded.
Weight is captured.
Medicine is consumed.
Eventually, animals are sold.
NAVFarm maintains the biological and farm history.
Business Central maintains purchase, inventory value, customer, sales, receivables and financial reporting.
Management can review both production performance and profitability.
A Practical Cattle Example
A cattle business purchases animals from several suppliers.
The commercial purchase is managed in Business Central.
At receipt, animals are registered in NAVFarm with:
Animal ID
RFID
Breed
Sex
Weight
Farm
Health information
Feed, treatment, movement and weight are recorded during the animal lifecycle.
When the animal is sold, the livestock record connects with the commercial sales process.
This provides traceability from purchase to sale.
What Should Be Decided Before Integration?
Before implementation begins, the business should agree:
Which system owns each master?
Which transactions originate in NAVFarm?
Which transactions originate in Business Central?
Which transactions require integration?
How will errors be handled?
What happens if integration fails?
How frequently should data synchronize?
How will duplicate transactions be prevented?
Which system is the final financial record?
These questions are more important than simply saying two systems will be integrated.
What to Look for in a Livestock ERP on Business Central
Evaluate whether the solution can support:
Livestock-specific operations
Individual and batch animals
Breeding
Lifecycle stages
Feed
Health
Weight
Mortality
Farm inventory
Costing
Sales
Multi-farm operations
Business Central integration
Financial posting
Dimensions
Traceability
Mobile data entry
Management reporting
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central manage livestock farms?
Business Central provides strong ERP and financial capabilities, but livestock businesses may require additional farm-specific processes such as animal lifecycle, breeding, feed, health, weight and mortality management.
What does NAVFarm add to Business Central?
NAVFarm provides livestock and farm operational processes that can work with Business Central’s purchasing, inventory, sales and finance capabilities.
Do farm users need Business Central accounts?
That depends on the final architecture and licensing design. Farm users can work through the appropriate NAVFarm or integrated application interface while required transactions are exchanged with Business Central according to the solution design.
Can feed consumption from NAVFarm update ERP inventory?
Yes, where included in the integration design, farm consumption can be connected with the relevant inventory process.
Can livestock sales connect with Business Central?
Yes. Animal or batch sales can connect with customer, invoicing, receivables and accounting processes.
Can NAVFarm work for pig and cattle businesses?
NAVFarm can support livestock processes including pig and cattle operations, with the exact configuration based on the farm’s lifecycle and business requirements.
Farm Operations and Finance Should Tell the Same Story
A livestock company should not have one number at the farm and another number in finance.
The farm knows what happened to the animals.
Finance knows what happened to the money.
Management needs both.
Connecting NAVFarm with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central creates a structure where livestock operations can remain detailed and practical while purchasing, inventory, sales and finance remain under proper ERP control.
For livestock businesses looking for Microsoft ERP without losing farm-specific functionality, this combination provides a practical path from animal operations to financial visibility.
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