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Business Central guide

Business Central AI agents pricing: how Copilot Credits work

Last updated August 2026. We refresh this guide as Microsoft's pricing and agent features evolve.

Base Copilot features in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are included in the standard licenses (Essentials at USD 80 and Premium at USD 110 per user per month, as currently published). The autonomous agents, such as the Payables Agent, Sales Order Agent and Expense Agent, are billed separately through Copilot Credits, a consumption unit purchased via an Azure subscription at roughly USD 0.01 per credit. The Payables Agent currently consumes about 5 credits per processed invoice line, which works out to roughly USD 0.05 per line at published rates.

How Microsoft prices AI agents in Business Central

Microsoft splits Business Central AI into two tiers with very different billing logic. Knowing which tier a feature falls into is the key to predicting what lands on your invoice.

  • Included Copilot features: base Copilot capabilities ship with the Essentials (USD 80 per user per month) and Premium (USD 110 per user per month) licenses at no extra charge, as currently published.
  • Credit-billed autonomous agents: the Payables Agent, Sales Order Agent and Expense Agent do not run on that bundled allocation; they consume Copilot Credits, a separate consumption unit billed through an Azure subscription.
  • Credit price and per-line example: a Copilot Credit is currently priced around USD 0.01, and the Payables Agent consumes about 5 credits per processed invoice line, roughly USD 0.05 per line.
  • Prepaid or pay-as-you-go: you can buy prepaid capacity (currently about 20 percent cheaper) or pay as you go; actual consumption depends on agent design, interaction frequency and the features used.

Estimating and governing your agent spend

Because agents bill per unit of work, you can estimate costs before enabling anything. A worked example: a company posting 1,000 vendor invoices a month, averaging 5 lines each, would use about 25,000 credits, roughly USD 250 per month at current rates, before any other agents. Treat that as an estimate, not a quote: real consumption varies with agent design, how often users interact with each run and which features are active. Verify current rates in your agreement or with your partner.

  • Estimate from document volumes: multiply monthly documents by average lines per document and by the published credits per line, then add headroom for reruns and exceptions.
  • Set admin controls and monitor consumption: Copilot Credit usage is managed in the Business Central admin center under consumption-based billing; review it regularly so surprises surface early.
  • Decide who may enable agents: agree internally which roles are allowed to switch an agent on, because every activation effectively commits budget.

Consumption pricing vs flat pricing

Microsoft's consumption model scales with usage, which is fair for variable workloads but harder to budget when volumes spike. Zentriq Agent takes the other approach: flat per-message pricing with a free tier (see our pricing), which some teams prefer for predictability. Both models are legitimate; the right one depends on how stable your document volumes are. Zentriq drafts documents in Business Central and always waits for human approval, it never posts anything on its own.

Frequently asked questions

Are Business Central AI agents included in the license?

Partly. Base Copilot features are included in the Essentials (USD 80 per user per month) and Premium (USD 110 per user per month) licenses at no extra charge, as currently published. The autonomous agents (Payables Agent, Sales Order Agent, Expense Agent) are billed separately through Copilot Credits. Verify the current terms in your agreement.

What does the Payables Agent cost per invoice?

As currently published, the Payables Agent consumes about 5 Copilot Credits per processed invoice line, and a credit is priced around USD 0.01, so roughly USD 0.05 per line. A typical 5-line invoice would therefore cost about USD 0.25. Rates can change, so check with your partner or in your agreement.

What are Copilot Credits and how do I buy them?

Copilot Credits are a separate consumption unit billed through an Azure subscription. You can buy prepaid capacity, currently about 20 percent cheaper, or pay as you go. Admins manage consumption-based billing in the Business Central admin center.

How can I predict my monthly agent spend?

Estimate from your document volumes: monthly documents times average lines per document times the published credits per line. For example, 1,000 vendor invoices a month at 5 lines each is about 25,000 credits, roughly USD 250 per month at current rates. Actual consumption varies with agent design, interaction frequency and the features used, so monitor real usage in the admin center.

Comparing specific agents? See our Payables Agent comparison and our Expense Agent comparison for feature-level differences.

Prefer predictable AI pricing?

Zentriq Agent uses flat per-message pricing with a free tier. It drafts documents in Business Central and always waits for your approval, nothing is ever posted automatically.

Try Zentriq Agent for freeSee our pricing