If your company is running an older version of Microsoft Dynamics GP, you may think everything is fine, until auditors take a closer look.
We recently worked with a company whose auditors flagged their GP environment as non-compliant because it was running on an unsupported operating system. The result? They faced a critical decision: upgrade GP, migrate the environment to a supported system, or transition to a modern cloud ERP like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
This scenario is more common than many leaders realize. Companies often focus on the software itself, overlooking the underlying systems that support it. But auditors, and increasingly, regulatory guidelines, care about what's underneath your ERP. Running GP on an unsupported OS isn't just a technical issue; it's a compliance risk that impacts Finance, Operations, and IT in different ways.
What does this mean for your organization? Why does it matter? And how can leaders across Finance, Operations, and IT take action before it becomes a crisis? Let’s take a look:
How Do Old GP Versions on Unsupported Systems Create Risk?
Microsoft Dynamics GP is a robust ERP system, but like any enterprise software, it has compatibility and support lifecycles. When a version of GP is paired with an operating system or database that is no longer supported, it creates multiple risk exposures:
- Audit compliance risk: Auditors may require that your ERP and underlying systems are actively supported and up-to-date. Failing to meet this standard can trigger audit findings, potential fines, or mandatory remediation.
- Security vulnerabilities: Unsupported operating systems no longer receive security patches, leaving your financial and operational data exposed to evolving threats.
- Upgrade roadblocks: Many companies discover too late that their GP version cannot be upgraded because it's tied to an unsupported OS or database. This delays critical modernization initiatives and increases project costs.
While it may seem like a minor IT detail, auditors care about system support because it directly affects the integrity of financial reporting and operational reliability. An unsupported environment isn't just a technical liability, it's a business risk.
Finance Leaders: Why Does This Matters to You?
For finance leaders, the immediate concern is financial risk and compliance. Here's what you need to know:
- Audit compliance is non-negotiable: Auditors are increasingly scrutinizing the systems behind your financial reports. If GP is running on an unsupported OS, auditors may require a migration or upgrade to maintain compliance. This isn't optional, it's a matter of maintaining audit integrity.
- Financial impact: An unexpected audit requirement can mean emergency upgrades, last-minute system changes, and unplanned consulting costs, all of which hit the bottom line. Reactive upgrades are consistently more expensive than planned ones.
- Long-term risk exposure: Failing to proactively address system support creates ongoing financial and operational risk. Unsupported environments are more likely to experience downtime, data integrity issues, or reporting errors, any of which can impact quarterly closes and stakeholder confidence.
Actionable steps for finance leaders:
- Request an audit of your GP environment and underlying systems from IT.
- Identify which systems are unsupported or approaching end-of-life.
- Evaluate both upgrading GP and migrating to Business Central, consider long-term costs, cloud benefits, and modernization opportunities.
- Collaborate with IT and Operations to plan upgrades or migrations before auditors flag issues.
By addressing these risks proactively, finance leaders can prevent last-minute costs and ensure that financial reporting remains accurate, auditable, and defensible.
Operations Leaders: How Can You Protect Workflow and Continuity?
Operations leaders might see this as a technical IT problem, but the impact on day-to-day business is very real:
- Process disruption: If GP cannot be upgraded due to OS incompatibility, operational workflows, inventory management, order processing, payment processing, approval chains, can all be interrupted. Emergency upgrades often come with downtime that affects service delivery.
- Limited integration capabilities: Older GP versions may not integrate with modern operational tools, limiting automation opportunities and efficiency gains. This creates manual workarounds that slow teams down. Moving to Business Central can unlock modern integrations with Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and other cloud services.
- Planning challenges: A compliance-driven upgrade or migration may require significant operational planning, from scheduling downtime to testing new processes. Without operations involvement, these projects can disrupt critical business activities.
Actionable steps for operations leaders:
- Partner with IT to understand which business processes rely on GP and how an upgrade or migration to Business Central could affect them.
- Map out critical workflows to ensure continuity during an upgrade or migration.
- Advocate for a proactive approach, rather than reacting to audit mandates.
When operations leaders are involved early, compliance-driven changes become an opportunity to streamline processes and modernize workflows, not just a disruption to manage.
IT Leaders: How are Systems, Support, and Security Affected?
For IT leaders, this is squarely a systems and support issue, but it also has broader organizational implications:
- Unsupported infrastructure: Running GP on an OS that no longer receives updates exposes the company to security and compliance risk. This creates liability for IT and the broader organization.
- Upgrade complications: Many companies only discover that their GP version cannot upgrade because the OS is unsupported. This creates emergency projects, unplanned costs, and pressure on IT teams.
- Lifecycle planning: IT must track support timelines for ERP, OS, and database components to prevent audit issues and avoid last-minute crises. This requires coordination across Finance and Operations to align technical timelines with business needs. For some organizations, migrating to Business Central eliminates ongoing infrastructure management by moving to the cloud.
Actionable steps for IT leaders:
- Audit your environment for ERP, OS, and database support timelines.
- Document dependencies, including any customizations, integrations, or reporting tools.
- Assess whether upgrading GP or migrating to Business Central better aligns with your infrastructure strategy and cloud roadmap.
- Plan upgrades or migrations well ahead of end-of-support dates to avoid reactive, high-pressure projects.
Proactive IT leadership ensures both security and compliance while minimizing operational disruptions. More importantly, it positions IT as a strategic partner rather than a reactive cost center.
A Real-World Example
Here's a real scenario from one of our clients that illustrates the risk:
A mid-sized company was running an older GP version on a Windows Server that was no longer supported. During a routine audit, the auditors informed the leadership team that their environment was not compliant. The company faced three choices:
- upgrade GP to a version that would run on a supported OS
- migrate the environment to a supported infrastructure
- transition to Dynamics 365 Business Central
After evaluating their options, they chose to move their GP environment into Azure. This decision not only resolved the compliance issue but also positioned them for modern cloud capabilities, eliminated infrastructure maintenance, and provided a clearer path for future growth. The key takeaway? Auditors don't just care about software versions, they care about what the software is running on. And sometimes, addressing the compliance issue opens the door to strategic modernization.
Many companies overlook this detail until it's too late, leading to last-minute projects, higher costs, and unnecessary organizational stress.
Key Takeaways for All Leaders
- Compliance is multifaceted: Auditors care about the software AND the infrastructure it runs on.
- Proactive planning saves money: Waiting until an audit triggers action is costly and disruptive.
- All leaders have a role: Finance, Operations, and IT must collaborate to ensure systems are compliant and business processes are protected.
- Consider all options: Whether upgrading GP or migrating to Business Central, planning ahead ensures a smoother process and may unlock strategic benefits beyond compliance.
Practical Next Steps
- Inventory your GP environment: Document your GP version, OS, database, and any integrations.
- Check support status: Compare your environment to Microsoft's current support matrix.
- Evaluate your options: Assess both upgrading to a current GP version and migrating to Business Central. Consider factors like cloud strategy, integration needs, and long-term support costs.
- Engage auditors or consultants early: Understand compliance requirements and how they apply to your systems.
- Plan your project: Prioritize based on compliance urgency, business impact, and operational dependencies.
- Communicate across teams: Ensure Finance, Operations, and IT are aligned and understand their responsibilities.
By following these steps, companies can avoid audit surprises, protect operational continuity, and reduce risk exposure.
Final Thoughts
Running an older version of Dynamics GP isn't just an IT concern, it's a compliance, operational, and financial risk. The story of the company flagged by auditors highlights the importance of planning ahead, understanding dependencies, and collaborating across teams.
Finance, Operations, and IT leaders each have a unique lens on the problem, but the solution starts with the same steps: assess your current state, evaluate your options, including both GP upgrades and Business Central migration, and act before auditors make the decision for you.
If your GP environment hasn't been reviewed recently, now is the time to start the conversation. Compliance, continuity, and modernization aren't just buzzwords, they're critical for keeping your business secure, efficient, and audit-ready.