Business Central captures every shipping transaction Dynamic Ship posts, but native Business Central has no built-in dashboard for reviewing what that shipping actually costs by carrier, location, or service level. Most companies end up exporting the same data into a spreadsheet every month just to answer a question finance or operations keeps asking. If you are searching for the best shipping analytics app for Business Central in 2026, Dynamic Ship Analysis from Insight Works is a free Power BI companion built for exactly this gap. This is a completely free app from Insight Works for Business Central. This guide covers its features, benefits, how it compares to building reports by hand, real use cases, and how to get started.
What Is Dynamic Ship Analysis and How Does It Work in Business Central?
Dynamic Ship Analysis is a native extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, paired with a companion app on Microsoft Marketplace that runs inside Microsoft Power BI. Because it depends entirely on Dynamic Ship for its underlying data, installing it means adding two pieces: a small Business Central extension, downloaded from the Insight Works knowledge base, that supplies the Power BI queries, and the Power BI template app itself, installed from Microsoft Marketplace and connected to the same Business Central environment.
Core workflow:
- Confirm Dynamic Ship, version 2.5 or newer, is already installed and actively used in a Business Central Cloud environment.
- Download and install the companion Business Central extension from the Insight Works knowledge base.
- Install the Dynamic Ship Analysis app from Microsoft Marketplace into Power BI.
- Connect the Power BI app to the same Business Central environment using standard sign-in credentials.
- Let the app pull in shipping data Dynamic Ship has already captured: rates, carriers, service levels, locations, and dates.
- Open the built-in dashboards to review spend by month, location, carrier, and service level.
- Use the year-over-year views to compare current shipping cost and volume against prior periods.
- Route the dashboards to logistics, finance, or operations for ongoing review.
Because Dynamic Ship Analysis only reports on data Dynamic Ship already has, most of the configuration work, setting up carrier connectors and freight price rules, happens on the Dynamic Ship side rather than inside the Power BI app itself.
Key Features of Dynamic Ship Analysis
- Shipping spend by month and location: See total shipping cost broken out by calendar month and by shipping location, without building the report by hand.
- Year-over-year comparisons: Compare current shipping cost and volume trends against the same period a year earlier, directly in the dashboard.
- Average shipments per week: Track shipment volume trends, useful for scheduling and staffing decisions.
- Spend by carrier: Review total shipping cost broken out by carrier, useful when negotiating rates or evaluating a carrier change.
- Average spend per shipment weight: See cost per unit of shipment weight, a figure that is tedious to calculate by hand from raw data.
- Spend by service level: Break down shipping cost by service level (ground, expedited, and similar) to see where premium service is driving cost.
- Consolidated tracking visibility: Bring carrier integration and shipment tracking data from Dynamic Ship into a single reporting view.
- Built on Microsoft Power BI: Runs on the same Power BI platform many Business Central users already use for other reporting, rather than a separate, unfamiliar tool.
Together, these dashboards replace the manual export-to-spreadsheet routine many companies fall back on to answer basic questions about shipping cost.
Top Benefits for Business Central Users
- Reduce the time spent building shipping cost reports by hand from Business Central exports.
- Improve visibility into which carriers, locations, and service levels are driving freight spend.
- Gain a year-over-year view of shipping trends without rebuilding a spreadsheet every reporting period.
- Support budgeting and forecasting conversations between logistics, operations, and finance with one consolidated data source.
- Streamline monthly and quarterly reviews for managers who need shipping data without navigating multiple Business Central pages.
- Enhance accountability for shipping cost trends by giving managers a dashboard they can check on their own schedule.
Why Dynamic Ship Analysis Is the Best Choice for Business Central
Native Business Central has no purpose-built dashboard for shipping cost analysis: the shipping data is there, generated as Dynamic Ship posts each shipment, but reviewing it by carrier, location, or service level means writing a custom report or exporting it into a spreadsheet by hand. That manual approach works, but it has to be rebuilt every reporting period and depends on whoever maintains it.
| Feature | Native Business Central | Manual Spreadsheet Reporting | Dynamic Ship Analysis from Insight Works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Included, no shipping dashboard | Analyst time to build and maintain | Free |
| Target use | General document and ledger review | Ad hoc reporting for finance or ops | Purpose-built shipping analytics dashboards |
| Carrier and service-level breakdown | Not available | Possible, but time-consuming to compile | Built in, by carrier, location, and service level |
| Year-over-year comparison | Requires a custom report | Manual and error-prone | Built in |
| Data source | Native shipping and document data, no consolidated view | Manual export from Business Central | Automatic pull from Dynamic Ship data |
| Setup | N/A | N/A | Business Central extension plus a Power BI app, both free |
| Platform requirement | Any Business Central license | Any spreadsheet tool | Business Central Cloud and Dynamic Ship 2.5 or newer |
| Ease of use | Requires report-writing knowledge | Depends on the analyst’s spreadsheet skill | Pre-built dashboards, no report writing required |
Dynamic Ship Analysis wins because it turns shipping data Dynamic Ship already captures into ready-made dashboards, without a spreadsheet rebuild every month.
Real Customer Results and Use Cases
- Logistics Manager: Reviews the carrier and service-level dashboards each month, resulting in a clear view of which lanes are driving freight spend.
- Financial Controller: Pulls total shipping spend by location into budget reviews, resulting in fewer manual spreadsheet exports at month-end.
- Supply Chain Manager: Compares year-over-year shipment volume and cost trends, resulting in earlier visibility into rate changes before they show up in a full expense review.
- Operations Manager: Checks average shipments per week against staffing levels, resulting in more informed scheduling decisions during busy periods.
“We were exporting shipping data out of Business Central into a spreadsheet every month just to see which carrier was costing us the most. Dynamic Ship Analysis gave us that view without the extra work.”
Anonymous user
“It’s a free add-on to Dynamic Ship, so it was an easy decision to turn on. Our controller checks the year-over-year dashboard every quarter now.”
Anonymous user
How to Get Started with Dynamic Ship Analysis in Business Central
- Visit Microsoft Marketplace and search for Dynamic Ship Analysis, or reach it from the Insight Works product page.
- Confirm Dynamic Ship, version 2.5 or newer, is already installed and running in your Business Central Cloud environment.
- Download and install the companion Business Central extension from the Insight Works knowledge base.
- Install the Dynamic Ship Analysis app from Microsoft Marketplace into Power BI and connect it to your Business Central environment.
- Open the built-in dashboards and start reviewing shipping spend by carrier, location, and service level.
Pricing: Completely free, though standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central licensing still applies, and depending on how reports are shared, a Power BI license may also be needed. Dynamic Ship itself, along with companion apps like License Plating, supports the shipping and posting steps that feed the data these dashboards report on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best shipping analytics app for Business Central?
For Business Central users already running Dynamic Ship, Dynamic Ship Analysis stands out as the best shipping analytics app for Business Central, since it is a free Power BI companion that turns shipping data Dynamic Ship already captures into ready-made dashboards for spend by carrier, location, and service level.
Does Dynamic Ship Analysis work without Dynamic Ship installed?
No. Dynamic Ship Analysis has no shipping functionality of its own; it depends entirely on Dynamic Ship, version 2.5 or newer, for the data it reports on.
Is Dynamic Ship Analysis really free?
Yes. Dynamic Ship Analysis carries no license cost from Insight Works. Standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central licensing still applies and depending on how the resulting reports are shared across a team, a separate Power BI license may also be needed.
Does Dynamic Ship Analysis work with on-premises Business Central?
No. Dynamic Ship Analysis is available for Business Central Cloud only, even though core Dynamic Ship supports both cloud and on-premises deployments.
Does Dynamic Ship Analysis integrate with other Insight Works apps?
It is built specifically as a companion to Dynamic Ship. Dynamic Ship itself works alongside other Insight Works apps in the shipping and fulfillment chain, including the Order Fulfillment Worksheet, Warehouse Insight or WMS Express, and License Plating, though Dynamic Ship Analysis reports only on the shipping data those workflows feed into Dynamic Ship.
Conclusion
Dynamic Ship Analysis solves a specific, recurring problem for companies already running Dynamic Ship: seeing what shipping actually costs without exporting data into a spreadsheet every month. Between its carrier, location, and service-level dashboards, its year-over-year comparisons, and its zero license cost, it makes a strong case as the best shipping analytics app for Business Central, provided Dynamic Ship is already part of the shipping process.
Ready to see what your shipping data has been telling you all along? Install Dynamic Ship Analysis from Microsoft Marketplace today, or contact your Microsoft Partner for a demo.