Understanding BPA vs BPP in Dynamics 365

1. Why the Confusion?
2. Business Performance Analytics (BPA)
3. Business Performance Planning (BPP)
4. BPA vs BPP: Side-by-Side Comparison
5. The Strategic Difference
6. The Ideal Approach
7. Final Thoughts

At first glance, Business Performance Analytics (BPA) and Business Performance Planning (BPP) may appear almost identical. Their names are similar, their interfaces look familiar, and both rely heavily on Power BI, Excel, and the Microsoft Power Platform.

However, beneath the surface, these two capabilities serve very different business purposes. Understanding when to use BPA, when to use BPP, and how they complement each other is essential for finance and operations teams working with Dynamics 365 Finance.

Why the Confusion?

When users access the screens in Dynamics 365 Finance, BPA and BPP can look alike:

• Both use analytical cubes
• Both integrate with Power BI and Excel
• Both rely on structured financial and operational data

Yet the intent, architecture, and outcomes of each solution are fundamentally different.

So what’s the catch? Why would an organization need one over the other — or even both?

Let’s break it down.

Business Performance Analytics (BPA)

Business Performance Analytics is a modern analytics framework built directly into Dynamics 365 Finance. Its main goal is to provide real-time insights across financial and operational data.

Purpose

BPA focuses on:

• Reporting
• Monitoring
• Analysis
• Decision support based on actual data

It enables finance teams to analyze business performance using standardized data models without building complex custom integrations.

Key Features

• Prebuilt analytical data models (facts and dimensions)
• Optimized cubes designed for performance and scalability
• Seamless reporting through Power BI and Excel
• Real-time or near-real-time insights
• Strong foundation for future AI and advanced analytics

Technical Requirements

To enable BPA, the following are required:

• Tier-2 (multi-box) environment
• Dynamics 365 Finance version 10.0.38 (Application version 10.0.1777.94) or later: current version is 10.0.46
• Microsoft Power Platform configuration
• Microsoft Entra tenant configuration
• Required privileges in both Power Platform and Dynamics 365 Finance
• Power App users enabled in Finance
• Configuration in Power Platform Admin Center
• Optional: movement of production data to sandbox for analysis

When to Use BPA

Use BPA when your objective is to:

• Analyze historical and current performance
• Monitor KPIs
• Build enterprise reporting dashboards
• Gain a unified, real-time view of business operations

In short: BPA is about understanding what has happened and what is happening now.

Business Performance Planning (BPP)

Business Performance Planning goes beyond analytics. It introduces planning, forecasting, and what-if analysis directly into the Dynamics 365 Finance ecosystem.

BPP is a native Dataverse-based solution designed to optimize planning efficiency across the organization.

Purpose

BPP focuses on:

• Budgeting
• Forecasting
• Scenario planning
• Version management
• Collaborative planning processes

Rather than only analyzing actuals, BPP allows organizations to shape future outcomes.

Key Capabilities

• Create and manage planning scenarios and versions
• Perform what-if simulations
• Load and manage fact data in analytical cubes
• Define and maintain custom dimensions
• Leverage Power Automate for workflows and approvals
• Use Power BI for tailored planning visuals
• Bulk editing of dimensional data to save time and effort

Power Platform Strength

One of BPP’s biggest advantages is its deep integration with the Microsoft Power Platform:

• Dataverse as the core data layer
• Power BI for interactive planning visuals (7 custom visuals available)
• Power Automate for workflows, approvals, and notifications
• Ability to extend with custom fields and business logic

Technical Requirements

• Tier-2 environment
• Dynamics 365 Finance version 10.0.37 with Platform Update 61
• Microsoft Power Platform environment
• Finance premium license
• Installation of the Business Performance Planning app

When to Use BPP

Use BPP when your objective is to:

• Build budgets and forecasts
• Run what-if scenarios
• Manage planning cycles
• Enable agile and collaborative financial planning

In short: BPP is about deciding what should happen.

BPA vs BPP: Side-by-Side Comparison

Area	BPA	BPP
Primary focus	Analytics & reporting	Planning & forecasting
Main question	What happened?	What should happen?
Data type	Actuals	Planned, forecasted, scenario-based
Core platform	D365 Finance analytics framework	Dataverse & Power Platform
Power BI usage	Reporting & insights	Planning visuals & simulations
Power Automate	Limited	Strong (workflows, approvals)
Planning capability	❌ No	✅ Yes
Scenario modeling	❌ No	✅ Yes

The Strategic Difference

Although both features fall under the performance management umbrella, they solve very different problems.

Business Performance Analytics

• Transforms complex data into actionable insights
• Provides a real-time enterprise-wide performance view
• Lays the groundwork for AI-driven finance
• Strengthens data-driven decision-making

Business Performance Planning

• Enables financial and operational planning
• Supports agile budgeting processes
• Encourages collaboration across departments
• Empowers users to test scenarios before execution

The Ideal Approach

Rather than choosing one over the other, the real value appears when both are used together.

The Winning Formula: Plan in BPP → Report and analyze in BPA

• Use BPP to create budgets, forecasts, and scenarios
• Use BPA to analyze actual results against those plans

This combination creates a closed performance management loop:

1. Plan
2. Execute
3. Analyze
4. Adjust

Final Thoughts

BPA and BPP are not competitors — they are complementary capabilities within Dynamics 365 Finance.

• BPA delivers insight
• BPP delivers direction

Organizations that understand this distinction can build a modern finance architecture that not only reports on the past but actively shapes the future.

If your goal is true enterprise performance management, the answer is not BPA or BPP — it’s BPA and BPP together.