Round 37 of our Dynamics GP vs. Dynamics 365 Business Central Functionality Face-Off tackles a topic that keeps quality managers up at night: lot and serial number tracking.
If you sell food, chemicals, medical supplies, electronics, or anything else that can be recalled, you already know the drill. Somebody calls. A lot is bad. Now you have to answer two questions fast: where did that lot come from, and where did it go?
Both GP and Business Central can track lots and serial numbers. The difference is in how much setup each item takes, how expiration dates are handled, and how quickly you can trace a bad lot when the pressure is on. Let’s walk through it.
How you do it in Dynamics GP
GP handles tracking through each item’s own settings, plus a few company-wide switches.
Step 1 — Turn on tracking for the item. Open the Item Maintenance window (Inventory >> Cards >> Item), select the item, and choose Options. In the Item Maintenance Options window, set the Track field to Serial Numbers or Lot Numbers. If you pick lots, you can also choose a lot category. One catch: the tracking option is only available for Sales Inventory or Discontinued item types (Microsoft Learn — Inventory Control in Dynamics GP).
Step 2 — Set up expiration handling. Lot expiration dates take a few windows. In the Item Maintenance Options window, mark Warn and enter the number of days before a lot expires. Then go to Inventory Control Setup (Tools >> Setup >> Inventory >> Inventory Control) and decide where expired lots may still be used — inventory adjustments, transfers, or other transactions (Microsoft Learn — Set up and use lot expiration dates). You repeat the Warn setting on every item (or bake it into the item class before you create items).
Step 3 — Enter numbers on every transaction. When you receive a tracked item, GP pops open a serial or lot entry window so you can key or select the numbers. On the sales side, the Sales Serial Number Entry or Sales Lot Number Entry window opens when the item is fulfilled. If you mark the auto-assign options in setup, GP can pick lots for you by receipt date or by expiration date (Microsoft Learn — Sales Order Processing).
Step 4 — Trace when something goes wrong. GP gives you the Serial/Lot Trace Inquiry window (Inventory >> Inquiry >> Serial/Lot Trace) and the Lot Number Inquiry window to follow a number through your transactions (Microsoft Learn — Inventory Control Parts 4-6).
It works. GP shops have run recalls on this plumbing for decades. But every rule lives on the individual item, and every answer lives in a separate inquiry window.
How you do it in Business Central
Business Central moves the rules into a reusable setup record called an item tracking code — build it once, assign it to as many items as you want.
Step 1 — Create an item tracking code. Search for Item Tracking Codes and choose New. On the Serial No. and Lot No. FastTabs, set the policy: require numbers on purchase, on sale, in warehouse handling, or all of the above. Turning on SN Specific Tracking or Lot Specific Tracking means the exact number that came in must be the one that goes out (Microsoft Learn — Set up item tracking).
Step 2 — Add expiration rules to the same code. On the Misc. FastTab, turn on Use Expiration Dates, Require Expiration Date Entry, and Strict Expiration Posting if expired stock must never ship. On the item card, an Expiration Calculation formula (like 90D) computes the date automatically at receipt.
Step 3 — Assign the code to your items. On the item card’s Item Tracking FastTab, pick the tracking code plus number series for serial and lot numbers. New tracked item after that? Assign the same code — done.
Step 4 — Enter or auto-assign numbers on documents. On any purchase or sales line, open Item Tracking Lines. You can key the vendor’s numbers, auto-assign from a number series, or use Select Entries to pick from what’s on hand with live availability. When expiration dates are in play, Business Central suggests outbound lots on a First-Expired, First-Out (FEFO) basis automatically (Microsoft Learn — Track items with serial, lot, and package numbers).
Step 5 — Trace in one page. The Item Tracing page follows any serial or lot number forward (origin to usage) or backward (usage to origin) through every posted transaction — receipt, assembly, transfer, sale — in one expandable view. Find Entries then locates every open and posted record of that number in the database (Microsoft Learn — Trace item-tracked items).
Side by side
| Task | Dynamics GP | Business Central |
|---|---|---|
| Turn on tracking | Per item, in Item Maintenance Options | Reusable item tracking code assigned to items |
| Tracking rules | Track serial or lot; one setting per item | Separate inbound, outbound, and warehouse policies per code |
| Expiration dates | Warn setting per item + company-wide expired-lot switches | Use Expiration Dates, Require Entry, Strict Posting on the code; auto-calculated from a date formula |
| Picking outbound lots | Auto-assign by receipt or expiration date (setup option) | FEFO suggested automatically when expiration dates are used |
| Assigning numbers | Entry windows per transaction | Item Tracking Lines: manual, number series, or Select Entries with availability |
| Recall tracing | Serial/Lot Trace Inquiry + separate inquiry windows | Item Tracing page, both directions, plus Find Entries |
Why BC comes out ahead
Give GP its due: it has offered dependable serial and lot tracking, expiration warnings, and trace inquiries for a very long time, and plenty of regulated businesses have passed audits on it.
Business Central just packages the same discipline better. The tracking code means your rules live in one place instead of on hundreds of item cards — change the policy once and every assigned item follows it. That’s the same template thinking we saw in Round 23 on item setup. Expiration dates calculate themselves at receipt, FEFO picking happens without anyone remembering a setup checkbox, and Strict Expiration Posting makes shipping expired stock impossible, not just warned about. And when the recall call comes, Item Tracing walks the whole chain — the receipt you posted in Round 9, the transfer, the sale — on one page in seconds.
If lot control is part of your compliance story, that difference shows up exactly when you can least afford friction.
Ready to see it with your items?
Aisling Dynamics helps GP shops map their tracking rules — categories, masks, expiration policies — onto Business Central tracking codes the right way. Take a look at what we offer, then contact us or call (251) 293-0555 for a walkthrough with your own item list.
Next up in the Face-Off: physical inventory counts — GP Stock Count Schedules vs. Business Central physical inventory orders. See you tomorrow.