- Feature
- AI-driven approvals (Expense Agent)
- Availability
- Preview from October 2026; Microsoft's roadmap lists general availability for December 2026
- Industry focus
- Management and technology consultancies
Consultants travel constantly. Flights, hotels, client dinners and taxis add up to a large expense line, and much of it is billed on to clients. Expense policies in consultancies are full of judgement calls. When is business class acceptable? What counts as a reasonable client dinner? When is a hotel above the standard rate justified? The Business Central Expense Agent is learning to help with exactly those questions.
The industry challenge
A mid-sized consultancy might process thousands of expense lines a month. Its policy probably includes rules like:
- Business class only for flights over a certain length, or with partner approval
- Client entertainment within reasonable limits, with attendees recorded
- Preferred hotels, unless a client site makes them impractical
Traditional approval workflows can check hard thresholds, such as "over £500 needs a second approver." They struggle with policies that depend on context. So managers either approve almost everything without looking closely, or they spend time they don't have reading every receipt.
Inconsistent enforcement costs money, and it also creates problems when expenses are recharged to clients who query them.
What Microsoft is delivering
According to Microsoft, the Expense Agent can check submitted expense reports against approval policies written in natural language and give approvers guidance during review. After an employee submits a report, the agent looks at the report as a whole and at individual lines to spot possible policy breaches, suspicious patterns or situations that deserve a closer look.
Microsoft highlights that this works for policies that aren't simple numeric thresholds, such as when business class is allowed, what makes a business meal appropriate, or when an exception to hotel standards is acceptable.
Crucially, the feature doesn't replace human approval. It adds review context, complements existing approval workflows and leaves the final decision with the approver. In the first release, controls apply at the level of individual expense lines.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for a consultancy |
|---|---|
| Policy consistency | The same judgement rules applied to every report |
| Approver time | Attention focused on lines that actually need it |
| Client recharges | Fewer queries from clients about questionable expenses |
| Culture | Clear, explained guidance rather than arbitrary rejections |
| Audit | Evidence that policy checks were applied |
The real value is in the grey areas. Most expense fraud and waste isn't dramatic. It's small exceptions that nobody questions. Guidance that highlights them, with reasons, makes approvers more effective without making them slower.
A worked scenario
Consider a technology consultancy with 250 consultants working at client sites across Europe (an illustrative example). Its policy says business class is allowed only for flights over six hours or with a partner's prior agreement.
A consultant submits a report including a business-class flight from London to Frankfurt. The agent flags the line, explaining that the flight is short-haul and no partner approval is referenced. The engagement manager sees the flag, checks with the consultant and learns that a partner did approve it because of a last-minute client emergency. The manager adds a note and approves the report. On the same report, the agent doesn't flag a client dinner that fits the policy, so the manager doesn't need to check it.
Adoption considerations
- Write policies clearly. Natural-language policies still need to be precise. Ambiguous rules produce ambiguous guidance.
- Start in preview. Test with one practice or region before rolling out.
- Keep approvers accountable. Make clear that the agent advises and the approver decides.
- Review flags over time. Look at what gets flagged and approved anyway, then refine the policy wording.
- Communicate with staff. Explain that policy checks are automated so expectations are clear.
The bottom line
Consultancies spend heavily on travel and must defend those costs to clients. AI-driven approvals in the Business Central Expense Agent help managers apply nuanced policies consistently, without reading every receipt. Approvers keep control, and the business gets fairer, more defensible expense decisions.
If expense approvals are a time sink or a source of inconsistency in your firm, it's worth exploring this preview with an experienced Business Central adviser.
Source: Microsoft roadmap 573255