- Feature
- Bookmark list views and analysis tabs
- Availability
- Generally available (October 2026)
- Industry focus
- Franchise networks and multi-site operators
Franchise networks depend on consistency. Every site should follow the same processes and look at the same numbers. Business Central offers powerful list views and analysis mode, but they only help if people can find them. Business Central 29.0 makes the best views easy to reach and easy to roll out to everyone in a role.
The industry challenge
A franchise operator or multi-site business typically has:
- Head office analysts who build useful views, such as overdue franchise fees, stock below minimum or sales by site
- Site or area managers who aren't Business Central experts
- A need for everyone in a role to see the same numbers the same way
Analysis mode lets users group, pivot and summarize data on list pages, and saved views remember filters. But until now, getting to a particular view or analysis tab often meant several clicks, and sharing them across a team relied on each person saving their own. Area managers ended up with different versions of the truth.
What Microsoft delivered in Business Central 29.0
According to Microsoft, users can now bookmark analysis tabs and list views to their role centre, and these can be incorporated into profiles.
This means a user can add a useful view or analysis tab to their own navigation. An administrator can also build it into the profile (role) used by a whole group, so everyone with that role sees it in the same place.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for a franchise network |
|---|---|
| Consistency | Everyone in a role uses the same views and analyzes |
| Speed | Key views open from the role centre in one click |
| Training | New site managers find what they need without coaching |
| Head office control | Analysts design the views and roll them out through profiles |
| Decision quality | Fewer disagreements about which number is right |
For networks, the standardization benefit is the biggest. When every area manager looks at the same "fees overdue by franchisee" analysis, conversations focus on actions, not on whose spreadsheet is correct.
A worked scenario
Consider a franchisor of 80 fitness studios (an illustrative example). Head office uses Business Central to bill franchise fees, sell equipment and track marketing fund contributions.
The finance analyst builds an analysis tab on customer ledger entries that groups overdue fees by franchisee and region. She also builds a list view of equipment orders awaiting shipment. Before, she sent instructions to each area manager on how to recreate these views, with mixed results.
With Business Central 29.0, the administrator adds both to the Area Manager profile. The next time the area managers sign in, the overdue fees analysis and the equipment view appear in their role centre. Monthly reviews now start from the same numbers.
Adoption considerations
- Pick a handful of key views. Too many bookmarks clutter the role centre. Start with the views that matter most.
- Name them clearly. Use names that describe the business question, such as "Overdue fees by region."
- Own the profiles. Make someone responsible for maintaining profile-level bookmarks.
- Review regularly. Retire views that are no longer used.
- Respect permissions. Bookmarks don't change what users can see, so check that each role has access to the data behind its views.
The bottom line
Franchise networks succeed when every site works from the same playbook and the same numbers. Bookmarked views and analysis tabs in Business Central 29.0 make it easy to put trusted analyzes in front of every manager, consistently and in one click. It's a small feature with a big effect on how a network makes decisions.
If your managers struggle to find or agree on key numbers, it's worth reviewing your role centres and profiles with an experienced Business Central adviser.
Source: Microsoft roadmap 573319