Business Central is built around a set of distinct page types. Each page type serves a specific purpose, and understanding the difference between them makes navigation much more predictable. Once you know what kind of page you are on, you know what to expect and where to look for the information you need.
This article covers the main page types, how FactBoxes work, and a few navigation features that are easy to miss when you are getting started.
Page Types in Business Central
Business Central uses several standard page types. The structure of each page is consistent across the application, so the same layout patterns apply whether you are working with customers, vendors, items, or general ledger accounts.
| Page Type | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Role Center | Your home page. Shows cues, charts, and shortcuts relevant to your role. | Business Manager Role Center |
| List Page | Displays all records of a type in rows. Used for browsing and filtering. | Customer List, Item List |
| Card Page | Shows all fields for a single record. Used for viewing and editing. | Customer Card, Vendor Card |
| Document Page | A structured page for transactional documents, usually with a header and lines. | Sales Order, Purchase Invoice |
| Setup Page | Configuration pages for system behaviour. Often accessed via Tell Me. | General Ledger Setup, Reminder Terms Setup |
| Worksheet / Journal | A grid for entering multiple lines before posting. | General Journal, Item Journal |
The Role Center
When you sign in, Business Central opens your Role Center. This is your personal home page, configured based on your assigned role.
The Role Center typically contains:
- Cues, tiles that show counts of records requiring attention, such as open sales orders or overdue invoices
- Charts, visual summaries of financial data
- Navigation links, shortcuts to frequently used pages and reports
The Role Center is not the only starting point. Many users go directly to the pages they need using Alt + Q (Tell Me) rather than navigating from the Role Center every time.
To return to the Role Center from any page, click the application name or company name in the top-left corner of the screen.
List Pages
A list page shows all records of a particular type in a table view. From the Customer List, for example, you can see all customers, filter by any column, sort by name or number, and open individual records.
Common actions available on list pages:
- New, create a new record
- Edit List, edit multiple records inline without opening individual cards
- Delete, remove the selected record
- Filter, narrow down the visible rows using field values
You can open a record from a list page by clicking the row or pressing Enter with the row selected. This takes you to the card page for that record.
Card Pages
A card page shows a single record with all its fields. Customer Card, Vendor Card, and Item Card are the most common examples.
Card pages are typically organised into tabs or sections such as General, Invoicing, Shipping, and Payments. Fields are grouped by topic, so related settings appear together.
From a card page, you can:
- Edit field values directly
- Navigate to related records using links in the fields (for example, clicking a Customer Posting Group code opens that posting group)
- Access related lists via the action bar, such as viewing a customer’s posted invoices or ledger entries
Use the arrow buttons at the top of the card page to move to the previous or next record in the same list without going back to the list page.
Document Pages
Document pages are used for transactional records, sales orders, purchase invoices, service orders, and similar. They have a distinct structure with a header section and a lines section.
- The header holds fields that apply to the whole document: customer or vendor, posting date, document number, payment terms.
- The lines contain the individual items, G/L accounts, or resources being bought or sold.
Document pages also have a status field that controls which actions are available. A Released sales order has different available actions compared to an Open one.
FactBoxes
FactBoxes appear as a panel on the right side of list pages, card pages, and document pages. They display related information without requiring you to open another page.
On the Customer Card, the FactBox panel might show:
- Customer Statistics, total sales, outstanding amounts, overdue balance
- Attachments, files linked to the record
- Notes, internal notes added by users
- Sales History, recent documents for this customer
FactBoxes update automatically as you navigate between records on a list page. If you select a different customer on the Customer List, the FactBox panel immediately shows data for the newly selected customer.
You can collapse or expand the FactBox panel using the arrow on its left edge. Some FactBoxes can be personalised, you can choose which ones appear and in what order using the Personalise feature.
Breadcrumbs and the Navigation Bar
At the top of most pages, Business Central shows a breadcrumb trail indicating where you are in the application. For example, if you opened a customer card from the customer list, the breadcrumb shows Customers > [Customer Name].
Clicking a segment in the breadcrumb navigates back to that level.
The navigation bar at the top of the screen provides access to:
- Tell Me (
Alt + Q), search for pages, reports, and actions - Settings, personal settings, company selection, and linked environments
- Help, documentation and support links
- Notifications, system alerts and messages
Bookmarks
You can bookmark any page in Business Central to add a shortcut to your Role Center. This is useful for pages you visit frequently that are not already pinned by your role configuration.
To bookmark a page:
- Open the page you want to bookmark.
- Click the star icon (bookmark) in the top-right area of the page, or open the Page menu and select Bookmark.
- The page appears as a shortcut in your Role Center navigation section.
Bookmarks are personal, they apply only to your user account and do not affect other users.
Getting Back to the Role Center
From any page, you can return to the Role Center by:
- Clicking the company name or application logo in the top-left corner
- Using the browser’s back button if you navigated through multiple pages
- Pressing
Alt + Homein some configurations
If you have multiple browser tabs open with Business Central, each tab maintains its own navigation state independently.
To find any page quickly without navigating through menus, see How to Use the Tell Me Search Feature Effectively.