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There is time to make a good GP exit decision—if you protect the decision window. Microsoft stopped selling new GP perpetual licenses to new customers on April 1, 2025 and new GP subscriptions to new customers on April 1, 2026. For the current GP 18.x release, product enhancements, regulatory/tax updates, and Microsoft technical support end December 31, 2029. Security patches, if needed, continue through April 30, 2031.
That is not a claim that GP stops running on December 31, 2029. It is a reason to move discovery, partner selection, data decisions, and contingency planning forward—before a fixed date turns ordinary migration work into a rushed cutover.
Work backwards from the December 2029 support deadline
By 2027
Make the estate visible
Inventory companies, modules, customizations, integrations, ISVs, reports, data quality, users, and ownership.
2027–2028
Prove the target and partner
Run fit-gap, compare partners, decide archive versus migrate, prototype critical workflows, and contract deliberately.
2028–2029
Build, test, train, cut over
Configure, migrate in a sandbox, validate, rehearse cutover, train users, and stabilize the support model.
Before Dec. 31, 2029
Keep a contingency window
Reserve room for remediation, failed testing, peak-season constraints, and partner-capacity changes before technical support ends.
TDP planning estimate: allow 6–12 months from funded discovery through stabilized go-live. Microsoft does not publish a standard GP-to-Business Central duration. The range is an editorial planning estimate, not an SLA or market median; standardized vendor packages can be shorter, while customized estates can require more time.
Phase 1 checklist: assess your GP estate
This first phase is free because it should happen before a vendor solution is allowed to define the problem. Assign an executive owner and a business lead, then leave no item “assumed.”
- Set the decision charter: name the executive sponsor, business owner, finance owner, technical owner, and the decision date; define the outcomes that matter beyond GP parity.
- Inventory the operating estate: list every company, GP module, security role, report, integration, ISV, customization, batch, and manual workaround.
- Classify data before mapping it: identify records to migrate, archive, cleanse, retain for audit, or retire; document data owners and reconciliation rules.
- Capture business-critical workflows: trace close, order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, inventory, project, manufacturing, service, and exception workflows with real users.
- Identify non-negotiables and constraints: include seasonal blackout periods, controls, country/localization needs, integrations, reporting dependencies, and internal capacity.
- Check license and promotion facts: record current Enhancement Plan status, existing Dynamics 365 products, CSP relationship, geography, and the questions to validate for BTC3.
- Agree the evidence standard: require a future partner to demonstrate fit against your critical workflows, data approach, team, references, scope exclusions, and cutover plan.
Unlock the full playbook for the remaining assess → select partner → migrate data → go-live checklist, a backwards-planning worksheet, BTC3 questions, cost evidence, and a weighted partner-selection scorecard.