How much migrating from 1C to Business Central costs

Moving off 1C scares people with two things: an unknown cost and the fear of stopping the business during migration. Both fears disappear once you understand the project's structure. Let's break down the budget and the timeline.

What the cost of switching is made of

• Business Central licences. A per-user subscription — a predictable monthly sum instead of a one-off purchase.
• Implementation. Configuring the system to your processes — the main budget line.
• Data migration from 1C. Moving master data, balances and open documents with validation.
• Rethinking custom tweaks. What 1C did “your way” is implemented in Business Central through AL extensions.

How long migration takes

For a mid-market business, moving off 1C takes roughly 8 to 16 weeks. The data migration itself isn't the whole project but one of its stages; most of the time goes into process analysis and system configuration.

How not to stop the business

The key is a parallel period. 1C runs until the last day, data is moved as of a fixed date over a weekend or low-activity period, and balance reconciliation finishes before the team starts working in Business Central. A well-planned migration runs with no downtime.

The main mistake

Trying to “move 1C as-is” together with every custom tweak. A switch is a chance to simplify processes that have run on inertia for years. An audit before migration shows what to keep and what to drop.

Only a process audit gives an exact figure for your scope. If you're still weighing the decision itself, start with the 1C vs Business Central comparison.