This year at Microsoft Inspire, there was confirmation that a Functional Certificate for Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Business Central would be available in October. Since I work as a consultant for CPIT, the 2019/2020 Global Partner of the Year for Business Central, and a 2020/2021 finalist, I knew it was vital for me to add this certificate to my growing collection. This blog gives my feedback on the exam, some helpful resources to study, and a brief explanation of what it means for the exam to be in Beta.

Resources

Like many others, when preparing for a Microsoft Certification exam, I create my study plan, guided by three components. The first thing I do is download the “Skills Measured” PDf provided on the Docs.Microsoft.com site. For easy reference, here is the one for this exam. Next, I create a collection and add the suggested learning paths for the certificate. Finally, depending on my comfort level with the first two areas, I search to see if a question bank is available and how much it might set me back. 

Learning Modules

If you have never created a collection for your learning, I highly recommend doing so. It is beneficial in putting all the modules you need in one area, as opposed to continuously going back to the main page and searching for the next one you want to tackle. All you need to do is sign in to your Microsoft account and then hit the little button with a circle and a plus sign in the bottom right corner of the learning module. Then you can select an existing collection to add it to or create a new one. Or you can use this collection  I already created!  

Question Banks

I know buying question banks is highly frowned upon by many test-takers. I totally get why they feel that way; however, I think there should be some grace and understanding given to those who take this route. Many people, like myself, suffer from SEVERE test anxiety. I can read through the modules, know them like the back of my hand, but get so stressed over how the questions are worded that I may go into a full panic attack before the exam. If you have ever taken any test where your nerves are shot and your stomach is in knots, I’d be willing to bet it wasn’t your best performance. The answer banks are an excellent way to reassure me that I know how to answer the questions based on my knowledge and studying. They are a massive help in reducing test anxiety.

I believe there is also a misconception that you can pass the exam without knowing the application if you have the answers. I have a friend that was required to take the PL-900 for work, she asked me if I had any suggestions, so I shared my tips, and questions with her. I checked back a few weeks later to see if they helped. She tried to go through the questions without going through the modules first and was utterly lost. She went back, did all the modules, then used the questions for confirmation, and aced the test! Additionally, anyone else that has used the questions knows they aren’t 100% either. Some of the questions have the WRONG answers. I do appreciate that with the answers, they often provide links to read more on the topic. I find this VERY helpful, and usually, this is in addition to the learning path information. 

My last thoughts on the answer banks are that while some people frown on them, I have been more open about using them recently and find that more people than not use them! So if you feel like a phony because they help you prepare, know you aren’t alone! If you are someone that doesn’t need them, I envy you wholeheartedly!

Exam Experience

There were 47 questions in total. I had 2 case studies, one with 3 questions, one with 4 questions, 37 “regular” questions, and one scenario with three questions. Altogether, it took me about 1.5 hours. Per the Skills measured resource (mentioned earlier), Approximately 70% of the exam would be on configurations and setup, 30% on basic functionality. In my opinion, it was closer to 80% configurations and 20% basic functions. 

One of my case studies was on a manufacturing company; the other case study pertained to a company that needed more control on business processes and digital transformation. For each, there was a tab that listed details about the current situation, pain points, what they would like to achieve, and various business processes. Some of the questions were easy to find the background information on. However, some were less straightforward, and I had to comb through each tab a few times to make sense of what they were talking about.  

The “regular” question formats are very similar to most of the other exams. They consisted of multiple-choice, “choose what 3 actions are needed”, Put the steps in sequential order, etc. Again, most of these questions gave a mini scenario or problem and wanted the best way to solve that problem within Business Central. I had around 5 questions that dealt with prices and discounts. Surprisingly, only 2 covered posting setups. I also only had 1 problem with WorkFlow approvals, and it was who would the approval email go to based on an approval limit table. COA, categories, and subcategories made up 3-4 questions as well. The balance of the questions was either functionality, journal setup, or security-based. 

Overall, the content was what you would expect, or what should be on a Functional Consultant exam! Recently, I have put my focus on grabbing up all the fundamental exams. In my opinion, they are more straightforward, and I was expecting more functional and posting group questions. I think learning modules do a pretty good job of preparing you. I wish that I would have spent more time reading through this “Best Practices” document.  

Beta Exams

Maybe you are like me and wonder what it means for a test to be in “beta”? For one, it means that there are no answer banks :(. As I was going through the modules, I took screenshots of the questions and answers. They aren’t like a typical question bank by any means, but you might find them helpful to do a quick check on what areas you might want to study. Check them out HERE! Microsoft uses the Beta exam to get feedback from SME’s on the exam’s difficulty and relevance to determine what a passing score on the exam should be. Two extra benefits are getting 80% off the exam and 25% off your next exam! The downside is now I’ll have to sit and wonder for the next 2-16 weeks if I passed the exam! (You don’t find out the results until the exam is live🙄)

I hope I have provided some helpful insight for you on this Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Exam. If you have any additional comments or resources, please share! Whether you choose to take the exam in Beta or its final version, I wish you the best of luck!