Talent International and Business Central

“This has been the most successful project from a vendor that I have ever been involved in. We now see our business in full colour.”

Megan Woodbury, COO, Talent.

The Organisation:

Talent International, established in Australia over 30 years ago, is a global IT recruitment and technology solutions provider. Whilst their core business focuses on IT recruitment, they define themselves as “all things tech solutions”, covering everything from recruitment to project outcomes, transformation, and advisory. Their services span project management, ERP transformations, data analytics, governance, and consulting. With a head office in Sydney and 10 offices worldwide, Talent pride themselves on their diverse ability to add value to their clients.

The Need:

Professional Advantage (PA) have had the pleasure of partnering with Talent for almost 20 years, primarily supporting Talent’s Microsoft Dynamics GP environment in that time. Whilst Dynamics GP was set up efficiently for their recruitment business, as Talent expanded into new business areas, they found Dynamics GP was not as easily adaptable to support their broader scope.

This realisation prompted the decision to migrate to an alternative ERP solution that could support their evolving business model and future growth.

As they planned this transition, they also needed to consider their partner to accompany them on their journey. Ultimately their established relationship with PA made the decision easy.

“We knew PA were a friendly, supportive, and highly engaged partner, so were confident in continuing our relationship with them.”

This trusted relationship provided them reassurance and continuity in a major business transformation.

You can read more about the long-standing relationship between Talent and PA in this client story.

The Solution:

After thorough research and planning, Talent identified Dynamics 365 Business Central as the solution that best aligned with their operational and strategic needs, with PA’s support ensuring seamless assessment.

“PA repositioned Business Central with our objectives in mind, demonstrating that it could comfortably meet our requirements and was subsequently the right solution for us.”

Talent structured this system transformation around a framework they title PRISM:

• People: Empower staff and managers through improved financial outcomes and better processes that foster engagement and growth.
• Regulate: Implement standardised, scalable processes to support operational efficiency and future expansion.
• Integrate: Unify the business, deliver end-to-end insights, and enable seamless integration with other technologies.
• Simplify: Introduce effective, simple processes that can be easily replicated across the business.
• Magnify: Ensure the solution can scale with the organisation’s growth, supporting long-term success.

“PRISM gave the project clarity and purpose; facilitated meaningful presentations to key stakeholders and business leaders for optimal buy-in; and encouraged excitement and adoption for users across the organisation."

The Results:

The implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has delivered significant improvements across the business, both in how people work and in the outcomes they’re able to achieve. Compared to the previous system, a greater number of team members are now actively using Business Central, enabling more collaboration and shared visibility across functions.

“We have developed more efficient ways of working, leading to improved alignment and stronger teamwork across departments.”

One of the most notable benefits has been the transformation in reporting. With dimensional reporting now in place, the business has moved from a single-layer view of accounts to being able to drill down into transactions, analyse results by various criteria, and see performance through multiple lenses. This added visibility has improved more than just day-to-day operations:

“We have a more strategic view of the organisation. This is valued by more than just the users; it extends to the whole business. This has changed our lives.”

Real-time access to financial data means month-end congestion is no longer an issue.

“Monthly accounts are finalised 10-14 days earlier than before, and management has up-to-date insights throughout the month, allowing for productive conversations and better-informed decisions.”

The shift to Business Central has also unlocked new productivity. By streamlining processes, the team has freed up time to focus on higher-value work: rather than spending time on manual tasks, staff now have the space and information to think more strategically.

“Our ERP financial investment has remained consistent as we have reinvested savings in strengthening operations and redeploying people to where they can add most value.”

Governance has significantly improved as well. Expense management is now trackable and auditable within the system, reducing reliance on email chains and making approvals far easier to manage, particularly during audits.

“Data is easily accessible within the system, allowing auditors to access the information they need. Streamlining the audit process, this allows for more meaningful dialogue with auditors giving them a greater understanding of the business."

Data and process governance have been elevated through better visibility and control, giving Talent confidence and peace of mind.

Training was an integral part of the implementation, with PA consultants engaging closely with the team on site.

“The team were (and still are) loving using Business Central, motivating them to discover more. Working closely with our consultants meant there was direct engagement, questioning, and advice on how to optimise our use of Business Central.”

The enthusiasm of the staff for the platform, along with a desire to understand best practices to get the most out of the systems, helped ensure a smooth transition and strong adoption.

The success of the project was underpinned by strong collaboration between Talent and PA.

“Project management was layered over the project from both sides which worked incredibly well. We were a team of strong communicators built on a long-standing relationship and proven trust which meant everything and everyone was honest and accountable.”

Talent highlighted that PA’s deep product knowledge was evident, and they valued that PA consistently offered guidance and alternative suggestions that helped refine the solution.

“It was clear that PA had expert experience delivering on projects; could give educated reasoning for certain features or adaptations; and were curious about the Talent business to ensure our desired outcomes came to life.”

It was declared internally that

“the project was delivered on time, on budget, and was the most successful project ever run within Talent."

The PRISM framework gave clear focus and well-defined objectives from the outset, ensuring everyone involved understood the purpose and direction of the project. By aligning the transformation around the PRISM themes, Talent was able to maintain momentum, secure stakeholder engagement, and make confident, consistent decisions alongside PA throughout. It also served as a valuable tool for measuring success.

“It was successful thanks to collaboration, project management, strong curiosity, and deep knowledge from both Talent and PA.”

While growth and improvement are ongoing goals, this project achieved everything it set out to deliver and laid the groundwork for the next phase of the company’s evolution.

The Future:

Following the successful completion of this Business Central project, Talent continues to evolve and progress with new projects and developments. This includes working with Microsoft Power BI to move beyond reporting into self-serve analytics, empowering teams to interact with and explore data independently.

You can read more about their experience with
Power BI in this client story.

As new projects emerge and systems evolve, Business Central will continue to play a central role.

“Business Central’s flexibility and ease of integration mean that as other systems are upgraded, they can be connected seamlessly into the broader ERP environment."

With a strong, trusted relationship in place, Talent confirms that they will continue to work closely with PA to support their future initiatives.

“As the business changes, we know who our partner is and the support that we can rely on.”