SMART Applications Licensing Policy
1. Scope
These rules apply to all SMART Applications that are supplied, installed, activated, or made available for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing.
The licensing model is defined separately for each SMART Application and is stated in the applicable commercial offer, order, subscription, agreement, private offer, or other written agreement between the parties.
The standard SMART licensing models are:
- per user — licensing based on the number of Business Central Full Users;
- per company — licensing for one Customer Company / one Business Central production instance.
The terms per solution, package, bundle, solution package, or similar wording do not constitute a separate third licensing metric unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing. For SMART licensing purposes, such model is treated by default as a variation or commercial packaging of per company licensing, meaning licensing for one Customer Company / one Business Central production instance covered by the relevant solution or package.
2. Terms
SMART Application means any application, extension, module, localization component, functionality package, or other SMART business software solution for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
SMART License means an active license or subscription for a specific SMART Application according to the agreed licensing model.
Business Central tenant means the Microsoft tenant in which the customer uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Business Central environment or Environment means a production, sandbox, or other Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central environment in which a SMART Application is installed, published, enabled, activated, or made available.
Production instance means the customer’s Business Central production environment in which a SMART Application is installed, activated, used for production operations, or made available. For the purposes of this policy, the production instance is the primary counting unit for the per company model.
Customer Company or Company means the customer’s company, business, or group of business units that uses one Business Central production instance as its main production environment. In this policy, the term Company in the context of per company licensing does not mean a separate Business Central Company within an environment.
Business Central Company means a separate company, accounting entity, or legal entity created within one Business Central environment. One Business Central production instance may contain multiple Business Central Companies. Under the standard per company model, such Business Central Companies are not counted as separate licensing units unless otherwise expressly stated in the applicable commercial offer, order, subscription, or agreement.
Business Central Full User means an active Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central user with a full user license, including Essentials, Premium, or a successor equivalent Microsoft full-user license.
Team Member means a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central user with limited usage rights. Team Members are not included in the standard SMART License count under the per-user model if they use only functionality permitted for Team Members and do not perform actions that require a Business Central Full User license.
3. Licensing models
3.1 Per-user license
Under the per user model, the customer must maintain one active SMART Application license for each Business Central Full User in the tenant or environment where the SMART Application is installed, enabled, activated, or made available.
If a SMART Application is installed in the same Business Central production environment as the customer’s main Business Central solution, the number of SMART licenses under the per-user model must equal the number of active Business Central Full Users assigned in the relevant Business Central tenant or environment, unless the order expressly defines another scope.
If multiple SMART Applications are licensed under the per-user model, the licensing requirement applies separately to each SMART Application. A license for one SMART Application does not automatically grant the right to use another SMART Application.
For example, if the customer has 25 active Business Central Essentials or Premium users and SMART Payroll is installed in the same Business Central production environment, the customer must maintain 25 SMART Payroll licenses under the per-user model. This requirement applies even if direct payroll processing rights are assigned only to a smaller group of users.
Roles, permission sets, personalization, page access restrictions, security groups, or internal access control procedures do not reduce the required number of SMART licenses under the per-user model. Such mechanisms are useful for security and segregation of duties, but they do not change the licensing metric.
Team Members are not included in the number of SMART licenses under the per-user model if they use only functionality permitted for Team Members and do not perform actions that require a Business Central Full User license.
If the number of Business Central Full Users increases or decreases, the customer must update the corresponding number of SMART licenses under the per-user model from the applicable subscription period, renewal period, or other reconciliation date defined in the agreement, order, or other written agreement between the parties.
3.2 Per-company license
Under the per company model, the customer must maintain one active SMART Application license for each Customer Company / each Business Central production instance where the SMART Application is installed, activated, configured, used for production operations, or made available.
The per company model is not counted based on the number of separate Business Central Companies created within one Business Central production instance. If the customer has one Business Central production instance and multiple Business Central Companies are created within it, one SMART Application license under the per-company model covers that production instance together with those Business Central Companies, unless otherwise expressly stated in the applicable commercial offer, order, subscription, private offer, or agreement.
For example, if the customer has one Business Central production instance with four Business Central Companies created within it, and SMART Accounting is licensed under the per-company model, the customer must maintain one SMART Accounting per-company license for that production instance unless otherwise agreed in writing.
If the customer has multiple Business Central production instances where the same SMART Application is installed, activated, or used, the customer must maintain a separate per-company license for each such production instance unless otherwise expressly defined in the commercial offer, order, subscription, private offer, or agreement.
A per-company license is not counted based on the number of Business Central users and is not counted based on the number of Business Central Companies within one production instance, unless the commercial offer, order, subscription, private offer, or agreement contains additional limits based on the number of users, employees, legal entities, transactions, environments, or other volumes.
Before installing, activating, configuring, or using a SMART Application in another Business Central production instance, the customer must purchase the required additional per-company license or obtain written confirmation that such production instance is covered by the existing license or package.
3.3 Package, bundle, or per solution
SMART business may use the terms package, bundle, solution, solution package, or per solution in a commercial offer, order, subscription, or agreement to describe the composition of the solution, a functionality set, or a set of SMART Applications.
Such terms do not create a separate licensing metric unless otherwise expressly agreed in writing. Under the standard SMART policy, per solution, package, or bundle is applied as per company licensing: the package or solution is licensed for one Customer Company / one Business Central production instance covered by the relevant package.
If a package or bundle includes multiple SMART Applications, the commercial offer, order, or agreement must define which SMART Applications are included and which Business Central production instance or production instances are covered by such package.
If a package includes additional limits or thresholds, such as a maximum number of users, employees, legal entities, transactions, environments, or another usage volume, the customer must purchase an upgrade or an additional license after exceeding such threshold, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
4. One or multiple Business Central environments
If a SMART Application is installed, activated, or made available in one shared Business Central production instance, the licensing scope is determined according to that production instance and the selected licensing model.
If a SMART Application is installed, activated, or made available in multiple Business Central production instances, the customer must maintain a sufficient number of licenses for all relevant production instances, unless otherwise defined in the commercial offer, order, subscription, private offer, or agreement.
A separate architecture, such as a separate Business Central production instance for a specific SMART Application or a separate group of users, may be agreed in writing. This approach may require additional Microsoft licenses, integration setup, data synchronization, and additional support.
Sandbox, demo, test, or training environments are not counted as separate production instances if they are used exclusively for testing, demonstration, training, development, or support of a licensed production instance and are not used for real production operations, unless otherwise defined in the commercial offer, order, or agreement.