Overview
The Purchasing and Reselling Subscriptions feature extends LISA Business to support subscription scenarios where organisations do not only sell subscriptions, but also purchase them for internal use, buy and resell them, or resell subscriptions that are vendor-driven.
The functionality applies to Per Unit subscriptions and introduces structured handling of vendors, purchase pricing, margins, and automated purchase invoice processing. It ensures that sales, purchasing, and margin data remain aligned throughout the subscription lifecycle.
This capability integrates directly with the Payables copilot agent, allowing vendor invoices—whether manually entered or automatically ingested—to seamlessly trigger LISA subscription processes within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Beyond the free monthly usage provided by Microsoft, in order to make use of the Payables copilot agent, you must purchase Copilot credit packs or link your environment to an Azure Subscription via Power Platform Admin Center. This also applies to sandbox environments. More info can be found here.
Business Value
This functionality delivers clear operational and financial benefits:
- End-to-end subscription margin visibility
Users can track purchase costs alongside sales revenue, with margin amount and margin percentage calculated automatically and exposed for reporting and Power BI analysis. - Reduced manual processing and errors
Automated creation of purchase invoices and sales orders based on subscription configuration minimizes duplicate data entry and ensures consistency across documents. - Support for complex reseller models
Vendor-driven resale scenarios are fully supported, including delayed invoicing and invoices covering multiple customers and subscriptions. - Tighter financial control and auditability
Deferral templates, posting group validation, and controlled action lifecycles ensure that revenue and costs are recognised correctly and transparently. - Operational efficiency through Payables copilot integration
Vendor invoices captured by the Payables copilot agent can automatically feed subscription processes, reducing cycle time from invoice receipt to posting and billing.
Subscription Trade Types
Users configure how a subscription is commercially handled by selecting a Subscription Trade Type. The available values are:
- Sell Only
The subscription is sold to customers only, with no associated purchasing. - Buy Only
The subscription is purchased for internal use and not sold onward. - Buy and Sell
The subscription is purchased and then resold, with purchase prices and cycles driven by LISA. - Resell (Vendor Driven)
The subscription is purchased and resold, but purchase timing and pricing are driven by the vendor, often with delayed invoicing.
The trade type is defined on the Program Type, inherited by Subscription Plan Lines, and can be overridden on the line level for Per Unit subscriptions.
Configuring Default Deferral Templates
To support purchase and sales deferrals:
- Open the Default Deferral Templates page.
- Set Default Deferral Template Type to:
- Sales and Purchase
- Sales Only
- Purchase Only
- Populate:
- Customer Posting Group when Sales is involved.
- Supplier Posting Group when Purchase is involved.
When purchase invoice lines are created—either automatically or manually—the deferral code is initialised from these templates.
Configuring Subscription Plans
Indirect Customer
On the Subscription Plan header, specify an Indirect Customer when the subscription is billed or purchased on behalf of another customer. This is especially relevant for reseller and vendor-driven scenarios.
Configuring Subscription Plan Lines
Purchase Details
For plan lines where the Subscription Trade Type is not Sell Only, configure the Purchase Details section:
- Vendor
- Purchase Currency
- Purchase Start Date
- Purchase End Date
These fields define how and when the subscription is purchased and are mandatory for purchase-related scenarios.
Margin Analysis
For applicable trade types, the Margin Analysis section displays:
- Margin Amount
- Margin %
These values are calculated automatically based on sales and purchase pro-rata amounts and are read-only. They are available for reporting and dashboards.
Creating Subscription Actions
When running Subscription Process – Create Action, the system generates actions based on the Subscription Trade Type:
- Sell Only
Generates sales order actions only. - Buy Only
Generates purchase invoice actions only. - Buy and Sell
Generates both sales order and purchase invoice actions. - Resell (Vendor Driven)
No actions are generated automatically. Actions are created later through vendor invoice matching.
Users can enter Vendor Invoice Number and Vendor Document Date on unfirmed purchase actions, ensuring uniqueness and correct grouping at posting time.
Firming and Posting Actions
When firming a Generate Purchase Invoice action:
- A Purchase Invoice is created instead of a Sales Order.
- Deferral codes are automatically applied from the configured templates.
When posting purchase invoice actions:
- The linked Purchase Invoice is posted.
- Related subscription actions are updated to Posted status.
Vendor-Driven Subscription Invoices
Vendor-driven subscriptions rely on purchase invoices that may:
- Arrive before sales actions are created.
- Contain lines for multiple subscriptions and customers.
- Be ingested automatically via the Payables copilot agent or entered manually.
Purchase invoice lines include additional fields such as From, To, Customer, and Matching Status. A matching process links invoice lines to subscription plan lines and creates the required purchase and sales actions.
If a user attempts to post a purchase invoice containing unmatched subscription data, the system prompts for confirmation to prevent accidental bypass of subscription logic.