- Feature
- Reuse report header and footer layouts
- Availability
- Generally available (October 2026)
- Industry focus
- Construction groups and contractors with multiple trading entities
Construction groups often operate through several companies: a main contractor, a civils business, a specialist subcontractor and perhaps a plant hire division. Each sends applications for payment, invoices, purchase orders and remittances. Each needs the right company name, registration details, accreditation logos and contact information in its headers and footers. Business Central 29.0 makes those headers and footers reusable.
The industry challenge
In the past, each document layout carried its own header and footer. For a group with four companies and a dozen document types, that meant dozens of separate headers and footers to maintain. When something changed, such as a new office address, an updated accreditation logo or new bank details, someone had to edit every layout.
Inconsistencies were almost inevitable. One company's purchase orders might show an old address while its invoices showed the new one. In construction, where documents are often contractual, those inconsistencies can cause real confusion.
What Microsoft delivered in Business Central 29.0
According to Microsoft, the new composable layouts feature lets you apply a header/footer to layouts for a consistent look on PDF output. As with themes, defaults can be set globally, per company, per report or per layout, giving administrators full flexibility.
An MVP walk-through explains that header/footer layouts are a separate layout subtype, managed on their own page, and combined with report body layouts when the report runs. They apply to Word layouts with the Body subtype.
Where the value shows up
| Business area | Impact for a construction group |
|---|---|
| Consistency | Every document from a company carries the same header and footer |
| Maintenance | Update one header or footer instead of many layouts |
| Multi-company control | Different headers and footers for each trading entity |
| Compliance | Registration, accreditation and contact details always current |
| Professional image | Clients and subcontractors see consistent, well-presented documents |
The change also separates responsibilities. Administrators can manage headers and footers centrally, while report designers focus on the body of each document.
A worked scenario
Consider a construction group with three companies: a building contractor, a groundworks business and a scaffolding firm (an illustrative example). The group moves head office.
Before 29.0, updating the address meant editing headers and footers on around 30 layouts across the three companies. With Business Central 29.0, each company has a default header/footer layout set at company level. The administrator updates the address in the shared footer once for each company. Every application for payment, invoice, purchase order and remittance picks up the new details the next time it's printed.
Adoption considerations
- Plan the move to Body layouts. Headers and footers apply to Body layouts, so convert key documents first.
- Design per company. Create a header/footer for each trading entity where details differ.
- Use the Word add-in samples. Start from the predefined header and footer samples to save time.
- Set defaults carefully. Decide which level, global, company, report or layout, each default belongs to.
- Check contractual documents. Make sure required statements and details appear on applications for payment and contracts.
The bottom line
Construction groups need documents that are consistent, accurate and professional across every trading company. Reusable header and footer layouts in Business Central 29.0 turn a recurring maintenance burden into a single, central task. It's a practical step towards cleaner document management across the group.
If your group maintains many document layouts across companies, it's worth planning a move to composable layouts with an experienced Business Central adviser.
Sources: Microsoft roadmap 573326 · Dynamics 365 Lab: Reuse header/footer layouts across document reports