How to Use Item Categories to Drive Attributes Automatically in Business Central

Intro

Manually assigning item attributes in Business Central can be time-consuming and prone to error—especially when managing many products. By auto-assigning attributes based on item categories, you ensure consistency and save time. This post will walk through how to enable and use this feature to streamline your item setup process.

Use Case:

Want to automatically assign attributes like color, size, or brand to items based on category.

Steps: 

• Set up Item Categories.
• Define Item Attributes at category level.
• Create a new item under that category – attributes auto-fill.

Use Case Examples

• Retail: Auto-assign size and color to apparel items like shirts or shoes.

• Electronics: Tag TVs and laptops with brand and model year.

• Food & Beverage: Apply packaging type and allergen info to snacks or dairy.

Pro Tip:

You can filter sales reports using these attributes.

Further Reading:

Work with Item Categories – Microsoft Docs

If you’re planning for implementation, support or upgrades in Microsoft Dynamics 365 business central or NAV, check out our Business Central consulting services for tailored implementation and support.

Below are steps with screenshots:

Create Item and select above category. This will autoselect the attribute values from category setup.

Keywords: item category, item attributes, Business Central inventory setup

💡What you have learned in this post:

✅ How to automatically assign item attributes using item categories in Business Central

✅ Why attribute assignment improves inventory consistency and saves time

✅ Step-by-step instructions to configure item attribute setup

✅ Practical tips for using item category attributes effectively in real-world scenarios