Translations

The Translations feature lets you store language-specific descriptions for your Information Codes, Information Values, and individual information entries, and have the correct language version automatically appear on sales and purchase documents based on the language code of the customer or vendor. This removes the need for manual translation work at the document level and ensures that your trading partners always receive product and master data information in their own language.

Feature Overview

When you deal with customers or vendors in multiple countries, the descriptions attached to items, specifications, and other master data often need to appear differently depending on who receives the document. The Translations feature addresses this by allowing you to define one or more Language Code entries for any Information Code, Information Value, or information entry via the Master Data Language page. Each language entry holds a translated Description and optionally additional translated text through Extended Texts or Extended Texts (HTML). When a sales or purchase document is created for a customer or vendor whose language code matches a stored translation, the app automatically uses the translated content instead of the default description. No manual intervention is required — the right language is applied at the moment the document is generated.

Typical Use Cases

As an export sales coordinator, I want to set up German and French translations for our item specification Information Codes, so that when I create a sales order for a German or French customer, the product attribute descriptions on the order confirmation automatically appear in the customer's language without any manual editing.
As a purchasing manager, I want to store vendor-language translations for the quality-related Information Values we use on purchase orders, so that our Spanish and Italian suppliers receive purchase documentation with attribute names they can understand, reducing back-and-forth communication.
As a product content manager, I want to maintain translated descriptions at the Information Value level for packaging and material specifications, so that the correct terminology is used per language across all documents regardless of which user created the order.
As a customer service representative, I want translated descriptions to be applied automatically based on the customer's language code in Business Central, so that I do not have to remember which language to write in for each customer when adding product information to a quote or invoice.
As a master data administrator, I want to maintain translations directly on the Information Code List and Information Code Card pages via the Language action, so that all translation maintenance is centralised alongside the rest of the Information Code setup rather than scattered across separate translation tools.

Key Concepts

Master Data Language — the page where language-specific translations are stored for a given Information Code, Information Value, or information entry. Each line represents one language version and is identified by a Language Code.
Language Code — the standard Business Central language code that determines which translation is applied. The language code is read from the customer card (on sales documents) or vendor card (on purchase documents) at the time the document is created.
Information Table — translations can be stored at three levels: for the Information Code itself (the label), for the Information Value (the predefined value option), or for the Information Setup (the specific data recorded on a master data record). This gives fine-grained control over exactly what gets translated.
Extended Texts — from the Master Data Language page, you can also add longer translated text per language using the Extended Texts or Extended Texts (HTML) actions. This is useful when a translated description requires more than a brief label.
Automatic application — translations are resolved and applied automatically when documents are generated. There is no separate translation step required during order entry.

Relations to Other Features or Apps

Within the Master Data Information app, the Translations feature works closely with Information Codes and Information Values, since translations are always tied to these definitions. It also integrates directly with Master Data on Documents — when document content is generated, the app checks the document's language code and uses the matching translation if one exists. The Extended Texts feature is used to store longer translated descriptions that go beyond a single description field.

Within standard Business Central, the feature relies on the standard Language table to validate language codes, and on the Language Code field present on Customer and Vendor cards. Sales and purchase document headers inherit the language code from the customer or vendor, which the app then uses to look up the correct translation automatically.

When This Feature Adds Value

When your business sells or purchases internationally and documents need to be issued in the language of the trading partner.
When product specifications, quality attributes, or compliance-related information must appear in the local language of the customer or supplier — particularly in regulated industries or where contracts require language compliance.
When multiple users create documents for the same customers or vendors and manual translation creates inconsistency or errors.
When your item catalogue descriptions vary in terminology by market and you want those differences managed centrally rather than edited on individual documents.