(North-American Edition)
Welcome
If you’re reading this, congratulations: you’re entertaining the radical idea of buying expertise exactly when you need it. And only for as long as you need it. In a world where every CFO is counting headcount like calories, that’s borderline heroic.
“But Ryan, aren’t contractors mercenaries who vanish mid-project?”
Only if you pick the wrong ones and treat them like disposable coffee pods. The D365contractors.com Community sticks around because good pay + good treatment = loyalty. Simple.
This guide is specifically for hiring Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations freelancers, aka D365 F&SCM aka Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain experts. We will use the terms interchangeably- but make no mistake we are talking about the legacy Dynamics AX product.
Why Bother?
These are the 4 most popular reasons for choosing a contractor over an FTE hire. But it’s not an exclusive list. If in doubt, we are happy to walk through a custom-fit analysis.
- Speed to Impact. A seasoned D365 F&O pro can land on Monday and be worth their bill rate by Thursday.
- Project-Length Flexibility. Six-month carve-out? Three-week rescue mission? No awkward “what do we do with them now?” conversations.
- Different Budget Bucket. Contractor spend usually sits in project/OPEX, not head-count CAPEX- handy when FTE freezes rain down from Corporate.
- Partner Counter-Balance. Bringing an independent D365 F&SCM SME in-house lets you own decisions instead of rubber-stamping your implementation partner (and often saves a fortune).
Knowing who NOT to hire is arguably more important than choosing who TO hire. There’s a lot of fakers, AI bots and time wasters out there.
We have a LOT of data about the location D365 F&O freelancers and permanent talent across the USA. Happy to share what we know about your local town or city (ask Ryan).
Budget Intelligence:
Here’s what North-American market rates for D365 F&O contractors look like at the time of writing (June 2025).
| Role | Typical Range (USD / hour) |
|---|---|
| D365 F&O Functional Analysts (Fin, SCM, MFG, WMS) | $125 – $175 |
| D365 F&O Project Managers | $150 – $220 |
| D365 F&O Solution Architects | $160 – $220 |
| D365 F&O Developers & Technical Architects | $130 – $180 |
If you work with a Partner already, these rates might make your CFO pay attention. We would back D365contractors.com Community members to be every bit as good (or better!) than Partner consultants.
Invoice Cadence: We pay our contractors every two weeks. If you hire directly, expect anything from weekly timesheets to 45-day terms: but clarify this up-front so Accounts Payable doesn’t panic.
You Are Now a Talent Magnet
Think of D365 contractors as customers: they choose you as much as you choose them. Want them to stick around?
- Pay promptly. Nothing kills goodwill faster than a “Just chasing my invoice…” email.
- Communicate scope changes early. Especially including project delays. Surprises are fun only on birthdays.
- Include them in wins. A contractor who feels part of the team is far less likely to ghost-quit.
(And yes, if you use D365contractors.com: we background-check, community-check, and paperwork-wrangle so you don’t have to.)
Outcomes, Outcomes, Outcomes
Nobody hires an F&O contractor because they “seem nice.” You hire them to:
- Hit a go-live date that’s already wobbling.
- Rescue a warehouse where pick paths resemble a toddler’s Crayon drawing.
- Transfer knowledge so your internal team can run D365 F&SCM without a training-wheel partner.
Measure success in business terms- days shaved off close, lines picked per hour, % reduction in partner spend- not Jira tickets closed.
Proof It Works (Real Stories)
- Global Toy Manufacturer – Three senior D365 F&O specialists parachuted in; go-live stayed on track, and internal ownership skyrocketed.
- Industrial Engineering Manufacturer – D365 vacancies that lingered for months were filled in days, delivering “the best go-live we’ve ever had.”
- Food Manufacturer – Bilingual warehouse & finance experts turned a shaky rollout into a model upgrade, with audit-ready docs and happier operators.
- National Agricultural Firm – Upgrading from Dynamics AX to D365 F&O started with a complete overhaul of their chart of accounts. Get the legacy platform and data right before you launch an upgrade.
Sound like you? We can provide full information on these upon request. Just ask Ryan.
Admin (but Make It Easy)
Like any business-to-business relationship, there is no escaping the admin. Contractors have mouths to feed, mortgages to pay, taxes to manage. We do what we can to make that easy for you.
Some pointers:
- Timesheets: Approve weekly in our portal; every hour has an audit trail and optional work-note narrative.
- One All-In Rate: Taxes, benefits, insurances—baked in. No hidden HR overhead.
- Records Retention: We store timesheets & invoices for two years for painless audits.
Prefer to self-manage? Be ready to juggle W-9s, 1099s, vendor onboarding, PO amendments, and the occasional “my password expired again” ticket.
First Time Basics
First-time D365 F&O contractor hire? Talk to someone who’s done it: successfully. We couldn’t recommend this enough.
A quick coffee with a peer CFO or IT leader can save you from six-figure mistakes. (Need intros? We know a few.) We won’t be offended if you’d prefer to do this than talk to use. But we can help here too.
Decide
Full-time hire, partner resources, or contractor?
None are irreversible, but we think only one gives you immediate firepower without permanent payroll weight. If you remember nothing else about hiring F&SCM freelancers, remember this:
Choose wisely, pay fairly, treat them well, and watch your D365 F&O project (and your sanity) thrive.
Ready when you are if you want expert advice.