Kathy Yakal for PC Magazine writes: Over the years, PCMag has focused on entry-level accounting software and websites, since small businesses make up the bulk of U.S. commerce. We've done many multireview stories covering applications like QuickBooks, which has been the perennial Editors' Choice winner.
But what do you do when QuickBooks Premier–or Sage 50 (formerly Peachtree) or AccountEdge (formerly MYOB)–ceases to meet all of your financial management needs? There are numerous warning signs that signal the need to move up to a more powerful, flexible solution. For example, you:
- Own multiple companies that require some financial consolidation
- Store your voluminous inventory in many locations
- Have thousands of customers and vendors, and process thousands or hundreds of thousands of transactions every year
- Are spending too much time trying to get Excel to run the spreadsheets you need
- Have had to cobble together numerous applications to accomplish everything
- Have become a global business
- Sweat over security
- Spend too much time implementing manual processes, and
- Need anytime, anywhere access.
- PROSIntegrates with NetSuite ERP and NetSuite Ecommerce. State-of-the-art user interface, navigational tools. Understandable languages and processes. Compliant with many global accounting rules. Generous stable of integrated add-on apps.
- CONSNo built-in payroll. Can't purchase individual modules.
- BOTTOM LINENetSuite gets our Editors' Choice Award because of its exceptional breadth, depth, and usability. Though Intacct is a very close competitor, NetSuite's core configuration is better equipped to meet the financial management needs of a wider variety of small and mid-sized businesses, with the exception of those just looking for the basics.
- PROSFamiliar top-level navigational screen. Multiple ledgers. Highly customizable. Exceptionally scalable. Supports unlimited inquiries. Good next step for QuickBooks users.
- CONSA learning curve in some functions. Some screens use arcane language. Could make better use of screen space.
- BOTTOM LINEIntacct is an old, trusted name in the relatively new field of cloud-based accounting. It would be a good solution for QuickBooks upgraders or any small or medium-sized business that wants to start with the core financial modules. Its scalability lets companies grow comfortably in a familiar environment.
- PROSEasy-to-understand upgrade for existing QuickBooks users. Generous data capacity. Can work in two company files simultaneously. Pre-defined user roles. Enhanced customizability.
- CONSRemote access limited; uses WebEx. No revenue recognition management. Reporting, inventory lacking. Limited global capabilities.
- BOTTOM LINEQuickBooks Enterprise Solutions represents the top of the QuickBooks desktop software product line. It adds data capacity, more sophisticated inventory management, support for multiple entities, and consolidation to the same feature set, navigational scheme and user interface that's offered in Intuit's other products.
- PROSAmbitious financial tools. In-depth, customizable reports and inquiries. Exceptional level of detail in records and transaction forms. Strong support from resellers.
- CONSOutdated user interface. Unfamiliar language and processes. Little consolidation of related tools.
- BOTTOM LINEMicrosoft Dynamics GP has grown substantially over its 25 years of existence, but its user interface and overall usability have not kept up with its considerable financial management capabilities, which can result in a challenging workflow.
- PROSGenerous data capacity. Company consolidation. Sage Advisor. Workflow automation. Deep job-, inventory-tracking (four costing methods). Sophisticated reporting. Role-based security. Up to 40 users.
- CONSOutdated interface. No new online bill-pay accounts. Limited remote access. No revenue recognition management.
- BOTTOM LINESage 50 Quantum Accounting is the most capable desktop-based, low-end accounting software available. True midrange accounting solutions like NetSuite, however, are built for anytime/anywhere access and more customizable, complex financial processing.
If you're using QuickBooks Pro or Sage 50 Complete (two of the most popular low-end accounting products in the U.S.), you can move up and still stay within the same product family, which makes upgrading exceedingly easy. Intuit's top-of-the-line desktop application, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, and Sage 50 Quantum Accounting (formerly Peachtree Quantum Accounting), could be logical next steps.
You may find that even these solutions won't cut it, however, in which case you'll need to consider applications that are considered as midrange. Since this means a break from your current software family, you'll have serious data import issues to consider (though midrange software makers offer support for this process).
So I also reviewed Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics GP and NetSuite, which are all in wide use by small to nearly-enterprise level businesses. (Sage also offers multiple midrange applications, including Sage ERP X3, which we looked at but were unable to include.)
A Different Breed
There are two very obvious characteristics of midrange accounting software that set it apart from low-end. It's a lot more expensive. And you can't buy it in a store or from an online vendor. Midrange software is sold, set up, implemented and supported by local resellers on a subscription basis; the cost is determined by how much functionality you need.
There are two very obvious characteristics of midrange accounting software that set it apart from low-end. It's a lot more expensive. And you can't buy it in a store or from an online vendor. Midrange software is sold, set up, implemented and supported by local resellers on a subscription basis; the cost is determined by how much functionality you need.
Many of these solutions are Web-based, and good integration is critical to all of them because the products aren't one-size-fits-all solutions in a box. You can start out with the same core functionality that low-end software offers (General Ledger, Accounts Receivable and Payable, Inventory and Reporting) and grow into the other integrated "modules" that midrange software developers offer, like Supply Chain Management, Manufacturing and Distribution, and advanced versions of Inventory and Payroll. The best midrange software also has built-in connections to related applications like Salesforce.
Packages offered by companies like NetSuite offer more of everything than the low-end provides. Unlimited capacity for records and transactions, and more detailed record and transaction forms, for example. Better security and role-based permissions. Real-time visibility into your company's finances through highly-customizable reports and sophisticated financial analysis. More support for global operations. Better revenue management. The list goes on.
A Crucial Element
Because midrange accounting solutions are so complex, dashboards are absolutely critical. Supervisory-level staff needs to be able to spot problems immediately, without running reports or digging down into data screens, so they often need multiple birds-eye views of their companies' financials.
Because midrange accounting solutions are so complex, dashboards are absolutely critical. Supervisory-level staff needs to be able to spot problems immediately, without running reports or digging down into data screens, so they often need multiple birds-eye views of their companies' financials.
Further, these applications are used by companies that often divide their accounting work by function. Rather than one or a handful of people handling everything, you might have several employees just managing Accounts Payable, for example. So midrange software comes with pre-configured, customizable dashboards for a variety of company roles.
Intacct, NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics GP come from very reputable companies who employ accounting experts as well as solution developers to ensure that the accounting processes are sound and compliance rules are followed. Another equally important challenge, though, lies in each one's ability to make the voluminous data and navigational options within easily accessible.
NetSuite did the best job in this area, as well as having the financial chops it needed to meet the needs of the midrange accounting software audience. Intacct was a close second, and Microsoft Dynamics GP, while an exceptionally deep, very capable solution, required too much time to master and use efficiently because of its outdated, overly-technical user interface and navigational system.
I evaluated QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions and Sage 50 Quantum based on their superiority over the more junior versions in their product families.
Something for Everyone
Which of these five products would work best for your company depends on a lot of things. Businesses have such wildly varying structures and needs for complexity that you really must look closely at each. You might be a sole proprietor or have a handful of employees and yet require a very sophisticated application. Or you could have dozens of employees but only a handful of products, so your software needs would be modest.
Which of these five products would work best for your company depends on a lot of things. Businesses have such wildly varying structures and needs for complexity that you really must look closely at each. You might be a sole proprietor or have a handful of employees and yet require a very sophisticated application. Or you could have dozens of employees but only a handful of products, so your software needs would be modest.
If you're eager to work in the cloud (there are numerous reasons why you should consider it) and you want the most capable, most customizable and easily-integrated solution available in the midrange field, your best options overall are NetSuite and Intacct. The three others reviewed here have their own strengths and weaknesses, but one of them can likely serve you well when it's time to graduate from entry-level accounting software.
FEATURED IN THIS ROUNDUP
NetSuite ERP
I first reviewed NetSuite about 10 years ago, when it was a very young product. At that point, it was an integrated suite of solutions that consisted of Oracle Small Business Suite, NetCRM and Advanced Accounting. Even in those early years, it was taking on functionality that would eventually make it competitive with the low end of the midrange market. I gave it five stars. Since then, NetSuite has advanced rapidly and intelligently. But so has the competition. No one received five stars in my latest group of reviews, though I looked at best-of-breed solutions.
Today's NetSuite family consists of several different integrated, cloud-based products, each with a different emphasis. NetSuite ERP focuses on financial management but is much more sophisticated and flexible than what you find in entry-level accounting software; we evaluated this element of the solution. Its core solution (which is priced from $129 per user per month on average) includes General Ledger, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable, Inventory, and Fixed Assets, with many other less all-encompassing features.
NetSuite ERP is at its core a customer relationship management system, though it also supports sales force and marketing automation, as well as customer support and order management. NetSuite Ecommerce offers a rich set of tools for your online sales presence. Both are easily integrated with the core financial solution.
Excellence from the Start NetSuite's flexibility and thoroughness are evident from the very start, from the first thing most users would look at: the dashboard. Like its competitors, NetSuite offers several pre-configured but customizable screen layouts designed for specific company roles. Employees can customize their dashboards if they're allowed to do that by the administrator.
These are real-time dashboards that report and analyze the data in the system, helping company managers monitor, for example, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs do more than tell you how many outstanding invoices or bills exist and what your account balances are. Simply put, they provide ways to assess the company's performance in terms of its organizational goals. Dashboards also deal with the more mundane details of the day with reminders of meetings, calls, and deadlines, etc.
The competition offers similar capabilities, but only Intacct rivals NetSuite in this area. Both do fine jobs of presenting pre-configured data and allowing customization – and presenting this information with a polished, state-of-the-art look and feel.
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ERP is One Louder When you start talking about the type of financial management that midrange solutions such as NetSuite offer, the phrase "accounting software" is replaced byEnterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP). NetSuite is a good example of an ERP system. It automates and integrates critical back-office processes in ways that go beyond what QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions and Sage 50 Quantum Accounting do, both in depth and breadth.
ERP—as exemplified in NetSuite—starts with the basic financial management tasks that QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions and Sage Quantum 50 Accounting do—only it accommodates more of them. The basic configuration provides the record formats and transaction forms that accounting staff uses for tasks related to their areas—and they're more in-depth than Intacct's or Microsoft Dynamics GP's. This is a key differentiator.
This means that you can create invoices, pay bills, and submit purchase orders. You can supply customers with products in a timely, accurate fashion because you know how many widgets you have in stock and can orchestrate the shipping process. You can manage documents and track time and expenses and create reports and keep precise records on your interaction with contacts. Payroll is not a built-in function, as it is in Microsoft Dynamics GP. You have to sign up with an integrated partner.
But NetSuite goes well beyond those bookkeeping tasks. For example, it's more than multi-currency; it knows how to comply with many international accounting regulations. It doesn't just keep a catalog of your fixed assets; it manages the whole fixed asset lifecycle. Rather than just keeping track of income and expenses, it facilitates sophisticated revenue recognition management. NetSuite doesn't just track inventory; it manages the entire supply chain. Wherever possible, repetitive, rules-based processes can be automated.
NetSuite's foundation is far more flexible than Sage 50 Quantum Accounting's and QuickBooks Enterprise Solution's. Its database capabilities are unlimited, and it doesn't just manage the details of jobs and projects; it does full-blown project accounting. Where low-end accounting counts integration with Excel as a plus, one of NetSuite's strengths lies in its ability to go beyond spreadsheets and let businesses do custom, system-wide inquiriesbased on any criteria imaginable (Intacct offers similar functionality). Real-time access to virtually any data in the system—via customizable templates and custom reports—combined with the ability to create unlimited what-if scenarios makes NetSuite an exceptionally powerful financial planning tool.
An Exceptional Interface NetSuite and Intacct do a good job of dressing up the working environment enough so that you don't feel like you're staring at a tax return all day. NetSuite divides the site into easy-to-understand sections (Setup, Transactions, Reports, etc.) that you access through a horizontal toolbar at the top of the page. When you hover over one of these, a drop-down menu displays the activities and data that are available there (like Reports ' Reports Overview/Saved Reports/Purchasing/Time & Billables). Three other links on this toolbar display lists of recent records and shortcuts, and return you to the home/dashboard/preferences pages.
On many screens, there's a row of additional links below the toolbar in a horizontal bar. Throughout much of the site, this bar contains numerous icons, links to commonly-used tasks (Create New Event/Customer/Invoice/Project, etc.). Under other tabs, this bar displays context-sensitive tools, like Documents/Search.
The working screens themselves are exceptionally well-designed. Because of the site's complexity, they must house many command links, fields, drop-down lists, radio buttons, etc. NetSuite developers have managed to accomplish this without making you feel claustrophobic, like you do in some screens in Microsoft Dynamics GP. Even when you're engaged in very data-intensive tasks, like the creation of a new Opportunity, the forms are laid out exceptionally well, with primary information in the top half and tabbed data boxes below for related information like Items, Activities, and Contacts/Partners. And overall, NetSuite makes better use of screen space than Intacct or Dynamics GP, which improves comprehension and usability.
Making the Complex Understandable It's not just the interface and navigational scheme that make NetSuite palatable for non-accountants. It's easy-to-understand, friendly, and familiar, using minimal jargon-laden terms and phrases. With a few exceptions, Intacct does an admirable job in this endeavor, too. Great Plains Dynamics is the least comprehensible of the three.
Though easy to use, accounting at the midrange level is an intensively complex process that usually carried out by teams of employees. NetSuite supports those individuals with a tremendous amount of online and offline guidance. Thorough online documentation, a detailed setup menu, and a searchable Knowledge Base help users help themselves. When more assistance is needed, the network of NetSuite Solutions Providers is available to guide setup and implementation and/or extend the site's existing capabilities.
I would recommend NetSuite to any company that wants sophisticated financial management from the start, and who might plan to eventually integrate with CRM and e-commerce. Its base package contains more accounting functionality than Intacct, including revenue recognition management, global consolidation and fixed assets, and the starting price is lower. For its extremely robust offering, as well as its extraordinarily understandable user interface and navigational tools, NetSuite ERP is our Editors' Choice for ERP systems.
Intacct
Intacct—the name is derived from "Internet" and "accounting"—has been on PCMag's radar for over a decade. I first reviewed it in 2002 and gave it a rating of Excellent. Three things were true of those earliest versions. It was an excellent next step for businesses that had outgrown QuickBooks, offering more generous data capacity and multi-user access; integration with more powerful, related solutions like ADP and Salesforce.com; and a wide variety of highly customizable modules (Accounts Receivable, Inventory Control, etc.) that worked in tandem with one another.
But unlike QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, it had a considerable learning curve, as it still did when I reviewed it in 2008. As it likely will the next time I review it. While Intacct lets users start small, as QuickBooks upgraders or small businesses with ambitious financial management needs, its core configuration can be extended out to the midrange level. A company can build an interface with tools that simplify accounting processes, but accounting at this level is highly complex. It will never be "easy" using any software or cloud-based solution.
Intacct accommodates a wider variety of potential customers than any of the solutions I reviewed here because its core content starts more modestly. The base package (which starts at $400 per month, direct) includes General Ledger, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, Order Entry, Cash Management, Purchasing, and Employee Expenses. You can add optional modules like Project Accounting, Global Consolidations, Revenue Recognition, and Salesforce.com integration.
A Birds-Eye View Entry-level accounting products like QuickBooks offer dashboards, customizable screens that display key financial data and help you plan your day based on what needs attention. Intacct supplies some that are pre-configured for user roles like CFO/Controller and Department Manager, but you can create an unlimited number of these, all allowing access to the appropriate "slices" of data and functionality.
Because the accounting departments of midrange companies are generally larger than those served by QuickBooks, roles are more specialized. Where an administrator might have access to everything, you might have employees that only have access to accounts receivable or payable screens, or only be able to enter orders. Some people may be able to view certain screens but not edit them.
Intacct and NetSuite are fairly comparable where dashboards are concerned, though NetSuite has the edge here. Both look like state-of-the-art Web pages, but user roles and permissions are easier and faster to work with in NetSuite, and there are more pre-made roles. Creating or modifying a role can be an excruciating process in any application because of the level of detail offered by each, but this is testament to their strict security standards. In comparison, Microsoft Dynamics GP looks outdated, and customization is more difficult.
More than Invoices and Bills Like NetSuite, Intacct does everything that Sage 50 Quantum Accounting and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions do. You can create and modify records containing information about your customers, vendors and employees—though not as thoroughly as in NetSuite. Those details are easily available when you fill in transaction forms, like invoices and sales orders, purchase orders, and bills (again, not in as much depth as NetSuite). Like NetSuite, though, Intacct does not include Payroll in its base configuration, like Microsoft Dynamics GP does. You'll have to subscribe to an integrated partner's service.
Intacct doesn't refer to itself as an Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) like NetSuite does, but its financial management tools—especially when additional modules are added—certainly put it in the midrange accounting solution category. While some of the tools that are built into NetSuite, like revenue recognition management, are optional modules in Intacct, the solution distinguishes itself as an exceptional choice for medium-sized organizations in many ways.
For example, Intacct lets you automate processes that you previously had to do manually, like approval workflows and currency gain/loss calculations. NetSuite, too, offers some process automation, as does Microsoft Dynamics GP. Multi-currency and global consolidation support are available as add-on modules, while Microsoft and NetSuite offer multiple currencies in their core products. But unlike the competitors I reviewed here, Intacct's architecture separates the General Ledger from three different ledgers it runs separately: A/P, A/R, and time and expenses, which can improve performance when one area is seeing an unusual amount of traffic.
Intacct's reporting capabilities match the depth of the data it manages. There are dozens of report templates, several for each module, like companies are accustomed to seeing in accounting software. But its real reporting power comes in its ability to create unlimited custom reports, based on any information within the system. The ability to "tag" records and transactions (Intacct calls these "Dimensions," and there are eight of them) facilitates access to an infinite number of data slices.
Familiar, Most of the Time Intacct looks more like a familiar low-end accounting product than the others, though Microsoft Dynamics GP, too, bases its interface and navigation on recognizable labels like Sales, Purchasing and Inventory. You know at first glance what navigational tab to click on the screen's toolbar because each tab represents a recognizable element of accounting, like Order Entry, Purchasing, and Time & Expenses.
Hover over any tab, and you get a menu that clearly outlines the tasks and reports for that function. Under Accounts Receivable, for example, you can see customer records, create invoices and receive payments. Screens are laid out well, and use drop-down lists, blank fields, and pop-out data windows for filling out records and transactions. Tabs provide access to overflow information.
Far as it's come in some ways, Intacct continues to use unfamiliar language for some processes. For example, when you're trying to create a custom field, Step 1 reads, "Choose Object to Extend." In the "Set as Default Dashboard" field on the Dashboard Properties page, the answer reads "true," which sounds more like a programming command than software-for-the-rest-of-us.
Intacct's interface and navigation tools, though, will serve you well, once you learn the lay of the land. The site is much friendlier and sleeker than Microsoft Dynamics GP's, though it often feels a bit claustrophobic, with small text and icons. Changing the resolution helps some, but the site doesn't make use of screen space as well as NetSuite, which impacts its usability. And like Dynamics GP, it uses lengthy, crowded menus that could be consolidated similar to what NetSuite does.
A Good Step-Up from QuickBooks All of these sites strive for two additional characteristics that lift them above entry-level accounting: customizability and real-time visibility. Intacct is very good at both. Its real-time reporting capabilities and its exceptionally generous customization support (there's little that can't be modified) make it a good for small and midsized companies who want their accounting solution to work the way they do, not the other way around.
Intacct is a better next-step site for QuickBooks users who must move up than NetSuite or Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics. It's the only one that lets you start very small, using just the financial modules, and add functionality when it's needed. And Intacct's scalability is at least as good as everyone else's.
Since accounting applications at this level are sold and supported by resellers, online help is not as critical as in entry level solutions. But Intacct's excellence extends to this function, too. Its online support is as good as NetSuite's, but NetSuite wins our Editors' Choice, because it packs more functionality into its core module for a lower subscription price, and its overall usability is superior to anything else offered by its competition.
QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions
Anyone who has investigated small business accounting software at all knows the name "QuickBooks." Long the market leader, QuickBooks has won numerous Editors' Choice awards from us, thanks to its usability and a smart set of accounting tools. The software family has been around since the early 90s, when QuickBooks for DOS was launched.
Over the years, the line has grown. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions is the newest (though it's at least a decade old) member, and the most sophisticated. It looks and works exactly like the more junior versions of QuickBooks, which means it uses simplified language and a clean, attractive user interface and straightforward navigational tools to make accounting more understandable for non-accountants.
QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, being the very top of the Intuit food chain, adds complexity and capacity in many areas. It's superior to the rest of the line in areas like pricing flexibility, inventory management and reporting. It can track tens of thousands of people, items, accounts, etc., and up to 30 employees can access it simultaneously.
That would imply that QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions can be used by companies large enough to have 30 people working on the financial books at the same time. It's unlikely that the application would be used by such a sizable business, given that it's not scalable; it's rooted to the desktop (unless it's hosted) without the benefit of a lot of comparable add-ons (it can integrate with options in the Intuit App Center, but they're not built to take advantage of midrange solutions, except for Salesforce) and it lacks some of the automation and depth offered by the midrange solutions I reviewed.
Bases Covered Like Sage 50 Quantum, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions touches the low end of midrange accounting applications (though it doesn't have inventory management muscle to rival Sage 50 Quantum unless you pay for the Advanced Inventory module). It's gone about as far as it can go in terms of meeting small business bookkeeping needs without overwhelming its target market with too much.
Intuit has, therefore, for the past few years focused on giving users better access to their existing data and streamlining the interface. Its core is a solid double-entry, GAAP-compliant accounting solution, but as it faces the user, it replicates the tasks they were previously doing manually. It maintains a general ledger and provides record and transaction forms for managing accounts payable and receivable, inventory and payroll, and reports.
Because it's a desktop software product, though, it makes those financial chores faster and easier, and the results more accurate. Once you create a customer record using the templates provided, for example, you can insert that data anywhere it's needed—on an invoice, in a collection letter, in a report, etc., without ever having to type it in again. All of the program's individual elements are integrated, and they're designed to accelerate the daily workflow and ensure that accounting rules are followed, warning the user when something isn't being done correctly.
Above and Beyond QuickBooks Pro and Premier do all of those things. But Enterprise Solutions adds functionality and flexibility to every part of the product. Forms have more custom fields. You can work in two company files simultaneously and create consolidated financial statements. You can do more tasks on a global and/or multi-user level, like change price levels or set defaults, and adjust inventory or change sales tax rates. Pricing levels are far more flexible: You can establish hundreds of them.
Inventory management –always the weakest area in Pro and Premier – is much stronger. You can manage multiple warehouses and always know where your stock is down to the bin level. Bar code scanning and serial or lot tracking are also available. It supports two costing methods: average cost and FIFO (Sage 50 Quantum and true midrange solutions offer more). QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions also supports connections to ODBC-compliant applications for custom report creation.
A New Look In 2012, Intuit completely revamped what had been an old, cramped user interface on all of its products, including QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions. The results were effective. The home page is now much cleaner, more open and less confusing. A large, interactive process map with icons for the most commonly-used tasks is planted there. To the left is a new icon bar that can be moved to the top or hidden. The program shortcuts in the top of the pane can be customized to accommodate your own workflow preferences. You can click on other bars in the pane to toggle between your shortcuts, account balances, your favorite reports and a list of open windows.
You can also use the standard menus at the top of the screen for navigation. And once you get into record and transaction screens, you'll now work with a Microsoft Office-like ribbon bar that displays activities related to the open form, like Find, Save, Memorize, Print, or convert to another type of form (estimate-to-invoice, for example). You'll enter data and make selections from drop-down lists to complete the fields in these screens.
I think this look and navigational screen is easier to use and more attractive than Peachtree Quantum's, but neither would work well to tame the voluminous windows, menus and links that the other solutions I reviewed contain. Each of them has found a plainer, text-heavy interface that—for the most part—works well.
Generous Support Intuit includes a year's worth of unlimited help in its subscription price (access to U.S.-based product experts) as well as online backup and software upgrades. Similar support is offered by the midrange solutions I reviewed. It's especially critical for QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, since its program-based help is rather lacking.
Also lacking are features that Peachtree Quantum, too, doesn't offer. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions falls short in areas like automated processes and approvals, revenue recognition management, customization and easy custom reporting, and real-time access to project costs, revenue, profitability, etc. By missing some of the features and capabilities that would make them true midrange accounting solutions, they're less able to help company managers make more informed business decisions and reduce overhead costs.
Intuit doesn't position QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions as a peer of Netsuite or Intacct orMicrosoft Dynamics GP. But it's at the top of the QuickBooks solution family—as far as current users can go without making a drastic software change. Dedicated users will begin to spend more time outside of the application, on things like spreadsheets and workarounds, to avoid that switch.
So QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions would be a good choice for a small business that's already using a QuickBooks product but needs to manage the financial books of multiple entities and maintain inventory at more than one location, and which needs more generous data limits. When more is required—the native anytime/anywhere access, robust flexibility, extensibility and financial analysis, and automation—it's time to leave the Intuit family and move up to midrange, where our Editors' Choice is Netsuite ERP.
Microsoft Dynamics GP
People don't usually associate Microsoft with financial managementapplications, but the company has actually produced quite a few. These Windows desktop products were aimed at consumers and small businesses, and all were quite good. In the last two decades, for example, Microsoft developed several entry-level accounting programs; two of them were Microsoft Profit and Microsoft Office Accounting. There was a personal finance program (Microsoft Money) and personal tax preparation software (TaxSaver). All were eventually discontinued.
Many years ago, Microsoft bought a midrange accounting product called Great Plains. Renamed Microsoft Dynamics, this family of financial solutions contains Microsoft Dynamics GP, which I reviewed here along with NetSuite, Intacct, Sage 50 Quantum Accounting, and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions. Dynamics GP can be hosted online by a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Partner (I looked at it via SMB Suite) or run in a client/server setting (again, only available through a reseller).
This is one sophisticated, highly complex accounting solution, with good extensibility. I focused on the financial functionality here, and while I was impressed by the application's thoroughness, its user interface, and its navigational tools look and work like they were developed at least a decade ago. In a nod to some of Microsoft's more fruitful efforts, there's a friendly, colorful Office-like navigation pane, but all of its internal screens look terribly dated.
The Nerve Center Microsoft Dynamics GP, like its competition, comes equipped with multiple dashboards, pre-configured, customizable screens full of links to critical and time-sensitive data. Related information is divided into smaller windows. There are sections for reminders, product information and learning resources, quick links, and reports. The final one, the Business Analyzer, contains more options for content displays than we saw elsewhere, including Cash Position KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Detail, Contract Revenue YTD, Inventory Turnover KPI and Top Backordered Items.
The voluminous Business Analyzer options give you a glimpse of Dynamics GP's depth; there are dozens of them that track tiny slices of your financial data. I selected about 10 of them, and they displayed in new, small windows, so that I had to scroll to see them (though you can maximize each, one at a time, in a larger window). You can work with the layout to make it palatable for you.
The depth of midrange accounting software makes a well-functioning, highly-customizable dashboard an absolute necessity. The alternative would be for managers to run many, many inquiries and reports throughout the day to monitor the company's financial progress. Dynamics GP's dashboard is more flexible than its competition's, but it did not display well, completely locking up the system at one point.
Financials. And Then Some Dynamics GP's excruciating attention to detail makes it a very thorough, capable accounting solution—albeit one that probably requires more training and support than the others I reviewed. The Sales, Purchasing and Inventory sections work similarly, via dozens of links for individual actions. This is where you'd find the screens most typically used in an accounting employee's day: transactions and people/item records. "Cards" (records containing details for customers, vendors and items) are at least as detailed as their competitors', as are sales transaction forms (invoices, quotes, purchase orders, etc.). Inventory records may be more so.
The features and functionality offered in Dynamics GP are reasonably priced through SMB Suite, a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Partner. The firm has built an all-inclusive Dynamics GP subscription platform for $599/month (setup/implementation/support included for one user) that encompasses six fully-integrated packages: Financials, Sales, Marketing, E-Commerce, Service, and HR & Payroll. You can also buy the three-user client/server-based Dynamics GP Starter Pack for $5,000 ($3,000 for each additional user), but you'd also have to pay the reseller for setup, implementation and ongoing support.
Microsoft's client/server version includes General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, and Payable, advanced financial management, reporting, core Payroll for the U.S. and Canada, Fixed Assets, core Supply Chain Management/Distribution (including Inventory), and other functionality like basic HR. Additional functionality such Manufacturing, Field Service Management, Project Management, and advanced Supply Chain Management/Distribution are available in a functionality extension pack.
A Busy Environment Accounting software developers have done their darndest to humanize their applications. That is, they built their software and websites in a way that people who haven't studied accounting can find the data and functions they're looking for. This has required a lot of consolidation of tasks and some "hiding" of more hard-core, behind-the-scenes, double-entry bookkeeping activities.
Either Dynamics's GP hasn't yet caught up with that development trend, or Microsoft made a conscious decision to let accounting be accounting. In the version we reviewed, every individual task or record or inquiry/report—no matter how small—had its own link, which doesn't really even look like a link until you hover over it; it's just a phrase in very small type. Click on one, and a dialog box that looks like it was designed in the early years of this century opens.
These data sub-windows use standard Windows conventions for data entry, like drop-down lists and lookup fields and icons and menus, but they also look very old. And their Tools menus are all about high-level customization and Visual Basic and macros and integration, options I would expect to see in an SDK, not an end-user application.
Substantial Support Needs While this might make accountants and developers happy since they understand all of the language and functions and processes, Dynamics GP doesn't incorporate the most user-friendly design for the average department manager or accounts receivable clerk. Granted, users must purchase setup and ongoing support from their resellers, but when they're left on their own, I wonder how much time they'll spend making phone calls and consulting written help resources.
The site's organization is fine, thanks to a logical navigational system. Click on the Financial button on the left, for example, and you'll see a plethora of links to dozens of micro-functions. Some are familiar, like Transactions (Miscellaneous Check, Reconcile Bank Registers, etc.); Inquiry (a description not found in entry-level software, these are ad hoc or custom queries, as opposed to Reports, which are more structured presentations of data); and "Routines" (i.e., Depreciate Fixed Assets, Reconcile to GL, Period Consolidation). Others phrases that are not in the vernacular of the average accounting clerk include Deferral Document Entry, Generate EFT Prenotes, and Update Financial Accelerator.
Microsoft Dynamics GP is an exceptionally customizable, capable midrange accounting solution that had stellar beginnings as the original Great Plains application, but which hasn't kept up with the usability needs of the growing number of small and mid-sized businesses who are either moving to PCs and networks for the first time or switching from another solution. Intacct and NetSuite—our Editors' Choice—are far more understandable midrange financial solutions that can rival its level of functionality between their native tools and easily-integrated solutions.
Sage 50 Quantum Accounting 2014
Sage 50 Quantum Accounting 2014 is a member of the largest global software family represented in my latest batch of ERP reviews. Over the years, its parent company, Sage, has acquired numerous small and mid-sized business solutions, primarily in the accounting field (though it also publishes an old, familiar contact manager, ACT!). It now supports several previously-independent lines, including Simply Accounting, BusinessWorks, DacEasy, and Peachtree.
Sage has left the entry-level Peachtree lineup (Pro, Complete, etc.) intact, changing only the applications' names to Sage 50 (Sage 50 Pro Accounting, Sage 50 Complete Accounting, etc.). Sage 50 Quantum Accounting sits at the top of the list, maintaining the look and feel and core feature sets of the junior Sage 50 products, but incorporating functionality that brushes up against the low end of the midrange accounting solutions. This includes more generous data capacity, support for more users (up to 40), more sophisticated job-tracking, and role-based security levels.
All Sage 50 products—with the exception of the relatively new Sage One—are desktop-based. This allows growing businesses to move up through the ranks without having to learn a new application and appeases the large number of small companies who are uncomfortable doing their financial work in the cloud. But while some elements of Sage 50 Quantum Accounting look fresh, most of its working parts use the same interface and navigational tools that have existed with little change for years.
A Solid Base The products formerly known as Peachtree have matured to the point where there's little more they can add in terms of small business financial processing features. In fact, they hit that wall a few years ago. So the emphasis in upgrades has been on how work is done, rather than what the products can actually do.
This means that Sage 50 Quantum Accounting is quite capable of handling the basic work required of a GAAP-compliant, double-entry accounting PC application. Its front end—the part that you as a user see—is designed to be understood by non-accountants. Behind the scenes, the software is busy doing the technical work—the debits and credits, journal entries, etc., that are necessary to keep the books balanced.
All of that work you used to do on paper or in Excel—or in another accounting product—can be done quickly and accurately using Sage 50 Quantum Accounting. You can track receivables and payables, manage your inventory and jobs, and process your payroll. Your paper forms and manual processes will be replaced by the software's records (customer, vendor, item, and employee) and transaction forms (invoices, purchase orders, quotes, and sales orders, etc.).
More than Capable Data is integrated both within the program—eliminating duplicate data entry errors—and externally, with Microsoft Office. Standard and custom reports and other analysis tools help you interpret the numbers and make better business decisions. Sage 50 Premium Accounting and Sage 50 Quantum Accounting also offer company consolidation, departmentalized financial statements, and serialized inventory.
Sage doesn't ignore the cloud entirely; there's connectivity outside the confines of the desktop. Sage 50 Quantum Accounting offers remote access and web synchronization tools, and you can import your bank statements. Merchant accounts and online backup are available, and there are virtual connections within the payroll services. At the present time, however, you can't pay bills online unless you've already established a connection, which is a serious deficit.
But Sage 50 Quantum Accounting pulls ahead of QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions in several areas, particularly its sophisticated job management and interactive reporting tools, and its inventory management (four types of costing methods are supported, comparable to midrange solutions and two more than QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions offers). It also uses built-in intelligence to post transactions automatically ("SmartPosting") as well as to automate the order process workflow. Some of its more advanced features are geared toward specific industries, like construction, manufacturing and distribution.
An Aging Interface There's nothing overly difficult about getting around in Sage 50 Quantum Accounting. A vertical pane on the left divides the program's functions into related areas (Customers & Sales, Employees & Payroll, Jobs, etc.) and provides a place for often-used, customizable shortcuts. When you click on one of the module tabs, a graphical flow chart/process map opens in the center of the screen.
This multi-button graphic further breaks down each area into its many tasks. Inventory & Services, for example, displays its capabilities and workflow through navigational buttons (and their sub-menus) that represent the work you or your staff might do in that area, like adding or editing item records and building assemblies, creating purchase orders and receiving inventory, and doing an inventory count.
The right side of the screen is reserved for related lists (customers, banking, etc.), and mini-reports and graphs. These groupings of data are all interactive. When you click on one, a record or transaction or report opens in a new window that uses toolbars, data entry fields, and drop-down windows, and tabbed informational screens to help you both enter and view your accounting data. If you'd rather, you can use the standard Windows menus in the top toolbar.
Once you learn the program's layout, it should be fairly easy to get where you're going quickly. But we've become used to seeing state-of-the-art graphical screens on the web, even on sites that offer business and productivity tools, like Web-based Intacct andNetsuite. Working with Sage 50 Quantum Accounting isn't the most aesthetically–pleasing, efficient experience because of its dated look and navigation.
Effective Help and Reporting Peachtree has always had exceptionally thorough program help, and Sage has upheld that standard, building on what was already there. You can browse or search the help files, study user manuals and watch training videos. You can get online support individually or through the Sage community. Sage University provides additional training resources, and the Sage Advisor, which can be toggled on and off, provides content-sensitive help with the program itself.
One button that appears in multiple functional areas—Intelligence Reporting—takes you to a sophisticated Excel-based reporting tool, which is included in Sage Business Care. Sage requires that you purchase a Sage Business care support plan—there are three levels—and includes the cost in your purchase fee. The $2,999 purchase price goes up if you buy a higher level of support.
Sage 50 Quantum Accounting clearly distinguishes itself from the other products in the Sage 50 small business line—and from QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions—through its advanced functionality in security and workflow automation, inventory and jobs. But it doesn't offer the same level of customization; support for complex financial processes like revenue recognition; or financial planning and analytic tools that the cloud-based solutions reviewed here provide. It lacks their CRM and e-commerce functionality, as well as their anytime/anywhere access. And it's not optimized for as many specific industries.
I can certainly recommend Sage 50 Quantum Accounting for users of entry-level Sage products who need to move up but aren't ready for the cloud, and for new businesses who want the best that small business accounting software can offer. The application, though, lacks the flexibility, extensibility and complex financial processing that NetSuite ERP (our Editors' Choice) and Intacct, as well as higher-level Sage products like Sage ERP X3, offer.