Topic: General Posts

Submitted on 09-24-12 5:03 pm.
Message:
We have used Peach Tree Premium 2005 for 7 Companies. It gives flexibility in consolidation of financial statements, We had one holding company and 6 subsidiaries. You should check their demo.

But the way I look at it, PT is very useful for accounting purpose only, GL, AP, AR. If you want to integrate efficiently accounting system with operational functions. You may also have to take into consideration which kind of industry your legal entities belong. For service industry where you keep track of time for billing, check your current time tracking software compatibility with PT. In retail, if you use software for tracking store inventory, replenishment, pricing, multi-level discounts, link to retail register, etc then again check compatibility with PT.

Compatibility of accounting software with operations system reduces errors, reduces time and personnel required, improves efficiency, etc.

There are few specific to industry software available at very reasonable price. If you go for cloud based solution, one time cost will get reduced to zero or negligible, you should look into such solutions too.

Submitted on 09-26-12 11:19 am.
Message:
Hi Barbara, I have used both Great Plains and MAS 200 and both are reasonably affordable. Good luck.
Harry

Submitted on 09-26-12 5:51 pm.
Message:
GP (Great Plains) would get my vote too. It handles consolidations well.

Submitted on 09-26-12 11:48 pm.
Message:
Have you looked into a SaaS solution? Look at Xero which uses a flat monthly rate.

Submitted on 09-27-12 9:24 am.
Message:
My experience with Dynamics Great Plains which is considerable, is that it is not well architected for multi-entity accounting and consolidation. Each legal entity must be maintained in separate databases and consolidations must be handled through a reporting software product such as FrX. Can be done effectively, but it is much more complicated that you might want in a small business environment. SaaS solutions that are robust that you might want to consider are Intacct and, even more feature-rich, NetSuite.

Submitted on 09-28-12 3:24 pm.
Message:
What kind of organization / sector ?

Mark L. Coron
Co-Chair Not for Profit FENG SIG
87-10 51st Avenue
Elmhurst, NY 11373
email: [email protected]
cell 347-425-4161
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-coron/0/1b8/85b

Submitted on 10-04-12 8:28 am.
Message:
Microsoft Dynamics is a good choice but you would need to have someone set it up and configure it for you would could be a considerable cost. A SaaS solution such as SAP By Design would be my suggestion. I know, you're probably thinking it would be very costly and a nightmare to set up but this product is very user friendly and the company is charged per user (there are different levels and costs).

Submitted on 10-04-12 2:12 pm.
Message:
Xero does not offer a consolidation feature. If you elect to spend the money for Dynamics or Sage, then consider the following

QuickBooks Enterprise 2011/12 offers you the capability not found in other versions of QuickBooks (Pro and Premier) - to combine reports from multiple QuickBooks data files.

or you can use a third party reporting application like webKPI.com to get consolidations and web dashboard reporting for QB files.

Submitted on 10-07-12 10:55 am.
Message:
SAP for small business would be a good choice if you hired a SME (subject matter expert) to help you configure it to your business. SAP's greatest strength (customability) can also be a deterent to the uninformed user.

If you want a solution that works out of the box with minimal set-up, consider something from the SAGE Software line of business. I have used both software systems and more recently installed SAGE BusinessWorks with the basic GLSuite: Cash, A/R & AP.

Other than setting up your initial companies, chart of accounts, customer and vendor information, it has invoice templates and reporting already set up to go.

It is relatively inexpensive based on number of users and works well with standard Microsoft apps.