E-Automate does MOST accounting functions exceptionally well. Payables, Receivables, Billing, Bank Account Reconciliations, Inventory, Sales Tax Reporting, Customer Statements, Moving back and forth between software modules. The negatives are functionality I have had in other software products that e-Automate lacks. Things such as expanding drop-down menus (when 90% of the time, the item I am looking for is out of the range). Another negative is the way the software handles deposits. Every Cashbook Deposit is considered to be a receivables deposit. Our company has frequent deposits that are not. The only workaround we have found is to enter them as "negative" withdrawals.
Method[:CRM] is well suited when you have a large company that needs to keep track of customers. It also connects with Quickbooks and that has really been nice for our organization. Our company is small so this really helps us stay on track and build our data base of customers.
E-automates interface is intuitive and easy to navigate, making our employees more efficient in performing their job tasks.
The reporting is available in summary or detail versions, and includes the option to filter even the most complex of queries to get right to the key information needed.
E-views fill the gap where an existing report may not present the data in the desired format or where a user needs to export the data for use in other analysis tools.
User management is easy with a very rich permissions structure to allow administrators to finely tune the access each user needs.
Make sales invoices not require serial numbers, or be more flexible with it.
Make contract invoices have some sort of flexibility in terms of editing. Our end users complain that QuickBooks made it very easy to edit invoices, and in e-automate, for them, it is practically impossible. (I do personally understand why it has to be as it is myself, I'm just forwarding their observation.)
Make the API actually useful. I spent days looking at the functions and the functions available are not really useful.
The things Method does well - QuickBooks data integration and extreme customization - it does very, very well. If you are looking for a CRM product or any business process automation software that integrates with QuickBooks, you have to look at Method CRM
Method has a great overall "usability". Once we started using the software; it did not take long before we were able to start editing our own web lead forms, email templates, etc. I think there is a learning curve however the learning curve is not bad. Anyone looking for a cloud CRM should start here
Sometimes when you need answers quickly, a voice on the phone is far better than having to wait for email support or a callback. I have found this to have delays and feel ECI e-automate should invest more in its support infrastructure.
The Customer Support of this app is fantastic. If you ever have any questions they are there to answer you or fix whatever issue that you are having. The FAQ pages are also extremely helpful when you want to learn about the more in-depth qualities this program has to offer.
Be available to learn! There is a huge learning curve to this program. You have to be willing to take it all in. Be available to the Method expert and be patient.
I have used many different ERP programs over the years. It's hard to compare e-automate to other programs because a lot is dependent on the client (size, needs, etc.). I would probably put e-automate in the lower tier when stacked up against some of the other solutions. I think at one point, they were much higher, but we haven't seen much technological advancement from e-automate over the years, where the other companies have really moved along.
We chose Method:CRM for the QuickBooks integration. It was important for us to have integrations that allowed us to view payments, organize our contacts, and manage our sales force. There were some learning curves, however, such as creating activities, leads, customers and making sure our payments were being logged appropriately. I do wish that payments would be added to the calendar automatically so that the sales rep could view and make a phone call letting them know their invoice is due.
The e-automate will stop working if we stop paying each year. We chose not to go to the cloud and buy the software. QuickBooks and other software are a one-time fee.
E-automate has very few outside vendors for add-on modules.
