FINAMAN ERP vs. Microsoft Dynamics SL vs. Webgility

For a small to mid-size business, MS Dynamics SL is effective. We are capable of managing our finances with a very low risk of error. We have worked with MS Dynamics for almost 15 years and have more than doubled the size of our business in that time with very few issues from the program. We have exponentially increased our revenue and reporting demands and have found SL to be very dependable and stable. The program does have the occasional glitch and those are sometimes outside of the realm of expertise of our IT department. SL support is excellent, but their timeliness is not as urgent as ours.

Incentivized

Webgility allows for an accounting based on the real world of our business. We are in control and charge of all of the processes that give dynamic to our businesses. We do not feel near to our business we are near and we can do this with nothing else than the intelligence behind Webgility. Everything is better since we started and we have ourselves still space to put under our reign with the vast amount of methodologies that are implemented at best in Webgility Desktop, Online, and Intelligence. There is positive improvement in the benefits every employee generates with the suites. Cases in which some starts to get in unintended directions can be detected early and corrected with no worse impact. Webgility did not too much enhance our reach to new markets or customers. Our new qualities are getting around but we expect more from the business generating features sets of Webgility. We are still curious about enhancing ourselves and our employees but we already integrated the suites to a significant degree in our processes. We are very satisfied with the POS and markets but there is for us still a lot left out where we are strong and reach our clients and customers.

Incentivized

• Provides flexibility for complex project based cost accounting
• Strong and flexible allocation processer for cost allocations, markups, and pricing
• A "Flexible Billing" module under the project controller series that allows for multiple billing formats ranging from fixed price schedule of values, T&M or Cost Plus, and scheduled billing.
• Flexible reporting with options using Crystal Reports, SSRS, a Quick Query tool, and ability to tie into MS Office tools such as MS Access and MS Excel
• Tight integration with Financials, but also the ability to integrate with modules such as Sales Order, Inventory, and Field Service
• Customization abilities ranging from a VBA (visual basic for application) foundation to allow customizing existing forms to the ability to use the SDK (Software Development Kit) to build more complex customizations that integrate with Dynamics SL.

Incentivized

• This product has seamlessly helped my company in a form of scrutiny that has minimized human errors to almost zero.
• It ensures an optimal level of accuracy exists when we are in the middle of downloading any sort of customer data.
• The tailored, customizable, and personalized reporting of this platform is another great aspect of it.
• I am satisfied with the usability of this software because it is very easy to use plus it has an intuitive interface that is easy to grasp.
• Customer support of this product is commendable and worth to be praised because they have always been very helpful and supportive in any time of need.

Incentivized

• Reporting in the Project module is lacking functionality. I understand that most companies have specific needs when it comes to tracking project information but the standard reports are not good.
• I would recommend a product like Management Reporter that is for Projects only. Project Reporter should allow users to pull in all Project related data into reports.
• Fixing suspended batches. Obviously all of us users have experienced this mess. SL knows what needs to be corrected and there could be some step by step fixes in a separate repair module to do the steps we do in Query Analyzer.

Incentivized

• Keeping in mind all the good things said about Webgility there is also a need to pinpoint some loopholes that exist in Webgility so that Webgility can further work on those deprivations in order to bring the best to its users.
• I feel that the inventory management system of Webgility is pretty basic compared to the overall level of Webgility.

Incentivized

Unfortunately, Dynamics' lack of ability to smoothly integrate with our CRM system is causing us to look at other solutions. The efficiencies that we gain by using Dynamics for our day to day accounting are lost in the constant headaches of getting sales quotes to import properly into the system for invoicing. Another major issue for us has been budgeting and reporting. We currently do all of our budgeting and board reporting in Excel, which is too time consuming and inefficient, especially when a system as robust as Dynamics should easily be able to handle this relatively simple task.

Incentivized

I rate it a 10 because we have removed the fields we don't need so users can really crank the data into the system. The software was designed for the professional services firm in mind but does a tremendous job for construction firms and "blended" companies that are both distribution firms but project centric as well. Perhaps they drop ship inventory to a project where their employees or subs need to work on a project for example.

Incentivized

We have had only one unplanned outage for 2 hours in the last 30 months. We shut down for 30 min to 1 hour once a month, but that is for Microsoft OS updates to the servers. Being a 24/7 world wide operation, the reliability is really important. We do get an 8 hour window on the weekend that we can be down for a short period to install Microsoft Dynamics SL updates, but we do not have many of those. On our last version upgrade, we shut the users out at 9:30 am and were fully operational in less than 6 hours. The upgrade was New SQL server, New SL server and 2 new Citrix servers.

Incentivized

Support is only used when needed, so unfortunately ,they get all the odd issues. It's a difficult business, but Microsoft and our firm do a great job of meeting customer needs. We get routine feedback that our support services are very good.

Incentivized

Just to let it take its course. The implementation for me once I became a part of my former organization was pretty seamless. Just get to know the basics and call the support team to ask questions if you need help on an issue, should they arise. They are ready, willing, and able to help!

Incentivized

Of the comparable mid-range ERP systems, Dynamics SL competes at the lower end based on price, but also above the high-end based on flexibility, data, and reporting. Being able to stay with the same core accounting from a $100 million dollar company to a $3 billion dollar company shows the range of capabilities.

Incentivized

It is one of the best platforms I have ever used. Webgility has been very helpful in mitigating human errors, which leads to so much time-saving. Webgility connects all the pieces, like a messed-up jigsaw puzzle, and keeps the orders synchronized well in Quickbooks.

Incentivized

Since the backbone of the database is MS SQLServer, the database can be easily scaled.

Incentivized

• More time is spent on manipulating reports which can and should be automated.
• Lack of electronic invoicing process and other green technology features creates more cost on printing and storage costs.
• The lack of a user friendly interface requires more training and a bigger learning curve for staff.

Incentivized

• There is an on-going monthly fee, but our company finds it is well worth it for both the support we recieve as well as the time saved by not manually entering orders into out accounting software from our online store.
• The biggest ROI is absolutely time saved in entering orders.

Incentivized