We processed all our transactions in Microsoft Dybamics SL, for income and expenses cycles. I would say that not being an online operation makes difficult to have data always on time, because it uses batches sometimes business rules are not achieved but transactions were already made. So only thing is to correct them through sql
Pros
Reporting
Detailed Warehouse setup (bins)
Document application (ap and ar)
Cons
Online transaction register (not baches)
Validation before posting inventory transactions with missing item availability
Preview of accounting before posting.
Likelihood to Recommend
It's less suited due to high costs for managing all infrastructure IT needs
Microsoft Dynamics SL is our primary financial software. We use this program for invoice entries, vendor information, purchase orders, inventory management, weekly check runs, bank reconciliation, journal entries, general ledger management, profit and loss, trial balance reports, cash forecasting, annual 1099 forms, and all related monthly financial reporting. This program is predominantly used by our Accounting and Accounts Payable teams.
Pros
Easy to understand. The program can be taught t new users with no prior experience with minimal effort.
Very thorough modules for all areas of financial reporting and analysis.
Uncomplicated layout and maneuverability. The screens can be personalized for easy access to most frequently used modules.
Cons
Reports are created as Crystal Reports. These are not as dependable or dynamic as PDFs.
The standard package can be somewhat limited. Modules can be added but are often cost prohibitive and simply don't seem to perform dependably.
Tech support is costly and there is no sense of urgency. It would be helpful if there was an online user forum.
Likelihood to Recommend
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.
We currently use Dynamics SL as our sole accounting software. Only people within the accounting department have access to the software although we have a department who runs their own checks because of a unique specific function. However this department is reviewed and monitor by the finance department to ensure proper internal control.
I have found Dynamics to be not very user friendly. The GL analysis function is quite lacking when comparing to other systems I've used in the past. In addition, the report writer again is not very user friendly and intuitive. Lastly, the sorting function uses coding language for the filters which makes training new users quite cumbersome.
Pros
Adequate layout of detailed general ledger report.
Easy copy and paste feature for general ledger from Excel.
Interacts well with certain Microsoft products and functionality.
Cons
Reporting features to provide more robust flexibility.
Import features can be improved to be more user friendly.
Interface can be improved to provide more access and edit to basic functions like print setup, setting up templates for reports, and user preferences.
Better support packages and more training at reasonable pricing.
Likelihood to Recommend
Dynamics is definitely designed for a manufacturing or smaller companies who is looking to transition to all Microsoft products. There are project and allocation features that may work well with companies who have cost allocations. However, that also depends on the reporting needs and how robust of an allocation.
The program is not very appropriate for non-profit accounting environment because it does allow for fund accounting very appropriately. Any organizations that require complex reporting structure should also look at other software that has more robust reporting features.
VU
Verified User
C-Level Executive in Finance and Accounting (51-200 employees)
We are using it for project and crew based cost accounting in one of our utility contracting companies and are in the process of rolling out the system to another one of our largest companies. Eventually, all companies under the holding company will deploy Dynamics SL as their ERP system as well as the parent company. The parent company will perform cross company consolidations.
Pros
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.
Cons
Incorporate some functionality provided by third party products into the core product.
Since Dynamics SL has strong multi company capabilities, incorporate functions to secure projects within a company to certain groups.
Improve the budgeting, forecasting, and change order interfaces so that the tools are more online.
Improve the forecasting capabilities to include more robust and integrated tie in to the project EAC/ETC (Estimate at Completion/Estimate to Complete) numbers. This would allow project revenue/margin/cash forecasting.
Expand on the subtask concept
Improve the interface for multi level rate entry for pricing and cost allocations such that more security can be applied and reduce risk of inadvertent changes.
Likelihood to Recommend
In the service series, there is a weakness in applying revenue recognition concepts which are a strong point of the project series. It is difficult to get a period sensitive WIP that could be recreated at any time for a point in time (fiscal period).
Microsoft Dynamics SL is used for project management and financial reporting. It is used across the organization. The financial modules provide general ledger details and reporting along with payroll being processed for projects and management.
Pros
Project accounting is linked to the Financial modules - there is no need to duplicate data entry. Reporting in Project Modules is extensive.
Validation of fields for data entry and solid integrity of data.
Customizations of screens for data entry for users and addition of fields.
Cons
Purchasing does not have a budget validation to warn or stop a purchase from going over budget on a project level.
Project budgeting does not have an interface with inventory ids.
Financial modules could have more quick vewing screens for example a quick way to find the check no. of an invoice.
Likelihood to Recommend
What type of business are you in and does it need the project modules?
We use Microsoft Dynamics SL as our financial software handling all accounting operations, from daily AP, AR, to GL and as a financial reporting base. We also use the project module to manage our projects. Everything we do in our operation is project centric and this software gives access to all staff on every aspect of each and every project, from hours, to expenses, revenue and AR. We use the core of SL in accounting with each of four accounting/HR staff members having an installed version on our computers. We have eight offices around the country from coast to coast, central and south. Each office has access to our Business Portal or Apps to enter projects, time, expenses and to review each project. We have complete transparency of operations in daily project information. Accessibility is extremely important to our continued success in managing projects. We came from a good number of users all accessing "Solomon" directly to the light user version and we could not be more pleased with performance and daily use.
Pros
AP, AR and GL processing is straight forward and quite efficient. Period posting is a great control of operations.
Project setup is quite easy for users, as is review and analysis. We manage by budget for each project and have never had an issue or need for additional information
Time and Expense capturing by employees is painless and efficient. This is highly important to a project centric organization. It meets our needs and users are content.
Cons
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.
Likelihood to Recommend
Does the out of the box version of Microsoft Dynamics SL meet our needs? Many companies have rituals and functions that were established to accommodate what they have to do in the software they use. Take a good look at standard SL in the modules needed, if those functions meet your core needs go with it. Customizations can be done, but keeping a streamlined product allows for quicker and painless upgrades. With that, you gain the benefits of the product that Microsoft Dynamics has put in place to improve the product. Think about reworking internal procedures to meet a standard software.
Dynamics SL is our Accounting and Financial Reporting engine for almost 200 companies in the US and Canada. Using Multi-Company allows us to centralize some processes (AP Checks for example) while allowing a very decentralized user base to perform local transaction activity. SL's flexible structure has allowed us to add companies and sub-accounts enabling us to grow from a $100 Million dollar company in 1999 when implemented to a $3 Billion dollar company at the end of 2014.
Pros
Ability to add companies, and sub-accounts on the fly allows for the growth of the system without conversions, and flexible reporting allows for the quick utilization of the data.
Multi-Company allows for easy and automated data entry and reporting across multiple legal entities and business segments.
Multi-Company also allows for easy centralization of business processes (AP check writing and Fixed Assets for example), while spreading data entry across the enterprise.
Ability to Copy/Paste into Dynamics SL has always been a strength- especially from Excel. The additional power of being able to use Excel for a myriad of calculations, including complex allocations, and formatting the result into a JE to paste directly into the Journal Entry Screen has saved countless hours in data-entry, and made re-use of complex items very easy.
Cons
Built-in functionality for workflow/reviews/approvals could be improved.
Better documentation of controls and reporting of the audit trail (think SOX).
Better remote office, work from home capabilities (such as cloud bases SAAS) would help resolve security and speed/performance constraints.
Likelihood to Recommend
The key strength is the ease of adapting to ever-growing operations. Designing the setup with both the short and long-term goals in mind will allow the best setup/configuration to be completed. As growth requires changes, the flexibility of the system and reporting will grow with the company. Internal knowledge should be gained to allow for the ease of utilizing the system to accomplish this growth in addition to the reseller/consultants used.
Currently, it is not being used at my organization. It was highly utilized at my last organization, where I worked for 3 years. It was predominantly used within the finance and accounting department, where we used it to keep track of our G/L accounts as well as make debit and credit adjustments to our factories overseas. It helped us keep track of what we owe and what is to be paid out to us.
Pros
Easy to create debits and credits to applicable accounts.
Easy to keep track of payments, which can be seen on the easy to access Aging report.
Easy top view line items of each transaction made to each account
Cons
Difficult to reverse an incorrect entry.
Difficult to complete some tasks without authorization to certain modules.
Would freeze up a lot, and would therefore have to start over.
Likelihood to Recommend
I worked within finance and accounting and I feel like for the most part it is extremely user friendly. Despite a few bugs/glitches in the system, it was very straightforward and easy to use. It gives you what you are looking for. Definitely recommended to keep track of the books.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Finance and Accounting (51-200 employees)
We use Dynamics SL across our organization: Accounting, Order Processing, Shipping/Receiving, Purchasing, Engineering, and Manufacturing. SL addresses the need of sharing information between various functional groups and then making this information readily available in a variety of methods.
Pros
Built on a SQL Server back-end. SQL Server is fairly easy to use and integrates well with other Microsoft products, such as the Office suite of applications.
Screen customization. It's relatively simple to customize existing screens to expose user fields and to modify field layouts to make screens fit the needs of different users.
Familiar interface. Users appreciate the similarities between the look and function of SL screens and those of other Microsoft products, particularly Office.
Cons
Manufacturing. SL isn't a great product for discrete or process manufacturing.
Built-in Reporting. The built-in reporting options, Crystal Reports, FRx, and SQL Server Reporting Services, are inadequate. You'll find, eventually, that you'll need a better reporting tool (after you tire of struggling with your own custom solutions).
Planning. SL doesn't provide any built-in method for planning, budgeting, or forecasting. Thus, SL isn't great for Supply Chain Management either.
Likelihood to Recommend
I would only recommend Microsoft Dynamics SL to a small or medium size organization that is project or service oriented.
VU
Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology (51-200 employees)
