Been an MIP user for 25 years
August 24, 2016
Been an MIP user for 25 years
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Abila MIP Fund Accounting
We use MIP Fund Accounting in the Finance Department. Reports from MIP are shared across the organization. We also use MIP for three joint ventures with another organization. It is very important that we have the same software. MIP is critical in our budgeting, our audit, our monthly and annual financial statements. The flexibility of the chart of accounts allows us to create many kinds of reports. I can create reports for the joint ventures that show each organization their share. I also have reports that break down the balance sheet or income statement by restriction or program. While not a business problem, it helps me report to our board in a way they understand.
- Flexible chart of accounts. I can easily show unrestricted vs. restricted. Balances by grant. Income by program or by department. Budgets across fiscal years.
- The ability to import transactions has saved us many hours every week. We import from PayPal and our bank reconciliations have never been easier. The bank reconciliation module is fantastic. I love that I can lock a reconciliation. It has made finding subsequent user errors much easier.
- The ability to export into Excel or pdf or to an email has saved me many hours.
- The available reports are very rich and easily modified. Adding the ability to copy or rename has been great.
- I like the A/R billing and reporting modules. Once you get them set up, they are a breeze to use.
- We sometimes struggle with recurring adjustments. While usually handy, they can be difficult to revise.
- I wish when I export to Excel, there were formulas included. QuickBooks has better functioning Excel spreadsheets. If you change a number in the spreadsheet, it changes the totals.
- The ability to quickly see what our financial position is in relation to prior years and budgets.
- MIP is very reasonably priced. The information we get from it has more than been repaid.
We have multiple funds for several reasons?
1. We have temp restricted, perm restricted and unrestricted funds. We can track them effortlessly.
2. We have multiple revenue lines, some from joint ventures. Our annual meeting has two funds. One is only our revenues/expense and the other is shared revenue and expense. Without the multiple funds, we would never be able to reconcile between them.
3. We co-own a building and this allows us to keep that completely separate.
4. We have ten chapters and can keep all of their activity separate.
1. We have temp restricted, perm restricted and unrestricted funds. We can track them effortlessly.
2. We have multiple revenue lines, some from joint ventures. Our annual meeting has two funds. One is only our revenues/expense and the other is shared revenue and expense. Without the multiple funds, we would never be able to reconcile between them.
3. We co-own a building and this allows us to keep that completely separate.
4. We have ten chapters and can keep all of their activity separate.
I don't think there are many comparable alternatives. I have used Financial Edge/Raisers Edge in the past. I felt the reporting was not as robust but I did like the ability to enter donations into Raiser's Edge and import them.
The less expensive alternatives such as QuickBooks or Peachtree cannot handle the funds/restrictions as needed. I think they may be adequate for less complex organizations or organizations who do not have an accountant.
Nonprofit software does what we need it to do. While I am sure we could find software that would allow for the flexibility we need, I like having software that speaks my language. I don't have to repurpose or rename anything to get what I want.
The less expensive alternatives such as QuickBooks or Peachtree cannot handle the funds/restrictions as needed. I think they may be adequate for less complex organizations or organizations who do not have an accountant.
Nonprofit software does what we need it to do. While I am sure we could find software that would allow for the flexibility we need, I like having software that speaks my language. I don't have to repurpose or rename anything to get what I want.