Abilia - Take It or Leave It.
September 26, 2016

Abilia - Take It or Leave It.

Christine Frenzel | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Abila MIP Fund Accounting

It is being used by the whole organization. It is being used to track income and expenses by grant funding source, generate payroll and related reports, record and pay A/P, and record journal vouchers. It has given us the room to grow our reporting. As a grantee that receives a majority funds from the government, it allows us to provide more detailed reporting.
  • I particularly like the copy/rename reports features. It allows the user to make slight changes to reports they may use frequently and save the report with a new name. This saves time when detailed reports are needed quickly.
  • I like the payroll function and the ability to allocate payroll between accounts rather than to calculate it manually.
  • I appreciate the recaps at the bottom of the AP & JV screens which show the accounts being referenced and whether the transaction is balance. It is a good double check.
  • The print on the screen is so small (probably an 8 font), it is hard to read for older users.
  • I would like to be able to change the name of a vendor without deleting it and then re-adding it which loses the history. Sometimes company names change but other aspects remain the same. Or you may mistype a name and need to correct it.
  • There is no easy way to change the chart of accounts if you need to do renumbering. If the person establishing the chart of accounts isn't experienced with it, there is no way to correct the mistakes. This is true especially for the numbering order and leaving enough space between numbers.
  • I wish there was a hard copy manual that clarifies what happens when specific information is typed or requested. For example: What happens in the system when you are writing a reversing journal entry. It allows for 4 different types of reversing entries, but doesn't identify the difference so one would know which one to select.
  • I would like to be able to refer back to other reports when using the "drill-down". The system doesn't allow for that.
  • I was not part of the decision making process. I do not know the overall business objective.
  • One must be very experienced working with integrated financial systems to get the best use of this software.
We are starting to use this feature more each month as I become more familiar with all that the software can do. We are still in the process of fully benefiting from this feature.
I personally have used QuickBooks, Quicken, and a long-ago product by Software International. QuickBooks and Quicken are easier to use, but do not provide the reporting that MIP provides.

Non-profits need an easy way to allocate expenses between grants, especially payroll. They also need to be able to provide reporting by grants. MIP seems to be able to provide this system.
We are a very small organization and it is almost too much of a program for what we need. It takes a long time to learn all the ins and outs of the program and correct mistakes. There is no hard copy and trying to find information through "help" is difficult.

MIP Fund Accounting Feature Ratings

Using Abila MIP Fund Accounting

2 - The executive director and the fiscal bookkeeper.
The executive director makes business decisions from the reporting and the fiscal bookkeeper does all the actual accounting functions and government reporting. The fiscal bookeeper prepares reports for the executive director and board of directors.
1 - MIP is used most specifically for the accounting aspects. It is best used by accountants or CPAs. Those with lesser education can certainly be taught to use specific modules, but may not understand all the implications of specific entries or how they are related.
  • Payroll
  • Accounts Payable
  • Financial Statement & reports by grant
  • Ability to integrate with W-2s and year-end payroll reporting.
I am not the decision-maker, but it would be my recommendation at this point.

Evaluating Abila MIP Fund Accounting and Competitors

Yes - QuickBooks.

I don't know exactly as I was not here when the decision was made. I have been told MIP is the Cadillac software and it would give us room to grow.
  • Product Features
I did not make or recommend the decision. But I understand that management was impressed with its ability to provide intricate reporting.
I would have documentation on how and why this product was chosen, how it was implemented, etc.

Abila MIP Fund Accounting Implementation

There were no records available to indicate where accounts with balances needed reversing entries. This problem carried forward for several years until it was traced back to implementation and reversed.
  • Professional services company
  • Don't know
I believe we used an outside vendor to implement the system. Software Simplified is the vendor we go to with questions we can't find the "how to" for in the on-line help.

Abila MIP Fund Accounting Training

  • In-person training
There are no specifics on what happens if you make one choice or another to know which is the best selection. This is true for JVs and AP. In training we were not given specifics of what happens when one possibility is selected over another.

Configuring Abila MIP Fund Accounting

Again I know nothing about it.

Abila MIP Fund Accounting Support

I have a hard time using the online help features and can seldom find answers to the questions I have. When I call, I want to be able to get the answer, not be told I can go "online" to find the answer.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Immediate help available
None
Our vendor has provided us with excellent support.

Using Abila MIP Fund Accounting

If you are not an accountant, it would be very difficult to use. As an accountant there are aspects that are so specific that if you do not understand how they work and hand off to other parts of the software, you can really mess up your reporting.
ProsCons
Like to use
Well integrated
Consistent
Requires technical support
Slow to learn
Lots to learn
  • The payroll tax system is particularly nice.
  • Learning the recurring entries has been tricky.
  • I haven't been able to fully use the system the way I would like because it is hard to get all the information I need to make decisions.

Abila MIP Fund Accounting Reliability

I have had some issues with the software suddenly closing with no reason given.
I refer back to the previous questions. It has suddenly quit on me.
Yes, it works very well about 95% of the time. I don't notice any slow down with any programs it integrates with.

Integrating Abila MIP Fund Accounting

  • The payroll system is integrated with Payroll taxes and Atrix.
  • No, not at this time.
  • File import/export
I love that I can send reports via e-mail in PDF format and save them to my hard drive in a PDF format.
Really know what you are doing before trying to do integration.

Relationship with Abila

I am basing my answer on how easy they are to work with now. I was not here during the sales process.
They have been particularly helpful with new staff, answering questions and resolving problems.
If you need an immediate response or help, you may not be able to reach them. They are very good about answering e-mails and will call you back when they get a message.

Upgrading Abila MIP Fund Accounting

  • I know there is probably an upgrade coming before the end of the year, but it has not been implemented yet.
  • I would hope upgrades remove some of the difficulties in using the system.
  • The integration with Atrix upgrades any tax law or payroll report form changes.