User Friendly Accounting Software with Some Drawbacks
August 12, 2022

User Friendly Accounting Software with Some Drawbacks

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

We use Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT as our accounting software for our Finance department. Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT provides us with a user-friendly web version for tracking our GL, booking journal entries, entering and approving invoices, and performing bank reconciliations and reporting. We also easily link Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT with PowerPlan, our budgeting software, so employees outside of our department have timely access to our financial data. In my opinion, this is a fairly standard accounting software system, which lacks the ability to do all processes in the web version, and the database version can be difficult to navigate. We can upload support (multiple PDFs, Excel or Word documents, etc.) for journal entries, invoices, and vendor cards right in the system, which allows us to move toward becoming paperless as a department. Being able to store a PDF of a client's W-9 in the system is helpful when adding new vendors. We are also looking into their purchase card option and module available in the system. The easy-to-use reporting module makes it easy to pull GL reports, check registers, etc., quickly to meet the needs of our finance team and other departments within our organization.
  • Invoice entry and approval
  • Financial reporting options (check register, unpaid invoices, GL detail, etc.)
  • Bank Reconciliation Module
  • Paperless storage of vendor W-9s, invoices, and journal entry support in the system
  • Database view can be hard to use and is not intuitive
  • Not everything can be done within web view (ie, must use database view to print checks)
  • Web view can be glitchy
  • Changes are made to the system with no warning or explanation
  • Bank reconciliation sometimes does not reflect changes until you've saved, closed out and re-opened
  • Database view bank reconciliation will let you fully reconcile with no warning of errors, you must go into the web version to see any issues you should handle before submitting
  • Wait times for support can be very lengthy, we use the chat function, and I've waited hours for a chance to talk to someone
  • Bank reconciliation
  • Invoice entry and approval
  • Journal entries
  • GL reporting
  • Ability to sync with PowerPlan
  • Can make large journal entries using an Excel macro
  • Catches duplicate invoices to avoid double payment.
  • Although they promote working with Avid Xchange for check processing, I had to create my own report to pull from the system to get the information we need for check processing, which requires a lot of work on our end to then tailor that report in Excel which is not only time consuming but also relays on a lot of manual manipulation which can and has resulted in errors. If they are going to push using Avid, Blackbaud should be creating a template for uploading to Avid that works seamlessly.
  • The time it takes to get someone on chat for support can waste a lot of time.
  • The ability to pull good GL reports quickly is a great timesaver for the budget season and the year-end external audit.

Do you think Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT's feature set?

Yes

Did Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT again?

Yes

Compared to other accounting systems I've used in the past, I enjoy working in Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT. The web version is very user-friendly and intuitive, and their help center is also very good. I have used Dynamics and MRI in the past, and Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT I prefer over both of those. I like the ease of use in the reporting module, and our team likes that we can upload a copy of an invoice into the system when entering our AP, including vendor cards, which makes reviewing and approving very easy. We can also upload support for journal entries which is helpful during the year-end audit, as well as reviewing or referencing. Like most accounting systems with a database version and a web version, the web version doesn't have full functionality, and you will need to use the database for things such as cutting checks or running queries. The web version, in my opinion, is not easy to navigate, and permanent changes can be made in the database version with no warning of the ramifications of your actions (i.e., finalizing a bank rec when there are errors still to address, these appear only in the web view.)