Item: Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT
Rating: 9
Author: Jan Tucker

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I have been using Blackbaud since March 2013. When Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT became available in 2022(?), we upgraded to the web version. Our main focus in using Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT started as Accounts Payables, and Financial Statements. I have recently added Budget. There is so much capability within Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT that we have just scratched the surface of. Their support team is very quick to respond to concerns and can almost always "fix" what I can't seem to figure out.

Pros and Cons

Entering Journal Entries - the feel is that of Excel and I like it.
Financial Reporting - tons of options! Anything a board member would ask me for.
Budget module is easy to use as well with lots of options.

It would be impossible to please every user. Some like the "old" way. As in database view. It is hard to take time to learn new things sometimes.
Any missing functionality can be discussed on the community forum and if enough user have the same opinion, Blackbaud is good at considering changing things.
Journal Entries are much easier to use now than when we went live with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT. And they continue to improve the functionality.

Return on Investment

Budgets can build a scenario based on this year's figures and load the budget with a sought after % increase in Revenues.
Entering Payables is less time-consuming and there are checks and balance in place. From entering the payables, the approvals are seamless.
Financial Reporting has a lot of options and the ease of creating a custom report is there. The built-in reports are well set up so I don't spend time creating my own but there is not too many reports so I don't get caught up with all the options.

Financial Edge NXT Trust & Compliance

I know the options are there if I need to use them. I can't say that this particular area has been affected in my compliance.

Financial Edge NXT Organization Visibility

We only have 3 users, including me. I can see how the visibility between Marketing, Sales, Finance and Trustees in a larger company could provide better workflow and sharing of information between those groups without giving them access to be able to change the information.

Key Insights

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

Not sure

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

Yes

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

Yes

Did implementation of Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Paychex Flex, Paycom

Likelihood to Recommend

My major concern before going with a web-based Financial System was the fact that we are located 12 miles from the closest town and I was afraid that our internet would fail me, but so far we have had reliable internet.
Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT has as much or as less for a company to choose from. The cost associated with it could be prohibitive to some smaller companies. We are a 501c3 and as costs keep rising, there is a need to watch spending. But as I am often reminded, "Accounting is a necessary evil and the better equipped I am the better the company will be.

Usability

I don't have much to compare it to but if I speak of just the reporting options; sometimes there are so many options I spend more time finding the "perfect" report when a basic report with minimal columns is needed. But I know I can always add to the report if asked.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

Reports
Budgets
Financial Reporting

Difficult Tasks

None

Old and new user and a bookkeeper my entire working life

Overall Satisfaction with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT