Make your life easier by purchasing this software and you will not regret it!!!
Updated May 30, 2023

Make your life easier by purchasing this software and you will not regret it!!!

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

Software Version

Nonprofit Technologies (NPT), legacy product

Overall Satisfaction with MIP Fund Accounting

Currently, our organization use MIP fund Accounting for all our accounting and financial management needs. This product addresses needs such as managing fixed assets, the ability to report in multicurrency, and budgeting. For example, our organization is operated on an approved work plan and budget, and the budget module enables us to monitor our spending and produce reports such as variance analysis to assist in our forecasting, planning, and decision-making. In addition, this fund accounting software affords us the opportunity to manage several projects at the same time and enables us to produce on demand reports and random onsite inspections by our donors. Over the last year we have been comprehensively reviewed by one of our donor partners an they were impressed with our reporting as well as the scope of the current financial system.

Pros

  • Fixed Assets Management.
  • Accounts receivables and payables.
  • Budgeting
  • Reporting
  • Budget vs Variance Analysis

Cons

  • It can become more user friendly.
  • The closing of fiscal year can be complicated.
  • Bank reconciliation feature can be simplified for ease of use.
  • More flexibility can be given in terms of expansion of characters in some fields
  • Improved financial reporting to our stakeholders.
  • Timely and up to date reporting to our donors.
  • Reduced IT costs over the years due to a more efficient accounting system.
  • Improved audit trail to facilitate financial audits
As an organization, we manage several projects at any given time. Based on the needs of these projects, MIP allows us to provide accurate and real-time financial information to our donors during the fiscal year. In some cases, there may be overlapping reports across projects that require expenditures to be recorded correctly and compared against strict approved budgets. This is critical, and MIP enables our organization to meet the reporting needs of our donors, who in most cases have strict guidelines regarding budgeting and reporting.
We have been using MIP for over 25 years. In the '90s, we used the MS-Dos version and subsequently changed to the Windows version in the 2000s. Our organization is still relatively small in terms of staffing and even transaction volume; however, over the years, the number of projects has increased and is projected to increase drastically in the next year or two. With the increase in projects along with the ability of MIP to cater easily to large organizations, it makes perfect sense for us to renew when that time comes. In addition, we have recently subscribed to the MIP Cloud, which has now given us the ability to work remotely and enhances the security of our data.
From the advent of our organization, we have been using various versions of MIP Fund Accounting. Hence, we are not able to compare or contrast with another software.

Do you think MIP Fund Accounting delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with MIP Fund Accounting's feature set?

Yes

Did MIP Fund Accounting live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of MIP Fund Accounting go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy MIP Fund Accounting again?

Yes

MIP Fund Accounting is well suited in the following ways: The ability to use the budgets module enables better planning, implementation, and monitoring of our various activities during the fiscal year. The Multicurrency module allows us to meet the requirements of our various donors who may request that reports be submitted to them in different currencies. In my opinion, MIP Fund Accounting may be less appropriate in the following ways: This software is most suitable for medium to large organizations with complex functions in order to utilize various modules adequately. There are a lot of small organizations that can utilize all or most of what this software offers. However, the cost can be a major factor when considering acquiring this software.

Support from Community Brands

All involved were very helpful and professional. From the sales representative to the technicians were extremely professional and friendly from purchase to installation. Our most recent experience was the migration to the MIP Cloud, which went quite smoothly without any hiccups despite my reservations. The migration was done efficiently and was completed in the time frame set out by the technicians.
We have not used any training resources to date. However, we are planning to do so in the near future. We are planning to have more users added to the system and this requires them to have the necessary training along with the currents users in order to enhance the use and experience of this product.
Last year we contacted Community Brands with an issue in our payroll module and it was critical that this issue be rectified urgently, due to the fact that payroll was due in a couple of days. I'm please to say that within a hour a case number was sent to us detailing our issue and was subsequently solved and we were able to meet our payroll needs on time. There was also a follow up to ensure that all aspects of the reported issues were rectified.
Over a year now we have migrated to the MIP Cloud. During the height of the recent pandemic we were handicapped (due to lockdowns) in terms of not being able to work remotely and this resulted in falling behind on deadlines and overall inefficiency of our financial functions. MIP Cloud has now given us the flexibility to work remotely from any part of the world. In addition, the cloud enhances our data security since the data is now stored offsite.

Using MIP Fund Accounting

2 - A basic knowledge of IT as well as a deeper knowledge of accounting is necessary to support MIP Fund Accounting.
  • Financial Reporting
  • Budget vs Variance Analysis
  • Facilitation of financial audits
  • Multicurrency reporting
  • Customization of Reports
  • Budget implementation and monitoring
  • Procurement
  • Fully utilizing the purchase order function
  • More indebt asset management
2 - Both users of MIP Fund Accounting in our organization represent our Finance and Administration functions.

Evaluating MIP Fund Accounting and Competitors

  • Scalability
The main factor in the decision to purchase MIP was the ability to manage various project simultaneously, along with the fact that we are a nonprofit organization.
In my opinion, we are comfortable with the way the evaluation and selection process was carried out. We have benefitted from the various versions over the years and we are specifically pleased the introduction of the cloud based version.

MIP Fund Accounting Implementation

I was not part of initial implementation, hence I don't have any insights at this time.
  • not aware of any issues

MIP Fund Accounting Training

Without formal training, this product is not easy to learn. For new users, this product is not user friendly and can be quite complicated. Hence I would recommend official/formal training for anyone who endeavors to learn and use this product in order to appreciate the benefits, modules and functions of this software.

Configuring MIP Fund Accounting

This product is configurable. However, it is limited to an organization's resources to truly invest on this product. One of the major cons of this software is the cost of acquisition and implementation. The cost of this software can increase substantially based on the needs of the organization. Hence, availability of resources will determine how much configurability ( e.g. amount of modules) an organization can accommodate.
none at this time
No - we have not done any customization to the interface

MIP Fund Accounting Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Yes. It is necessary to have support in order to have the ability to deal with problems that may arise from time to time. We have used the support system in the past and will continue to access it when needed.
The few times we have requested support for MIP, the issues were dealt with urgency and were resolved. the impressive part of the support system in my view, is the follow up to ensure that the issues were resolved.

Using MIP Fund Accounting

  • Payroll
  • Check writing
  • Customization of reports to suit our donor partners/stakeholders
  • Bank Reconciliation
  • Fixed Assets Management
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
I have been working with MIP Fund Accounting for over 20 years and have come to appreciate the overall usability of it. However, for new users of this software, it may come across as not being user friendly an d can be quite confusing

MIP Fund Accounting Reliability

Our organization only use tis software in our Finance department. Hence, I may not be qualified to comment on other areas.
I have rarely encountered any issues accessing MIP Fund Accounting over the years. On the rare occasions when availability was interrupted, the reasons were always found in-house when using the on-premises version. Since we have migrated to the MIP cloud, we have had no issues with availability. Any maintenance or updates are always communicated to us and are usually done outside of business hours.

Integrating MIP Fund Accounting

We have not attempted to integrate any systems with MIP Fund Accounting.
  • Microsoft Excel
No to my knowledge
  • File import/export
none

Relationship with Community Brands

The sales representative was friendly, professional and efficient. Every effort was made to find a suitable package given our limited resources and the multiple follow ups and feed back were extremely helpful when making a formal presentation to management in order for them to make a final decision on the purchase/upgrade of this product.
Post sale was extremely easy in my view. The installation, implementation and follow up was excellent. It was great service all around!!
The principle terms were the costs of the modules needed and relevant discounts applied for modules and installation.
I don't have any at this time.

Upgrading MIP Fund Accounting

Yes - The migration to the MIP Cloud was done smoothly with little or no downtime. We had some doubts regarding the migration of the data from on-premises to the cloud and the downtime it would entail. However, the migration was completed ahead of schedule without any issues or interruptions to the system.
  • Working remotely
  • Increased data security
  • Enhanced and more timely reporting
  • more user friendly to new and existing users

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