People don't usually associate Microsoft with financial management applications, but the company has actually produced quite a few. These Windows desktop products were aimed at consumers and small businesses, and all were quite good. In the last two decades, for example, Microsoft developed several entry-level accounting programs; two of them were Microsoft Profit and Microsoft Office Accounting. There was a personal finance program (Microsoft Money) and personal tax preparation software (TaxSaver). All were eventually discontinued.
Many years ago, Microsoft bought a midrange accounting product called Great Plains. Renamed Microsoft Dynamics, this family of financial solutions contains Microsoft Dynamics GP, which I reviewed here along with NetSuite, Intacct, Sage 50 Quantum Accounting, and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions. Dynamics GP can be hosted online by a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Partner (I looked at it via SMB Suite) or run in a client/server setting (again, only available through a reseller).
This is one sophisticated, highly complex accounting solution, with good extensibility. I focused on the financial functionality here, and while I was impressed by the application's thoroughness, its user interface, and its navigational tools look and work like they were developed at least a decade ago. In a nod to some of Microsoft's more fruitful efforts, there's a friendly, colorful Office-like navigation pane, but all of its internal screens look terribly dated.
The Nerve Center
Microsoft Dynamics GP, like its competition, comes equipped with multiple dashboards, pre-configured, customizable screens full of links to critical and time-sensitive data. Related information is divided into smaller windows. There are sections for reminders, product information and learning resources, quick links, and reports. The final one, the Business Analyzer, contains more options for content displays than we saw elsewhere, including Cash Position KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Detail, Contract Revenue YTD, Inventory Turnover KPI and Top Backordered Items.
The voluminous Business Analyzer options give you a glimpse of Dynamics GP's depth; there are dozens of them that track tiny slices of your financial data. I selected about 10 of them, and they displayed in new, small windows, so that I had to scroll to see them (though you can maximize each, one at a time, in a larger window). You can work with the layout to make it palatable for you.
The depth of midrange accounting software makes a well-functioning, highly-customizable dashboard an absolute necessity. The alternative would be for managers to run many, many inquiries and reports throughout the day to monitor the company's financial progress. Dynamics GP's dashboard is more flexible than its competition's, but it did not display well, completely locking up the system at one point.
Financials. And Then Some
Dynamics GP's excruciating attention to detail makes it a very thorough, capable accounting solution—albeit one that probably requires more training and support than the others I reviewed. The Sales, Purchasing and Inventory sections work similarly, via dozens of links for individual actions. This is where you'd find the screens most typically used in an accounting employee's day: transactions and people/item records. "Cards" (records containing details for customers, vendors and items) are at least as detailed as their competitors', as are sales transaction forms (invoices, quotes, purchase orders, etc.). Inventory records may be more so.
The features and functionality offered in Dynamics GP are reasonably priced through SMB Suite, a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Partner. The firm has built an all-inclusive Dynamics GP subscription platform for $599/month (setup/implementation/support included for one user) that encompasses six fully-integrated packages: Financials, Sales, Marketing, E-Commerce, Service, and HR & Payroll. You can also buy the three-user client/server-based Dynamics GP Starter Pack for $5,000 ($3,000 for each additional user), but you'd also have to pay the reseller for setup, implementation and ongoing support.
Microsoft's client/server version includes General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, and Payable, advanced financial management, reporting, core Payroll for the U.S. and Canada, Fixed Assets, core Supply Chain Management/Distribution (including Inventory), and other functionality like basic HR. Additional functionality such Manufacturing, Field Service Management, Project Management, and advanced Supply Chain Management/Distribution are available in a functionality extension pack.
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