Many standard reports simply don’t exist in QuickBooks and ad hoc reporting is limited
QuickBooks has less than 200 standard reports. Dynamics GP has over 700. There are multiple causes for the limitation.
First of all, QuickBooks doesn’t have the ability to gather all the information you need. The concept is straightforward: if the information isn’t gathered as you enter master records and transactions, it can’t be reported back out. QuickBooks has neither the quantity of information fields nor the ability to add fields like Dynamics GP.
Secondly, QuickBooks offers basic reports and when you want to add or change fields on those reports, it primarily looks at just the most closely-related fields. Dynamics GP has the ability with SmartList and SQL Reporting Services () to link data across modules. If the standard Analysis reports don’t meet your needs, you can write a report based on inventory items that looks at vendor cost and customer price—across three modules.
QuickBooks is limited to 2 General Ledger Account Segments
QuickBooks allows “accounting” without GL account numbers. This usually results in chaos very quickly. At most, you can create two segments, but there’s little control if you make a data entry error in the format.
Dynamics GP assists users in the creation of account segments so that financial data can pivot by company, location, division, department, cost center – whatever segmentation is needed. And it has safeguards to prevent the random creation of new or erroneous segments when users make entry errors. The segmentation facilitates financial reporting which pivots around those segments. Analyzing () the GL segmentation needs of small companies upgrading from QuickBooks is usually one of our first tasks. They are always looking forward to organized, logical, powerful GL account segmentation.
Performance Doesn’t Degrade with Dynamics GP as in QuickBooks
The underlying table structure of Dynamics GP along with the powerful Microsoft SQL database makes Dynamics GP scalable. QuickBooks’s performance is known to degrade substantially when it exceeds 30,000 transactions. Small companies cope with this issue by archiving the database and starting new each year, but that eliminates their ability to do comparative reporting without regressing into manual worksheets.
Internally, we have data in Dynamics GP going back over 10 years, and we have customers with over 20 years of data in one company database. We have companies with over 30,000 transactions a month. Dynamics GP can handle it so comparative reporting with Management Reporter is easy.
Unlimited Open and Historical Years of Data in Dynamics GP
Because the table structure in Microsoft SQL can handle high volumes of transactions, you have an unlimited ability to retain history for reporting, analysis, and comparison in Dynamics GP.
QuickBooks has a Limitation on Number of Users
As your company grows, it’s easy to exceed your license count in QuickBooks and eventually reach its maximum capacity of 30 users in the Premium edition. Dynamics GP has no user limitation and offers two types of licenses: Full and Limited User Licenses.
In addition to an outright user license limitation, as you add users, you can exceed the ability of a particular module to allow user entry. That can be a major problem when you have customer service personnel fighting over the right to enter orders.
QuickBooks has Limited Inventory and Manufacturing Functionality
Even with third-party products added, QuickBooks Inventory and Manufacturing features don’t stack up against the core functions within Dynamics GP modules. Substantive limitations exist with lot and serial tracking, man/max order quantities, and stock counting. Dynamics GP offers a variety of inventory costing methods, and retains information on inventory unique to each customer or vendor.
Audit Trails versus Audit Controls
QuickBooks is severely lacking in audit controls. Nothing prevents users from changing amounts, names, or addresses on transactions after they are entered. In GP, you have extensive audit controls and audit trails throughout all modules. The product can be designed and implemented to maintain ISO standards. Secure access controls can be set up to provide division of responsibility and activity tracking.
Get 2014 Started Now in a System that Works—Dynamics GP
Computeration is the leading Rapid Implementation partner () for QuickBooks to Dynamics GP upgrades. Even if you’ve started 2014 in QuickBooks, we can move you over to Dynamics GP so you have what you really need in a business management system. We use templates for project management and option setup design to get you started within hours if your company wants to move off QuickBooks. Our use of RapidStart assists with setup, Zap () brings over your historical data, and online training gets your staff up to speed quickly at low cost. Contact Computeration today with questions how we can get you started.
by Computeration
For those considering migrating from QuickBooks to Dynamics and who desire historical data for comparative financials, I developed a simple utility called TBX Trial Balance Exporter which quickly obtains monthly history totals including by class code (department) and appended GL codes for easy import. I hope you find it useful.