MS Dynamics vs. QuickBooks Choosing the Right

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Accounting software is at the heart of any successful business. From payroll to accounts receivable, the strength of your accounting software will determine everything from how accurate your books are to how quickly your vendor payments are made. The more flexible and robust your software is, the better your employee productivity will be, the happier your clients will be, and the smoother your operations will work overall.

Modern accounting suites do more than simply track your general . They tie into eCommerce portals, serve as payment gateways, and create detailed and timely reports regarding income and expenditures. Depending on the scope of your business, you may need an accounting suite that will integrate directly into your CRM, be accessible from anywhere in the world, or simply be able to support mobile devices. Both Intuit QuickBooks and MS Dynamics are hugely popular accounting suites that have significant benefits: they are versatile, well-supported, and highly documented.

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What are and QuickBooks? Microsoft Dynamics and Intuit QuickBooks are two of the leading software platforms within the accounting industry. Both of these platforms can trace their roots back many years; they have undergone dozens of revisions to develop a product that is as streamlined, accessible, and versatile as possible. With the full weight of two major companies behind their support, both these software solutions are suitable for most applications.

The MS Dynamics product line is comprised of an Enterprise Resource Planning solution, which has integrated many different modules into its operations. Of primary interest here is Microsoft Dynamics GP, an all-around accounting solution intended for SMB accounting. It can be either purchased as a standalone product or integrated into other MS Dynamics solutions. Microsoft has developed MS Dynamics by finding the best solutions in many areas of enterprise management and consolidating them into a single completely integrated and comprehensive system.

Intuit QuickBooks is primarily an accounting suite, though they have branched out into other Enterprise Resource Planning functions in the last few years. Rather than providing multiple modules for ERP and CRM solutions, Intuit QuickBooks offers an extensive selection of products specifically for financial management. Accounting software options range from those for small businesses to those for larger enterprises, with a variety of add-ons (such as payroll) which can be added to a product separately to customize it for a particular business. Intuit QuickBooks is focused nearly entirely on accounting rather than business management.

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PROS & CONS: How to Decide Which is Right for Your Business Both MS Dynamics and Intuit QuickBooks are highly sophisticated software suites that can support most businesses out of the box -- but that doesn't mean that they are equally suited towards every application. A simple way to decide which software product is right for your business is to compare the pros and cons of each solution.

Intuit QuickBooks Pros and Cons

Intuit QuickBooks is simple to use and easy to deploy. Many employees are highly familiar with its use, which allows a business to hit the ground running -- and many of the entry- level products within the Intuit QuickBooks suite are extremely affordable. Reports are clear and easy to read and the system itself can be accessed either locally or through the cloud. When it comes to businesses that are run by a single business owner or have a very small accounting team, Intuit QuickBooks can make it easy to manage files and collaborate. Because Intuit QuickBooks is designed primarily to be easy to use, it doesn't have many of the advanced features that larger enterprises need. It also places a higher premium on ease-of-use rather than accuracy, making it very easy for employees to potentially make mistakes. Controlling larger accounting teams becomes difficult because it's harder to track changes between users and control roles. Further, as companies become larger, QuickBooks becomes more expensive and more unwieldy. QuickBooks is customized and tailored primarily through the use of add-ons and modules that can be separately purchased. Because of this, it cannot always be tailored to a business that requires specific features. Finally, QuickBooks is not well-integrated into most other product suites.

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MS Dynamics has advanced, scalable functionality that is designed not only to suit a company's current needs but also to grow with a business. Due to its integration with other MS Dynamics and Microsoft products, business owners can create a comprehensive all-in-one system that vastly improves employee productivity and efficiency. Because MS Dynamics is an advanced product suite, it has superior security and support. Available on-premise, through the cloud, and as a hybrid solution, MS Dynamics is accessible via anywhere and scales quickly regardless of the resources required. MS Dynamics can be easily customized and programmed for any business. Though it may need a little additional work during its deployment, it has proven to have a positive return on investment within as little as 21 months.

Many small-to-midsized business owners start out with Intuit QuickBooks. Unfortunately, it's not always the best solution to grow with. When it comes to enterprises that are developing, a transition to MS Dynamics often has to be made. Because Intuit QuickBooks is designed primarily to be easy to use, it doesn't have many of the advanced features that larger enterprises need.

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Transitioning from QuickBooks & Implementing Dynamics A shift away from QuickBooks and towards Dynamics is often necessary for business as it begins to grow. Though a company can attempt to continue their operations with QuickBooks, they will often encounter both operational issues and technical problems. QuickBooks files quickly become difficult to manage, slow, and prone to errors as they increase in size -- forcing employees to turn frequently to customer support. Further, there is an upper limit on the amount of advanced functionality that Intuit QuickBooks can offer. Transitioning to MS Dynamics will give a business significantly more room to scale.

Identifying the Features Your Business Needs

Creating a "wish list" of features is one of the easiest ways to not only determine whether you need to make a transition but also ensure that the transition moves smoothly. MS Dynamics is a highly customizable product that can be designed to serve companies of any size and within any industry. A construction business, retail business, or legal firm may have entirely different installations of MS Dynamics, depending on the features that they truly require. By paring down to the business elements that you need, you'll be able to simplify the management of your business while emphasizing the features that your employees require.

Customizing Your Solution for Your Business

The MS Dynamics API makes it trivial to custom code solutions for your business -- you just need an expert in MS Dynamics customization and integration.

SHARE THIS E-BOOK Creating User Roles and Permissions

MS Dynamics allows for the support of a multitude of employees working on the platform at once. Through advanced collaborative features, the software suite can prevent employees from overriding each other's work or potentially modifying data that should not be modified. Creating user roles and permissions is an essential part of this process. Each user should be allowed to have only the permissions that they strictly require; this will improve accountability and make it less likely that user-driven errors will occur.

Cleaning and Transitioning Your Data

When it comes to a software transition, there is no other area as important as your data. The process of migrating your data from one accounting suite to another begins with ensuring that the data is clean and correct. This means going through the data to archive useless information, remove duplicates, and fix any issues and inconsistencies before the migration occurs. From there, you'll need to decide on how you want to handle your migration:

• All at once. You will shut down your QuickBooks system, transition your data to MS Dynamics, and then immediately begin work in MS Dynamics. This has the benefit of simplicity and stability, and it's usually ideal for smaller businesses. However, it can be a challenge for larger companies which cannot shut down during the process of migration.

SHARE THIS E-BOOK • In stages. Some businesses choose to migrate their data in stages. They may have their live data in MS Dynamics now and may slowly transition their archived data from one system to another. Though this has the advantage of not requiring any downtime, it can also be confusing for employees. • Dual use. Occasionally, a business will forego transition entirely and leave its "old" data in one system and the "new" data in MS Dynamics. Though there are some situations in which this is the easiest solution -- particularly if there is some reason that the older data is prohibitively difficult to migrate -- it can introduce many security and productivity issues.

Data migration is often best handled by an accomplished professional team. Not only does the data have to be transitioned properly between the two software suites, but it also needs to be validated to ensure that it is correct. If there are errors within the migration, they may not be caught for some time. This can lead to some significant issues for a business further down the line.

Completing Your Employee Training

MS Dynamics is a highly intuitive solution, due to its influence from Microsoft and its direct integration into many Microsoft suites. Because of this, most employees will begin using the software competently very quickly; in fact, employees that are experienced and computer-savvy may be able to start performing their work in MS Dynamics with little to no training. But training is still critical for a crucial reason: training enables employees to take advantage of the advanced and custom-built features that separate MS Dynamics from other accounting solutions.

SHARE THIS E-BOOK In general, employees should be trained and familiarized with MS Dynamics well before the actual migration begins. The more familiar employees are with a product suite, the less likely they are to introduce errors or become frustrated with the platform transition. Early training enables employees to ask questions and resolve any lingering issues before the product becomes live, which will cause far less disruption when the transition occurs.

Once you have transitioned away from QuickBooks and towards MS Dynamics, you'll be able to support higher transaction volumes, see immediately increased performance, and be able to allow all of your employees to collaborate at once. Of course, this transition doesn't occur overnight. An experienced MS Dynamics partner can simplify and automate the process of migration, making it easier for your business to avoid disruption.

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Conclusion It's not surprising that many small business owners begin their businesses with Intuit QuickBooks. Intuit QuickBooks is a simple, straightforward, and affordable way for many small business owners to start managing their financial statements. Where QuickBooks falters is during growth. Though the software suite does provide support for large scale enterprises, it is still first and foremost a simple system designed for simple companies. As companies grow in both size and complexity, they require an advanced solution.

But that doesn't mean that MS Dynamics is only for large corporations. MS Dynamics has a host of advanced features for businesses of any size and industry and provides better performance to scale. When tailored to a business, MS Dynamics can improve upon a company's efficiencies, making it easier for them to compete within their sector. By future- proofing a business, MS Dynamics makes it easier for small businesses to grow -- giving them a solution that will grow with them.

Ultimately, though both product suites are extremely capable and robust, MS Dynamics is the suite that has the better capabilities. With advanced business intelligence, Microsoft integration, third-party software, and business process automation, MS Dynamics serves as a do-it-all resource. Alternatively, QuickBooks mostly operates solely as a financial management suite.

If you want to learn more about the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics for your business, contact IES today.

SHARE THIS E-BOOK About IES

IES is a leading Microsoft software reseller, development, implementation, and business process consulting firm dedicated exclusively to Microsoft Dynamics training, products, and supported services. Our expertise extends across F Microsoft Dynamics CRM, MS Dynamics GP, Dynamics NAV, and beyond. We are based in the Miami and Tampa areas of Florida, but serve clients across the nation.

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