Financial Edge by Blackbaud

Love It.

Pros

That I can use it anywhere, from any computer. It is easy to use and the what's new let's me know when new stuff happens.

Cons

Takes too long for all of the things I need to be developed. I don't use FE NXT, I just use RE NXT.

Pros

I like the ease of logging in. I also like the clean looking interface, and am looking forward to more options to come.

Cons

I am patiently waiting for upgrades to the software that will allow for more use with our FE products and the Smart Tuition upgrades to match.

Pros

It's web-based format is simple to use and navigate. The product is quick and responsive and their GUI does a good job at delivering content in an easy to see/read format. The chat and email support is very helpful and their response time to initial inquiries is one of the best in the business.

Cons

FENXT is a step up from the Education Edge product but it is still in its infancy. Blackbaud's development model is sound, but they need to continue to develop their current products in lieu of adding additional features. The data support team can get bogged down, causing delays of days before data can be corrected.

Overall the product is great.

Pros

What I like most about this product are many features it has and it's ability to track donors, dates, events, donations.

Cons

The difficulty with this product is that it isn't as user friendly to generate reports or queries. Existing queries are fine but for newer users or if a report hasn't been generated in a while it's a whole process to relearn.

Pros

The reports are fairly easy to generate, and have many customization options. Setting up templates and favorite reports is very helpful.

Cons

It's not the most user-friendly or intuitive of software. I can't stand the bank reconciliation (which could just be my own problem, to be sure). I don't often work with invoices and printing checks, but when I need to I have difficulty determining how to do so (again, could be my own limitations, I just wish it were more intuitive).

Do your homework when looking for a new general ledger system. Make sure to ask a lot of questions and ensure you get the answers you are looking for. Also- check references for the system to ensure it can do what the developer tells you it can do.

Pros

The system seemed slick and able to integrate with other vendors (they had marketplace partners that they integrated with). I also liked the system in that it linked with the Development software that we currently use. The system also offered nice dashboard capabilities and reporting that appeared to be easy to customize. In addition, the system was cloud based on would come with frequent updates (that would not result in software changes on individual workstations and data transfers etc.).

Cons

When evaluating this product I found that the customer support was less than stellar (and that was when they were trying to sell me the system). I asked several questions related to system capabilities surrounding specific processes the agency had (and whether the system could make those processes more efficient). I did not receive timely responses or in some instances any response at all.

The exporting from the cloud requires multiple steps.

Pros

The dashboard and real time updates enable us to get an accurate update on accounts. We can get an immediate picture of budgets etc.

Cons

Exporting excel spreadsheets and crystal reports is an issue. Files must first be saved to a cloud folder and then opened and processed on your hard drive.

Pros

Our organization uses Financial Edge NXT. It has many pros. First, it has the best customer support. When we purchased Financial Edge NXT in 2008, it assigned us a consultant to help us set up the software specifically to meet our needs. It also provides online and offline training classes, and technical support. I learned how to use Financial Edge NXT in two months. Second, it's well-designed and easy to use. It has modules for Account Receivable, Account Payable and Fixed Asset, separated from General Ledger. This feature allows us to implement internal control. Third, it also has multiple ways, other than account segments, to track attributes of data. The feature avoids long string of account numbers without scarifying tracking related information. Two of my favorite features are Visual Chart Organizer, which could customize the reports, and import/export functions, which allow transmitting data from/to Excel. Financial Edge NXT cuts off many otherwise manual adjustments and improves accuracy and efficiency.

Cons

1) It suddenly crashes occasionally. 2) The User Administration App is not easy to use. It's hard to add/remove a user. 3) It doesn't provide enough flexibility in Account Receivable. We have a different software to record receipts, but we use Financial Edge NXT for bookkeeping. The Account Receivable (AR) of Financial Edge NXT (FE NXT) would not record deposits without correspondent invoices. As a result, we have to create unnecessary invoices (which has already been recorded in another software) in AR of FE NXT. We'd like FE NXT to better accommodate organizations using multiple software.

Keep listening to your customer base. This is a great product and it's getting better all the time.

Pros

FENXT is a very robust product. This web-based product is being enhanced constantly. The folks at Blackbaud have been very responsive to customer feedback and if there is a functionality that isn't there, they do their best to make sure that if it's possible, it is implemented. Very happy with how the product has evolved.

Cons

My suggestion at this time would be to wait until features are closer to being released before announcing them. Very frustrating when you know that something you need is going to be added but then it take six months for it to be ready.

Pros

Being able to add attachments easily, record journal entries easily, and add vendors easily are great. The report looks a lot cleaner, and having click-through capabilities on the reports is huge.

Cons

There are still features that have not been migrated, including some we use regularly. I'm hoping all AP and budget features are migrated soon so we don't have to keep toggling between the interfaces.

FE NXT has greatly improved the efficiency and productivity of our finance department. We no longer have to generate reports for each individual department manager at the end of each month now that they have access to them 24/7.

Pros

- Access anywhere from any device
- Drill down capabilities
- Easy report creation
- Sleek desktop design

Cons

- Needs more concise mobile interface
- Can take some time to load information
- Inability to schedule report runs

Blackbaud is very customer focused. It is important to Blackbaud that the client voices are heard. Every year they hold a conference that not only addresses the software but also gives us tools that we need as non-profits.

Pros

I love the fact that I can easily extract data. I also like that I can setup account restrictions and distributions to make sure data is correct and accurate, not to mention it saves time!

Cons

Currently, accounts receivable and payroll are not in the cloud. I look forward to when all the modules are in NXT.

Pros

Financial Edge is user friendly, and offers a variety of customizable reporting formats. Built in links from sub-ledger to general ledger allow for drilling to move along quickly.

Cons

We recently upgraded to a hosted database from housing on our own server. There have been some issues with processing delay and getting kicked out.

We regret moving to this cloud based platform. We should have stayed with the regular old FE.

Pros

Nothing. What was promised was not delivered. We have two locations and used to be able to function on one platform. In the cloud based version we have to log in and log out to go from one location to the other. It has definitely slowed our productivity.

Cons

It is slow, cumbersome and the reports that we were led to believe to be available are not part of this version. All excel reports have to be reformatted.

After seeing the NXT demo, it was clear that moving to the new platform would provide our business with all the functionality we were missing in our on premise thick client version. THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE! Although during the demo it was clearly stated that some of the modules would not be moved from the old version to the new, it was not stated that features in the NXT migrated modules would not be available... so if you are working in say AP and rolling along with your work, you might hit a feature set that does not exist in NXT and requires you to switch to the Citrix version think client. It turns out that only a small percentage of the system has been migrated to NXT. This plan to migrate the modules and functions within the modules in realtime is a massive failure. The performance hit moving to the cloud was intollerable. GL uploads take twice as long even after assessing bandwidth and attempting to do the uploads on the local Blackbaud servers in the cloud. Its as if they did not build the environment robust enough to support the client base. There were features that simply did not work. Printing is problematic and the WebPortal for purchases and requisitions simply does not work. It fails with a web browser error. They said they fixed it as they had identified a node that was not turned up (you would have though they would have a monitoring tool to know this was the case) but this did not solve the problem in the end. Screen lockups, and crashes began to occur and yet there was no one who could effectively analyze the issues and solve the problems. We now have to roll our database back to our on premise version and search for a new solution. We will not be using Blackbaud. Their support is horrendous; forget telephone support your could be on hold for an hour or more; we were able to get on chats but that took some time as well. It was not until we started yelling and escalating that we finally got some response because the number of open incidents was ridiculous. I'm sure their bread and butter CRM and Grand management apps are probably fine but hosted Financial Edge/NXT definitely not worth the money.

Pros

None...

Cons

Product just does not work.

Raiser's Edge is a very useful tool for any Non-Profit Business owner who wants to keep track of their donation and any important contact in the database.

Pros

I like how easily it can track donors donation and give us a complete data of the earnings for the month

Cons

It would be nice if we can scan a business card and easily enable to automatically populate the person information in the system

We are a 501c3 and just started utilizing Blackbaud. Overall, we are quite impressed by the functionality. The Queries you can create from your database of contacts help to reveal crucial information about giving trends and communication updates. It's a pricey software, but the fact that they allow you contact their support directly for immediate assistance is a rarity and highly beneficial. This is why we dropped Salesforce and went to Blackbaud.

We used Financial Edge at the church I interned at in college. They had just switched over to this program and I liked it a lot, but it was very difficult for staff members who were not used to the cloud-based software. If you have a team of people who are easy to train or can adapt to a new program easily then this could make a world of difference in your church if you have used excel sheets or paper bookkeeping methods.

Pros

I loved how customizable everything is. You can create your own reports and it's easy to run them.

Cons

It's completely internet based so if you are caught without the internet you can't access the program. It's hard to make the switch from whatever programs you're using before switching to Financial Edge.

I have been using this product for several months. It is a great product, I really like it.

Pros

The product has a lot of features for fund, grant and project management which is totally necessary for our organization. The learning resources are rich, the technical support team is fabulous. Almost everyone I had talked with is very knowledgeable.

Cons

I like the import feature for any module, however the data has to be in csv file, you end up to switch from excel and csv a lot.

We are in the process of switching over to Financial Edge. This has been a quite a setup. The features that this offers for reporting are just insane! You may still need to customize a few reports but if you play with the system long enough you can manipulate what is there to work for you. The support team is amazing! They are right there to answer calls and if you are lucky enough to get a good one they might just share an email address with you.

Pros

Customer support
Upload your data input or do data entry, you can do either.
Reports are easy to use and read.
Cloud-based = work from anywhere

Cons

We had some issues but with the help of customer support we are working thru them and putting them behind us.
Set up is a little pricey but in the end, it will be worth it.

Advice to Others

Do your homework. Find out if the features in this are what you need. This may be more than you need. It may be less than you need. We are a unique group and for us we are adjusting it to fit us and our needs. In a few months, we will be pros!