Excellent for non-profits, but it could be even better

Pros

The best thing is the multi-dimentional logic built into the product, which enables it to track almost any measure (P&L, Balance Sheet) across various dimensions (company, department, program, grant, restriction type, etc.) This gives you almost total flexibility to manage your organization's finances in any way you want.

Cons

My only pet peeves - none of which are deal-breakers - are:
- Lack of drill-down capabilities straight from the reports. Say you run a P&L report and want to know the details behind a certain expense figure. In QuickBooks, you can just double-click on the figure and get a detailed report of the details behind it. In MIP you are forced to run a separate Transactions report. The information can still be obtained; it just takes longer.
- No "Balance Sheet by Month" report. This is another basic report that even Quickbooks has. It's very important when you're analyzing your historical results.
- The documentation is horrible. There are no examples whatsoever. You need to know the system already in order to understand what the manuals mean to say.
- Certain reports should give you the codes along with their names. For example, a Distribution Codes report tells you that code 1125 splits costs 40% to Program 254 and 60% to Program 350. But the report doesn't tell you that code 1125 is for employee "John Do", Program 254 is "Advocacy," and Program 350 is "Shelter". You need to run a separate Chart of Accounts report and then do vlookups. This should be a really easy thing to code into the package.

Used when it was Sage

When I used this product, I did not work in the accounting department, I worked in the Warranty/Repairs Department of a construction company. However, we used this software to make notes, bill for repairs, find out when a warranty should be issued upon customer being paid in full, and communicate with the accounting department as they were in another building than our department. The invoicing feature was very straight forward and easy to use. Checking if a customer was paid in full was also easy. Making notes was also easy but the categorization of the notes could have been better. It was just a long list with no differentiation or date categorization. You just had to scroll through a giant list of notes to hopefully find what you needed to know, and hopefully someone put a name and a date by the note so you could ask them additional questions if they did not list enough detail. Switching from different screens was a little time consuming. When I used this software, there was no ability to set an action request. I'm sure by now they have changed this and made it possible to set actions or reminders for yourself or others.

Pros

Multiple users can be on the program at one time. It is relatively user friendly as long as you have basic computer knowledge.

Cons

The time it took to go from one feature to another was frustrating when you are on the phone with a customer and needed to get to several different places quickly, however, that could have been due to the number of users we had on our server at a given time. If an older person, who has limited computer knowledge were to try and use this program, they may need a training course to become comfortable using it.

Great software for mid-market non-profits

Pros

The Saas version makes it easy to implement and easy on the IT department (they don't have to do anything). It also makes it easy to access from anywhere. We moved from Blackbaud because their system was so clunky and I couldn't get financials out of it easily. With Abila, it's very easy to run a variety of financials that I can tailor to my needs. It's also very easy to drill down (not from the financial reports) to find the detail I'm looking for with links to supporting documents (i.e. invoices). The A/R, fixed asset and other modules let us keep accounting for everything in one place.

Cons

The financial reports are a bit limited in terms of showing groupings of departments without being able to show the total on the same report. It can't do monthly balance sheets on one report. And you can't enter operational/non-financial data for more comprehensive reporting.

The wait time for calling into their help center is still unacceptable (hold times of no less than 30 minutes). They know about this and, instead of fixing it, tell users to use their chat function. While their response time on chat is very fast, I hate having to type out my issues and responses. I just want to talk to a live person.

Highly functional product for a small, medium, or large non profit organization

We have used this product for many years for our business and it has served us very well. I would highly recommend it.

Pros

1. Configuration of chart of account. 2. Account code combinations to allow for control of account code usage. 3. Import/Export of data functions - We are able to import our 30,000+ lines of data for payroll entry each 2 weeks. 4. Accounts Payable EFT notifications - When we pay vendors via ACH, we set up the system so a notification is sent to the vendor each time we make a payment and it includes remittance details. 5. Administrative access controls. - Admins have the ability to control everything a user needs to see. 6. Customer support is always helpful

Cons

1. Although the import function is a huge plus, sometimes I wish we could speed up a the process for larger entries.

Good product, horrible customer service

Pros

I think the product is very good for what we need it to do. The best part is the reports feature. Once you learn to build the reports, it becomes an even better tool.

Cons

IF and when you have to call customer support, be prepared to sit on hold and listen to that music for AT LEAST 45 minutes. It does not matter what day or time I call, they are ALWAYS busy. Our implementation specialist was paid to provide a week of training. However, I had to ask her to complete our training because she rushed through it and did not even show us one of the modules that we had paid for.

Manager

I would recommend this product to any nonprofit. It has what you need for sure.

Pros

General Ledger chart of accounts setup is second to none. With the segment driven chart versus the linear style chart of accounts found in competitor products, the reporting is hands down the best I've ever seen in the industry. It also has strong audit controls for maintaining integrity within your software.

Cons

Hard to find anything I don't like about this product. I am eagerly waiting for them to bring more features to the cloud offering.

HR Specialist

Pros

I use the payroll module to process bi-weekly payroll. It is a great program as it flows into the MIP Fund Accounting software making it a breeze to reconcile accounts. The vendor is readily available to answer questions and is knowledgeable. No run around trying to find the answer or "fix".

Cons

The payroll module does not update some balances automatically. For instance, when PTO hours are entered on the timesheet, you still have to go to another tab to indicate Leave taken for the leave balance to be reduced. Also there are no restrictions on earning codes: someone could have a have several levels of PTO (due to increasing earning eligibility with tenure) and the system will recognize all. It would be beneficial if more than one rate of pay was also available. It is not in the payroll module, you must add the HR module.

A very valuable asset to our organization

Pros

This software provides local government accounting functions at a perfect level. I think the best thing about this software is it provides payroll, AP, AR, reports, budgets and fund management. The software does have other features, but buy additionally.

Cons

I think on the downside, you have to keep paying a fee annually. The software has to be updated annually. Also in Payroll, all State taxes must be downloaded to run reports.

MESSIANIC JEWISH BIBLE INSTITUTE (MJBI) is a multi-dimensional evangelistic and educational organization to people of the Jewish heritage. The MJBI's primary activities are to equip leaders who will establish Messianic Jewish congregations and ministries in Jewish communities worldwide, and to equip those leaders in their responsibility to the Jewish people through training, events, and seminars. MJBI also supports Bible schools, congregations, outreach and humanitarian aid works in Brazil, Argentina, Israel, Ethiopia, Russia, Hungary and the Ukraine. In 2006, MJBI smoothly transitioned to Sage MIP Fund Accounting to satisfy its increased activities. Sage MIP is easy to use; offers a flexible method of setting up account structures; and the ability to track the revenue and expenses by department and location. Sage MIP can produce accurate, meaningful and timely customized reports in various formats, which facilitates MJBI management and the board members to make important decisions based on our financial position. Sage MIP enabled us to perform some tasks that were previous done by the outside companies, such as budgeting and forecasting. Also, the remote access offers the convenience to access the accounting information when needed. Another good thing about Sage MIP Accounting is its Maintenance and Support Plan, which includes the online knowledgebase, unlimited e-support and telephone support. The people in its Customer Support department are very knowledgeable and can solve our problems in a professional and timely fashion. Sage MIP Accounting has been performing all financial accounting and record keeping for MJBI. The system is working so well that we have received the good comment from the auditors since we implemented it.

MIP for YOUR non-profit

I would recommend this to any non-profit to account for financials in any industry.

Pros

MIP has one of the best non-profit accounting solutions out there, with its robust reporting, multiple segmentation of accounts, and ease of reviewing history in the database.

Cons

The built in custom reporting could be a little better - but there are certainly third party softwares out there that fix this problem - for a cost.

switched from Quickbooks

Overall, I like using this system.

Pros

I really like that you can't go in and make changes to items once you post them. It's more stable than QuickBooks was regarding this matter.

Cons

Because you can't make any changes, if you make a typo it is there for ever. Would be nice if there were an edit feature just for the description.

Overall this is a good product for our not for profit.

Don't purchase any Abila product without factoring in the cost of training. Our organization did a self install & configuration and to be frank made a mess of things. Learned a costly lesson; the cost of training is well worth it.

Pros

Bolt on modules are very robust; have exceeded our expectations. Nice integration from FR50 to MIP. Easy to install in modules so you can spread the learning curve over time.

Cons

No switch to do Cash Accounting Basis-built to use Accrual Basis only. No cash forecast model built in s/w.