Microsoft Dynamics SL (Formerly Solomon) Software

Pros

Dynamics SL works best for small to medium size organizations. The software is able to do what you need--budgets, forecasting, local and web-base analytics, etc. While it has many features, we have designated a main person on our team to be the expert and then help teammates along the way as the software is bulky and can be very confusing up front.

Cons

This software comes with a big learning curve. Don't expect to get started on your projects right away with this tool as you'll need to do significant training to understand the benefits before use.

Pros

It is a user-friendly software where you can familiarize the functions/tasks easily with lesser supervision.

Cons

So far I can't remember anything that I could say the least likeable about this product/software.

Pros

What I like about this product is it’s ease of use and capabilities, very helpful for my business and it is interactive

Cons

In my opinion I think it is a little bit pricy, costs too much to make it fully functional. But nonetheless it is good.

Investigate NetSuite. I've heard it's better.

Pros

-The biggest pro with Dynamics SL is the interchange functionality with Excel. Exports from Dynamics SL to Excel have the formulas pre-written, and the formatting isn't great but isn't crazy. Copy and paste a journal entry from Excel to the GL!!! Yes please!
-Subledgers are abundant.
-Useful and simple multicompany reporting.
-Good for project-based accounting I guess.

Cons

Where to start? CASH MANAGER AND BANK RECONCILIATIONS. The biggest thing that drives me crazy about Dynamics SL is that users can enter an accounting event, say a check, where the check date is different than the transaction date and both are different than the post date. In other words, there is no control function over periods!!!! One transaction could impact three different periods. Go back to the check example, where a check cut on July 1 could have a period post of June 30 and a transaction date of August 1. The check shows in the GL in June, Cash manager in August, and AP aging and reports in July. Absolutely horrible control for an ACCOUNTING system.
-Not user friendly or simple to use. My staff all have over a year experience and still don't know where certain things are in the system.
-Requires a lot of third-party support, which piles on the consulting fees in addition to the fees paid for annual maintenance to Microsoft.
-DSLUG [Dynamics SL user group] doesn't seem very user friendly either. My guess is that most outstanding organizations are on different software.

I suppose there are a lot of "hidden tricks" which make you valuable if you know the system inside and out, but since most users can't just pick it up off the street [even with an accounting background], they end up paying a lot to the consultants.

Pros

Provides the necessary tools to process a service dispatch function. Have been using Dynamics SL since 2005 and at that time, it was one of the best available software that had the service dispatch module along with the accounting software. We also had a local dealer that helped us implement.

Cons

Has not kept up with changing times. Not sure how much Microsoft spend in research and development of Dynamic SL to stay current with changing technology. You have to access various screens to view information that should be available with a click. The service invoices are not connected to payroll, inventory, or purchasing. There are constant bugs in the software that we have to get a third party to fix.

This is a real accounting system, if you've got people who have never used anything but Quickbooks, you're in for a big mess! If you've got real accountants and not bookkeepers, you will be VERY pleased with this product.

Pros

It interfaces with our purchase order software (Sapphire Build) and gives us the detailed job cost we were lacking from our old accounting software.

Cons

It is not very user friendly. Training is almost non existent for it, and it isn't a widely used software.

Pros

Microsoft Dynamics SL is easy to use and provides an adequate foundation for keeping track of due dates and deadlines.

Cons

Microsoft Dynamics SL is fairly expensive for what you get. For the money spent on the software, it should have more capabilities.

Microsoft Project Management software has pretty much had a market monopoly for many years in terms of powerful functionality. However, the choices have become more diverse without sacrificing powerful management features. Also, I have found other applications much more user-friendly with ongoing training support & superior customer service.

Pros

Functionality

Cons

Complex, not user friendly, low level of customer service, expensive.

Good product. Have been using it for 17+ years.

Pros

user friendly

Cons

located on a server rather than online

Advice to Others

understand what you want it to accomplish before you set it up because some of the parameters are hard to change once you have started using them.

Microsoft Dynamic focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Service (help desk) sectors. SL focuses on professional services which are really nice. It's reasonably easy to learn and navigate, all while providing excellent data and reporting tools. It doesn't seem to be as flexible or customizable as Salesforce, but still a very nice option.

Pros

I like the integration with Office 365.

Cons

It's flexibility.

Advice to Others

Certainly worth checking out and taking a test drive.

Dynamics SL is a solid product that is very dependable and flexible to our needs. It has helped accommodate our growth and expansion for years into other geographies and with new applications.

Pros

It is dependable, agile, able to integrate with almost any other solution in our IT footprint and intuitive.

Cons

While it handle's 90% of our business, need to rely on some ISV's to accommodate. They generally work very well together - just another thing to manage.

Advice to Others

Dynamics SL (Solomon) has been around since the 90's and is a trusted and proven product. Just need to find a solid consultant to help stand it up.

Overall, this is a quality product. It has a lot of optionality and can be used to execute most of your given business needs.

Pros

Once you learn how to navigate the software, everyday use is pretty straightforward

Cons

I wouldn't say it is the best when it comes to interacting with other systems

Advice to Others

Take a step back and list out the needs of your organization before making a decision on which product to use

This is a great product for accounts receivable, accounts payable and general ledger. Not quite great for fund accounting, we have to twist it to work for us to manage the project, fund etc.

Pros

Easy to use, works very well with Microsoft excel. You can copy/paste from Excel to Dynamic for some of the data entry which is so convenient. Customer service staff are very experienced and helpful.

Cons

Reporting is a weakness. I have to work between Dynamic and Excel to manually generate financial statements.

Advice to Others

You have to understand what you are really looking for in terms of functionality. Do your homework.

This system is very easy to use in a menu driven sort of way. It has good features and not so good features. Hopefully, they are working on a fix for the not so good.

Pros

Menu-driven, easy.

Cons

Reports need to be customized, not able to do some year-end reports so you have to do those manual.

Advice to Others

DO your research. This could be your best option.

I have used this product for over 10 years and have been very satisfied with an excellent business tool.

Pros

Ease of Use and Interface capabilities.

Cons

Learning curve.

Advice to Others

Excellent choice very cost effective.

I have used this system for over ten years. The system is fairly easy to use.

Pros

I like the accuracy of the reports you can run within this system.

Cons

I hate when batches get stuck in unreleased mode or manual checks don't post to vendor history.

Advice to Others

Fully train your employees and have a great Customer service support system.

Very easy and user-friendly it has a very good layout and setup is easy.

Pros

Setup

Cons

Startup time

It is user friendly. It is easy to use and very helpful.

My experience has been mixed with this platform. It does the GL accounting part fairly well. IT has limited functionality in terms of effective project management. The system reports are very basic requiring extensive external data manipulation and custom report writing. It's a reasonably priced solution.

Pros

- Low Total Cost of Ownership
- Ease of implementation
- Reasonable GL accounting module

Cons

- PM capabilities are very limited
- Canned system reports are limited
- Multi-currency financials are challenging requiring third party solutions.

Advice to Others

- Works reasonably well for limited deployment of 1 currency GL accounting function.
- the ecosystem of support involving consultants for report writing, maintenance, upgrades is still evolving.
- Low Cost of ownership
- Quick time to Value.

Love it works better then any of them out there it's a ease to handle lays outs payroll, time sheets .