| FundEZ Acounting Software Review |
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| Written by Scott Koegler | ||||||||
| Wednesday, 29 August 2007 10:01 | ||||||||
least expensive of the fund accounting applications that includes such a wide array of features. The program achieves its goal by masking much of the complexity associated with accounting programs behind an intuitive user interface. The interface itself is rather unusual, with a menu bar across the top of an otherwise empty page, and a set of function buttons along the right side of the page. The function buttons serve as shortcuts to frequently used menu items that are two or three levels deep, providing quick access to these functions.
The program can be purchased as a single user application with additional licenses for more users. The single user program sells for $695 and can be installed on a stand alone computer. Converting to multi-user is as simple as moving the program's folder (it also contains the data) to a folder on a shared drive on server and installing the proper license key that supports the number of users needed. I like the simplicity of the approach to both the program, the interface, and the pricing structure. In Use While setting up a chart of accounts is one of those "have to do" tasks, FundEZ uses a simplified approach by predefining the segments of the account code as a starting point. In some ways this is less flexible than some free-form numbering schemes that allow multiple segments with multiple lengths. On the other hand, the company has done a nice job of pre-thinking about the ways accounts are used, particularly in a fund accounting environment. In addition to the basic account number, the system has three columns designated as Cc1, Cc2, and Cc3. These are essentially cost centers that are used to segment the accounts into categories. The function can be duplicated in different ways in other programs, but in FundEZ, each Cc is drop-down list that when selected acts as a filter, displaying only those account lines that are included in that cost center. The columns are presented in any of the various reports available in FundEZ. I found the reporting function to be nearly instantaneous, and the reports themselves nicely formatted. I was able to use the Cc selectors to narrow down the report so I could look at only the information I wanted to deal with. And by selecting multiple Ccs (one in Cc1, one in Cc2, and one in Cc3) I could see only those line items that applied to the selection. The reports are interactive in that double-clicking on any line item opened a display of the next level of detail. And by continuing to drill down into the data, I was ultimately able to view (and mortify if I had the right user credentials) the transactions that made up the line item. FundEZ allows for easy export of its data, like most other accounting applications. But what I particularly liked about FundEZ's approach was the ability to export the report. That's very different from being able to export the data that makes up the report (though you can do that too) because the information in the report has already been calculated. So, you can export a year to date budget comparison to Microsoft Excel, where you can then work on the report data rather than recreating the report yourself from raw data. In addition to exporting to Excel, FundEZ's optional data access module allows you to treat any of the system's reports as if they were Microsoft Access data tables. I was able to use the system's wizard to select the data in much the same way Access' report builder walks through the report generation process allowing me to select and sort the information I needed. For organizations wanting to be able to analyze and review their financial data in their own ways, FundEZ's DAC module is the ticket. Overview There is much more to FundEZ's application suite. In fact, the current version includes the company's fund raising module as well as all of what I would call "standard accounting applications." The exception is payroll, for which the company recommends using a service like Paychex or ADP. I was impressed with the way the company has made its program simple to use, yet still able to handle the complex accounting demands of the nonprofit. Advantages Low initial price Powerful reporting and data analysis Multiple modules included Easy upgrade to multi user Training videos available online at no charge Disadvantages Annual support costs can be high | ||||||||
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About the Author: Kurt Martin is a Founder and Group Publisher of Progressive Media Group (PMG) and the Publisher of Nonprofit Technology News. During his 4 years as Publisher of The NonProfit Times, he grew the imprint from a single newspaper to a community of websites, online job boards, email newsletters and digital editions of the print editions. Prior to taking the role of Publisher he was the East Coast Sales Manager for Broad Daylight, Inc. a knowledgebase company. He also held management roles in advertising and ciruclation sales at American Banker/Bond Buyer (Thomson), Faulkner & Grey (Thomson) and SourceMedia (Investcorp.) Kurt graduated from Montclair State University with a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration. |
