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Microsoft Great Plains Solomon
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North America Product Comparison Guide

The following comparison guide lists some key differences between the business solutions for North America companies.

Customer for Life Positioning:

Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting is a new, comprehensive, easy to use financial management program that is a pivotal component of a new Microsoft Office Edition for small businesses. It brings the ease of use of Office to accounting, offers deeper Office integration, and when used with Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager, provides robust contact management functionality. Specifically, small business owners will be able to get a complete view of their business to help them manage their business finances, save time and minimize errors, build stronger customer relationships by delivering better customer service and capturing sales opportunities, and provide employees with the tools they need to be successful. 

Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Financials North America Edition is an affordable, flexible solution that connects the people, information, and processes that help you manage your business more effectively.  Easy to set up, customize, and use, it helps you increase productivity, make informed decisions, and improve business performance.

Microsoft Business Solutions-Great Plains Standard is an integrated, world-class financial and business management solution, packaged for affordability and ease of installation. It enables small and midmarket companies to record, track, and access the information they need to take their business to the next level.

Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains Professional is a broad-based, integrated solution for financial management, business analytics, e-commerce, supply chain management, manufacturing, project accounting, field service, customer relationship management, retail management, and human resource management. Microsoft Great Plains provides superior integration to other Microsoft products and technologies, efficient customization capabilities, the ability to extend functionality with tailored industry solutions, and exceptional service and support from Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partners.

Good Candidates for Professional:

Unlimited Number of Users: Great Plains Professional offers companies that need more than 10 concurrent users and more than 500 active employees an unlimited amount of user’s access to data at the same time.

Additional Security Enhancements: User-defined access levels that can be set, so people see only the information they need and nothing else. This has helped SQL Server 2000 achieve the coveted C2 rating from the National Security Agency.

Advanced Distribution Capabilities: Large organizations can streamline the pick/pack/ship cycle, tailor workflow processes to their organizations with the advanced distribution, advanced picking and improve customer service with available to promise functionality.


Extensive Manufacturing Needs: When companies need to customize production and planning to a highly granular level through forecasting and scheduling, or Demand Planner.

Advanced Analytics: Manage complex, distributed reporting requirements with Enterprise Reporting or advanced components of FRx Professional.

Manage Complex Field Service Operations: Higher levels of profitability and customer satisfaction. Nine powerful modules integrate essential accounting, distribution, and service processes to increase technician productivity, reduce overhead, and open up new revenue opportunities while focusing on what’s important — your customer.

Flexible expense management: eExpense is only available with Great Plains Professional and automates expense processing, reduces IT administration and controls expense for larger companies.

Good Candidates for Standard:

“Larger” business, strong growth path: Small Business Financials offers up to 10 concurrent users, up to 500 employees in Payroll, no access to Business Portal, single warehouse, no multi-bin, no landed cost – all functions that may be needed by a larger or strongly growing company, but may not be needed in the near term by smaller companies with more Small Business Financials needs.

Business Insight: Utilize Business Portal functionality in a web based environment allowing real-time views that include HR Self-Service, Key Performance Indicators, Requisition Management, Project Time and Expense and customizable web parts.

Robust Industry Standard Tools: Leverage the latest industry standard technologies such as Visual Small Business Financials objects, stored procedures, BizTalk AIC adapters, COM integration, MSMQ utilization, and XML documents

General Manufacturing/Distribution: Microsoft Small Business Financials offers light functionality in distribution; more robust distribution and light manufacturing is available in Standard.

Not-For-Profit Organizations: Capabilities designed to help charities, churches, arts organizations, and other not-for-profit groups adhere to regulations and controls, manage grants and budgets proactively, and improve efficiencies for accounting processes.

Project/HR: Not available for Small Business Financials – clear candidates for Standard.

Multicurrency/Multi-country/Multi-language: Not available for SBF – clear candidates for Standard.

Clearly a “Professional” candidate, but trying to get by on a restricted budget: If it’s clear that your prospect should be using Great Plains Professional, but they’re hoping to keep their investment to a minimum, get them started on Great Plains Standard and begin showing them the value they can achieve by expanding their systems with you.

Good Candidates for Small Business Financials:

Budget Conscious: While Small Business Financials can start at a very low price point, and Microsoft Great Plains Standard can run slightly higher than this, if you have a prospect who absolutely is not interested in spending more than a few thousand dollars for their system, they might be a good candidate for Microsoft Small Business Financials.

“Small Business Financials” needs: Microsoft Small Business Financials is a powerful, affordable, easy-to-use system that intentionally eliminates many of the more “complex” functions which may not be needed by the small and growing business. If you have a prospect who clearly does not need all the extras available with Great Plains Standard and Professional, Microsoft Small Business Financials will be a much better fit for them.

“Easy to use” is key: Microsoft Small Business Financials offers setup wizards, A/P check wizards, A/R statement wizards, predefined aging buckets, a simpler account structure format, with lots and lots of the complexity “turned off,” making Microsoft Small Business Financials much easier to implement, use and support.

Good Candidates for Small Business Accounting:

All in One Solution: The new Microsoft Office Edition provides small businesses with a single, integrated solution, combining familiar Office 2003 programs, an updated version of Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager and Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting, a new financial management program.

Easy to Set Up, Easy to Use: Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting is easy to install, set-up and use because it is based on the familiar Microsoft Office user interface.  Small Businesses can install and start using Small Business Accounting without any help from a technical or financial advisor.

Small Business Accounting Includes:

  • Core accounting functionality, general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, bank reconciliation, fixed assets, inventory management

  • Quotes, sales orders, invoices, purchase orders

  • Job tracking

  • Payroll services, banking, and credit card processing

  • Reporting

Microsoft Small Business Financials Includes:*

  • System Manager, Report Writer, FRx, Crystal Reports 9.0 Standard

  • General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Bank Reconciliation, Fixed Assets

  • Payroll, Direct Deposit, Magnetic Media, ADP integration

  • SOP, POP, Inventory

  • Integration with Microsoft-RMS

Great Plains Standard Includes:

  • Multi-language, Multi-currency

  • Multidimensional Analysis, Collections Management, Electronic Funds, Analytical Accounting, Intercompany

  • Transfer, Cash Flow Management

  • Interfund Accounting, Control Account Management, Encumbrance Management, Commitments, and Grant Management

  • Bill of Materials, Invoicing, Landed Cost

  • Business Portal

  • Crystal Reports 9.0 Professional

  • Human Resources, Project Accounting

  • eConnect, Integration Manager, Modifier with VBA

Great Plains Professional Includes:

  • Advanced Distribution, Advanced Picking, Available to Promise, Demand Planner, Extended Pricing, Landed Cost, PO Generator, other “high-end” distribution functionality

  • eOrder and eExpense

  • Enterprise Reporting, FRx Forecaster and advanced FRx functionality

  • Sales Forecasting, Master Production Scheduling, Capacity Requirements Planning, Sales Configurator, Quality Assurance and Job Costing

  • Field Service

  • Account Level Security and Field Level Security

Note: This is not intended to be a complete list of functionality differences – please review the Microsoft Small Business Financials to Great Plains Feature comparison document for full details.

 

  Office Small Business Accounting MBS Small Business Financials  Great Plains Standard Great Plains Professional
System        
Maximum number of users Up to 5 concurrent users accessing the data at the same time Supports an unlimited number of users, with a maximum of 10 concurrent users accessing the data at the same time Supports an unlimited number of users, with a maximum of 10 concurrent users accessing the data at the same time Supports an unlimited number of users accessing the data at the same time
Database Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 Desktop Engine (2 gigabyte database maximum per company)

Support for Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (service pack 3a or later)

No database limit		 Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 Desktop Engine (2 gigabyte database maximum per company) Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (service pack 3a or later)

No database limit

 Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 Desktop Engine – service pack 3a or later (2 gigabyte database maximum per company)

Microsoft Small Business Server Standard 2003 (2 gigabyte database maximum per company)

Microsoft Small Business Server Premium 2003 (no database limit)

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (service pack 3a or later)

No database limit		 Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 (service pack 4 or later) 

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (service pack 3a or later)

No database limit
Login Integrated Windows Login Auto Login Required Login Required Login 
Backup and Restore Built-in backup and restore feature Built-in backup and restore feature Built-in backup and restore feature Built-in backup and restore feature
Security Includes the ability to grant access to modules/tasks by role (ie. Administrator, owner, Office Manager, Accountant) Includes the ability to grant or deny access to windows for each user either by entire module or by specific task Includes the ability to grant or deny access to forms, windows, fields, and programs Includes the ability to grant or deny access to forms, windows, fields, and programs
Currency Single Currency Single Currency;

US or Canadian

 Multicurrency available  Multicurrency available 
User Classes Not Available Not Available Includes the ability to set up user classes and assign new users to specific classes, reducing effort and time spent to set up new user records Includes the ability to set up user classes and assign new users to specific classes, reducing effort and time spent to set up new user records
Posting Pre-defined setup sends single transaction posting directly through to the general ledger. This is transparent to the end user. Pre-defined setup sends batch/single transaction posting directly through to the general ledger, with the exception of payroll batches that post to the general ledger User-defined, optional setup supports batch posting “To” or “Through” to the general ledger; single transactions post to the general ledger User-defined, optional setup supports batch posting “To” or “Through” to the general ledger; single transactions post to the general ledger
Reminders Window The Dashboard surfaces reminders for common tasks and business alerts. Opens by default upon launch; organizes documents and tasks assigned by one or more users by due date Opens by default upon launch; organizes documents and tasks assigned by one or more users by due date Opens by default upon launch; organizes documents and tasks assigned by one or more users by due date
Letter Writing Wizard Wizard for writing customer, vendor or employee letters. Ability to use customized Word templates. Guided process for  generating custom letters for vendor, customer, and employee mailings  Guided process for  generating custom letters for vendor, customer, and employee mailings  Guided process for  generating custom letters for vendor, customer, and employee mailings 
Setup Wizards Guided processes assist with setting up company, fiscal period, and account information Guided processes assist with setting up company, fiscal period, and account information No wizard. Includes comprehensive, user-defined setup features and functionality No wizard. Includes comprehensive, user-defined setup features and functionality
Integration to MapPoint Not Available with SBA but available with BCM Available Available Available
Integration with Microsoft Small business Services Integration with ListBuilder and BCM (Not SBA) Services Bundle includes ListBuilder and Appointment Manager Integration with Small Business Manager. Retail Bundle includes Commerce Manager and List Builder integration to Small Business Manager  Not available Not available
SmartTag Integration Not available Not available Available Available
Window Messenger Integration Not available Available Not available Not available
General Ledger        
Number of GL accounts Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Accounts Maximum 127 characters. Single level sub-account Maximum: 25 characters, 5 segments(Financial accounts only) Maximum: 66 characters, 10 segments (Financial and Statistical accounts) Maximum: 66 characters, 10 segments (Financial and Statistical accounts)
Unit Accounts Not available Not available Unit accounts can be used to track non-financial data Unit accounts can be used to track non-financial data
Fixed/Variable Allocation Accounts Not available Fixed Allocation accounts can be used to track financial data, but not Variable Allocation accounts Fixed and Variable Allocation accounts can be used to track financial data Fixed and Variable Allocation accounts can be used to track financial data
Account Alias Not available Not available An Account Alias for each account number can be defined, to assist in searching for a particular account An Account Alias for each account number can be defined, to assist in searching for a particular account
Cash Flow Calendar Full featured robust cash flow tool that shows current cash flow situation as well as the ability to carry out “What If” scenarios.  View the current month, jump from month to month, or enter a specific date to view current cash balances and predict future inflows and outflows View the current month, jump from month to month, or enter a specific date to view current cash balances and predict future inflows and outflows View the current month, jump from month to month, or enter a specific date to view current cash balances and predict future inflows and outflows
Miscellaneous Checks Ability to write checks directly  Ability to write checks directly from Bank Reconciliation Not available Not available
Payroll        
Employees No hard limit, but solution is positioned to support <25 employees  Includes the ability to set up an unlimited number of employees, with system support for up to 100 active employees per company; purchase additional blocks of employees as needed up to 500 employees Includes the ability to set up an unlimited number of employees, with system support for up to 500 active employees per company Includes the ability to set up an unlimited number of employees
Workers Compensation Includes Workers Compensation functionality Includes Workers Compensation functionality Includes Workers Compensation functionality Includes Workers Compensation functionality
Payroll Setup Includes guided payroll setup features Includes guided payroll setup features Includes user-defined setup features and functionality Includes user-defined setup features and functionality
Shift Differentials Not available Not available Available Available
Human Resources        
Number of employees No hard limit, but solution is positioned to support <25 employees  Includes the ability to set up an unlimited number of employees, with system support for up to 100 active employees per company; purchase additional blocks of employees as needed up to 500 employees Includes the ability to set up an unlimited number of employees, with system support for up to 500 active employees per company Includes the ability to set up an unlimited number of employees
Applicant Management Not Available Not Available Available Available
Employee Management Available through Payroll Available through Payroll Available Available
Core HR functionality Not Available Not Available Available Available
Employee and Manager Self Service Not Available Not Available Available for an equal number of HR or Payroll employee users up to 500 limit Available; includes unlimited employee users
Project        
Number of Projects and Contracts Not Available Not Available Unlimited Unlimited
Time and Expense Management Not Available Not Available Available Available
Billing Not Available Not Available Available Available
Payables