Evolution Payroll vs. Microsoft Dynamics GP

We have a small company with very simple needs. This software meets those needs, but it looks like it is capable of doing so much more than what we use it for. I typically use only a few screens and a few reports. It is very well suited for our needs, but I don't know the full functionality of the system due to our limited needs.

Incentivized

It does accounting really well, it does payroll not so well. I say this because when you get into states that have complicated payroll laws like California, overtime calculations are hard to setup and get right. Same goes for other states when they do out of the normal pay structure like piece rate pay. It does HR, A/P and A/R really well and we have had no issues on that side; just payroll when it comes to certain states and how we do anything that is not salary or hourly.

Incentivized

• Payroll management
• Provides accurate employees' reports
• Helps us in tracking payroll taxes

Incentivized

• User friendly interface
• Able to be extended into multiple areas of your business
• One feature we have been using for a few years is EFT for payables - it has significantly reduced the time spent paying vendors and reduced our check printing and mailing costs. It is very easy to setup and use.

Incentivized

• One problem it has is if you try to cut multiple checks for a person (sometimes) it creates an error which requires assistance from the processor to get it straightened out.
• You need to pay close attention when reviewing prior to submitting. Sometimes if you think you saved something it might not have saved it and if you don't catch it before you submit, it requires assistance to get corrected up to and including voiding a check and re-issuing.
• In my opinion, it's somewhat expensive. I have been looking at other providers who would use a different system, and they seem to be significantly cheaper. That may not be a direct correlation to the software but to the provider.
• I don't know if it is capable of allowing a user to create new reports, but if it doesn't, that would be something to consider as a missing functionality.
• I haven't found an area that allows for tracking pay increases. We simply overwrite a persons rate of pay when we give a raise, so there is no tracking of the date a raise was given or a comparison showing what they made prior to or when the last raise was given. (That I am aware of).

Incentivized

• Having an integration between Project Accounting and Field Service would be amazing! There are so many companies that have service technicians that perform work on a customer's contract but also have a need for project accounting functionality within that customer's contract. Right now those modules are separate so you either need to use one or duplicate some efforts if you need to use both.
• Microsoft Dynamics GP could do a better job documenting their new enhancements to the product. They realize great enhancements but the documentation about them, or new products, is lacking so it is difficult as a consultant to know everything a new feature can do for me and my customers.
• They could enhance their forecasting capabilities with a new forecasting tool within Management Reporter.

Incentivized

Evolution is provided by our current third party payroll processor. We are currently considering changing processors, because of increased prices and competition is priced significantly lower.

Incentivized

Due the economic challenges that Puerto Rico is having, the company has had to merge some companies in order to be more efficient. It has been easy in GP to process those merges, even thought we had to spend days to accomplish that the process was smooth and accurate. In addition we were able to streamline the purchasing and sales process and the organization is confident to keep renewing GP for the future versions.

Incentivized

Overall usability of the older model is not quite so user friendly for the basic bookeeper, but at an accountants level we can generate all the necessary reports and create Sales Orders, Purchase orders and invoices - though it is a bit redundant to enter the sales and purchase orders separately instead of being able to convert a sales order directly to a puchase order by applying a price book like the newer versions can.

Incentivized

The rating is directed to the thrid party serive provider that we use. I do not now how good the Microsoft direct support is.

Incentivized

Basically the challenge with this implementation was the Business Portal, too many errors and even the aplication is up and running the users are still having issues. We will start planning the migraton to GP 2015 soon.

Incentivized

The ease of integration of Evolution Payroll with other essential platforms makes it a reliable and unique software for us. This software also distinguishes itself from others because it is easy to use and affordable. It has high-quality features that work very well for us when it comes to payroll management.

Incentivized

Because GP doesn't do CRM we have looked at D365 Customer Engagement for our field service, and F&O as a replacement. Vaporware, no direct upgrade path, and if you want to continue with GP for your back office and just use Field Service it's an insanely complex integration import/export. D365 F&O is a huge implementation cost, and without a direct migration path every bit of data has to be custom imported. There really is no straightforward way to stack up GP against these programs currently. Again, the future of GP is in some doubt.

Incentivized

The functionality that GP and related ISV solutions offer and the ease of integration of GP to other systems makes it an extremely scalable solution

Incentivized

• Accuracy is one amazing thing I love about Evolution Payroll.
• It collects data from other systems to make payroll management excellent
• It is affordable and reliable

Incentivized

• If implemented properly, the product can save many hours of data entry time - specifically by setting up integrations of large data sets.
• Many times the underlying business process must be adjusted to accommodate software limitations. By being flexible, a company can leverage their users' skills in combination with GP to make data entry faster and more efficient. I have seen many companies eliminate the need for data entry personnel as well as reallocate employee hours to more skilled positions such as reporting and analytics.
• Poor implementations, on the other hand, can cause employees to hate their jobs and the software. This isn't specific to GP but to the software industry in general.

Incentivized