Optimum Solutions HRIS (discontinued) vs. MIP Fund Accounting

I would ask myself what data am I looking to house in this system before implementing. It is a very robust system so using Optimum to say only track employee personal information such as address and phone number would be a complete under utilization. I feel Optimum is best used for keeping records on employees, training records, OSHA and workers comp

Incentivized

MIP Fund Accounting works very well for general fundraising. The form creation process is easy and allows you to set parameters and add fees, quantities, images, etc. This process is smooth on the customer (forward-facing) side as well. Reports are generated once the transactions have gone through, making tracking and reconciliation with accounting easy.

Incentivized

• The setup of Optimum HRIS was intense as the software comes as a basic shell and everything is personalized to our organization. All earnings codes, leave time, employee types, job codes, taxes, etc. are set up for each company. While this was almost overwhelming at the beginning, we have so much control over the set up and better grasp of the inner workings of the system.
• Tax updates come quickly and are easily applied. This is especially welcome at year end.
• The built-in reporting is robust and offers a lot of options, but the ability to dig in to the database using SQL and Excel allows for very powerful reports that are infinitely personalized.

• General Ledger processing, including journal entries and reports
• Ability to download all reports directly to Excel and PDF formats
• Use of Grant codes to enable grant reporting by month/quarter/year
• Ability to have multiple departments and consolidate into groups for reporting
• Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable cannot be out of balance
• Multiple ways to use the product including Cloud and Classic options, Visual menu or Standard (Top of screen) menus to select processes, many options we are not using in our simple organization

Incentivized

• When exporting reports to Excel I found the formatting to be difficult to work with and having to reformat the reports can be a nightmare. My company's IT department created its own business tools to make the reporting format more user friendly.

Incentivized

• With the payroll process, if there is an error in sending the stubs through email, there is no option to resend without a restore. That really needs to change.
• Being able to void encumbrance at the same time as a PO would be an incredible time saver.
• When processing W2 the system deletes info.

Incentivized

I give MIP a 10 because Our organization use MIP Fund Accounting ever since I've been there and that's been for over 20 plus years for all of our accounting and payroll. MIP has stayed on the cutting edge of technology, ever evolving to meet the needs of the times, especially post pandemic, while many are working remotely! MIP support staff are very knowledgeable and efficient. Even new users can get up to speed quickly with MIP Fund Accounting.

Incentivized

I don't know what it would be like in the for-profit arena, but for the non-profit arena, it is an excellent product. I love how you don't actually have to close years and are able to get information that spans over the year-end. And the grant tracking is excellent too. It is just an excellent accounting system.

Incentivized

I have rarely encountered any issues accessing MIP Fund Accounting over the years. On the rare occasions when availability was interrupted, the reasons were always found in-house when using the on-premises version. Since we have migrated to the MIP cloud, we have had no issues with availability. Any maintenance or updates are always communicated to us and are usually done outside of business hours.

Incentivized

MIP Fund Accounting is an important asset for performing search queries. If I had to do a historical search query without MIP Fund Accounting, I very well might have to pull data from three different programs, turn each piece into like-data myself, and then consolidate it all down into interpretive data. MIP Fund Accounting does it all by itself and has a wide array of ways to filter down as specifically or broadly as you want for any given query.

Incentivized

I have not reached out to MIP for technical support; however, their website offers great help resources so I can solve an issue on my own. Another team member reached out to MIP for support and was helped quickly. The transition process took longer than expected due to a lag in communication.

Incentivized

There are no specifics on what happens if you make one choice or another to know which is the best selection. This is true for JVs and AP. In training we were not given specifics of what happens when one possibility is selected over another.

Incentivized

The training with Laura was amazing. She had answered all our questions and customized the training to our needs that we are working with and trying to address using MIP accounting. The only thing I wish that could come out of the trainings was to have permanent access to the recordings of our paid trainings we received. They recordings of the training only last for a short time before it goes away which makes it hard to go back and re-watch and learn.

Incentivized

Again, I was not directly involved with the planning and setup of the software. However, I was involved in training my staff during the implementation phase. As with any software implementation, consistency of training is key and a willingness to seek out help from Customer Support helps tremendously to insure accuracy of information and training.

Incentivized

We evaluated some payroll services but found the ongoing cost greater than the initial cost of purchasing our own software and keeping the payroll process in house. Other payroll software was generally more expensive and we are satisfied with Optimum Solutions. I would say the main reason we stayed with Optimum Solutions, converting from their iSeries version to their Windows version, was because of their outstanding staff and support.

Incentivized

I've utilized other ERP accounting software like Infor, NetSuite, and MS Dynamics, to name a few. MIP Fund Accounting offers flexibility and room for growth while not being overly heavy on your team to maintain it. And, we're now learning more about the add-on's and more advanced capabilities to leverage with our team.

Incentivized

MIP is easy to install and use on my work laptop. I can still use the software when travelling for work or when working from home. It is always reliable and effective. This applies to other people on our organization as well. Employees who need access to the MIP database are able to access it from their desktop computers or laptops

Incentivized

• Optimum Solutions lets us run all our payrolls seamlessly.
• If we have any questions or problems Optimum Solutions is just a phone call or email away. The Customer Service is the best.
• With the purchase of the Employee Self Service module that will be implemented in January of 2019 we will be able to eliminate the printing, folding, and distribution of check stubs as they will be available through self service. Also W2 information will be available there as well so no re-issuing of lost W2s saving us time and money.

Incentivized

• When used, it also visibility to how we are using our allotted Government funds. It allows us to make sure we are being efficient with those dollars.
• MIP Fund Accounting allows us to be more accurate in posting expenses. It allows us to be sure of which accounts are we are posting to. We can pull those accounts in real time and make sure that our entries are having the desired effect on the accounts involved.
• MIP Fund Accounting allows accountability in that we can see who posted what, when they posted, and to which accounts they posted.

Incentivized