MIP Fund Accounting vs. QuickBooks Desktop Pro

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

I am only going to recommend it because it is currently ubiquitous, and most accountants prefer it at the moment. I do not stand by the company, and will not use the product any longer than I have to. [I believe] the support is lousy, the product is overpriced, but it does the basics of what we need. I'm very happy for all those outside Intuit who make their living supporting QuickBooks Desktop Pro; third-party support is desperately needed. They also doubled their prices for software upgrades this year, and require those who don't pay double what the last upgrade cost, to subscribe every year for $200. If one does not subscribe beyond the first year, one will not be able to use the software beyond the first year. They are moving to a rental model even for those who refuse to use the LOUSY QuickBooks online. They were good company once. Now they just turn out bloatware that everyone uses, so the rest of us have to. I look forward to the day that an honest, better-priced competitor wipes the floor with Intuit.

Incentivized

• 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

• It is easy to manage and adjust inventory on hand.
• It is easy to make reports and customize them to your needs.
• We also use it to pay our employees directly.
• It is easy to make year-to-year comparisons to see where we can make improvements and the current financial situation.

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

• QuickBooks Desktop Pro has been around for a few years and after an update[,] they force you to look at the changes/updates before you can use [them] after updating.
• QuickBooks Desktop Pro does not have 2FA.
• QuickBooks Desktop Pro should offer a way to store backups to a personal cloud without having to map a local network drive.

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

We use it with all our clients and have several QuickBooks Pro Advisors and will renew and continue to use it with our client base. It is easy to use, helps with collecting annual data and makes compiling of information for filing annual tax returns much easier. It makes our job a lot easier, than using manual records.

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

QuickBooks Desktop Pro can be daunting at first. It has the ability to do nearly everything you will ever need in accounting but that means there are a lot of features to learn. It's always best to have an experienced user to guide you with the initial setup as it can be a bit overwhelming.

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

I haven't experienced a time when QuickBooks Pro was unavailable when I needed it in the entire 20 years of using the software

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

I was a BIG fan of QuickBooks support for a very long time up until recently. The representatives were well trained and wanted to solve your problem for you, as a human, not as just a customer. In my recent experiences I feel as though that is no longer so. My last conversation was appalling. The representative only read the narrative provided over and over and would not send me on to a supervisor. Finally I hung up and called back. On this try, I was passed from department to department. I was not presented with a solution until I posted a rant on their Facebook page. It amazes me that I had to publicly complain to get results.

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

Best thing I ever did was to attend a two day training seminar on QuickBooks, I learned an immense amount in a short time with hands on training by experts. I strongly recommend such training for anyone using any part of the software. It will pay for itself in the first month.

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 implemented the software ourselves. The training we received on the software was done by taking a community course teaching us how to use QuickBooks. It allowed me to get started with some basics of how to use the program and have not needed much assistance since completing the course work.

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

Quickbooks Desktop Pro is much simple and easier to use, so it fits better to the ticket of our small non-profit organization needs. The other options are either, or both, more pricy and complicated. For example, the implementation for QuickBooks Desktop Pro was simple enough for me to do so in-house with training courses available and phone calls to a customer service representative or implementation expert accessible.

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

• 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

• Clean and accurate bookkeeping records [have] made reporting and sharing information with tax accountants a breeze.
• Invoicing out of QB is a bit slow and time-consuming[,] unfortunately, so we were forced to choose another software to integrate.
• A great way to have all accounting needs in one place - AP, AR, Reporting, etc.

Incentivized