Adaptability for a growing business: Microsoft Dynamics 365 vs Quickbooks
In recent times, new-age startups are offering serious competition to well-established counterparts, disrupting the so-called well proven ways of conducting business. In such a level and open playing field, both SMB’s and large enterprises need to shake off traditional shackles and embrace agility. Finances and accounting were traditionally separate functions for a few specialized office personnel up until recent times. Software applications such as Quickbooks were rightfully designed to support and augment experts handle their day-to-day work.
The needs of modern enterprises go much farther than simply requiring excellent accounting software. With the advent of cloud computing and the plethora of intelligent automation services that come with it, companies require holistic software applications that can connect all departments and facets of the organization into a seamless blend . There are new-age robust cloud ERP systems that can handle all aspects of financial management – beyond accounting, from integrated payroll, payment processing to even customer analytics. Choosing the right software for this task can help startups grow exponentially. Two of the competing players involved accounting are Quickbooks and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. But which of these is better for your business?
You don’t need to change it when you expand, do you?
The constant fluidity of small and medium-sized businesses makes it necessary for the software packages they use to adjust to their changing needs. This means using compact, user-friendly and accessible platforms that would not have to be replaced by other packages when a business expands. SMBs go through unpredictable changes, flowing with market trends, and a good ERP software must be capable of such flexibility.
Quickbooks is primarily suited for micro-businesses. It thus has limited prospects for SMBs and other enterprises. It has restricted reporting options and less satisfactory customer insights which could limit a growing business. Because of its weaker security, it is potentially ineffective against the threats and digital attacks that bigger companies are susceptible to. This means that any business using Quickbooks would have to switch to another software after crossing a certain threshold or become vulnerable to these risks.
This is where , Dynamics Business Central can be tailored to specific business requirements. Previously known as Dynamics NAVISION, it has several unique features, that make it potent enough to equip companies with the tools they need to succeed. It has both on-premises as well as cloud SaaS deployment flavours for the ERP needs of any organization. It’s scalable, which means it can adapt to small, big, and even large enterprises as the demands change.
MS Dynamics vs Quickbooks – cutting-edge vs legacy!
MS stack offers ERP integration on a single platform. It offers a comprehensive financial management system and cuts across all functions such as supply chain management, business auditing, customer insights, and sales trends, etc.
Quickbooks is traditional accounting system that has grown smarter over the years, yet is limited and myopic in its offerings. One of the prime reasons is that Microsoft has deep knowledge of enterprise software and understands the interconnected needs of software across an organization due to its decades of experience. Office 365 is perhaps the best suite of products for the users of any company. Add to that the seemingly endless list of offerings integrated on the cloud, backed by Microsoft’s own Azure Cloud ecosystem – it is imperative that an ERP system from Microsoft would naturally extend all its capabilities into one single conglomerate, backed by seamless data flow. Quickbooks loses this depth and breadth of offerings, since it has been developed as an accounting system and then augmented other aspects of financial management. No wonder then that companies who use it eventually look elsewhere when they expand.
Let the software keep track!
An important aspect of business is time management. The Dynamics GP platform has state-of-the-art scheduling ability, allowing quick arrangement of appointments and meetings for employees and professionals. Its diverse range of abilities helps all kinds of organizations, from those that need to arrange many on-call meetings with customers to smaller ones that want to delegate low-level scheduling to an application. Business Central helps you get access to the GP capabilities automatically. Since Quickbooks cannot handle scheduling beyond a small range, it cannot assist larger businesses in meeting the stringent punctuality standards set by consumers.
Convenience is paramount to productivity!
Business Central Integration provides convenience, because the single sign-on portal makes integrating with Microsoft applications such as MS Office possible, thus centralizing data in one place and rendering organizing a simple task. In this way, Dynamics 365 uses seamless integration to bring finance control under the Microsoft products family, creating connectivity to the Microsoft 365 suite. This is something Quickbooks cannot provide, simply because it is not backed by the gamut of services that are available by Microsoft.
The power of knowing, right then and there!
MS Dynamics Business Central offers outstanding functionality when it comes to user insights. Its data-driven approach to reporting on customer feedback is a proactive way to ensure that a business stays on top of the latest market trends. It can give an optimized overview of customer trends and uses advanced AI to predict products that will succeed in the market. For the longevity of any business, such detailed reporting is invaluably important. When integrated with cloud backed by Power BI and state-of-the art reporting tools, it equips businesses with real-time analytics, both for the customer insights and internal business data analysis needs. Quickbooks does not have nearly the same level of analytical capability, due to being primarily focused on micro-businesses and unable to furnish companies with a bird’s-eye view of the market. It is capable of only a snapshot analysis of past performance of sales for instance.
Predictive and prescriptive – The AI advantage!
In supply chain management, there are two kinds of maintenance: reactive break fix and predictive proactive management. The first quickly becomes tedious, because it involves fixing issues after they have occurred. Microsoft Dynamics AX has the ability to reduce problems proactively. By collecting performance information from the ground, companies can develop efficient management plans that prevent common problems from occurring. This process reduces the cost that would otherwise be spent in calling technicians and experts to fix rookie mistakes. AI and ML solutions from Azure at automatically available to Dynamics 365 Business Central to use predictive business intelligence. Think business profitability, sales predictions, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities and all available in a real-time up-to-date dashboard. Quickbooks does not have such AI capabilities to provide such large-scale automated management prediction. Also, to add those enhancements, a company will need to invest in each customization/extension and in turn inculcate higher costs with lesser flexibility.
Unused inventory is money blocked. Can you see the bottlenecks?
An important need for business is efficient inventory management. Businesses need to approach the sourcing, stocking and selling of inventory in a systematic manner. With a micro-business aimed software like Quickbooks, overseeing multiple inventory articles across a multitude of locations or warehouses is particularly hard.
Microsoft Dynamics Business Central helps streamline storage facilities. Order fulfilment can be guaranteed by fixing any issues that are detected by the predictive AI algorithms upfront. This method ensures total visibility throughout the inventory process and satisfies product consumers by decreasing the time the process takes otherwise.
Engaged employees are happy ones that make business grow!
Who would have thought that a finance management software can be a great HR employee engagement tool as well? If employee morale is low or if employee performance is not up to par, businesses are bound to fail. A thriving workplace is one of the chief tenets of a successful business.
The Business Central extends into the Dynamics 365 suite, also serving as a human resource management software. It is data-driven and rife with actionable insights on workforce intelligence and employee compliance with rules and regulations. It interconnects employees through visual databases that run on the self-service model. This is great for maintaining a large number of employees, especially for steadily expanding SMBs. With the power of handling maximum number of users with tighter control, the Business Central helps to foster empowered employees. With robust access controls, and privilege management, this becomes a secure way to manage and control access, and create automated workflows. Quickbooks is an accounting system which works best with lesser users. When the number of users increases, the access management system starts to falter. The security layers imperative to a large organization in missing in Quickbooks.
To sum it up
All in all, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an unparalleled accounting software and cloud ERP system for expanding businesses and is able to adapt to the changing needs of evolving markets. We, at Techminds Group, can help you leverage the power of smart finances for optimized operations and smart selling!
