Born from Microsoft's November 2001 acquisition of Great Plains Software, Small Business Manager has come a long way in the past few years. Fargo, N.D.-based Great Plains remains a well-known financial software solutions provider under Microsoft's guidance, but has evolved to serve customers that need more than Microsoft Money or Intuit's Quicken can offer -- a lot more.
"Small Business Manager 7.5 is geared toward customers that are outgrowing packaged software," explains Karen Engel, Microsoft Business Solutions group product manager. "It offers a greater breadth of functionality and control in a single package that's affordable and easy to use."
For wholesale, distribution, or manufacturing businesses that are bursting at the seams trying to make QuickBooks or Peachtree Accounting fit their workflow, the latest Small Business Manager 7.5 is a step in the right direction. It offers support for multiple locations, data consolidation, and detailed, flexible reporting akin to that enjoyed by much bigger corporations with much more costly and complex software.
Released last week, the 7.5 upgrade is positioned as a superior way for growing businesses to effectively manage their assets, streamline order fulfillment, and get a better handle on their inventories. Whether it's how orders are processed, inventory and payroll are managed, or how fixed assets are accounted for, Small Business Manager 7.5 is all about creating new efficiencies.
Key enhancements to Small Business Manager 7.5 include improved fixed-asset management, allowing small businesses to manage the depreciation of assets such as vehicles and computer gear more intelligently. New inventory-management features include support for direct shipments from vendors to customers and the ability to handle partial order quantities and manage and forecast assembly components. Small businesses can prevent stock outages with e-mail inventory reminders, including notification for nonexistent item numbers.
New payroll and deduction features allow more efficient management of workforce records and withholding requests. Small businesses are also able to track workers' compensation, connect automatically with ADP Payroll Service, and choose from 24 new payroll reports.
Other new features include support for additional financial reporting tools from FRx Software, a Microsoft subsidiary, plus business and intelligence tools from Crystal Decisions. The resulting integrative capabilities let offices build custom reports and consolidate financial reporting, while maintaining control of sensitive information.
Paying for Power
Also new is the licensing and support pricing scheme for Small Business Manager 7.5. A single-user license for Small Business Manager 7.5 is $995; concurrent-user licenses (for up to 10 users) run $400 each, and the automatic payroll module is a $500 option.
Engel explains how Microsoft's support pricing works and what it provides for small business users: "Our enhancement plan is required for the first year of use. It used to be a flat fee, but now it's 18 percent of the licensing fees.
"The Foundation Services plan provides phone and e-mail contacts for support, as well as access to a secure Web area with discussion groups. The service also includes any upgrades for the next 12 months."
All told, a 10-concurrent user office that is just getting started with Small Business Manager 7.5 can expect to shell out about $5,900 to get the ball rolling. But Microsoft figures this is a small price to pay for enabling small businesses to handle a variety of inventory, accounting, and personnel management tasks.
Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Manager 7.5 is available through Microsoft Business Solutions reseller and consultant partners. Small Business Manager is also backed by more than 100 independent software developers. For example, ISVs have developed add-on programs that work seamlessly with Small Business Manager for firms that are more project-oriented than inventory-based.
"Small Business Manager 7.5 is available through our network of dedicated, local partners that have a proven track record when it comes to fully customizing technology and helping small businesses get up to speed quickly," Engel says.
From financial management to order fulfillment and vendor management, Small Business Manager 7.5 provides just about all the tools a small company needs to save time and adapt to ever-changing markets.
