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Blackbaud Inc. has recently released a new version of its nonprofit financial management program, The Financial Edge. Designed to provide accounting and financial functionality to nonprofits, The Financial Edge also works in conjunction with Blackbaud's other software products all designed for the nonprofit organization.
Kim Elliott, CPA, is the accounting manager for the University of South Carolina Foundations, which consists primarily of two separate 501c3 organizations — The University of South Carolina Educational Foundation and The University of South Carolina Development Foundation. The Foundations are located in Columbia, S.C., and have a staff of 12 full-time employees. Elliott says that for their purposes, the Project module has proven to be the most beneficial aspect of The Financial Edge. "This module allows us to maintain records by individual endowment," she said. "We can then report information both at the entity level by FASB classification and at the endowment level for our departments and donors."
Elliot's favorite feature is the query feature. "This feature gives the user the ability to easily query the database for information without having to know advanced programming languages such as SQL," she noted. "The query results can then be exported to Excel with a single click of the mouse. This is one of the most powerful yet user-friendly tools I've seen in any software." While she couldn't think of a feature she doesn't like, Elliot would like to see improvements with the Advanced Security module: "Currently, there are no standard security reports that can be run. You must open each user or group record individually and run a profile report from within that record. I would like to see at least one standard report for the Advanced Security module that would document the users and their security settings (which modules and actions they may access) as a single report (not individual profile reports)."
EASE OF USE/FLEXIBILITY
The Financial Edge interface is designed to resemble a browser window. At the top is a drop-down menu featuring varying tasks. The default home page is the General Ledger, but that can be changed. To the left of the screen is a series of tasks available in that module. The company and module in which you are currently working is displayed below the task bar, and clicking on the arrow to the right will change either of these.
Changing modules will also update the options on the right of the screen. The program allows you to easily customize your screens to display your Favorites (frequently used functions). Below Favorites is a list of reminders. To add to your Favorites or to customize your screens, simply click on Options under the Tools section. You can also save frequently used web links on your home page.
Data-entry screens are easily navigated, and lookup options are available throughout the program. The Financial Edge is designed to integrate not only with other Blackbaud products but with third-party applications as well, making this program extremely flexible no matter what your organization's requirements.
MODULES/SCALABILITY
With the General Ledger at the core of The Financial Edge, organizations can add modules to support their business processes. Optional modules include Projects, Grants and Endowment Management; Accounts Payable; Accounts Receivables; Cash Receipts; Fixed Assets; Student Billing; Payroll; Advanced Budget Management; Cash Management; Electronic Funds Transfer; Point of Sale; and Purchase Order. You can also purchase The Raiser's Edge, a fundraising database that tracks donor information and integrates with The Financial Edge. Also available are The Information Edge (for advanced reporting and analysis), The Education Edge (for school administration), The Patron Edge (for ticketing), Blackbaud NetCommunity (for website management), WealthPoint (for wealth screening) and ProspectPoint (for custom modeling).
FEATURES/FUNCTIONALITY
Version 7.6 includes advanced reporting capabilities. The Projects, Grants and Endowments Management module provides users with the ability to track important data such as fund balance, budgets and cost for each fund administered, and tying grants to multiple funding sources. Other enhancements include enhanced GL reporting capabilities, additional payroll features, and Student Billing Fast and Accounts Payable Fast, which allow quicker data entry.
Account structure can easily be defined, and accounts can be automatically created. Account segments can also be edited or added as needed. Account numbers can be up to 30 characters in length with up to 10 separate segments.
The Dashboard feature allows you to display a series of panels containing information vital to your organization. Your choices are displayed in a series of panels that can be enlarged for review or printed. The reports are updated daily. You can also choose to share the dashboard display reports with select groups.
Oriented toward financial management, The Financial Edge also contains excellent drilldown capability, all the way to the source transaction.
REPORTING
The Financial Edge comes with over 100 predefined reports. A built-in report writer provides you with easy report creation and customization capability. FASB 117 and GASB 34 reports can be easily printed. The Visual Chart Organizer lets you create your own financial statement formats and save them as templates for future use. Excel Pivot Table functionality lets you quickly produce financial data and export the results to Excel. All reports are easily exported to Excel, Word, *.PDF or converted to HTML format for web posting.
Elliot is pleased with both the reports and reporting tools available. "There are a wide range of standardized reports immediately available within the software," she said. "These reports can be easily customized by adding simple filters to the reports and can also be easily exported into a number of different formats. The software also contains more advanced and powerful reporting tools that can be used in conjunction with Crystal Reports."
SUPPORT/HELP
Three levels of product support are available to The Financial Edge users: Advantage Priority, Advantage Professional and Advantage. All three levels offer toll-free telephone support, access to Case Central, a database of previous issues, major and minor software enhancements, and access to the knowledgebase. One of the best features of The Financial Edge is the ability to use the extensive Help files that are included with the software.
Online, onsite and classroom training is also available. For larger organizations, you might consider the Training Pass, where, for an annual fee, everyone in your organization is provided with unlimited training options.
RELATIVE VALUE
The Financial Edge is a scalable solution based on each organization's specific financial needs. The core General Ledger pricing starts at $2,000. For nonprofit organizations that absolutely must keep track of funding, grants, allocations, and provide in-depth reporting to management and board members, this program would be a good fit.