Organizations worldwide have spent several years relying on Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains for their accounting processes.
But support for Great Plains will phase out by June 2028. That leaves Great Plains users with four choices:
- Defer your decision and upgrade annually to stay on a supported version of Great Plains.
- Do nothing and stay on an unsupported version of Great Plains.
- Migrate to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
- Choose a new cloud solution.
Let’s explore each option in greater detail.
Defer Your Decision
June 2028 may seem like a long way off. You can put your decision on the back burner, but that might leave you scrambling once Great Plains reaches its end of life.
Do Nothing
Organizations sometimes continue to run unsupported software and hope for the best. This is a risk-laden decision, especially from a security standpoint. Your data and your customers’ data can easily be compromised.
Migrate to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Microsoft is encouraging Great Plains users to choose Dynamics 365 Business Central. This may seem like the obvious choice, but it’s not the right move for everyone.
Choose a New Cloud Solution
A cloud-native financial management solution is a better fit for organizations that use Great Plains primarily for accounting and payroll.
Vision33 and Sage hosted a webinar to educate Great Plains users about these options and introduce them to Sage Intacct, the modern cloud-native financial management powerhouse built by accountants for accountants.
Early adopters are switching from Great Plains to Sage Intacct and enjoying specialized financial management tools, including dimensional reporting and automated accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliations, and multi-entity consolidations.
Scroll to the end of this post to watch the on-demand webinar recording or read on to learn critical differences between Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Sage Intacct.
Native Cloud
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is legacy Microsoft Dynamics NAV retrofitted for the cloud. Sage Intacct was born in the cloud as a multi-tenant financial management solution and has been a true cloud solution since 1999.
ERP vs. Specialized Finance
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Its two licensing options are suites that include financial management, sales, marketing, purchasing, inventory, and warehouse management—even if you don’t need them. An ERP solution can be overwhelming for finance teams that require only financial management tools.
Engineered to streamline financial processes, automate workflows, and provide unparalleled financial visibility, Sage Intacct offers the functionality you need—and none you don’t—to free your finance team to focus on valuable strategic initiatives.
Plus, it’s the only solution backed by the AICPA.
Your Industry
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central’s out-of-the-box product is a one-size-fits-all solution. Industry-specific capabilities must be built by partners.
Sage Intacct supports 17 vertical industries. It focuses on core financials with industry-specific reporting and configurable buildouts to support your industry and drive value from the software.
Experience
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central subscriptions are available only through Microsoft Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs)—and Microsoft doesn’t require its CSPs to have ERP experience to sell and implement Business Central.
Sage Intacct subscriptions are available directly from Sage Intacct or a network of trusted, certified partners like Vision33. Sage has a rigorous training and certification process that involves people with accounting knowledge working with the product. Many of Vision33’s certified consultants are CPAs.
Value
Sage Intacct is a best-in-class solution with an open application programming interface (API) that empowers you to integrate with other best-in-class solutions. It’s not a mega-suite, and you’re not locked into a single publisher for solutions such as customer relationship management (CRM), payroll, and budgeting.
With Sage Intacct’s ever-growing list of pre-built integrations, you’re free to extend your success in the cloud. And if your current solution isn’t on the list, Vision33 can easily integrate it with Sage Intacct using Saltbox, our exclusive cloud-based integration platform.
Watch the Webinar Recording
Access the on-demand recording of Sage Intacct: Your Organization’s Strategic Path Forward After Great Plains below.
See why organizations like yours love Sage Intacct, watch a brief demo of the solution, and learn how Vision33, a trusted, multi-award-winning Sage Intacct partner, can move your organization forward.
