Financial Edge Reviews

“NXT Blackbaud

Pros

This tool is fantastic for our non-profit. I can pay invoices, set up vendors, and store any business-related files (W9s, contracts, etc.). It's incredibly helpful for sending out 1099s, setting up new projects and vendors, and I appreciate the ability to cut in-house checks and send out checks (both physical and electronic drafts).

Cons

Sometimes, I notice that the general ledgers can be slightly off in terms of accounting, but not by much.

“Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

Pros

FE NXT is a significant improvement from its predecessors. I find it easier to navigate, with better integration.

Cons

Some of the reporting functionality is not as easy to customize as we'd prefer.

“Review of Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT

Pros

As a library within the government sector, Blackbaud's Non-Profit Financial accounting system works perfectly for us. They truly understand non-profits' needs and create solutions for our problems. Blackbaud is simple to use and easy to train new employees on. The training they provide is incomparable to many other products, offering 20+ classes with online instructors or through e-learning. This training has helped us implement the software across multiple locations and ensure our staff is prepared for their duties.

Cons

As a government agency, we are required to use purchase orders. Blackbaud's purchase order system isn't as intuitive as the rest of the software. They are working to move the purchase order system to the WebView and have assured us that several changes will make the PO portion easier to use. We also need multi-level approvals on an invoice, but the solution Blackbaud provided until everything moves to WebView didn't work for our organization, as we require a pre-audit statement on all purchase orders and invoices that are paid.

“Easier tool than other Blackbaud products

Pros

Compared to other BB products, this one is easier to use, especially for refunding purchases and tracking deposits.

Cons

The customer service is irregular and unreliable.

“Aid me connect

Pros

This is the most advanced tool for accounting and documenting all financial transactions that an organization should have. It's easy to use.

Cons

It has limited features, making it a bit of a second option for multipurpose organizations.

“Not what it is projected to be

Pros

I really like the look and flow of the web-based interface. The reporting is highly customizable and can be shared through email or dashboards.

Cons

The receivable module and EFT payments in Canada are still not available in the browser view. So, I have to do this in database view, which is old, cumbersome, and confusing.

“Missed it by " " that much

Pros

Building reports is simple. Overall, it's a great accounting package and the go-to for large non-profits.

Cons

Overall, it's a great accounting package. My one complaint is the way accounts are made, in three parts: account number, fund, and department. These three parts all make up an account number. For example, 7000-02-100. 7000 is the traditional account, 02 is the fund, and 100 is the department. So, if I make an account for all funds and departments, the list of accounts is HUGE!

“Great Fund Accounting Software

Pros

The cost of this software is very affordable compared to others in the market. The implementation went smoothly, and it has been working very well. Support is usually quick and helpful in solving problems.

Cons

The reporting functions are time-consuming to set up, but most reports can be built to suit my needs and work great after the initial build.

“The product you are sold is probably not what you will actually get

Pros

It's beneficial to have project tracking capabilities and the option to work from home if needed.

Cons

The sales team gave me a lot of promises that were not reality. The biggest overall problems are how slow the system is and the features we were promised that never happened.

“Blackbaud for Nonprofits

Pros

This software is perfect for our organization and continually implements updated features to make our jobs easier.

Cons

Sometimes, the expense tracking appears to be offline, causing our staff to spend a good amount of time entering their expenses.

“Blackbaud NXT functions with great effort

Pros

The report writer allows me to develop financial statements using user-defined column and row specifications. The row specs are based on organizing the chart of accounts, and the columns are user-defined and adequate.

Cons

Blackbaud is not intuitive or easy to use. Trying to control the software is very cumbersome. Also, the report writer in Financial Edge is less flexible than other software products I've used. Columns are defined by time periods, but if I want to run the same financial statement from past time periods, these specs must be re-written. The reporting periods should be a relative definition and should refer to a fiscal period selection at run time.

“Very pleased

Pros

Integration was relatively easy, but we had a team that coordinated this effort.

Cons

Honestly, I have no issues with the software.

“User review

Pros

Migration from the previous version was seamless, with the BB team assisting where needed. The ability to "copy previous" is very helpful, and the training opportunities via on-demand or BB U taught courses are great. BB support is usually quick to reply and direct when needed.

Cons

Understanding parameters that need to be set (i.e., post, etc.) can be confusing. BB support doesn't seem to have access to my org file when issues arise, which was a bit shocking. I would think they would be able to access and walk through critical problems behind the scenes. I realize it may be a data security issue, but having to add a BB staff member as a user seems awkward.

“Overall easy to use and pull data

Pros

Overall, Financial Edge NXT is easy to use. I mostly use it to query transactions, and it's easy to pull the data I need.

Cons

Setting up queries is not intuitive. However, once I've set it up, I can use the same one over and over again. I wish the output downloaded to a different version of Excel.

“We didn't need a Ferrari to do the job of a Ford.

Pros

This software probably has every feature you'll ever need or want. It's particularly good for very large organizations with big budgets and lots of donors to track.

Cons

My organization is small. We don't need all of the bells and whistles that come with this software, and it's way too expensive for the portions that we do use. This really was a Ferrari when a Ford would have been more than capable. We opted for better-suited software for our size organization, which is much more budget-friendly for our needs.

“Good product - backward implementation

Pros

I love that I can create journal entries and invoices and include that information in reports before posting them, which helps avoid mistakes. The web view is intuitive and fairly easy.

Cons

The database view is archaic and not easy to use. Many functions have not yet been converted to the web view and must be done in the database view.

“Financial Edge is indispensible for us

Pros

The NXT online service is very easy to use and adaptable to our reporting needs. The support is good, most reps are very responsive, and I love Blackbaud University.

Cons

It's really expensive. Requests for customization are hard to get through, but it's overall so easy to use that we can live with the small tweaks for now.

“Way too difficult to use.

Pros

The software has a lot of capabilities. If you are a large organization with plenty of time and money, you can get significant value out of this.

Cons

The program is very difficult to use. I was leading a team that took over the accounting function from another organization, and this was their software. The company had not seen a balance sheet they had confidence in for many years. Getting information out in a form and format that they could use was difficult to impossible. I was told they spent $250k on getting the program up and running in implementation costs. This was a terrible option for a company with just two people in the accounting department. I'm sure it may be good for a MUCH larger organization, but it was a bad choice here.

“Blackbaud

Pros

I used it for the first time this past year in the recommendation process for students signing up for classes. It was easy to recommend multiple classes, and students could choose when they registered. It integrated well with the structures we already used, making it a one-step process rather than multiple steps. It's also aesthetically pleasing, which is a nice change.

Cons

I don't have any real complaints. It was very easy to use, with little guidance needed. However, I can't speak to what it was like to set up the structures or what it was like to use from the student end.

“Great Product That's Getting Better

Pros

It's easy to use, with a wide range of training available and excellent customer support.

Cons

Exporting reports and spreadsheets is cumbersome and expensive.