By Stephanie Elsen

Red Wing Software provides software to help nonprofits be in complete control of their own finances. CenterPoint Fund Accounting Software for Nonprofits is Red Wing Software’s accounting application that is a great fit for organizations that are outgrowing their basic systems and need more functionality.

Red Wing Software customers understand the benefits of using CenterPoint Fund Accounting to manage their finances, rather than using a basic program. Because of their wide-appeal, basic, mass-marketed accounting systems get a lot of press and have a massive number of users. These products are top-of-mind for many people in search of accounting software. Many people ask us to compare CenterPoint against those products. CenterPoint Fund Accounting includes the basics you need plus specific features for nonprofits. Here are some of the main differences between CenterPoint Fund Accounting and basic accounting programs. To summarize the reason: many CenterPoint users come from basic programs and are seeking specific features that can help them manage their nonprofit organization better.

• Track by Funding Source

  Track income and expense by fund, department, and/or locations. With basic systems, tracking options are limited.

• Track Operational Results

  Tracking financial operational results can be done by fiscal year or calendar period. Many basic systems limit this information to yearly.

• Cost Analysis

  Track repair and maintenance costs to assets for easy reporting and analysis of total costs. Most basic systems do not track specific asset and equipment maintenance costs.

• Financial Analysis

  CenterPoint offers a financial analysis tool to easily cross-section your results by fund, department, and location. Basic systems offer generic financial tools that are not easily customizable.

• Labor Allocation

  Allocate labor across multiple funds and departments with CenterPoint. Basic systems allow tracking by company only.

• Setup Wizard

  A setup wizard will guide you through the process of setting up items to track and manage your nonprofit organization. Many basic programs only guide you through the setup of only basic information.

Expand Limited to Unlimited

Some programs limit the amount of data you can have in your system. When you reach these limits, which you were likely unaware of at the start, you will need to move on to something new. Here are some of the ways CenterPoint compares to typical basic systems when it comes to limits:

Beef Up Security

One person might start out running the whole accounting system, but eventually tasks will be divided up. At that point, you will likely want to limit what employees can do and see in the accounting system, based on their job. CenterPoint has menu level security, so users can see only the screens they are given access to within the system.

Not all programs are created equal. Any accounting system has its positive and negative points. Just because something is used and known by the masses does not mean it’s the best product available. Basic programs do a great job for many nonprofit organizations, for many years. But when your organization starts to outgrow its accounting software feature set, it might just be time to contact Red Wing Software. 800-732-9464, info@redwingsoftware.com.

By Stephanie Elsen

Thousands of Red Wing Software customers understand the benefits of using software specific to agriculture in managing their farm, rather than using a basic program. Because of their wide-appeal, basic, mass-marketed accounting systems get a lot of press and have a massive number of users. These products are top-of-mind for many people in search of accounting software. Many people ask us to compare CenterPoint against those products. Red Wing Software's farm accounting software, CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture, includes the basics you need such as writing checks, entering payables and receivables, and managing your general ledger. CenterPoint offers specific features for farms to help see their true potential. Here are some of the main differences between CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture and basic accounting programs. To summarize the reason: many CenterPoint users come from basic programs and are seeking specific features that can help them manage their farm better.

• Book, Market, and Tax Asset Value Tracking:

  Know the true value of your assets for whatever purpose you choose.

• Budget and Forecasting:

  Gain the ability to create “what if” scenarios for your farm, and you’ll be able to project future sales, cash flow, income statements, and assets and liabilities. You’ll then be able to more accurately plan for future business strategies!

• Financial Analysis:

  Owners and managers can get in-depth financial analysis with unlimited ability to structure and segment entire operations, profit centers, accounts, and inventories to track data, combine entities, and receive the most relevant farm reporting available today.

• Information Tracking for Farms, Fields, Landlords, etc.:

  Always have access to information at your fingertips about your farm, land, etc. for yourself and your managers, landlords, bankers, and more.

• Multiple Quantity Inventory Tracking:

  While basic programs often don’t allow for any inventory tracking, CenterPoint for Agriculture allows for inventory tracking in multiple quantities, so you can keep better track of your items no matter how you buy or sell them.

• Multiple Tax Entities:

  Allows you to track multiple tax entities in one database for keeping financial data separate, yet still perform combined business analysis when necessary.

• Production Analysis:

  Provides detailed crop and livestock information on a cost per unit basis.

• Ratio Analysis:

  Calculates ratios for your farming operation and shows trends, so you can address issues and become more profitable.

• Transaction Distribution to Multiple Accounts:

  Easily distribute complex transactions across multiple accounts and production units, for an accurate financial picture.

Expand Limited to Unlimited.

Some programs limit the amount of data you can have in your system. When you reach these limits, which you were likely unaware of at the start, you will need to move on to something new. Here are some of the ways CenterPoint compares to typical basic systems when it comes to limits:

Beef Up Security.

One person might start out running the whole accounting system, but eventually tasks will be divided up. At that point, you will likely want to limit what employees can do and see in the accounting system, based on their job. CenterPoint has menu level security, so users can see only the screens they are given access to within the system.

Not all programs are created equal. Any accounting system has its positive and negative points. Just because something is used and known by the masses does not mean it’s the best product available. Basic programs do a great job for many farms, for many years. But when your farm starts to outgrow its accounting software feature set, it might just be time to contact Red Wing Software. 800-732-9464, info@redwingsoftware.com.

As I write this, we have over 30 customers in our training room at our headquarters in Red Wing, MN, attending a seminar on our CenterPoint Accounting and CenterPoint Payroll software. They traveled from as far away as Texas, Ontario, California and Maryland, and as close as an hour away. Some are just getting started with CenterPoint and some have been using our products for close to 30 years.

While their intent is to learn better and more efficient ways to use our software, they also educate our staff on how their businesses operate, which helps us provide better tools for their use. I’ve talked to several people over the years that say they learn a lot from the others that attend the seminars, in addition to the formal instruction that takes place over the three days of the seminar.

In my experience from attending these types of educational sessions over the years, sponsored by other organizations, I have to admit I learn as much from interacting with other attendees as I do in the classes. I’ve mentioned before our belief in the value of continuing education for all our employees, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of the knowledge of all the people they come in contact with.

If you haven’t recently attended this sort of educational opportunity, I encourage you to do so. Whether it’s a Red Wing Software Training Seminar, or some other offering in your line of work, I’m confident you will learn some valuable information that will help make your business more successful.

- Ken Hilton, President

My name is Tim Bergeson and I have been with Red Wing Software for 20 years. I’ve been in the Technical Support department the entire time, and since April of 2013 I have taken over in the position of Support Manager.

My previous accounting experience working with businesses and farms helped tremendously when I came to work for Red Wing Software, and combining that with the great accounting software Red Wing Software offers has made this a great position for me.

I’m married and have two children. My wife is Nicole, son Justin (27), and daughter Britney (13).

In my time off I enjoy hunting, fishing, ATVs and anything dealing with classic cars.

By Stephanie Elsen

Red Wing Software provides accounting software for businesses, so the user can be in complete control of their own finances. CenterPoint Accounting Software is Red Wing Software’s accounting application that can fit for many types of businesses, ranging from distribution companies to service-based businesses, manufacturers, and many more

Because of their wide-appeal, basic, mass-marketed accounting systems get a lot of press and have a massive number of users. These products are top-of-mind for many people in search of accounting software. Many people ask us to compare CenterPoint against those products. Well, without doing a feature-by-feature comparison of the two products, here are some of the main differences between CenterPoint and basic accounting programs. To summarize the reason: many CenterPoint users come from basic programs and are seeking features that can help them manage their business better.

Improve Financial Management.

Businesses outgrowing basic accounting systems typically need better financial tools. After all what good is a system you plug information into if you are unable to pull it out in a meaningful way for your business. Here are some of the ways CenterPoint is an improvement on a basic system’s financial management.

• Audit Trail

  A good audit trail can help prevent and detect fraud. It also enables you to provide necessary documentation for third party organizations that require it. Also, a good audit trail can help reconstruct events, once an issue is detected. CenterPoint has an excellent audit trail and makes it easy to determine who entered a transaction, created date and time, how many times edited, who voided, and much more. How’s your audit trail?

• Information Tracking

  Get a better picture of your financials by setting up and tracking income and expenses by project, department, or custom parameters that you set up. You are then only a report away from knowing how much a project costs, the income for a specific department, or much more.

• Reporting

  A standard report is a great starting point, but what happens if you or someone else would like fields of information changed, added, or removed from a financial report? CenterPoint allows complete custom editing of reports, and you can save reports as you like for ongoing use. Don’t get stuck with templates that were made for the masses! Get the information you need, in a way that is useful to you and your business.

Expand Limited to Unlimited.

Some programs limit the amount of data you can have in your system. When you reach these limits, which you were likely unaware of at the start, you will need to move on to something new. Here are some of the ways CenterPoint compares to typical basic systems when it comes to limits:

Beef Up Security.

One person might start out running the whole accounting system, but eventually tasks will be divided up. At that point, you will likely want to limit what employees can do and see in the accounting system, based on their job. CenterPoint has menu level security, so users can see only the screens they are given access to within the system.

Not all programs are created equal. Any accounting system has its positive and negative points. Just because something is used and known by the masses does not mean it’s the best product available. Basic programs do a great job for many businesses, for many years. But when your business starts to outgrow its accounting software feature set, it might just be time to contact Red Wing Software. 800-732-9464, info@redwingsoftware.com.