Great Plains Accounting: How Microsoft Leveraged this Platform to Drive Results

It’s been more than a decade since Microsoft purchased Great Plains Software at a pricetag of $1.1 billion, complete with software options like CRM, ecommerce and Great Plains Accounting. Today, Great Plains accounting, known as Microsoft Dynamics GP, is used across the globe as an ERP tool and is part of the accounting offerings you may want to explore from the Microsoft Dynamics product range.

Great Plains Accounting: An Early Leader

The Microsoft Dynamics GP tool was first created by Great Plains Software, a business operated independently and headquartered in Fargo, N.D. What set Great Plains accounting options apart was their capability to allow several users at the same time, and to operate with 32 bit Windows software – both considered early and pivotal achievements for accounting software.

As in any acquisition, changes took place. You may recall when today’s Microsoft Dynamics GP was available under the names Microsoft Great Plains and also Microsoft Dynamics. Following the acquisition of Great Plains Software by Microsoft, all newer applications utilize Microsoft SQL server databases.

Changes also occurred in terms of the types of Great Plains accounting available. Yesterday’s version meant you could acquire a standard type of Microsoft Dynamics GP for a maximum of ten users simultaneously, and for no more than 500 total employees of an organization. You could also choose the professional version, and have unlimited numbers of workstation users, higher security features, newer ways to consolidate information and enhanced reporting tools.

Leverage to Take Note Of

You’ll probably notice the collaborative, enterprise-wide functions of Microsoft Dynamics accounting software. This wasn’t an accident – analysts agree that Microsoft gained leverage on other providers in 2000 with the acquisition of Great Plains accounting software. In comparison to other large-scale providers of enterprise resource planning tools, like Oracle, PeopleSoft or SAP, the acquisition meant Microsoft through Great Plains Accounting began to make available a one-stop resource for several business functions. Today’s offerings give you the ability to streamline your reporting, your business operations and payroll needs, for example, into one accounting product.

Great Plains Accounting: Options for Today

Today, further expansions Microsoft made to the original Great Plains accounting software demonstrate how the tool can improve performance for you and drive results. Using its Business Ready Licensing (BRL), you can purchase Microsoft Dynamics GP in its Business Essentials format or its Advanced Management product. Both tools look and function like the original Great Plains accounting software, but are incorporated into a larger ERP-based philosophy.

In its day, Great Plains accounting was called among the best you could get, complete with strategies for ERP already built in. Today, watch for Microsoft through its Dynamics GP products to continue building leverage, especially for organizations that fall more into the smaller or mid-size range. You will continue to see deployment choices and scalability emerge as strong features as Microsoft Dynamics GP grabs more market share.

Extra Features to Strengthen Your Accounting

You could say that in the spirit of the original Great Plains accounting software, Microsoft Dynamics GP will let you keep up with ever-changing industry regulations while hanging on to the thrill of handling your business challenges with the most up-to-date data across divisions, using numerous platforms. You may also find the extra features of the Advanced version very appealing, such as collections and cash management, manufacturing and requisition management and forecasting options.

If results from accounting software on your terms include the ability to combine various Microsoft offerings, including Component Object Model (COM) and Microsoft’s Message Queuing, then you’ll be pleased with what’s happened in the past ten years since the acquisition of Great Plains accounting software. The leverage Microsoft continues to gain could point to a more secure, flexible and trustworthy accounting option for you.