Sooner or later, you’re going to have to replace FRx.
You’re not going to have a choice. Here’s how you can have some semblance of control over that event. And maybe even come away looking like a hero.
Just on the off-chance that you haven’t heard, Microsoft has announced end-of-life for FRx. It’s based on very old technology and is being retired. How long will it be supported? That depends on what accounting system you run and the answer varies.
Microsoft’s official FRx replacement is Management Reporter, and although it’s very cool and is definitely next generation, it only reports on GL data at the moment, it lacks some key FRx features, and most importantly, it’s not available for Microsoft competitors.
Search for a different reportwriter? Well, you don’t have to. You can just go with the official selection picked by Microsoft, Sage or Epicor as the case may be.
The “official” FRx replacements
- Microsoft’s replacement for FRx is Management Reporter.
- Sage has announced its official FRx replacement is Sage MAS Intelligence.
- Epicor has announced Advanced Financial Reporting as its FRx replacement.
I couldn’t help but wonder what other options are out there.
The 64 million dollar question
Go with the official replacement, or look for something else?
I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled
Since the FRx sunset was first announced a couple years ago, I’ve been getting lots of phone calls and emails asking about replacement options. I’ve been watching for products for certain individual clients. And I’ve been compiling lists of reportwriters and information about them. I think it’s time to get this information out there.
One caveat—because I’ve specialized in midmarket financial reportwriting for so long, I do know a number of folks involved with these reportwriters. But I don’t have any financial relationship with any of them.
(About me—CPA since 1984. So that makes me no spring chicken, but the upside of that is tons of practical business experience. I’ve worked with FRx since 1995.)
I’ve written a whitepaper
I want to make it easier to pick the replacement product that truly fits your needs. Whether it’s the official replacement or not. So I’ve written a paper called Whitepaper—7 Options for Replacing FRx.
The hardest part of selecting a new financial reportwriter could be just getting started. (You should’ve seen me trying to get started writing this paper. I did everything under the sun to put it off. I even resorted to working on my own accounting.)
Anyway, this whitepaper is an insanely effective way to get started on this project.
Save time and maybe uncover a gem. And be a hero to your company or your client.
Then you control your migration from FRx when the time is right for you.
Another caveat—I can just about guarantee you that there will be more work involved after you read this. This should be just the beginning of your due diligence.
Who it’s for
- Consultants
- CFOs & Controllers
- In-house FRx go-to resource
- IT in charge of FRx
- Anyone who needs to tap into this knowledge
- Everyone is welcome
Who it’s not for
- Anyone running or supporting an accounting system other than Microsoft, Sage or Epicor. There are no out-of-the-box integrations. The only possibility is a datamart integration.
- Sorry to all my buddies running Viewpoint, SyteLine, Ross, Datatel, and Infor.
Content
If any of this sounds interesting, keep reading for content details. The whitepaper consists of 3 parts:
- Lists of the 7 Options for Replacing FRx and which accounting systems they integrate with
- Product Reports with detailed features and functionality on each of the 7
- Due Diligence Checklist—factors to consider when selecting software
Part 1 Lists. The paper starts with the Lists. There’s a master list of the 7 options as well as list of specific options for Microsoft, Sage, and Epicor. So if you run one of these accounting systems, you can tell at a glance which of the 7 apply to you. Just so you know, most accounting systems will have fewer options than 7. I also list 5 additional reportwriters, but I don’t report detailed information for them. Lagniappe as they say in New Orleans!
Part 2 Product Reports. For each of the 7 products, I report an overview of the product and facts about the company. I also interview each company and provide Q&A coverage of several items of interest. The content includes:
- How consolidations are handled
- How currency translation is managed
- Whether there is reporting beyond GL modules
- Budgeting and forecasting options
- How to exclude an account from a range (seems simple, but this can be kludgy)
- Who has an FRx conversion tool and who doesn’t
- Who reports on GP’s Analytical Accounting and who doesn’t
- Lots more Q&As
BTW, I put a lot of links in this paper. Their sole purpose is to save you time. None of them are affiliate links.
Part 3 Due Diligence Checklist. This checklist provides some very specific practical items:
- How to review and document your FRx implementation
- What to look for and where in FRx to determine specific requirements
- How to look at FRx in its Access database to make review faster
- What items to look at to review functionality of the new product
- How to determine the total cost of ownership
- How to conduct legal and financial due diligence
The checklist alone will save you a bundle in consulting if you’re an end user and a lot of time if you’re a consultant.
Pricing
If you’ve been hanging out with me for a while, you know that I create and post truly free content. It doesn’t require registration. There are no ads because cluttered sites drive me crazy! I answer off-the-top questions. And I’ll continue to post free content as long as I’m in this industry. I pull no punches and will continue to tell you exactly what I think.
But without apology, I’m charging for this whitepaper. This is really valuable information that I’ve spent an unbelievable amount of time on (once I actually got started). This research will give you a huge headstart in finding the solution that’s right for your company or your client. A leg up as we say in Texas!
Despite the time involved and value delivered, I’m charging a low price—$49—because I want a lot of people to have access to this information. (Oh yeah: gotta add sales tax if you live in Texas.)
Money-back guarantee? Absolutely. Contact me within 7 days of purchase; no problem.
Immediate Access and Other Details
I use a 3rd party secure shopping cart and accept Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover. (The system is PCI compliant for those who are interested.) After checkout, you’ll be taken to a page with a download link where you can download the PDF immediately. Then you’ll receive some emails: a receipt for the credit card purchase, a link to order details, a download link in case you don’t download right away, and an email asking you to confirm opt-in to my mailing list. (If you confirm, then I can send you an update to this report if/when I elect to edit it.)
BTW, the credit card merchant account is in my name, so the name on your credit card will be Jan Harrigan CPA and not FRxBuzz.
Currently the whitepaper is 48 pages long. And yes you can definitely view it on your mobile device.
Add to cart here:
Bottom line
Get started!
Hello Jan:
Just a quick question about this white paper, do you include Clarity as one of the 7 options?
Thanks.
Frank
Does the white paper include both Clarity 7 and INFOR?
No, sorry…it’s only for Dynamics (GP, SL, AX and NAV), Sage and Epicor, although there are datamart implementations (as opposed to direct integrations) available for most of the 7+ solutions.
Jan,
Does the version available for download include deFacto as an option?
Mark
Hey Mark…I did edit the whitepaper to include deFacto as an ‘other option’ but didn’t do a full report. Thanks for the feedback!
Jan
Does the white paper discuss BizNet software
thanks
Steve
Yes it does.
Hi Jan,
Does the whitepaper discuss F9 software?
Thanks,
Rachel
Yes indeed.
Do you list Renovofyi as an option?
Yes.
Does the white paper detail each alternatives’ ability to produce the real-time FRx drilldown functionality or its work-around?
Hi Eddie…There is not a question per se on drilldown functionality, but it comes up in overviews and the Q&As.I just did a search and find drilldown scattered throughout different vendors’ information.
For instance, in the Vivid Reports overview, there is this sentence: “…for some of the drilldowns into detail, they include sub-modules like AP and AR”. Then what follows is drilldown capability scattered several times throughout Vivid’s Q&A section.
Hope this helps! Don’t forget the money back guarantee :)
Cheers—Jan
Jan,
Does the article address Complex consolidations? Also conversion functionality from existing FRX reports?
Thanks
Rob
Hi Rob…to address questions like this, I ask questions and let the vendors respond. So for each product there is a question concerning consolidations and eliminations and another question re whether there is an FRx conversion tool. I did not ask a specific question about complex consolidations, but the vendors may cover it in their answers. For instance, one vendor says “advanced consolidations functionality is based on the use of the BI360 data warehouse…”. Hope this helps! Jan
To answer Rob Lewis’s comment, at least for renovofyi, there is a conversion utility that converts all of the rows, columns, trees, font styles, and account sets into like components in the renovofyi report writer.
How current is the material in the White Paper?
Happy Birthday!
Hmmmm…not quite sure how you knew that, but Thanks! :)
Hi Arlen…the q&a with the vendors was done in 2011. So was the info on how to review FRx, but it will not have changed at all. Hope this helps! J
Just an FYI, since the original publication of Jan’s aweseome write up, Renovofyi has since released additional modules, such as Currencyfyi (currency translation with avg, spot, historical rates), DirectConnectfyi (direct integration of certain GLs) and have grown it’s customer base and partner base significantly (http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/3/prweb10503136.htm)
many of which are coming off FRx.
Do you have any comments you wish to share with respect to Sage MAS Intelligence as viable option? I downloaded the white paper and noticed it was not part of your initial considerations.
Hi Arlen…thanks for the comment. Yes, Sage branded Alchemex “Sage MAS Intelligence”, so see the Alchemex section. Jan
Does this address the replacement of “trees” or dynamic grouping of different types of units in an organization. And the ability to save those groupings and swap with various reports? I find plenty of Excel based reporting handling everything but that.
It’s simply not enough to address user-friendliness and Excel-based tools. A true FRx replacement should have:
1. Swappable Building blocks
2. Drill-down functionality at various levels to at least account level if not transaction level
3. Groupings/Trees/Roll-ups that can be saved and again “swapped”.
Did you ever find anything that had all three?
ps – going to buy for due diligence regardless but have to ask.
Hey Erin…I asked the question “For excel based systems, how do you generate, distribute or print departmental statements?”. Each vendor answered it individually. Thanks…Jan
Hi Erin…saw your purchase; thank you. Agree; it’s normally the weakest area of the excel-based tools. I did find one at the time of writing the paper that had trees. Hopefully by this time lots more have this functionality! Jan
Erin,
Renovofyi is exactly as you described. (Full discloser-i work there) That’s because it was built from the ground up to be an modernized FRx replacement.
1. Swappable rows, columns, and organizations (trees)
2. Intuitive drill down summary, account, and transactional
3. Organizations work just like trees for rollup however you want it roll
In addition you get
1. Comprehensive Frx conversion utility
2. Modern technology – SQL with browser front end = reliable high performance. Not excel based
3. Automated report distribution
And a lot of other enhancements. Email me for more info skuo@renovofyi.com. Or go to http://www.Renovofyi.com
Jan sorry for soliciting on your site but Renovofyi fits Erin’s needs so closely I had too. :)
No sweat Spencer. Renovofyi—a most intriguing product! :)
Hi Jan,
I am a big fan of your site. We are starting our ‘FRx Replacement Project’ and I noticed your white paper. My only question at this time is how up to date is it? Have you revised the original copy? In particular, I am interested in reading your thoughts on multicurrency and MR.
thx,
Doug
Hey thanks Doug. To answer your question, a few months after I initially wrote this paper, I added a section for one additional option. But I have no plans to update the whitepaper; I just wanted people to have the benefit of my research at that point in time. So the product information is dated. (Although I just skimmed and think that it’s still a good starting place on research.) And the section on reviewing your current FRx implementation is still every bit as valid as the moment it was written. Re multicurrency and MR, there’s not much information in this report, but that’s something that would definitely need current research. (There may be an apropos LinkedIn discussion depending on your ERP.) Good luck…Jan
If MR’s multicurrency doesn’t satisfy you, Renovo came out with a multicurrency module this year for MC translation. And yes I work for them, but it’s nonetheless relevant information. http://renovofyi.com/products/currencyfyi/
Thanks Jan and Spencer. We will likely take a loot at Renovofyi as we source and review options.
Hi Doug,
I might suggest you also take a look at Biznet. Yes, I work for BizNet like Spencer works for Renovo. We have integrations for GL, AP, AR, and MC and are currently working on AA. There is nothing wrong with a little spirited competition eh? BizNet has been selected by more than a dozen publishers as their recommended replacement for FRx. Check us out at: http://www.biznetsoftware.com
Just a follow-up Jan. Thanks so much for your white-paper. After thorough vetting and quite a few demos we went with Vivid. Implementation went fairly quickly too. It’s going very well. Users love that it’s excel based and the Drill down is like HEAVEN. We didn’t lose anything moving from FRx.
SO great to hear! I love them! Thanks for the followup Erin.
PS. I agree that the drilldown is HEAVEN. I wish MR could come up with something even half as good.
Erin,
Are you using GP? Do you report in multiple currencies?
thx,
Doug
we do use GP, but not MC. But I’m fairly certain that Vivid handles them. They’ve handled everything else well. And the data warehouse structure allows for my flexibility in that if you want it. I’d check them out. It’s worth a demo.
Thanks Erin. I will definitely check them out. For all it’s challenges, FRx’s DAX tables handled multiple m/c scenarios and CTA quite well.
How many of the 7 options work with Dynamcis SL?
Hi Perez…there are 4 or 5 of the main options (including MR) that work with SL, plus 1 ‘other option’. This report is a bit dated, although I still think it’s a decent starting point. And it contains invaluable ways to analyze your existing FRx reports. Hope this helps…Jan
It does, thanks a bunch!
Jan,
We are using Epicor P21 and while they indicate they have a Frx replacement they do not. Will your report suggest the replacement that is not an Epicor product?
Hi Jerry…this paper mentions about 4 options for Epicor (although I don’t know P21). But I wrote it in 2011 and I’m sure lots has changed since then. I do still think it’s a great starting place, especially since it gives lots of ideas on how to review your FRx installation to help avoid problems. Good luck to you…Jan
Hi Jan,
Does your paper mention BizNet as one of the options? We do have several Epicor integrations.
Yes indeed.
Jan – please take a look at FinPro Solutions. Your comments would be appreciated.
So its 2018 now :) will this paper still help my organization?
Hi RG…it depends! The replacement software info is definitely outdated. But the information on how to analyze FRx to figure out what reports you have and what your needs are, that will definitely help you. Good luck! Jan