The ability to pay your vendor bills is a key feature of any ERP package. Dynamics SL is a mature product that handles accounts payable functions very well, sometimes with the need of a third party depending upon each customer’s requirements. In this blog, we will compare the functionality of Acumatica’s Payable module with Dynamics SL’s Accounts Payable module.

Vendors are setup in both ERP systems in the AP module and allow for multiple addresses, GL account defaults, and default terms. Acumatica has a feature called Attributes that are defined by Vendor Class and generally is more flexible than adding user defined fields in Acumatica. Acumatica’s Vendor Locations create better flexibility than SL’s shipping addresses. And Acumatica’s Payment Method features allows user to set up the vendor’s default payment method (check, ACH, wire) without a third-party product like SL.

Entering vendor invoices (Vouchers in SL, AP Bills in Acumatica) is very similar with regards to post dates, invoice details, and GL postings. Users in both systems will enter a credit from a vendor as a “Debit Adjustment” (because you are debiting AP). However, in Acumatica, you can select to purchase a document recognition feature and read an email inbox to recognize AP documents, eliminate data entry and attach the vendor invoice to the record. Most of those features require a third party for Dynamics SL. Recently, Microsoft added AP approvals to SL, but all records in the batch need to be approved before release. In Acumatica, each document follows its own approval workflow, and approvals in Acumatica are much more robust. You are also able to see which checks or credit adjustments were applied to the AP document much easier in Acumatica. If you need to reverse an AP Bill, Acumatica makes it very easy, with one click of a button, and a Debit Adjustment is created.

Cutting checks to vendors is very similar in both ERP packages. However, Acumatica will allow for the creation of ACH and Wire payments without any third-party products. A Positive Pay file can also be generated in Acumatica as well, although a third-party package could help if dealing with multiple banks. Acumatica users can take advantage of Notification Templates to email remittance details to vendors, something you can’t do within SL. Payments to vendors will update 1099 balances in both systems and you can print both the 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC forms (if you are on a recent release).

Reporting and inquiries are very similar in both Acumatica and Dynamics SL, but the addition of dashboards in Acumatica gives it the edge.

Overall, Acumatica provides all the functionality you are familiar with in the Dynamics SL Accounts Payable modules, but adds an improved approval process; document recognition; dashboards; mobile access; better user interface; and enhancement payment features.

To learn