Microsoft Dynamics SL has always had a strong reputation for project accounting going back to the Smith, Dennis and Gaylord (SDG) days. One area that was always a differentiator was the Allocator module. With the Allocator module users are able to calculate and post new transactions to post to the GL and to the project. These transactions may apply indirect costs, like fringe and overhead, calculate fees and revenue or create asset entries to WIP, CIP or Unbilled A/R.

So how does Acumatica’s functionality compare to Dynamics SL’s for project allocations? We take a look at some areas below:

Allocation Method Setup – In this Dynamics SL screen, you define the steps a transaction will take, the related calculation and how the new transaction will post. Acumatica has a screen called Allocation Rules, that allows for all the same options a user would have in SL, but with a couple additional enhancements.       In Acumatica, you have greater control over some calculation settings – including using a formula to build the description of the new transaction. In addition, you can aggregate transactions in Acumatica, so you could aggregate all fringe transactions by employee for example, instead of having a fringe allocation for each timecard line.       There is no second allocation option in Acumatica, so any indirect calculations would need to be included in each allocation.

• Allocation Rate Table Definition – In Dynamics SL you use this screen to build your lookup hierarchy for each rate table and rate type. You have up to nine levels, but you need to be careful to leave room in case you need to insert a level in-between two existing levels. Acumatica has a screen called Rate Lookup Rules, and you have rate tables and rate types just like in SL. You can have an unlimited number of levels and you can easily insert a new level in-between two existing levels. You can define all the same keys (i.e. Project, Task, etc.) as SL with the exception of Customer, but there is a way around that.
• Allocation Multi-Level Rate Entry – Here is where you define the billing rates in Dynamics SL populating the levels you had defined in Allocation Rate Table Definition. The screen is pretty simple to understand, but as this list grows over time it could become more difficult to manage. In Acumatica you use the Rate Tables screen to populate the rates by each level. Acumatica uses tabs instead of singular grid like SL, but Acumatica does add a “Rate Code” which is an additional dimension you can use to group rates. Labor Class is often used as a key when looking up rates. In SL, the Labor Class field is only 4 characters, in Acumatica a much larger field is used making it possible to keep a naming convention when assigning Labor Classes.
• Allocation Reports – No one ever looked at the allocation reports in SL. The first report was telling you the project allocation, but it each transaction printed on two lines, which made it difficult to read, and if you had a lot of transactions to run it could be dozens or hundreds of pages long.   The GL report was even less helpful. Often you didn’t know if there was a problem with the allocation until you invoiced. Acumatica creates a project transaction batch for each project that clearly lays out in a grid the project/task/project account/Employee and the related GL transactions. The allocated transactions are much easier to review in Acumatica and if an error isn’t found until later just one click of a button will reverse the allocation.

There are some minor differences between the two applications with regards project allocations, but all the key components of a proper project allocation are available in Acumatica (often with the same names you are used to in Dynamics SL). And Acumatica continues to get better with each release.

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