MIP Fund Accounting vs. Square Payroll

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
MIP Fund Accounting
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
MIP Fund Accounting™ is a configurable fund accounting solution. The solution includes functionality for fund accounting, procurement, budgeting, payroll, human resources, timekeeping, fixed asset management, grant management, and dashboards for nonprofits and government agencies.N/A
Square Payroll
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
Square Payroll is a payroll solution for hourly employees, from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.
$0
per month
Pricing
MIP Fund AccountingSquare Payroll
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free
$0
per month
Plus
$29
per month
Premium
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
MIP Fund AccountingSquare Payroll
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
MIP Fund AccountingSquare Payroll
Considered Both Products
MIP Fund Accounting
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
I've had limited use of Quickbooks, but I think MIP Fund Accounting is far superior with the options and capabilities
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
We have looked into other programs such as Classy and GiveGab/Greater Giving. While the customization on the forms for those alternatives are better, the prices for those programs are just too high.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
I've utilized other ERP accounting software like Infor, NetSuite, and MS Dynamics, to name a few. MIP Fund Accounting offers flexibility and room for growth while not being overly heavy on your team to maintain it. And, we're now learning more about the add-on's and more …
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
Abila MIP Fund Accounting was already in place with the Agency I am currently employed with, when I started my position there. I was able to teach Sage to myself, but Abila has been a little bit more complex as far as that goes, at least in my opinion.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
While I feel Sage Intacct is a good software, it does not suite the needs of the organization the way MIP does. As I had mentioned, the Knowledgebase that MIP Fund Accounting has is an incredible tool that makes it so much easier for us to find solutions and to get the help we …
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
Much better user interface and menu structure.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
I only used CATALYST Accounting software for a few months but thought it was very cumbersome, especially at year-end when a hard close was needed.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
We chose MIP Fund Accounting for a better cost especially for non-profit industry over Quickbooks.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
Our county still has EDEN - we use MIP for our grant and contract tracking because MIP is much more flexible to track the Data and run reports from. EDEN is impossible to do the kind of tracking that we need to track and bill our grants and contracts.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
MIP Fund Accounting is the only financial software program that I have used for the purpose of consolidating financial data, and it seems to perform that function with a minimal learning curve. My employer is a non-profit entity. MIP Fund Accounting is built to function for …
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
That was so long ago it's hard to remember. I think we looked at Blackbaud back in 2004.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
I prefer MIP to the other software I have been exposed to based on cost, ease of use, and functionality. I have tried Blackbaud about 14 years ago and was not impressed as it was hard to use and not intuitive at all. As for quickbooks, I have not used that program in mane …
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
MIP Fund works well such as one competitor I have used before. Adapting to other online program software systems is the only thing I can think of that MIP could do better. But primarily as a non-profit with little time on hand and always overworked, a simpler software program …
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
I did not initiate the purchase of MIP. The software has been within the organization more than five years.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
MIP HR Management works well for us because MIP was able to help us on personalizing the software according to our needs for better performance.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
Compared to other software I've used, MIP is by far the most user friendly and easiest to operate that've I've seen. Reports are easy to run, and I love being able to narrow down the information to only pull specific items.
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
The HRA used RealPage (I'm not sure if it is actually the one listed above), and it did not work well. I'm not sure if it wasn't set up well, designed for larger property management companies, or just not good software, but it did not suit our needs at all. We chose a different …
Chose MIP Fund Accounting
We are in the very first stages of looking at alternative accounting software. Abila MIP Fund Accounting was implemented at our organization before I started and our organization has now outgrown the system.
Square Payroll
Chose Square Payroll
ADP is much too expensive. Gusto was great for us but we found Square Payroll to be more cost effective, though the difference is not very much.
Chose Square Payroll
We used Quickbooks for a long time. Our payroll/HR person for the past 20+ years retired around the time our company was sold and bought. Her replacement had experience in using Square Payroll. We gave it a shot and liked it. We went live rather quickly and it did take some …
Chose Square Payroll
We have tested the QuickBooks Online platform. Before using Square, we tried QuickBooks, but the experience we had was not to our liking. QuickBooks Online is a much more complicated platform to use, the interface is much larger and has complexity in the configuration of the …
Chose Square Payroll
I would say that Square Payroll has a step up in comparison to the competition. It is a great platform for small companies that don't need the resources and expense that bigger systems might offer. Square is the exact thing I was looking for.
Chose Square Payroll
I liked patriot, but I found it to be more confusing than Square and took me too much time to setup. I setup Square Payroll in about an hour. I would also say the Square interface made more sense to me. I also like how Square offers more things like benefits, etc. that can be …
Chose Square Payroll
Cheaper and easier to implement Square payroll versus the competition. Accessible to the small business. Doesn't have a learning curve. Quick deployment to usage/adoption. The other options don't compare when looked at feature for feature vs. price.
Features
MIP Fund AccountingSquare Payroll
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
MIP Fund Accounting
-
Ratings
Square Payroll
7.8
Ratings
5% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings4.40 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Best Alternatives
MIP Fund AccountingSquare Payroll
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online
Score 8.3 out of 10
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct
Score 8.6 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
MIP Fund AccountingSquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(0 ratings)
4.7
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.5
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.5
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.6
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
MIP Fund AccountingSquare Payroll
Likelihood to Recommend
MIP Fund Accounting works very well for general fundraising. The form creation process is easy and allows you to set parameters and add fees, quantities, images, etc. This process is smooth on the customer (forward-facing) side as well. Reports are generated once the transactions have gone through, making tracking and reconciliation with accounting easy.
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I would say that Square Payroll is perfect for companies that don't exceed 100 employees. The multistate payroll system allows for us to be able to handle business with ease when we go do work in Mississippi or Arkansas. The multiple payout options are great for our particular business. We might deal with a multimillion dollar contract one day and a $120 order the next.
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Pros
  • General Ledger processing, including journal entries and reports
  • Ability to download all reports directly to Excel and PDF formats
  • Use of Grant codes to enable grant reporting by month/quarter/year
  • Ability to have multiple departments and consolidate into groups for reporting
  • Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable cannot be out of balance
  • Multiple ways to use the product including Cloud and Classic options, Visual menu or Standard (Top of screen) menus to select processes, many options we are not using in our simple organization
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  • 1099 contractor payments are easy, and they provide you with the IRS filing as part of the service.
  • Direct deposit/debit from your already connected account to the employee.
  • Reporting and management features are simple yet inclusive.
  • Low cost compared to alternative solutions.
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Cons
  • With the payroll process, if there is an error in sending the stubs through email, there is no option to resend without a restore. That really needs to change.
  • Being able to void encumbrance at the same time as a PO would be an incredible time saver.
  • When processing W2 the system deletes info.
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  • [In my experience] they can cancel your service at any time, without warning or explanation. When they do this your funds are held by them for up to 90 days, at which time they are presumably accruing interest on your money. This could take a small business under very quickly and there is nothing you can do about it.
  • [I believe] getting verified is complex and not customer friendly. Until you are verified you can't talk to payroll customer service, which is paradoxical. Even getting a hold of account services for this purpose is tricky and exceedingly time-consuming, plus they can not answer most questions directly.
  • [I feel] they don't communicate well, closed my account with no notice whatsoever. The only notification I had about the need to verify my account was one easily lost email. Not having responded to this email fast enough created months of stress and difficulty in the setup process, only to find in the end I would need to start from scratch to attempt to sign up again.
  • [In my experience] if they close your account you can never reopen it. You have to start a new account from scratch.
  • [In my experience] they can hold your money and not deposit funds if your account is "under review". This can happen without explanation. No customer service is directly available for this. I was told I had to wait for them to call me.
  • [I believe] they are either lying, or the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing to such an extent that they give a great deal of misinformation.
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Likelihood to Renew
I give MIP a 10 because Our organization use MIP Fund Accounting ever since I've been there and that's been for over 20 plus years for all of our accounting and payroll. MIP has stayed on the cutting edge of technology, ever evolving to meet the needs of the times, especially post pandemic, while many are working remotely! MIP support staff are very knowledgeable and efficient. Even new users can get up to speed quickly with MIP Fund Accounting.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
I don't know what it would be like in the for-profit arena, but for the non-profit arena, it is an excellent product. I love how you don't actually have to close years and are able to get information that spans over the year-end. And the grant tracking is excellent too. It is just an excellent accounting system.
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It could use a mobile-friendly interface. Other than that it's a simple layout and non-cluttered which allows you to get done what you need to get done. No unnecessary dodads or distractions.
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Reliability and Availability
I have rarely encountered any issues accessing MIP Fund Accounting over the years. On the rare occasions when availability was interrupted, the reasons were always found in-house when using the on-premises version. Since we have migrated to the MIP cloud, we have had no issues with availability. Any maintenance or updates are always communicated to us and are usually done outside of business hours.
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No answers on this topic
Performance
MIP Fund Accounting is an important asset for performing search queries. If I had to do a historical search query without MIP Fund Accounting, I very well might have to pull data from three different programs, turn each piece into like-data myself, and then consolidate it all down into interpretive data. MIP Fund Accounting does it all by itself and has a wide array of ways to filter down as specifically or broadly as you want for any given query.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I have not reached out to MIP for technical support; however, their website offers great help resources so I can solve an issue on my own. Another team member reached out to MIP for support and was helped quickly. The transition process took longer than expected due to a lag in communication.
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I think they have quick and helpful customer service reps, however, I give them a 9 because I have had to wait on hold for long periods of time before.
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In-Person Training
There are no specifics on what happens if you make one choice or another to know which is the best selection. This is true for JVs and AP. In training we were not given specifics of what happens when one possibility is selected over another.
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
The training with Laura was amazing. She had answered all our questions and customized the training to our needs that we are working with and trying to address using MIP accounting. The only thing I wish that could come out of the trainings was to have permanent access to the recordings of our paid trainings we received. They recordings of the training only last for a short time before it goes away which makes it hard to go back and re-watch and learn.
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No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Again, I was not directly involved with the planning and setup of the software. However, I was involved in training my staff during the implementation phase. As with any software implementation, consistency of training is key and a willingness to seek out help from Customer Support helps tremendously to insure accuracy of information and training.
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
I've utilized other ERP accounting software like Infor, NetSuite, and MS Dynamics, to name a few. MIP Fund Accounting offers flexibility and room for growth while not being overly heavy on your team to maintain it. And, we're now learning more about the add-on's and more advanced capabilities to leverage with our team.
Read full review
We have tested the QuickBooks Online platform. Before using Square, we tried QuickBooks, but the experience we had was not to our liking. QuickBooks Online is a much more complicated platform to use, the interface is much larger and has complexity in the configuration of the collection of hours of work of the employees. In addition, QuickBooks technical support does not respond in time to users' doubts, on several occasions we had several doubts about the operation of the platform and the response was too late and inconsistent. We decided to use Square Payroll because it offered us a much more accessible UI, a simpler but more precise interface for what we needed in our company, to be able to make payroll payments and make detailed reports on the workers.
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Scalability
MIP is easy to install and use on my work laptop. I can still use the software when travelling for work or when working from home. It is always reliable and effective. This applies to other people on our organization as well. Employees who need access to the MIP database are able to access it from their desktop computers or laptops
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • When used, it also visibility to how we are using our allotted Government funds. It allows us to make sure we are being efficient with those dollars.
  • MIP Fund Accounting allows us to be more accurate in posting expenses. It allows us to be sure of which accounts are we are posting to. We can pull those accounts in real time and make sure that our entries are having the desired effect on the accounts involved.
  • MIP Fund Accounting allows accountability in that we can see who posted what, when they posted, and to which accounts they posted.
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  • Square Payroll has dramatically reduced the time it takes to process payroll.
  • We could have a faster payroll with the Square POS integration for commission, but that is not something we've implemented yet.
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ScreenShots

MIP Fund Accounting Screenshots

Screenshot of MIP Advance™ Dashboards with drilldownScreenshot of MIP™ Transactions WorkflowScreenshot of MIP DashboardsScreenshot of MIP DashboardsScreenshot of MIP Dashboard drilldownScreenshot of MIP Transactions