A review of new software products for your business

Multiview's well-kept secret

By Michael Burns

You probably haven’t heard of the Multiview Accounting System – although you will recognize many companies that use it. Multiview Incorporated is a Canadian company based in Ottawa. It employs about 60 people and has more than 600 clients worldwide – mostly in the US. Only about 10% are in Canada. Multiview should definitely should be on your radar if you’re thinking about a new accounting system.

Target market
Multiview is difficult to pigeonhole into a target market. It has clients with revenue of $20 million at the low end, and with billions at the high end. Its system is used by more than 40 industries and will have wide appeal to companies looking for a strong accounting product using the Oracle database.

Cost
A named, standard user licence is currently priced at $3,500 with annual support at $1,050. Infrequent users can be added at a fraction of the standard user cost. The standard licence would apply to anyone using the system on a daily basis – normally called power users. Each licence allows for use of the entire application.

The product

Assets	Liabilities
Functionality. Multiview includes financial and analytic reporting, general ledger, accounts payable , purchasing, accounts receivable, order processing, invoicing, fixed assets, inventory, work flow and imaging.	Multiview is not suitable for companies looking for robust distribution or manufacturing functionality. It also lacks customer relationship management.
The vendor. Multiview Incorporated has been around for about 15 years and has built a respectable business with more than 600 customers.	Even though Multiview has been around for about 15 years and has built a respectable business, it still not very well known. This is its biggest problem. Many companies will dismiss a vendor, no matter how good the software, simply based on its lack of visibility in the marketplace – which is equated with risk. Multiview has recognized this problem and has been trying to raise awareness by advertising, attending tradeshows and submitting software for industry reviews in the US and Canada.
Oracle. A significant differentiator is that Multiview is built using the Oracle database and development tools. This is a big advantage for companies that already use Oracle and prefer not to support multiple databases. It’s also an advantage in that Oracle will handle a very large number of transactions.	Many companies will avoid introducing Oracle if they have already invested in a different system such as Microsoft SQL Server. Also, Oracle typically costs more than other database systems in terms of database licences and technical support. That said, Multiview includes the cost of Oracle components in its licence fee and provides database and technical assistance as part of its support agreement.
Financials. Multiview shines in its financial applications, which include consolidation, multicurrency, intercompany transactions, unlimited budgeting and statistical reporting. Multiview does not keep a summarized view by month of financial transactions and instead can generate a financial report for any period – from one day to multiple years.	Multiview includes ownership calculations for consolidation and reporting, but ownership is not date sensitive. Thus, the system will not automatically consolidate both the old and the new ownership if it should change during the period being reported on or consolidated.
Chart of accounts. Multiview’s accounting structure comprises three segments. The codes are alphanumeric and include up to 660 characters. The unit code is for recording where the financial event takes place within the organization (company, division, cost centre, etc.). The account code records why a transaction occurred (revenue, expense, balance sheet, etc.). The business metric code is used for capturing any data element required to facilitate financial reporting and analysis other than organizational entity or natural account. You can have up to 50 different business metrics and these codes are set up on the fly as needed. They can easily be moved to another unit; however, all the history will show the new structure.
User interface. Multiview makes it easy to drill down to any level of detail in the system. It also allows for heads-down data entry without ever using a mouse. By the time this article is published, Multiview’s web-based system should be released. It looks very similar to the existing user interface. The key difference is that only a browser is required on the workstation or remote device accessing the system.	Multiview uses Oracle tools for building screens, which will have a different look and feel to those built using Microsoft tools. Screens look busy, and there is limited ability to customize.
Security. The security rules are built into the database, which means access rights will apply even with a third-party tool such as Crystal Reports. Security is set for employees by unit and account.
Customization. There are 50 business metrics that can be attached to each transaction. Business rules can be set up to determine whether a business metric is required or prohibited. A favourites menu can be created and there is some customization of screens, allowing for changes to navigation.	Multiview provides only a limited number of user-defined fields, and you cannot rename fields (other than the user-defined ones), move them or drop them from the screen.
Work flow. With work flow, you can set up rules to route transactions such as requisitions to the appropriate person for approval. Work flow is a great way to improve business process. Multiview has recently released its own work flow system, which includes diagrams to document business processes, as well as many advanced features such as complex conditions, audit trail of all activity and document management.
Imaging. The imaging application is available to all applications. This tool allows users to attach electronic supporting documents to any transaction. Documents can include scanned invoices, spreadsheets, PDF files or any other electronic file. When used with Work flow, the requirements for supporting documents can be designed into the system, including routing approval and review.
Purchasing. Features include multiple catalogs for a supplier with cross-reference to a standard product table, support for different approval methods based on procurement type and/or responsibility, and multilevel approvals that can be set in a variety of ways.	Purchase orders cannot be sent automatically by e-mail or fax.
Report writer. Multiview’s financial report writer is an Excel-like tool with the ability to analyse in combination with any number of financial, statistical and/or budget elements in real time. The report writer is capable of producing bank-ready reports, but if more formatting is required, the report can easily be transferred to Excel. Any column or row can be defined by Multiview’s report writer. As well, it is possible to override the formula for a specific cell.	Calculations such as sum are not transferred to Excel.
OLAP. Online analytical reporting (OLAP) provides tools to easily slice and dice operations across multiple dimensions. With most accounting systems, you must purchase a separate OLAP tool such as Cognos PowerPlay, which may or may not be integrated. With Multiview, OLAP is built right into the system and the cubes used for OLAP reporting are built quickly, in real time.	Multiview’s OLAP tool will not work with data that is not included in Multiview’s General Ledger.
Commitment accounting. The system will compare purchase orders and requisitions to the budget for the year, and require approvals if thresholds are exceeded. As well, the report writer will allow for comparison of budget to actual + commitments.
Support. Multiview assigns a certified project manager (with an accounting designation such as CA or CMA) and a customer support representative to new customers.
Fixed Assets. Multiview’s fixed-asset system is so good that even Exxon, a multi- billion-dollar company, is using it.
Cost. Multiview’s pricing is very competitive (even for products that are targeted to smaller companies) and includes the cost of Oracle.	With Multiview, you also get all the available modules whether you want them or not.

Bottom line
The cat’s out of the bag: Multiview is one of the better accounting systems out there. And yes, the company is Canadian – even though there is no mention of that fact on its website. Don’t tell anyone, ok?

Michael Burns, MBA, CA, is president of 180 Systems (http://www.180systems.com), which provides independent consulting service, including business process review, business case development and system selection. Michael can be reached at 416-963-1296 or mburns@180systems.com.