Why organizations are leaving Dynamics GP
Many organizations still run finance and operations on Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains), often installed on premises years ago and extended with spreadsheets and add-ons along the way. Reporting takes days, nothing travels to a browser, and support and upgrade paths keep narrowing. Microsoft has announced that Dynamics GP support for product enhancements, regulatory (tax) updates, and technical support ends on December 31, 2029, with security updates available until April 30, 2031.
Leaving GP is rarely the hard part. Choosing the right destination and moving years of financial and operational history without losing it are where these projects succeed or fail. The rest of this page covers both.
Two paths off GP: a cloud ERP or a custom operational system
The right destination depends on where your complexity lives: in your accounting, or in the way your operation runs.
Acumatica Cloud ERP
Acumatica is likely the right answer when:
- you need financials, purchasing, inventory, reporting, approvals, and operations working together in one system
- several people across the organization depend on that system every day
- your finance office needs fund accounting, grant tracking, restricted funds, or encumbrance control. With the NonProfitPlus add-on, Acumatica can support these, which matters for local government, colleges, and nonprofits
- you want a standard cloud platform you can configure and extend, with no on-premise servers to maintain
We implement Acumatica with a documented six-phase method and the data-migration discipline below.
A custom operational system
A custom operational system is likely the better fit when:
- your operation is the hard part: how you track product, inventory, contracts, shipments, and paperwork doesn’t match a standard ERP module without heavy customization
- your accounting needs are well served by a dedicated accounting system, and what you need is an operational system integrated with it
- a defined group of users runs the operation, and you want the system shaped around how they work
We build these on Quickbase, Caspio, or custom cloud software on AWS, documented so your system doesn’t depend on one person.
If what you’re replacing is closer to a spreadsheet or a single department’s workflow, a lighter application may be all you need. See outgrowing spreadsheets.
How we replaced Dynamics GP for a distribution business
Nexira
Nexira is the U.S. sales-and-distribution arm of a global natural-ingredients company. We replaced its Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) system with a custom operational ERP built on Quickbase, and moved bookkeeping and financial accounting to QuickBooks Online, integrated back into the ERP, so roughly 30 users across the business work from one connected system. We’ve developed it continuously since 2021.
The ERP runs the operation end to end: products with lot-level tracking, multi-year supply contracts through the full order-to-invoice cycle, inventory by lot across warehouses and on consignment at customer sites, FIFO cost of goods sold, quantities in pounds and kilograms, prices and costs in U.S. dollars and euros at daily spot rates, containerized shipments from France, a forward week-by-week view of incoming and reserved stock, and the operation’s paperwork generated as PDFs.
What it shows. Nexira took the second path. Its complexity lived in the operation, so we built the operation around how the business works and kept financial accounting in a dedicated system, integrated cleanly.
How we move your data off GP
Data migration is where ERP replacements most often fail, and it’s the same discipline whichever path you choose. Our method:
Step 1
Source-system audit
Inventory every data store, assess quality, identify dependencies, and document types and volumes.
Step 2
Mapping and transformation rules
Define how legacy fields map to the new system’s records, and document the logic for anything that has to be restructured.
Step 3
Cleansing and validation
Resolve duplicates, missing values, format inconsistencies, and orphaned records before migration.
Step 4
Staged migration
Migrate by domain, master data first, then transactional. Verify each stage before the next.
Step 5
Parallel run
Operate both systems for a defined period and confirm the new system produces equivalent outputs from migrated data.
Step 6
Cutover
Final migration, legacy decommission, and post-migration validation.
What that means for a GP environment
In discovery, we inventory GP itself and everything bolted onto it: the spreadsheets, add-ons, reports, and integrations people rely on every day. We agree with you, in writing, which history moves into the new system and what stays archived and accessible. When financial accounting moves to a separate system, as it did for Nexira, we define the boundary between the two systems and the integration that keeps them consistent before anything is built.
We’ve migrated data from Microsoft Dynamics GP, custom databases, flat files, and legacy government systems, and the method is documented and repeatable.
What a disciplined GP replacement prevents
Where projects go wrong
How our process controls it
Requirements nobody pinned down
A documented requirements set you sign off before any build or configuration begins.
A migration that loses or corrupts data
Data inventoried, cleansed, staged, and validated against the source through a parallel run before anyone relies on it.
A go-live the staff never adopt
Train-the-trainer sessions and full documentation built into deployment.
A system that depends on one person
Everything documented so your staff, an auditor, or a future partner can run it.
One delivery method for either path
Whether you move to Acumatica or to a custom system, the work runs through the same six phases: Discovery & Requirements, Design & Architecture, Development & Integration, Testing & Validation, Deployment & Training, and Ongoing Support & Optimization. Support is ticketed, with defined response times, and continues after go-live.
Discovery · Design · Build · Test · Deploy · Support
GP replacement for growing companies, public agencies, colleges, and nonprofits
Growing companies
Businesses that have outgrown Great Plains and want financials, inventory, purchasing, and operations working together, or an operational system built around how they run.
Local government
Cities, special districts, and agencies with public budgets, annual audits, and encumbrance control, served with the documentation and change control our government work requires.
Colleges and nonprofits
Institutions that need fund accounting, grant tracking, and restricted-fund reporting from a lean team.
Common questions about replacing Dynamics GP
No. A cloud ERP such as Acumatica fits when you need financials, purchasing, inventory, reporting, approvals, and operations in one system used by people across the organization. When your complexity lives in the operation, a custom operational system integrated with a dedicated accounting system can fit better. We build both and recommend based on your situation.
Yes. For Nexira, we replaced Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) with a custom operational ERP built on Quickbase, with bookkeeping and financial accounting moved to QuickBooks Online and integrated back into the ERP, so roughly 30 users work from one connected system.
Our Acumatica practice is new. The work it demands isn’t: full-lifecycle ERP replacement off Dynamics GP, government system consolidation, and disciplined data migration. We publish Acumatica case studies as engagements complete.
We decide it with you in discovery. We inventory what GP holds, agree in writing which history moves into the new system and what stays archived, then migrate in stages, master data first, and confirm the results through a parallel run before cutover.
Often, yes. If your accounting is well served by a dedicated system, a custom operational system can integrate with it. For Nexira, the operational ERP integrates with QuickBooks Online.
It depends on scope: the modules or workflows involved, the integrations, and above all the state of your data. We give you a realistic timeline after discovery.
It depends on the path and the scope. Acumatica engagements start with a 30-minute fit call and a structured ERP Readiness Review; custom builds start with a fixed-fee assessment that produces a written plan and a fixed price for the build. Either way, you see the plan before you commit.
You do. Your data and your system are yours, and we document everything so your team or a future partner can run and extend it.
Tell us what you’re running on GP today.
Share your modules, users, integrations, and timeline. We’ll tell you which path fits and what a sound replacement would involve.
Questions, or something specific you’re weighing? We’re happy to talk: 201-644-5251.
