Gravity releases V6 Upgrade of their Mid-Market Accounting Software

Gravity Software has just announced the release of V6, a major upgrade that is reflected in not only substantial product enhancements but a 48-page graphic release guide. Unfortunately Insightful Accountant can't spend 48-pages of content on an article, or simply reprint their release guide, so you will have to either settle for my summary, or contact Gravity for additional details.

But I will say that the 'wow' of scrolling through their release guide is almost as exciting as the 'wow wow' of seeing the features themselves in the software, starting with the biggest newbie of all... a redesign of the user interface. Gravity decided to excite and ignite their users with this new design that streamlined the overall graphic presentation by coupling an always present menu along the left-side that offers the menu divided by role. To the right of the menu is the workspace specific to the menu item selected.

In the example above we are looking at the Home Dashboard that has also been updated to reflect easier access to common functions, needed information and reporting. Gravity even thought to provide 'Quick Links' to Support, Training and Help which would be most beneficial to new users of the software.

Gravity's John Silvani told me in a recent interview that any major update of the software had to not only include features users had requested along with a streamlined design, but enhanced performance, and that's why Gravity's forms have been reconfigured for easier operation and faster loading. One method of accomplishing this performance enhancement when it comes to forms is to sectionalize them... rather than having a long form with field after field that users scroll up and down to complete, the forms have been sub-divided into related sections. Smaller sections mean faster loading and saving, almost 300% faster, when entering transactions.

But streamlined design and enhanced performance are not the only things Gravity is attempting to achieve with V6, they are also offering a variety of new features. As I told you, we can't possibly review all the features they are adding and I'm not certain I would really want too... if I did then you wouldn't need to take a look for yourself. But there are two or three of these new functionalities that are really worth mentioning, especially for those small accounting system users who are thinking about moving up to an alternative.

One of the first new features I want to address is 'Reporting'.  Most small accounting system users can never produce the reports they need with the tools they have available to them. They may have a reporting tool that is simply unremarkable when it comes to its ability to slice-n-dice the data, or it's 'takes a nuclear scientist' to write a 6-month long query just to look at a different view of a Balance Sheet. Or they have to go out and subscribe to either a $1500 a year App to produce reports for their $350 software, or a $70/month Reporting App for their $40/month accounting App.

Well, in addition to the very capable reporting features right inside Gravity, it now support 'Jet Reports' which is an Excel-based reporting tool that streamlines the ability to use Gravity's financial data within the 'known quantity' that is Excel. Let's face it, almost anyone that "does numbers, does Excel" and the 'Jet aid-in' turns reporting of Gravity information within Excel as easy as Excel itself.

Another functionality is the ability to enhance Gravity dashboards using Microsoft Power BI. While some small accounting software offers 'you build it' widgets with the ability to design limited graphics or analytics (of a sort) on your dashboard and then plug-n-play them onto each individual's own dashboard layout, they fail to give you the flexibility that comes from integration of Microsoft Power BI into Dashboard displays within the accounting software itself. Such is one of the benefits of Gravity being built upon the Microsoft Power Platform that provides access to a vast tool-set that supports features like Power BI. You essentially have unlimited capabilities to customize your dashboard with all the data you need in the formats you want when you incorporate MS Power BI into your Gravity Dashboard(s).

Remember, these are just four of the more than forty big changes that can be found in Gravity V6. If it's come time for you to check-out Gravity as an alternative for your small accounting software, or you know that you have outgrown the capabilities that your current desktop or cloud software can provide, then you really should give Gravity a tour.