Management Reporter for Microsoft Dynamics GP: The Crown Vic of Financial Statement Preparation

1990 Ford LTD Crown Victoria LX 4-door sedan | Source

Over the last several weeks there have been announcements, commentary (by people like me), and misinformation spreading about the fate of Management Reporter for Dynamics GP.  Somewhere along the way I stumbled into an analogy that I like and that I think explains where Management Reporter sit for GP now.

Management Reporter is a Ford Crown Victoria. The Crown Vic, as it was commonly called, was a very full size car built by Ford through 2011. If you've been pulled over by a police officer any time before 2013, you're probably familiar with the Crown Vic or it's nearly identical cousin, the Mercury Marquis. I took the family on a drive across the southwest U.S. in a rented Crown Vic one year and it was great for that type of driving.

Still, I had to accept the Crown Vic for what it was, a monstrous, rear wheel drive, V-8 powered, couch on wheels with a trunk big enough to hold three bodies. (Don't ask, it's a long story). If a Lotus is said to corner like it's on rails, the Crown Vic cornered like it was driving on ice, all the time. Plus, the body role could make you seasick if you slalomed though a set of cones. Gas mileage was laughable.

At some point Ford made a decision to keep making the Crown Vic ...