Growth strategy requires evolution of ERP solutions

Mendelson Consulting has been a top QuickBooks advisory partner for more than 20 years, with more than 2,000 small and midsized businesses (SMBs) using its implementation and hosting services to address their accounting needs. But as its customers began increasing in size and sophistication, Mendelson required an alternative, modern solution to sustain company growth. Dynamics 365 Business Central was a clear choice for expanding its solutions portfolio, offering more robust reporting, transaction controls, audit trails and more. “The ERP [enterprise resource planning] market has shifted, and while small businesses might start with QuickBooks, we need to be able to offer customers next-generation technology that grows with them,” said Mario Nowogrodzki, CPA, CITP and owner of Mendelson Consulting. “Business Central - and the broader Microsoft Cloud stack - is a platform that can support our client base into the future.”

Since starting its Business Central practice six months ago, Mendelson has seen strong interest from its core manufacturing and distribution verticals, where Business Central can provide clear differentiation around enabling complex, inventory-intensive processes. One of its early Business Central wins is a distribution business for whom Mendelson successfully implemented a robust solution centered around QuickBooks several years ago; they had already decided to migrate from QuickBooks to NetSuite because it needed more comprehensive inventory management functionality. “The customer had outgrown QuickBooks but was not having success with a costly NetSuite implementation,” said Nowogrodzki. “Once they found out we now offer Business Central services, we were able to bring them back and give them the comprehensive solution they needed while also lowering overall costs.”

Business Central is also helping the partner address the needs of a niche micro vertical: retail franchise ownership. “Mendelson has a unique way of implementing back-office accounting for a multi-location, multi-entity model. While we initially built this on QuickBooks, Business Central gives us the opportunity to add significant value in improving both accounting practices and wider business processes for franchise owners - and we already have multiple deals in our pipeline,” added Nowogrodzki.

Building a strong Business Central migration practice

While technology was an important factor in Mendelson's decision to build a Business Central practice, Microsoft's partner-friendly programs cemented the process. “We're used to dealing with a complex environment where you essentially have to compete with your supplier. With Microsoft, we're part of a collaborative channel model that supports us and makes it easy to engage with other partners in the ecosystem,” explained Nowogrodzki.

In working with Microsoft to get its practice off the ground, Mendelson tapped into Microsoft strategy teams, skilling resources, and sales engagement materials like the Business Central Needs Assessment partner kit to accelerate development and delivery of its new services. Mendelson is also exploring partner programs to align with Microsoft on go-to-market efforts for Business Central migration, along with the BC Talent initiative to help supplement and build out its technical capabilities. “The support, the commitment to partners and product evolution, and the programs at Microsoft have been just phenomenal,” continued Nowogrodzki. “While we had been an Azure hosting partner since 2018, we just didn't dig into the full spectrum of Microsoft partner resources available to us until now. It's been a game-changer.”

One of the most important elements underpinning its new practice is working with other Microsoft partners to help Mendelson comprehensively meet the needs of clients that want to migrate to Business Central. Initial support from distributor Ingram Micro has helped Mendelson stand up its practice very quickly. “We wouldn't have been able to expand our business without the resources provided through Ingram,” said Nowogrodzki. The team has also been able to collaborate with other service providers to fill staffing gaps as it works on growing capacity, and third-party software solutions available via the Microsoft marketplace have helped eliminate time-intensive customization work. As QuickBooks experts, Mendelson has also found a way to support the broader Microsoft partner ecosystem with best practices in QuickBooks data conversion. “Converting detailed historical data in migration projects can be tricky, and we have developed IP that can help other partners do this very quickly and inexpensively in a non-disruptive manner, while also helping provide granular insights on feature gap analysis,” said Nowogrodzki.

Growing with full AI-powered Microsoft stack

While the core capabilities of Business Central provide a more sophisticated platform for clients, Mendelson anticipates that Microsoft Copilot will soon become a key factor in driving additional migration engagements. “We are helping customers understand AI in the context of their business, showing them how Business Central and AI agents can eliminate repetitive, manual accounting tasks so that their operations can be more effective and less error prone,” added Nowogrodzki. “More importantly, we can show that this technology is manageable and can be deployed effectively without outrageous costs.”

Mendelson is also using its positive momentum with Business Central to investigate additional growth opportunities. Whether it is creating data analytics automations with Microsoft Fabric or tying in Office 365 and Microsoft Teams with Business Central processes, Mendelson continues to build out new services across the Microsoft stack. “Business Central is a foundation for developing additional value-added services that can make our customers more successful. The Microsoft platform allows partners to deliver creative, novel solutions,” concluded Nowogrodzki.

The ERP [enterprise resource planning] market has shifted, and while small businesses might start with QuickBooks, we need to be able to offer customers next-generation technology that grows with them. Business Central – and the broader Microsoft Cloud stack – is a platform that can support our client base into the future.

—Mario Nowogrodzki, CPA, CITP and owner, Mendelson Consulting

QuickBooks expert supports customer growth with Business Central migrations