Cougar Mountain Denali Summit - Review 2022

Another venerable PC software player, Cougar Mountain Software (CMS) was founded in 1982. At that time, Cougar was all almost point-of-sale (POS) and the back-stop accounting applications that support information technology. Today, all the same, the visitor has expanded into an effective mid-tier enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that'south bolstered by a wide variety of expansion modules that target other segments and verticals, including not only POS but also inventory direction and others. For this review, I looked at a elevation-cease version of Cougar Mountain Denali Tiptop that's sold directly by CMS or through its dealer aqueduct (with a base toll of $275 per month for the first user and another $65 per calendar month for each additional user). That's a decent price for a mature system, though it falls down enough on the reporting side to stay just behind Editors' Choice winners NetSuite OneWorld on the ERP side and Intacct on the accounting side.

When we reviewed Cougar Mountain Denali Summit as an enterprise accounting system, we rated the software every bit "Excellent." Unfortunately, because information technology'south somewhat feature-limited equally an ERP platform, it doesn't retain that rating when we await at information technology through that lens. Even so, we rate information technology every bit "Good" with a 3.5 rating. So, if your needs are primarily in the area of fiscal bookkeeping (with ERP functionality being of less important), then Cougar Mountain Denali Height may be just what yous're seeking.

We also tested Cougar Mountain Denali Elevation's Inventory Direction module, which is a adequately piece of cake to utilize system that features procedure flow chart menus and other modern capabilities. It should meet the needs of many pocket-size to midsize businesses (SMBs) simply its famine of charting and graphic capabilities too as an older, less intuitive user interface (UI) had us rating it a 3 in this category, meaning it's a good value but well behind our Editors' Choice in the Inventory Management category, namely Acumatica.

Cougar Mountain Denali Top is also available in a version intended specifically for retail operations with POS requirements. All bundles are available for on-premises installation on your ain server or y'all tin can opt to take Cougar Mount Denali Elevation privately hosted, either via a cloud provider of your choosing or by CMS on an AppEazy Applianz server from Applianz Technologies.

Moving Through the Arrangement

You can access Cougar Mount Denali Superlative through the CMS Controller. When you click the Controller icon, you're brought to the Controller screen where all visitor, nautical chart of accounts, and user setup is performed. Navigation is done via several methods. The installed modules are shown every bit labeled icons along a ribbon bar at the top of the screen. Too on this bar are icons for the Financial and Sales dashboards too as the Aid function. The Financial and Sales dashboards give y'all a summary of company data in those two areas with advisable charts. The charts aren't fancy but both dashboards let yous cull what to brandish.

A nice characteristic on the Financial dashboard is a tabular array that shows diverse ratios and summary data for Liquidity, Coverage, Leverage, Operating (such equally Render on Assets or ROA), and Greenbacks Flow. Of course, y'all can permit or block access to this information in the Controller module to specific users based on their assigned office. Similar AccountMate, still, the charting and graphing capabilities in near Cougar Mountain Denali Peak models are sparse as compared to more robust competitors such as Editors' Choice winner Intacct or NetSuite OneWorld. You can consign data into Microsoft Excel fairly easily and rely on that software for graphic data renderings. Notwithstanding, it would be more than convenient and competitive to have those capabilities included in Cougar Mountain Denali Summit.

Cougar Mountain Denali Summit - The CMS Controller Landing Screen

As you change from the Controller to another module such every bit General Ledger, Denali Summit loads the appropriate module (which is evident considering the center window and other panes alter, calculation the features appropriate to the new module). For instance, the Controller's chief display has icons for tasks such as setting up the company, adding or deleting users, defining currencies (if you lot are using the multi-currency features), and defining global organisation settings. The ledger'due south main console offers tasks such every bit Allocations, Budgeting, Journal Entries, and Recurring Entries. The nautical chart of accounts is flexible, and y'all can define up to half-dozen segments, with a full of fifty characters.

Above the Icon bar, in that location's a second ribbon bar to perform operations such as generating reports and perform period-terminate and yr-end closings. A third navigation pane is located vertically on the left-hand side of the screen. This one lists task groups on the bottom part of the panel; clicking one of these groups brings up the available tasks for that particular group of functions in the top part of the console. All of these make information technology adequately easy to find what you want to do and get to that function. There'due south a comprehensive Help function if you lot get lost or are unsure near how to perform an functioning.

Aside from limited capability when it comes to natively graphing data, there also aren't a lot of predefined reports in the General Ledger module. You'll find the standard financial statements and, on the plus side, you tin can print those out in comparative format. Denali Summit besides has a budgeting capability and there are several budget reports. To build your own, however, isn't as like shooting fish in a barrel equally information technology is with some other packages. The report and information entry filters are not particularly intuitive, though once y'all've used them a few times, they aren't intimidating. Two of the iii module bundles include Crystal Reports so, once you learn how to use that (or pay a Reseller to help you), it'south not difficult to generate ad hoc or custom reports, albeit again in a 3rd-party app rather than the native Cougar Mountain Denali Summit platform. SAP Business One Professional person follows a similar strategy, only then again, SAP owns Crystal Reports so maybe it's not the same thing. The Cougar Mountain Denali Height base parcel bundle doesn't include Crystal Reports just you tin purchase it on your own from SAP, beginning at $495.

Cougar Mountain Denali Summit - Provides Good Budgeting Functionality

The Aforementioned, Only Smaller

The version of Cougar Mountain Denali Summit that I reviewed, which was hosted on an Applianz Technologies server, supports remote admission using the Chrome browser. There's a link supplied on Applianz'due south download page for an app aimed at Android devices and another app in the App Store for iOS. At the moment, the Android link doesn't actually work—simply this is a trouble with the Applianz server software, not with Cougar Mountain Denali Summit. I had no problem accessing Cougar Mountain Denali Summit from my iPad by using the app from the Apple App Store. Access from Windows is done past using a downloaded AppEasy Connect program, which worked fine and looked the same from my Core i7 desktop and a Microsoft Surface Windows 10 tablet.

In that location was no departure in whatsoever of the three logins (Desktop, iPad, and Microsoft Surface); they all took me to the virtual machine (VM) the app was using. I launched the software by clicking the CMS Controller (i.e., system manager) icon and all of the logins brought me to the same screen. With Cougar Mountain Denali Pinnacle, as with almost all of the apps I reviewed (except Acumatica), the mobile apps aren't really optimized for a smaller screen. This means using the app on a smartphone or smaller tablet requires you to elevate the screen around to get to the expanse you need. I too used a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad and Yoga tablets, and found information technology much easier to work with that keyboard than with the on-screen keyboards on these devices.

1-Time or Per-Month Pricing

Cougar Mountain Denali Pinnacle is available on a pay-as-you-go monthly basis or as a flat-fee purchase. The low-terminate Denali Basecamp packet is priced at $85 per month for a single user, with additional users costing $40 per month each and eight hours of support or training (which adds $65 per month). The bundle, which includes the Controller, Bank Reconciliation, General Ledger, and Accounts Payable (AP) and Receivable, can be purchased for a one-time fee of $1,999 with support and training additional, as are additional user licenses. The Denali Ascent bundle, which adds Inventory, Order Entry, SAP Crystal Reports and two hours of back up and two hours of training, costs $ii,999 or $190 per month. Finally, the Denali Summit package (which I reviewed) provides purchase orders (POs), Payroll, and multiple-location Inventory, and is priced at $iv,999 for a single user or $275 per calendar month, which besides includes two hours of support and two hours of training.

The Inventory module I tested is office of the Cougar Mountain Denali Summit package, which as well includes the system managing director (what CMS calls the Controller), Full general Ledger, AP and Receivable, Sales and PO entry, and Banking company Reconciliation. Pricing begins at $4,999 or $165 per calendar month. The bundle also included SAP Crystal Reports, which is an extra $495 with a more basic bundle. You can opt for additional modules, including POS. The organisation I reviewed was deployed as a hosted example on an Applianz server, which is one deployment option (the other being an on-premises installation).

In this set of reviews, I used apps such as NetSuite, which has completely transparent integration. I also used modular apps such as Sage 300c, which consist of several private modules that share a common database. Both approaches work fine, and even a completely integrated suite generally has extensions adult by third-party providers (which should be completely transparent to the user). The modular arroyo taken by CMS isn't better or worse; information technology but keeps its modules more separate. This arroyo lets you create a fairly custom system, though you can attain the same thing with most of the other apps reviewed here as well.

Cougar Mountain Denali Summit - The Financial Dashboard Provides a Comprehensive Set of KPIs

ERP If You lot Don't Need Likewise Much

My definition of what constitutes an ERP platform really depends on several factors, but the key gene is exactly what constitutes an "enterprise." For these reviews, we've defined an "enterprise" as a business with needs as well complex for a standard online accounting app. CMS doesn't actually characterization its Cougar Mountain Denali Summit suite as ERP simply, if we utilise that definition, then it'south suitable for smaller enterprises that just need basic ERP functionality.

If more advanced ERP features are what you need, and so the suites from Epicor and NetSuite OneWorld are what you should be looking at; Cougar Mountain Denali Summit doesn't compete with them at that level. Notwithstanding, if entry-level ERP is your focus, particularly for retail operations, and so Cougar Mountain Denali Summit could exist just correct for you.

We tested Cougar Mountain Denali Acme with its POS module installed. (Cougar Mountain Denali Summit is also available in a generic version that's not targeted toward any specific blazon of entity as well as an edition that's skewed towards nonprofits). From the launch menu, it'due south non particularly intuitive that the system has POS capabilities but they're in that location. To see these, you just need to click the "Sales Order" icon in the ribbon bar and you'll be presented with a list of available options. In addition to POS, there are selections for Order Entry, Reports, and several boosted choices. When yous click on POS, you'll exist presented with a process carte du jour that shows the chore progression through various aspects of the POS process. You'll also see Denali'south left-hand side pane that offers extended job selections such every bit calculation registers, balancing individual registers, and printing sales and sales tax reports.

Solid Inventory Management, Only Not for Everyone

Inventory is one of Cougar Mountain Denali Elevation's stronger points. The Inventory module is role of the Denali Meridian bundle, which, as stated above, likewise includes the Controller, General Ledger, AP and Receivable, Sales and PO entry, and Bank Reconciliation.

For the virtually function, I constitute CMS' Inventory easy to navigate and employ. Choosing an awarding module is performed by an icon bar across the summit of the screen, which brings up both an Explorer-type menu pane at the left of the screen and a process flow chart that leads yous step-by-step through various transactions. That can exist a big plus if y'all have unsophisticated users performing operations. There'southward also a top ribbon bar that changes with the application module chosen and more or less mirrors the choices in the Explorer view, so it's piece of cake to get where you want to be.

As inventories go, Denali's is only a flake more than than basic. It includes bar lawmaking support and kitting, for example. Information technology also handles particular serialization too every bit multiple warehouses and currencies. Transiting inventory betwixt warehouses isn't hard, just non quite equally easy as with Acumatica, which has a sorcerer to practice this. It'southward does almost of the mutual costing methods, including Showtime-In Showtime-Out (FIFO), Weighted Boilerplate, Standard Price, and Terminal-In Offset-Out (LIFO) even though that one's not as popular as information technology used to be. While it doesn't offer Specific Detail costing that won't be a problem in most cases.

Inventory reporting is adequate, with reports moderately easy to generate, but are somewhat vanilla in advent. Graphs are piece of cake to read but are somewhat thin, much like the out-of-the-box reporting of Zoho Inventory. Generating reports also isn't intuitive plenty then, occasionally, fifty-fifty the online Help wasn't enough to assist me with the confusing input screens. Nevertheless, in that location'southward a 170-page User Manual available online for download, which helped a lot. I as well found a number of demonstration and instructional videos on YouTube, though many of these are several years old.

SAP Crystal Reports is included with several bundles including this one, and a $495 pick with some of the less expensive parcel offerings. Over again, much like Zoho integrating its Zoho Reports engine with Zoho Inventory, adding Crystal Reports to CMS makes it easier to generate custom and advertizement hoc reports. If you don't have someone on staff that knows or is willing to learn Crystal Reports, it's like shooting fish in a barrel to discover a consultant who does and tin can aid out with customizing reports to your specific needs.

Good for Smaller Organizations with Generic Needs

Overall, CMS is very upfront about what Cougar Mountain Denali Elevation is and what it isn't. The company doesn't neb itself every bit ERP; though, subsequently reviewing it, we can country that it'll work well as basic ERP for some organizations (particularly retail). While it's more of what used to exist called "middleware" than true ERP, for smaller enterprises that can become past with a basic solution, Cougar Mountain Denali Height and its bachelor add-ons are an constructive, economical way to go.

Cougar Mount Denali Summit's Inventory Management module is geared towards a generic user, or with the purchase of the POS module, to a retailer. Information technology'south not specially strong or applicable to a manufacturing or distribution entity, though the module that CMS labels as Chore Toll provides time and expense and work-in-progress reporting. This might be beneficial to some smaller manufacturers who don't require extensive shop floor or MRP capabilities. CMS as well offers a Fund Bookkeeping variant for non-profit organizations, and they may find Cougar Mount Denali Superlative'due south inventory very much in line if they have a retail or mail-guild revenue operation.

Finally, Cougar Mountain Denali Peak makes an bonny small enterprise accounting solution, mainly because it offers a variety of on-premises or hosted options along with flexible pricing schemes, bachelor every bit a apartment fee or as pay-equally-you-get. That provides customers with a corking bargain of cost flexibility while retaining the ability to build a more custom and complex system in stages.