Woodland Park Zoological Society of Seattle Selects Micro Information Products' Advantage Nonprofit Series.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2000

Jacobson Jarvis & Co. PLLC, MIP Authorized Service Provider,

Implements Nonprofit Accounting Software

Micro Information Products Inc. (MIP), maker of fund accounting software for nonprofits and government agencies, and Jacobson Jarvis & Co. PLLC, a full-service certified public accounting and consulting firm, announced their collaborative implementation of MIP's Advantage NonProfit Series (NPS) at the Woodland Park Zoological Society (WPZ Society) of Seattle.

The software will allow the WPZ Society to efficiently track financial information and handle the high growth rate they are expecting.

Since 1965, the WPZ Society has promoted membership, provided public support activities and membership, solicited philanthropic contributions and held fundraising activities for the benefit of the Woodland Park Zoological Gardens (Zoo). The nonprofit membership organization's mission is to promote education, conservation, research and public enjoyment of the Zoo, which is owned and operated by the City of Seattle. For more information, see www.zoo.org.

The Zoo recently celebrated its centennial and embarked on a $125 million capital campaign to ensure the Zoo will continue its standards of excellence into the 21st century. "We have several award-winning naturalist exhibits and fund many educational and conservation programs. We have over one million visitors per year and participate in 36 Species Survival Plans in coordination with other North American zoos. We recently had a successful birth of an Asian Elephant, which is very important to the future of the species in U.S. zoos," said Executive Director David Towne.

With the expectation of continued growth, WPZ Society's accounting needs had become increasingly complex. "We wanted the faster processing speeds that are supported by Microsoft SQL Server 2000 technology. We have various software systems being used around the Zoo, for example, fundraising software and admissions gate software, and look forward to consolidating the information in a database that can be accessed by users following limited training efforts," Director of Finance and Administration Valerie Krueger said.

The Jacobson Jarvis financial management team partnered with the WPZ Society to find a software system that would meet their accounting needs. Together they selected MIP's Advantage NPS on Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

"Advantage NPS allows larger nonprofits to run their finances with accounting systems as advanced as any commercial packages available," said Kent Hollrah, CEO of MIP. "Before Advantage NPS, nonprofit organizations had to make do by modifying applications made for the for-profit sector or by testing the limits of less powerful database technology platforms."

In fact, the WPZ Society was using a for-profit accounting package that could not meet their fund balance and program tracking needs. Advantage NPS was built to fully accommodate Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and offers improved financial reporting for the WPZ Society and other larger nonprofit organizations with 10 or more concurrent users, $10M or more in annual budget, large transaction volumes generating large databases or offices in remote locations with staff needing access to accounting information over a wide area network (WAN).

"The Society is looking forward to using a table to track projects across departments, which is something they could not attempt with their current linear chart of accounts software," said Char Davies, founding partner of Jacobson Jarvis & Co.

"We wanted to go top-of-the-line and purchase a system that we will be able to stay with for many years. We love the multiple table concept and are looking forward to its flexibility. We also wanted a built-in report writer that everyone will be able to use," Krueger said.

About working with MIP Authorized Service Provider Jacobson Jarvis & Co. of Seattle, Krueger said, "We've been very impressed with the audit and tax side of the firm, and then we were equally impressed with the qualifications and capabilities of the software consulting side."

Jacobson Jarvis & Co. PLLC is a full-service certified public accounting and consulting firm founded with the express purpose of being a sustaining resource to the nonprofit community. Believing that nonprofit organizations, such as the WPZ Society, provide valuable services to our communities, Jacobson Jarvis partners with nonprofits to help them operate their organizations effectively and in a fiscally sound manner, enabling them to fulfill their missions.

"We are pleased that the Woodland Park Zoological Society can make use of our full range of services -- audit, tax and software consulting -- so that we can help them work better, not harder," Davies said. For more information about Jacobson Jarvis & Co., visit www.jjco.com.

About Micro Information Products

Founded in 1982 in Austin, Texas, MIP is the leading provider of fund accounting software and services for nonprofit organizations and government agencies. More than 4,400 nonprofits worldwide use MIP software and services. Clients include the American Lung Association, the American Red Cross, Easter Seals, Goodwill Industries, the Salvation Army and the United Way. For more information about MIP fund accounting systems, call 800/647-3863 or go to www.mip.com.

NonProfit Series is a registered trademark of Micro Information Products. Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.