One of the most essential pieces of software that you can buy for your small business is your software accounting program. In order to review a software accounting package you'll need to look at the different types of financial information you'll need to process and how you use that information.
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Bank Reconsiliation
Biling
General Ledger
Payroll
Human Resources
CRM
Inventory
Purchasing
The financial reporting software you are about to buy is used to make rational investment, credit and other financial decisions. Accounting software is also used to access the amounts, timing and perspective cash flow of your small business. It's important to choose the accounting software that will take into account all of your business needs without having to get your own accounting certificate of outcomes and assessments. Your tax accountant can offer you suggestions on his experience with accounting software choices.
Accounting Software Review
Accounting Software Review Comparison Description
PeachTree Complete
5 Star review - Easy to use Peachtree Complete Accounting 2011 has over 100 customizable business reports & financial statements, job costing with daily and weekly time tickets, in-depth inventory & analysis tools. You can specify the cost method you prefer. Multi-user option controls who accesses data. If you are running Vista you'll need a patch from the PeachTree website.
QuickBooks Pro
5 Star Review - QuickBooks Pro easily print checks, pay bills & track expenses, track sales, sales taxes & customer payments, manage payroll; email invoices, customize professional-looking forms, import data from Excel, Quicken, Microsoft Office Accounting & prior QuickBooks versions, and Direct Deposit. Quickbooks report creator makes it very easy to use reports. By using Quickbooks work orders job costs are trackable.Quickbooks also has a small office accounting version for MAC users. QuickBooks does not have a Fixed Assets Section, but there is a simple report that lists company assets.
MYOB Business Essentials
3 Star Review - Easy to use step-by-step instructions, manage income, enter purchases, pay bills, print checks, tax forms & Purchase orders, manage payroll including direct deposit, nventory allows you to adjust the item prices, find average costs, organize inventory to sell kits.Standards include time billing, job costing, general ledger. Cons: MYOB doesn't include a Fixed Assets Section, general ledger is not listed, there is no way to create vendor credit memos, you can't make drop shipments for products not in stock. These are no shipping tools so you cant track shipping or estimate shipping costs. You cannont choose whether the cost method is FIFO or LIFO. Only Average Cost Method is available.
Other Accounting Software Resources & Tips
If you need help with Quickbooks accounting software recovery or repair data files call Quickbooks support support.quickbooks.intuit.com or by using a 3rd party service like QuickBooks data joiner, just seach online for Quickbooks data recovery. The Quickbooks online community is also a useful place to get answers to questions about using work orders with Quickbooks, report creator and moving from manual to computerized accounting. http://community.intuit.com/quickbooks
Peachtree Accounting Software questions like how to make a journal entry correction on Peachtree can be found by going to the Peachtree customer support center www.peachtree.com/support
When you are choosing Accounting software also remember to ask these questions about:
Platform
Vista, XP, 2000, 98, 95, ME, NT, MAC (Apple)
Support Help
FAQ, Toll free phone number, easy upgrades, costs
Import/Export Between Programs
Additional Services
check to see if certain modules cost extra such as credit card processing, payroll service, time billing, job costings and inventory.