Accounts software

[mje]

The lady that has done our VAT returns, prepared books for year end and a small pay roll (three of us) for the last 20 years is retiring next April.

I am thinking there must be some software that I can get that will allow us to do the above work ourselves?

We started with Doreen "pre personal computers" but now she is hanging up her calculator I am reluctant to seek somebody else, plus she was charging us £100 a month...(real reason )

Any suggestions ?

Obliged.

[Fairyglass]

We moved to Sage 50 from Quickbooks this year, it was one of the best business decisions I've made. Despite the expense, and the hassle of setting it up correctly with Actinic Link, the information we're getting from it in terms of management reports is just brilliant and is allowing us to really understand our business. We've grown organically over the years with gut feeling running the business until this year, but being able to push information directly into the accounts package has meant that our balances are more accurate, the information more up to date, our VAT returns can be done in hours rather than a day or more, and our end of year accounts are much more detailed. I wish I'd done it years ago.

[fergusw]

I was about to recommend Quickbooks or Sage as well.
(sorry to hijack the thread a little.....)
Ben, I am interested in the switch to Sage you undertook. We have helped a few clients get set up on both platforms and, when administered correctly, the functionality and usability is broadly similar.
Where did you see the greatest gain?
Was it primarily from the additional data from the Actinic orders into Sage over Quickbooks or was it other aspects as well that you particularly found beneficial?

[mje]

Thank you.

We are predominately a High Street retail shop with a small web presence, so it is more this side I am immediately concerned with, although obviously have an Actinic website and even Actinic Epos till.

Had a quick look at the Sage website and it appears to have many more features than would use, but then all software does, initial cost is bit of a blow but recoverable over a year as opposed to paying out each month to a "book-keeper" ?

[Fairyglass]

when administered correctly, the functionality and usability is broadly similar

Had a quick look at the Sage website and it appears to have many more features than would use

I think this is the problem many of us have- we don't take the time to explore what the software is capable of, and often don't set up the systems correctly anticipating expansion. This was certainly true of us with Quickbooks- when we started we did not envisage the way our business would expand into different business units and so QB was not ever set up to allocate costs to separate cost bases. This meant that we were unable to see which areas were under-performing (most of them!). With Sage, we've taken 6 months to set it up correctly, and of course the Actinic Link is a huge benefit as the figures in Sage are pretty much real time- we can draw up reports for sales and purchases right up to the previous day, and run a VAT return within 48 hours of period end.
I do prefer Sage anyway- I was never quite happy with the way one can effectively wipe out an error in Quickbooks with no need to document it. Sage seems more rigid in structure- everything has a trail- so looking back one can see why something was altered- great if one has a VAT or tax inspection!
Sage also links seamlessly to ACT which we use as our CRM package, so everything (websites, accounts, CRM) works together.

[fergusw]

I think this is the problem many of us have- we don't take the time to explore what the software is capable of, and often don't set up the systems correctly anticipating expansion.

Hi Ben,
Thanks so much for the feedback. This will be valuable for many community users. The setup of the accounts package is often the most important part and is often undertaken by business owners who, understandably, don't know a great deal about specific accountancy issues. I always recommend getting advice or assistance in setting either Quickbooks or Sage up.

We used to say that "Sage was written by accountants for accountants" whilst Quickbooks was "written by accounts for business owners", although with recent releases this difference doesn't have the quite the same relevance. Quickbooks is a little more forgiving, although that also leaves it open to a little more abuse as well.