Cost Accounting Software

Posts Tagged ‘Businesses’

Why small businesses should move to the Cloud
Michael Barber, marketing manager for online accounting product Sage One at software company Sage, discusses why Cloud Computing solutions are beneficial to small businesses.

Read more on Business Zone

Flint company helping find stimulus money, tax breaks for local businesses
Growth Management Group managing partner Ryan Maddock said the company, at G-3490 Miller Road, directs businesses to stimulus act provisions that have secured an average of $200,000 for establishments in Genesee County.

Read more on The Flint Journal

quite simply, I have a business, I opened another one, and the first one will be closing it’s doors in a few weeeks. All the money left over from the first one will be transferred to the checking account of the new one? What is the most (legally and financially) correct way of recording this in my accounting software (Quickbooks 2007).

Thanks

Tensoft(R) and McGladrey Partner to Deliver Solutions to Technology Businesses
McGladrey Adds Tensoft’s Revenue Management Suite to Its Offerings

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Your PC dealer could be your general adviser with regard to the purchase of small business accounting software. But he can’t be the expert adviser. Not even your Chartered Accountant can do that. The computer technology is updating itself so fast that before making any worthwhile investment for accounting software you need to take the professional advice.

For, with the introduction of right accounting software, your small business is not going to remain small. It is bound to expand!

Publications like CTS Guide to Small Business Accounting Software have been reportedly used by hundreds of business establishments to select software. It constantly compares and reviews with reference to quality and rates some of the important software packages doing rounds in the market. Some of them are:

Net Ledger Advanced Accounting, Business Works Gold, Quick Books Pro, Microsoft Business Solutions- Small Business Manager, Peachtree Complete Acting plus Time & Billing, MYOB Complete Accounting.

These packages are reviewed for the important aspects of small business accounting needs such as general ledger, accounts receivable and order processing, accounts payable, inventory control, purchase orders, job cost, payroll, and global features module.

The module-by-module report with illustrated screen shots, for each package detailing strengths/weaknesses/operational issues and performance ratings for 350 features given by the report are of immense help to you to take the decision with regard to introducing the software in your establishment.

Study charts on pricing, operating platforms, support policies, make your tasks of comparison very easy. Even calling for quotations, studying and analyzing the information is a time-consuming process. Moreover, your selection can not be an expert’s selection. So, the opinion of the impartial competent analyst, who has the necessary expertise, is likely to prove profitable to you in the long run. You can tailor your needs in relation to the budget from the various options available.

Some of the important applications covered by the Magazine are General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Sales Order Entry, Inventory Control, Job Cost, Order Processing, Report Writing, Purchase Order, Fixed Assets and Pay Roll. These will define the software needs for your small business.

But consider one important point. Any given information is what it is. Do not rush to the newly introduced products offering high discounts, unless they are from the well-established companies having proper warranty system. It is better to pay the higher cost and buy the best instead of going for some immediate profits and suffer eventual loss.

Accounting is perhaps one of those areas of business about which people tend to be less than enthusiastic. Perhaps the idea of breaking out of the humdrum office existence and forging an entrepreneurial career, or perhaps working from home or buying into a franchise opportunity all sound fantastic, but when reality kicks in and the tax man comes knocking, accounts have to be in first class shape.

Often, to begin with, this isn’t too difficult, with either hand written ledgers or perhaps a simple, basic spreadsheet set up to take care of the basic incomes and expenditures. But gradually, little by little as time passes by and your business continues to expand and your workload becomes increasingly important, the accounts can become patchy, with errors, omissions and issues occurring that can be hard to consolidate with the figures represented by the bank balance.

It’s often all plain sailing until things start to go wrong, or the smooth running of the business starts to crumble a little. Perhaps you take on someone to help out, and have to alter your accountancy methods to take in to account the money paid to them. On the other hand, perhaps you needed some more equipment and had to take out a loan, and now have to manage regular payments out as well as those coming in. Perhaps even one of your clients or customers hasn’t paid, and money you were expecting isn’t forthcoming and you now need to start working out creditor costs.

These are just some of the issues which can easily come into play when a home business or small business starts up, and there seem to be three possible solutions. The first is simply to continue with handwritten account information, or to use a home built spreadsheet. Clearly, these two options are only viable if the business is one which is run only by you, and has a very small turnover, with basic incomes and expenditures, regular contracts and no complications or problems to calculate in.

However, anything more complex than this arrangement and you will be looking at one of two other possible options – either pay for the services of a qualified accountant to regularly check over your business accounts, bank statements, receipts, invoices and bills, or bite the financial bullet and purchase some accountancy software yourself.

For many people the idea of turning to a software solution, learning how to use new, perhaps complex software and trusting all their business accounts to a computer, might seem rather worrying at first, and so they prefer to opt for the seemingly safer alternative of a real live human being.

The trouble is that a real live human being, whilst reliable, is also very expensive, and this can be difficult for a small business or a home business that doesn’t have a huge turnover. Certainly as far as cost effectiveness is concerned, using accountancy software is one of the best options you can go for. However, how complicated is accountancy software really these days, and how hard is it to learn? You might also be curious as to how expensive the software is, and how stable and well supported it is once you have bought into the solution.

The truth of the matter is that although many accountancy software solutions provide a wealth of tools and facilities, these may not necessarily be needed for many home businesses or small businesses. The only aspects of the software you will need are those which you’re already managing in various ways. You will clearly need to track your bank accounts, with incomes and payments. You do this already, probably by printing out your bank statement and scribbling in the margin. Accounts software can often allow you to import data in from your online account statement.

You will also probably have a list of clients or customers – possibly in a database, a spreadsheet or a notebook, along with invoices generated or delivered. Again, software can allow you to manage this much more effectively, cross checking the invoices with your bank records to check that money really has been paid in full and received.

Clearly, you will need to be able to track expenses, although too often home business users don’t keep records of these. Not keeping such records can make it very difficult to prove your earnings and expenses when the tax man comes to call, so having one central repository where your receipts and costs can easily be entered makes it much easier to see at a glance where the money is coming in and where it is going out. This in turn allows you to analyze the efficiency of the business, identify patterns or trends, and even make forecasts as far as estimated earnings over the next few months or year is concerned.

There are actually a large number of free accountancy software products available, including Microsoft’s own version which is fully compatible with their office suite of software. Many others provide 30-day trials, and cost no more than an office chair or a meal out. You’ll almost certainly already understand most of the features and options, such as invoices, bank statements, balances, expenses and so forth, and by keeping these up to date, you’ll be able to gradually pick up an understanding of the other features which allow you to use those centralized cross checked figures in ways that no notepad or cardboard box stuffed full of paper could ever hope to achieve.

 

An accounting package is for communication and maintaining your financial records. The package produces information that tells specific things about the company. An accounting package provides the information regarding the finances of the business at the owner’s fingertips. The software should include accounts receivable, accounts payable, order entry, inventory control, cost accounting, payroll and fixed assets accounting. The general ledger should show transactions in four different categories. These categories include the account assets, liabilities, income and expenses.

The type of information needed from an accounting system should be accurate, fulfill management’s needs and be easy to use. As well as accuracy, relevancy and simplicity an accounting system should be set up so that it does not require an inordinate amount of time to maintain. The accounting system should be easy enough to understand so that a CPA is not required to operate it or interpret its output. Many small business owners are going to Quickbooks as this is a relatively easy system to use. This software is very user friendly. Files can be transferred easily and the reports are easy to read. Quickbooks is one of many options offered. You should select the accounting package that best suits your business needs.

When searching through accounting software for small businesses, it is best to make sure that whoever is going to be running your accounting system has some knowledge of computers and accounting. Even though Quickbooks and other accounting software can be very user friendly, the person running it will still need a certain amount of accounting knowledge. It might even be beneficial for the person running the accounting system to take a class or two in basic Accounting at your local community college.

If you are just starting your business and are looking at different accounting software for small businesses, know that many offer a 30 day trial or a demo version so that you can see what will work best for you.

If you have any question about accounting software for small businesses, contact us today.

IAC Professionals is a single source for contracting qualified professionals to assist you with your most critical business needs.   They offer a wide range of outsourcing solution which include Accounting, Bookkeeping, Virtual Assistants, Company Formation and Business Consulting.

Sage and LegalZoom Partner to Help Small Businesses Get Started on the Right Foot
ATLANTA, GA–(Marketwire – 06/15/10) – Sage North America announced today a new alliance with LegalZoom, aimed at giving newly-formed small businesses the tools they need to get started on the right foot. Through the partnership, new businesses who sign up for LegalZoom’s Express Gold Package will receive a free downloadable copy of Sage Peachtree First Accounting to help them get their finances …

Read more on Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance

Selecting new accounting software requires more time than most businesses realize. To complete the proper amount of research and assessment of various programs, most business owners should expect to spend weeks, not months, instead of days or hours. However, once the right solution is identified, the improvements that it can help the company realize are often well worth the time spent selecting the software.

One of the first things you’ll do when selecting new accounting software is to look at the processes that your business currently uses and see if there are ways to use software to make those processes more efficient. Many companies use the implementation of new financial software as a good time to also change some processes to gain more efficiencies from the new software’s extra features. If you consult with financial software reviews, you’ll see that the market for accounting software is roughly divided in to four segments: entry-level, small to medium scale business, small to medium scale enterprise, and enterprise resource planning.

A brief overview of each segment follows.

Entry level software is designed to work best with small businesses (those with 20 or fewer employees and less than $5 million in sales). Roughly 5 million companies in the US meet the profile for those that are best suited for software within this segment. This is the largest group of companies and is often the reason that accounting software guides exist – to help smaller businesses choose new software.

Small to Medium Business (SMB) software is designed to work best for companies with $5 to $100 million in sales and no more than 100 employees. This is the second largest market segment and estimates say that about a half a million companies in the US could benefit from new software designed for businesses of this size.

Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) software is the next step up and is designed for even bigger companies – those with up to $500 million in sales and up to 500 employees. Approximately 17,000 US based companies fit this profile.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is designed for the largest companies and can accommodate well over 500 employees and billions of dollars in sales. The number of companies that fit in to this segment is fewer than any other segments, although some estimates have claimed as high as 17,000.

These segments are only roughly defined guidelines for looking for new software. These are not rules that must be followed. Some businesses that fall in to the the SMB category may find that ERP software is actually best for their applications due to it’s additional flexibility or other features that the company may need. In this case, they should opt for the ERP software.

When selecting software, make sure you know what you require from the new accounting package and keep those requirements in mind. This will allow you to avoid purchasing modules or features that you do not need in the new software. Overall, software designed for larger and more profitable companies come with more capabilities. In some cases these capabilities can be beneficial, but it is also important to note that this is not always true. At times, additional capabilities that are not used can actually slow down the software.

At the same time, purchasing software with too few capabilities can also create problems. If you purchase software without a module that you need, you may be forced to use an outside application to run that process, which can cause headaches as well as present problems with compatibility that can add costs to the overall project.

Image taken on 2009-02-21 10:58:51 by quasi-hayley.