Which Software? Accounts and Payroll

[on_the_verge]

Hi,

I am looking for some advice on which software to use for providing accountancy services to various potential clients.

Eventually I am wanting to be able to provide payroll services to numerous company's and also the accountancy / finance function to numerous smaller business's drawing on my existing commercial experience all offered on a consultancy basis.

The software needs to be able to cope with VAT and Non VAT registered business's as well as ltd and sole trader / partnership arrangements.

I was thinking of something alongside the route of SAGE however there are other packages at a fraction of the cost but I am conscious that you get what you pay for.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks
Virgil

[islandoutsoursa]

Sage is brilliant in my estimation - takes a lot of beating

[Rolo Tomasi]

To be honest a lot depends on who you will be providing services for and what their requirements are. You need to do your research and look at the different packages available and how they would fit in with your clients needs.

Personally I am currently looking at the various online options with a view to offering online accounting services to my clients however I think this will be alongside rather than instead of the more traditional desktop software.

Most software companies will do a free trial so you need to get these and have a look at them. As a starter, as well as Sage you should look at:

QuickBooks
TAS
Kashflow
Xero
Liquid

For payroll, unless you want a fully integrated system which automatically links into your accounts package then look at moneysoft payroll manager. In my opinion this is the best, most cost effective package on the market.

[E Storey]

Pretty much everyone that has enquired about my services already has software they INSIST on using. For all but one of them it has been sage.

Really the decision is not up to you, you need to be flexible enough to use what your customers require.

For those that don't know what to use, if you are already using say sage for most of your clients then it makes sense to continue using it.

[on_the_verge]

Thanks for the advice I will look into the various options, some of the above I have not heard of so thanks again.

Virgil

[Andrew @ PLA]

Hi Virgil

I use Sage and Solar Accounts and use MoneySoft for payroll ..... Sage USED to be the standard but these days I would suggest using a few different packages to help expand your client base.

[Tom McClelland]

I was thinking of something alongside the route of SAGE however there are other packages at a fraction of the cost but I am conscious that you get what you pay for.


That doesn't seem to apply to payroll software at least (http://www.12pay.co.uk/UserReferences.aspx). And as you've seen, at a similar price, Moneysoft has many advocates too.

[MyAccountantOnline]

Virgil you may be best to post the question and or have a look at recommendations on AccountingWeb which is an accountants website if you havent yet come across it. I suspect you'll get much more response/help there.

[on_the_verge]

Thanks agains for the advice! I will also take a look at the other forum mentioned above, like anything you can never do enough research before committing funds.

Regards