Accounting software for a SME

[James-partiallyanon]

I am looking for a bit of help with selecting an accounts package for Sports Club with turnover of approx 100-300k. My recommendation at present is Sage 50.

The reasoning being
- its a bit of a historic standard and there is a bit more certainty it will be there in 5 years.
- I'm probably going to have a lot of requests for help and at least I've used it.
- there is the opportunity for several user licences across a network and can transfer info to Sage 50 Pro.

That being said
- I don't like it, its not user friendly, I just know I can use it and produce the desired info.
- Like many its focused on product lines cost of sales etc. which is just not relevant for an amateur or semi-pro club.
- Everyone I know who uses it does excel based ledgers and just input it on a monthly basis. It would be better to have less duplication

I have tried scanning the forums and know its probably been answered but I can't find a suitable alternative (and I know it should be there). Vt seems a little too user unfriendly and the others (eg. kashflow) don't seem to have enough flexibility.

The main requirements are:
- flexibility to use an amended chart of accounts
- basic to standard financial reporting (inc. HMRC)
- import into csv /excel
- multi-user licence (2 min)

Thanks in advance,

James

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Have you looked at Accounts Portal ? - I think that would meet most of your criteria. You can certainly take a free trial.

Inevitably with most packages you wont get exactly what you want but you should get close.

Their are lots of options so I'm sure others will be along soon with other suggestions.

 

[tom1457]

Solar Accounts may be ok for what you need, find them very helpful. You can download a trail version and have a look at it.

 

[apacarada]

I will recycle a couple of my previous postings.

There are few threads in this forum about accounting software. I mentioned most of them before but here it is again.

We give KashFlow for free to our clients and I would recommend to everyone especially if you are using other online software like CRM and email marketing.

If KashFlow is not for you try Xero or BrightPearl whatever you choose it has to be future proof and I believe cloud computing will be the future.

There are plenty of free options.

People mentioned VT Cashbook which is good. I have found few more: TurboCash , Adminsoft Accounts (they just released a new version) and GnuCash and if you want on online free accounting software then Brightbooks (slow though but v2 is coming out and may be faster). Rino Accounting is online but it is from US and I found it not suitable for UK.

I would stay away from big names although most offer a free version. From my experience those are very limited and used as baits for their not for free products.

 

[gavcooper]

apacarada is right the future is cloud computing, so an online system is a must now days. Whether its for accounting, CRM, project management, etc.

Look at FreeAgent, Xero and KashFlow, I believe these are the better products on the market. FreeAgent and Xero were my favourites and I chose FreeAgent because it better suited my business. Take them for a test drive to see which suits your sports club and don't forget to make use of the discounts available on the monthly fee's.

 

[aamarotico]

Hello James,

Have you heard of the E-conomic Online Accounting System? Your four main requirements are more than covered by our software -

• You can import your own COA or amend one of the provided templates
• HMRC VAT reports on 4 schemes
• Any report or transactions list can be exported direct in csv format (all data in E-conomic can be imported or exported to/from Excel in moments)
• You can have an unlimited number of users

As far as user-friendliness is concerned, we take great care to offer an easy to use and straightforward system which is supplemented with numerous support options - many of which are available 24/7.

I would suggest that you try joining our "Getting started" webinar (online presentation), which allows you to see the system in operation (sign up for a presentation on our website at e-conomic.co.uk/accountingsystem/presentation/. All of our webinars are live so you can ask questions directly and quickly evaluate our system for your business. We also have an online help site with step-by-step help articles and more than 150 short help videos on YouTube.

Depending on the amount and frequency that you invoice your customers, you could also utilize our subscription add-on module, which would help you to quickly invoice your customers at regular intervals.

Please feel free to give us a call or take a free trial of our system on our website - I truly think E-conomic could be the best solution for you!

No matter which accounting solution you choose, best of luck and I hope you find what you're looking for

Best regards,

Alexandra Amarotico

E-conomic UK
08456-800-473
Dukesbridge House
23 Duke Street
Reading
Berkshire RG1 4SA
United Kingdom

 

[James-partiallyanon]

Thank you for all your help.

For anyone coming to this later. After further discussion with the company I have found that I should have added web based to the spec. The shortlist was AccountsPortal, Clearbooks, Kashflow and Xero (alphabetical order) based on less than £20 pcm for the required functionality and multi user.#

I'm going to try Accountsportal first, as its lowest cost

 

[englishbob]

James,

Take a look at RCAccounts and ClearSEAs accounting software.
Available from www.rcl-systems.co.uk they will meet your requirements.
Both are available as a free download with a free trial period of 30 days.

 

[ElliottRoss]

Have you looked at Aqilla? It is a web-based product and covers all your other requirements. We are more than happy to provide you with a no-obligation demonstration of the product.

For more information about the product; http://www.recenseo.co.uk/business-management-software/aqilla/.

If you would like a demonstration, please do get in touch.

Regards
Elliott

 

[James-partiallyanon]

Have you looked at Aqilla? It is a web-based product and covers all your other requirements.
Regards
Elliott

Yes and No, the website doesn't tell you the prices and you have to give contact details before you can download a brochure.

I decided that this was a quick way of helping me cut down the list fast.

If you have a rough idea of the price I will consider it again.