Accounting Software - Which is the best?

[AlleviateAccountancy]

I am currently reviewing which accounting software is the best for small business and bookkeepers to use. I have always used Sage but understand businesses are now moving away from Sage.

Any comments would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Louise

 

[Tom McClelland]

There is no such thing as "best". Different businesses have different needs. What is "best" for one business may be useless for another. The question is like, "What is the best car". For one person it might be a Ford Ka. For another, with different needs, it might be a Mercedes Maybach, and for another it might be a Ferrari F40. All 3 answers are right in their own terms. There is no substitute for market knowledge and consideration of your own needs.

There are also other factors not strictly connected with the applicability of the software per se such as one-off-cost of original purchase, ongoing cost of annual usage, quality of support available, availability of add-ons, financial stability of supplier, commitment of supplier to the UK market, etc.

 

[Tom McClelland]

All of that said, a lot of people on this forum like KashFlow and Solar Accounts. Some also recommend VT. There seem to be fewer people here who recommend Sage than you would expect from its position of overwhelming market leadership.

 

[Williams lester]

As Tom said, a very odd question. There is no best. I have clients who use.....Sage Instant, Sage 50, TAS Books, MS Office Accounting, Quickbooks, VT Cashbook and some who just use spreadsheets. For my own accounts I have been using KashFlow (and can highly recommend it!!). But it is all about what the client needs from the software, their level of competence and understanding of bookkeeping and what they feel comfortable using.

 

[Homshaw]

Depends how complicated it is

I have clients who use a spreadsheet and others who stick everthing in monthly envelopes

VT cashbook is good but not if you use the debtors and creditors ledger. You need the next version up

What kind of business is it? Are you VAT registered? Do you have lots of Debtors? What sort of skills do you have available? What information do you need out of it?

 

[AlleviateAccountancy]

Apologises for the lack of content in my post. I suppose I'm asking for recommendations of packages for me to research myself. I would like to know what packages are available and the advantages and disadvantages which I could recommend to clients based on their individual need.

So if you could kindly, give the software name and then quote one or two advantages and disadvantages, they would be great.

Thank you

Louise

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Apologises for the lack of content in my post. I suppose I'm asking for recommendations of packages for me to research myself. I would like to know what packages are available and the advantages and disadvantages which I could recommend to clients based on their individual need.

So if you could kindly, give the software name and then quote one or two advantages and disadvantages, they would be great.

Thank you

Louise

Louise that would truly take ages!

You'd be MUCH better setting out what you want/need from your software so that posters can offer suggestions for you.

 

[KM-Tiger]

There is also the more fundamental question of standalone software vs SaaS.

SaaS offerings, eg Kashflow are fairly mature now. I've just swapped one of my businesses to Kashflow as I would rather pay a fixed known subscription than succumb to the regular ransom demands from Newcastle. Given that the subscription includes support - which seems good - the value for money is excellent.

Maybe worth a try. My bookkeeper complains that it's all a bit noddyish, but it works.

 

[Homshaw]

For clients that needs a full package I recommend VT for accounts and Moneysoft for payroll

If they don't need a debtors and creditors. I recommend VT cashbbok which is free but still uploads to my version. This does VAT returns. Download it and have a go. You can download Moneysoft Payroll for free and try it also

You can have as many clients as you like on your version.
The files are easy to email if you need to look at them
You can transfer information into spreadsheets and vice versa
VT uploads easily into my tax software
I've only used the helpline once. They were really nice but I can't remember why I rang

 

[DuaneJackson]

The overriding concern for small business owners is 1) ease of use 2) quick support

Thetwo most frequently recommended for those two reason are KashFlow (web-based - beat all products, including Sage, QB, etc, in an independent survey last year of thousands of SMEs) and Solar (locally installed)

 

[Chris Ashdown]

One thing nobody has mentioned is connectivity to ecommerce , we use Sage line 50 which has interfaces with Actinic so that all sales can be directly input to sage from Actinic,

Companies who trade with either ecommerce sites or EPOS syatems need to be able to automate information from one system to their accounts package

I guess all software packages could offer this, but who is going to pay the price of writting the interface if it's not in built or commercialy available

 

[DuaneJackson]

One thing nobody has mentioned is connectivity to ecommerce

Website -> Local software (like Sage) is only halfway there. It can't be 100% automated as the Sage data is offline, not guaranteed to be always contactable by the ecommerce website.

Whereas online accounting software lives in the same environment as the website so opens up a whole range of possibilities. Like automated accounting while you sleep.

but who is going to pay the price of writting the interface if it's not in built or commercialy available

That's why we already have integration with a number of ecommerce packages, with plenty more on the way. See our add-ons page.

And if your store isn't one of those already integrated - then we can just hook into your payment gateway and get teh data there. As per our PayPal accounting stuff.

Integration with ecommerce is one of the areas web-based wins hands down over disc-in-a-box software from the dark ages

 

[Alison Jones]

I would say it would depend if the person doing the bookkeeping is an unexperienced client ie owner of MD doing the bookkeeping or a secretary of a company doing the books then there are the simpler accounting programs to use like VT, KashFlow etc.

If it is a qualified/experienced bookkeeper doing the bookkeeping then normally would say that if the client is a new client when the bookkeeper takes it on my personal opinion would be best to let the bookkeeper discuss with the client as the bookkeeper will be doing the bookkeeping for 52 weeks a year so would want a accounting package they were comfortable with and also important that the software gets any reports the client may need throughout the year. I do use a few accounting software as well as some manual cashbook and spreadsheets but I much prefer the bookkeeping on sage as I have used sage all my working life, with other packages that I don't know inside out and back to front find it sometimes irratating when I need to make an entry that is not an everyday occurrance can take longer to find the right part of the software.

For payroll again I favour sage payroll. After next year will have to make another choice as sage has made it near on impossible to update the software manually that I have been updating manually for years and the sage update disk is costly.

Alison

 

[Tom McClelland]

For payroll again I favour sage payroll. After next year will have to make another choice as sage has made it near on impossible to update the software manually that I have been updating manually for years and the sage update disk is costly.

Alison

Speaking as a supplier with a vested interest in tempting users away from Sage I think that is actually an unfair comment on Sage. It isn't Sage that makes manual year-on-year updates impossible. It is the government that ceaselessly tinkers with the rules. For example this year HMRC has introduced the Upper Accrual Point to NI calculations. Which means that NI calculation logic, P11 reports, COMP calculations, etc have changed. In such circumstances new software is unavoidable regardless of supplier. No amount of tinkering with rates and bands would avoid the need for new software.

In fact it is pretty much impossible for HMRC accredited payroll software to not require replacement year-on-year. Every year there are subtle changes to things like rules surrounding statutory absence payments or pensions or internet submission requirements that can't be handled simply by altering tables of rates and bands. Because of this we see no sense in allowing users to alter the rates and bands manually since we'll invariably be issuing new software at year end in any case and allowing them to alter rates and bands simply introduces a major opportunity for error.

Perhaps where you do have an argument with Sage is the amount they charge for updating to the new version where you already have the previous version. That is a commercial issue of going with the established market leader who feel that they can charge a premium price, I guess.