Thoughts and opinions on accoutaning software
Discussion
i'm having some issues getting the right accountancy software for my various business activities, and wondered what other peoples experiences are, and if someone had any recommendations.
I used to have a whole load of spreadsheets which i had designed which met my needs very well when i was quite small and had less than 20ish employees. Unfortunately no-one else could use the spreadsheets as they were very un-user friendly- i just made alterations as i went along.
As i grew i took on a couple of admin staff, who are very good at admin but have little accounting experience- one has very little experience of excel. So i thought, why not go to a supported package- i moved 4 of my businesses to Sage.
Well it was a total nightmare- starting sage from scratch was no fun- and getting anything wrong caused more problems. The staff i had found using it very difficult- and they only needed half of it- invoicing is done outside of sage! Being in the retails and service sector there are loads of smallish transactions to account for, and sage doesn't make this very user friendly.
i have now had enough and as i am altering business structures for which i need to start new accounts, i though i would have a clean start on software too.
What do people recommend:
- Back to spreadsheets? easy to use but not the most functional
-Another accountancy package?- if so what? it needs to be very very easy to use, self explanatory almost, and very easy to get your head around.
-sack one of my staff and farm it out to an accountant- who i don't beleive would be as cheap or as adaptable.
-another option which i haven't thought of yet?
thanks all
Jim
I used to have a whole load of spreadsheets which i had designed which met my needs very well when i was quite small and had less than 20ish employees. Unfortunately no-one else could use the spreadsheets as they were very un-user friendly- i just made alterations as i went along.
As i grew i took on a couple of admin staff, who are very good at admin but have little accounting experience- one has very little experience of excel. So i thought, why not go to a supported package- i moved 4 of my businesses to Sage.
Well it was a total nightmare- starting sage from scratch was no fun- and getting anything wrong caused more problems. The staff i had found using it very difficult- and they only needed half of it- invoicing is done outside of sage! Being in the retails and service sector there are loads of smallish transactions to account for, and sage doesn't make this very user friendly.
i have now had enough and as i am altering business structures for which i need to start new accounts, i though i would have a clean start on software too.
What do people recommend:
- Back to spreadsheets? easy to use but not the most functional
-Another accountancy package?- if so what? it needs to be very very easy to use, self explanatory almost, and very easy to get your head around.
-sack one of my staff and farm it out to an accountant- who i don't beleive would be as cheap or as adaptable.
-another option which i haven't thought of yet?
thanks all
Jim
Thanks for uick replies chaps.
I perosnally quite like using SAGE, but then i have some accounting qualifications and understand the underlying accounting principles. Most admin staff don't get double entry (and trying to explain why a credit to a nominal isn't often a good thing goes right over their heads!).
As you say eric finding an AAT is just about impossible and the financial outlay makes using an accountant a more attractive option.
Whats quickbooks like to use in comparison- i have never enven seen a copy let along used a copy!
As victor says, there must be hundreds of businesses which are really past the stage of spreadhseets (and mine where pretty all encompassing- they had about 60 worksheets in them all linked together with formulae) but don't have th time/money/inclination to hire an accountant full time.
It's the part of the growth problem from going small time to big time in business- it's like a no-mans wasteland where you have to keep growing or you have to get down small again and work on the shopfloor yourself. It's a problem for me and others i beleive.
Does anyone have any interesting ideas?
I perosnally quite like using SAGE, but then i have some accounting qualifications and understand the underlying accounting principles. Most admin staff don't get double entry (and trying to explain why a credit to a nominal isn't often a good thing goes right over their heads!).
As you say eric finding an AAT is just about impossible and the financial outlay makes using an accountant a more attractive option.
Whats quickbooks like to use in comparison- i have never enven seen a copy let along used a copy!
As victor says, there must be hundreds of businesses which are really past the stage of spreadhseets (and mine where pretty all encompassing- they had about 60 worksheets in them all linked together with formulae) but don't have th time/money/inclination to hire an accountant full time.
It's the part of the growth problem from going small time to big time in business- it's like a no-mans wasteland where you have to keep growing or you have to get down small again and work on the shopfloor yourself. It's a problem for me and others i beleive.
Does anyone have any interesting ideas?
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