Free simple accountancy software?
Free simple accountancy software?
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BoRED S2upid

Original Poster:

21,070 posts

270 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
Can anyone recommend some simple to use accountancy software? Im a Business Mentor for the princes trust, there must be some easy to use tools out there that can be used for these guys to maintain their accounts, they are starting up very simple sole trader businesses so the accounts are not complex many will be under the threshold for paying tax but its a must that they keep accurate records from the start.

Eric Mc

125,754 posts

295 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
Are they required to understand the principles of double entry, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets?

BoRED S2upid

Original Poster:

21,070 posts

270 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
Are they required to understand the principles of double entry, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets?
Profit and loss and balance sheets yes not double entry.

PugwasHDJ80

7,681 posts

251 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
http://www.xero.com/

recommended by another PHer- wish i'd known about it years ago!

BoRED S2upid

Original Poster:

21,070 posts

270 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
PugwasHDJ80 said:
http://www.xero.com/

recommended by another PHer- wish i'd known about it years ago!
And is it free? "our most popular plan is £19pm"

PugwasHDJ80

7,681 posts

251 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
Honestly?

you're a business mentor but can't convince your mentees that £19pm won't be the best £20 they spend? Having a good idea of the difference between the profit and the losss is the second most important part of a business after delivering sales.

When i was turning over £50k/yea i would have LOVED someone to tell me how i could work out if i was making a profit/loss for just £20/month.

For perspective thats just over a pint per week.

BoRED S2upid

Original Poster:

21,070 posts

270 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
PugwasHDJ80 said:
Honestly?

you're a business mentor but can't convince your mentees that £19pm won't be the best £20 they spend?
Honestly i've had trouble convincing some of them to come off benefits for the fear of them loosing £60 a week or whatever pittance job seekers allowance is! but yes I hope I could convince most that it would be money well spent it is as you say a very important part of the business and one which I spend a lot of time on.

MEC

2,630 posts

303 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
VT Cashbok is free, though not as good as Transaction+

Have a look............... www.vtsoftware.co.uk

I would also suggest a spreadsheet using openoffice or similar (not sure on licencing for commercial use, obviously Excel would be quite expensive).

Dennis99

308 posts

193 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
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How about Gnucash?

http://www.gnucash.org/

Eric Mc

125,754 posts

295 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
BoRED S2upid said:
Eric Mc said:
Are they required to understand the principles of double entry, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets?
Profit and loss and balance sheets yes not double entry.
You can't construct Profit and Loss accounts and balance sheets without some understanding of the double entry priniples that underly how they are created.

You MIGHT be able to understand how to READ a profit and loss account without proper double entry knowledge. But I challenge anyone to be able to put together a profit and loss account and REALLY know what they are doing without that basic knowledge.

sumo69

2,164 posts

250 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
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Back to the days of manual Extended Trial Balances and correcting journals....love it!

Eric Mc

125,754 posts

295 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
That'll learn 'em.

Eric Mc

125,754 posts

295 months

Wednesday 30th May 2012
quotequote all
That'll learn 'em.