# Accounting Software



## rich1880 (May 26, 2010)

Hi All

Can anyone recommend any decent accounting software which you have experience of, I am looking at a couple at the moment but there seems to be conflicting advice on which is best?

Thanks


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

Size of business? What do you need out of it? Stock control? Invoicing? Purely bookkeeping? 

I would avoid quickbooks & quicken myself for most companies as most people can't use it properly and cause more problems than they solve. ANd I hate being the one to sort it out! Sage is popular among most small companies I deal with but it's stock system isn't always ideal. I've only used microsoft's accounting package a handful of times, and not got on with it any of them! 

If it's a tiny sole trader, I wouldn't personally go computerized. For all the costs and time involved, it's not worth it and you're better off with a proper cash book


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

I used to a use a package called pegasus which was awsome but that was for multibran branch sales accounts ordering ect now i have scalled down everything i just use sage, quicken books i heard was quite good also


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

Quicken and quickbooks are separate pieces of software afaik although developed by the same company and quicken is only available in the states nowadays. They do have their advantage over sage in some places, but sage is most user friendly we find. Still, depends on what's needed from it!


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## rich1880 (May 26, 2010)

Just setting out and only a small number of sales at present as a sole trader, was after something that could easily generate invoices and run querys on unpaid invoices etc etc.


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

Personally, for the sake of reducing overheads and issues, I would just keep it manually and keep a sales ledger seperately. if it's that small that is. As long as you note when what is paid so that as @ any date you could reproduce a list of what money was owed (useful for preparing a year end basically) then you're okay. Don't try and be clever withit, that's when people do it wrong and you end up forking out for an accountant to reconcile everything for you!


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

excell it is then


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## willie the wax (Jan 20, 2008)

I am a sole trader and use a company called Qubic Print. I bought what is called a portable register and it holds A5 or smaller size (A6 Maybe??)invoices (2 or 3 part). Ideal when out and about and you can write them where ever. They can be numbered by them if required. The plastic box register was from memory £30 - £35 and then you buy invoices as and when you require them .

At the end of the week , month etc i enter the details on to Microsoft money giving a running total of income and add expenses giving a net income total. It may not suit everyone but i can track my income/ expenses over my tax year helping greatly with tax return figures . Also good to compare what income you receive from different customers and / or compare good and bad months . You can ofcouse print these reports.

Hope that helps


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## Hou (Sep 20, 2010)

I would just keep it all in excel, maggi112 has covered most bases really that I found when I worked in practice

Just set up your tabs with sales etc. Put paid next to them and use filter to quickly show unpaid. I would even stick a due date and conditional format it.

If you aren't amazing on excel you can get on a course cheap enough, maybe even free from council.


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

I use Sage Instant Accounts, easy to use:thumb:


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## organgrinder (Jan 20, 2008)

If you only have a few invoices going out and coming in each month then Excel is fine.

If you start to get more than about 15 outstanding customers at any one time then I would suggest Sage Instant or Sage Line 50. However I would recommend a degree of accounting/book-keeping knowledge before using Sage otherwise the reslultant mess can take ages and a fortune to sort out.


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## Maggi200 (Aug 21, 2009)

organgrinder said:


> If you only have a few invoices going out and coming in each month then Excel is fine.
> 
> If you start to get more than about 15 outstanding customers at any one time then I would suggest Sage Instant or Sage Line 50. However I would recommend a degree of accounting/book-keeping knowledge before using Sage otherwise the reslultant mess can take ages and a fortune to sort out.


And that's where I come in and earn all the money (for the partners at least :lol


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## organgrinder (Jan 20, 2008)

maggi112 said:


> And that's where I come in and earn all the money (for the partners at least :lol


It never ceases to amaze me how much of a mess clients can make with Sage. Those who are good at following routine and are disciplined normally take to it very well. Those that have difficulty concentrating or are of an "artistic" bent almost always mess it up.

We have just spent 2 weeks virtually reposting a clients Sage because he couldn't follow the rules - £1000 job becomes £3000!


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## scragend (Oct 29, 2005)

organgrinder said:


> It never ceases to amaze me how much of a mess clients can make with Sage. Those who are good at following routine and are disciplined normally take to it very well. Those that have difficulty concentrating or are of an "artistic" bent almost always mess it up.
> 
> We have just spent 2 weeks virtually reposting a clients Sage because he couldn't follow the rules - £1000 job becomes £3000!


Definitely true. Sage done well makes our job a piece of cake (I'm an accountant in practice), but Sage done badly is an absolute nightmare.

I'm a bit of a Sage freak though, I think it's great. Whenever a client comes in with a Sage that's a right mess, whoever is dealing with it comes to me. Suits me :thumb:

I agree with organgrinder's earlier post though, accounting (or at least bookkeeping) knowledge is a definite help when using Sage. Learning the software is one thing, but knowing why you are doing what you are doing is the crucial thing.


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## Scott Harris (Nov 20, 2007)

Having used sage as an end-user for several years I found it very complicated with lots of features that I never used. A couple of months ago I switched to an on-line system called kashflow and really recommend it. It is very easy to use with all the reports you would need as a small business - it even e-mails you when an invoice becomes overdue. It's free to trial for 30 days and then it cost £15 a month. :thumb:


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## Scott Harris (Nov 20, 2007)

Theres also a kashflow iPhone app as well.


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