I have taken over a set of accounts that will take me a hell of a long time to sort and have decided to do it on a computer. My original plan was to use just excel or access but if there is a nice peice of software that makes it easier for me I want to go with that.
I have downloaded TAS BOOKS basic and that looks good, very easy to use and was wondering if anyone has any thoughts?
I don't mind paying for some software as long as it isn't too much, Lloyds TSB have offered sage account for £7 a month with support If I choose to use that with the first three months free.
I don't have a problem learning new software as I don't think it will be hard to get my head around so please fire your suggestions.
Would say whatever software you go for do not pay bank money for software each month. It is a very false economy and eventually you would have paid the cost of the software then you will continue to be paying them.
If you want to go for sage there is sage instant financial suite which has sage instant accounts and sage payroll or you can get just sage instant accounts.
Sage instant financial package on amazon is £113.97 but may be cheaper elsewhere.
Also MS Accounting Express is a free software package you can download, I personally find it less user friendly then sage but I know other people prefer it. Would say if you have time download it and have a practise go on it to see if you like it before paying out for software.
Anyone who has read any of my entries on this site know that I am a big fan of VT Software - no connection to them honestly! Just have found it the easiest to work with over the years that I have been doing bookkeeping. Much easier than Sage, especially for small to medium size accounts.
And I am also in the middle of the most humongous accounts task that I have ever taken on. I just keep thinking of the money as I trudge on.
They go back to 2007, arrived in two enormous boxes, and have never had any work done on them. Totally thrown in. Cheque book stubs with hardly any information on. Accounts are due next month. I am working on them whenever I can, around my normal accounts.
To add to the previous suggestions as to how to tackle them. Make sure you have all the bank and credit card statements. Sort the invoices into months. Then put them in a folder with alphabetical dividers. Work your way through the bank statements line by line, matching up what you can.
Hi there - I've just done something simular. Arrived here to find no accounts or receipts for 08/09 (think the previous bookkeeper shredded them as not a trace anywhere..!).
I've used a simple cashbook template in MSExcel and entered the entries off the bank statements. Thankfully they had a spreadsheet with all the cheque details which made life easier..!
Am now going to start on 09/10 using Sage 50. Hopefully, it won't be quite so long winded! Kind Regards Raven
Thanks for the replies everyone, I'll take your advice Alison and won't bother using paying for sage each month. I'll download MS Accounting Express, see how that does and if it's no good for me I'll stick to TAS Books I suppose.
brog13 wrote:
To add to the previous suggestions as to how to tackle them. Make sure you have all the bank and credit card statements. Sort the invoices into months. Then put them in a folder with alphabetical dividers. Work your way through the bank statements line by line, matching up what you can.
Good Luck!
Now another problem I have is getting them all in order and this helps cheers brog, just going to have to sit on the floor and go through all of the piles I suppose.
When you say put them in order with alphabetical dividers, do you mean this as apposed to just having a folder for each month? And what exactly would I put in alphabetical order? The reference, month, what?
