I'm not an expert in VT but from what I've read VT cash book is a free software and can record your income and expense. It's very limited in what it does.
VT transaction+, can do mostly everything a good accounting package can i.e VAT returns, bank reconcilation, reporting, trial balance etc.
VT Final Accounts does everthing VT transaction+ does with the addition of producing final accounts in a format recorgnised by HMRC and can also be exported to tax software.
If you are purchasing VT Final Accounts, VT Transaction+ is included. They send you out a cd with the program. You can buy VT Transaction+ on its own, but for the difference in price you might as well just get the Final Accounts version.
The VT Transaction+ is a program on its own - the Final Accounts is an add-in to Excel.
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Never buy black socks from a normal shop. They shaft you every time.
I have downloaded VT+ and cash book as part of a free trial. After a first glance, I thought this program could do very well. Although its not easy on the eye, its simple in some aspects and most things are in front of you to see straight away.
Working through through VT+ I found most of the usual options I would expect to see are there, however I'm a great believer in software that is easy to pick up as you go along. Learning whilst using is generally the best teacher.
I was however disappointed to find that when in the customer section, it was not apparent how the hell I add a new customer account. Now I'm not sure if I have just missed it, or its not that obvious, but surely if your in the customer section, there should be a button to create a new account and it should be in plain sight.
maybe I'm just so used to sage but I will have another look over it and once a bit more familiar with it and then I shall read the manual.
Yes you may say I should read the manual first, but surely if you have experience of the main packages out there over a 10 year period, anything new on the market should be fairly easy to pick up.
Anyway, off to have another look at it. enough people speak highly of it so it must be fairly good for what it does and for what it costs compared to the big boys.
You have probably found it by now but just in case, if you click the CU button with the yellow arrow next to it there is an option to set up new account. It is not a button but an underlined wording Set up new account . Also if you are in sale invoice mode (SIN, SIN etc.) you can create a new one there too. You do have to use the Set up new account option, it doesn't automatically take you there if you type a name not recognised (Like sage does if you type a new account number).
I personally think its a great bit of software. My main gripes (minor) about it are that you cant save a bank reconciliation, which is a bit annoying if you have to make changes and leave the reconcilliation mode (or select another bank account). I also find it a bit inconvienient that you cant have more than one input screen open at a time, so if you are entering cash purchases for example and want to enter a supplier invoice, you have to shut the PAY mode screen and open PIN screen, if you are doing a mixed bag of receipts, it becomes a little dedious
Bill
-- Edited by Wella on Tuesday 7th of September 2010 11:29:50 AM
Yes I found it and it does seem quite a nifty piece of software. Like you say Wella, it certainly has a few niggly bits that could do with improving and i'm sure overtime the developers will cotton on to this.
The problem with accounting software is they all try to be the same, but dress it up differently. Its so hard to get it right and sometimes I wonder if the guys designing said programs have actually been in the industry. Not one seems to get all bit right.
Sage has developed over many years and still isnt quite right. The bank rec is horrendous, the report editing is good, but jeez you need a lot of knowledge to be able to put something decent together as sometimes the standard reports are a nightmare. Overall its a bit too much overkill in some area's.
If more people take up VT then im sure it will become more and more popular. The only downside I can see is that a lot of businesses use sage, which in turn means more and more accounting firms are using sage as it makes doing the year end accounts so much easier with just a back up file emailed over.
But then again for the cost of VT, its hardly going to make a dent in an accounting firms pockets.
I think Sage will eventually price itself out of the market for small businesses if its not careful.
