I would say Sage is the most popular, certainly with accountants but it depends on your application. As a freelancer, I often have to go with what the client uses unless I am putting a new system into operation. On a personal level, I like TAS books as it is easier to use but others may disagree.
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Once I attract my first client I will ask them what they use because it seems the software you use is decided on the client, and consequently accounting software at best is client driven.
The first reply was never intended to be my only one but felt that you needed to read that thread first.
Anyway, assuming that you've now read the other thread and got a general feel for peoples feelings on the various peices of software.
Micro startups lend themselves to VT+. They generally have no idea about software and assume that you come to them as the expert rather than there needing to be a learning curve if you take their business.
Both VT+ and Quickbooks are multi client so the more that you can direct in that direction the cheaper your licences become.
There are many cloud offerings but if you go down that path beware of signup fee's and note that you never own the software so as soon as your monthly payment stop so does the right to use the service.
Sage charges per client so can prove expensive although it is still something that you will need to know as many SME's use SAGE and may larger entities use SAP.
Note that where a client already uses software then it is often the case that you will be doing the work on their premises on their machine on their software.
By advice would be to take this time to get to grips with VT+ (free trial) and QB Quickstart (the free one) with a view to buying the real versions when this becomes commercial. I assume that you already have Sage knowledge.
Also wouldn't hurt to take a look at the trial versions of 12pay and Moneysoft payroll to cover payroll processing.
And of course, never forget Excel which to me is the backbone of working in this business.
Good luck with the business,
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Micro startups lend themselves to VT+. They generally have no idea about software and assume that you come to them as the expert rather than there needing to be a learning curve if you take their business.
Both VT+ and Quickbooks are multi client so the more that you can direct in that direction the cheaper your licences become.
There are many cloud offerings but if you go down that path beware of signup fee's and note that you never own the software so as soon as your monthly payment stop so does the right to use the service.
Hi Shaun
You forgot to mention that on-premise software fees don't include support, where as cloud systems do. Have you seen Sage's pricing on annual support?
Many folks with on-premise systems don't bother with support but when their database goes corrupt, boy are they not happy when they see the quote to fix their database.
Might as well buy a new licence and install their last backup to the new system, which will also make you feel .
There is the flexibility of using online systems too.You can login on any computer at any time and unlike remote access, dont need your client's PC on.
Hi David
Also have a look at trialling Arithmo, its free to trial and will give you an idea of a cloud accounting software for micro businesses in action.
Its best to know 3 or 4 systems (both cloud and on-premise) to be honest as each system has its strengths and weaknesses.
when it comes to Word and Excel Microsofts promise of 99.9% uptime just isn't good enough for me!
However, at £4 per month per licence compared to the price of Office professional bought seperately it is certainly worth considering as an option for staff workstations where the software didn't already come bundled with the PC.
Actually, on that subject have you notices the number of times that you buy a business machine through business channels and it comes bundled with Office home and student edition which is of course not licenced for business use!
All the best,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
I used Sage Accounts. its pretty good and widely used. it has lots of functionalities required for day to day transactions in a business. have a look in the following link to get a quick overview of sage accounts.
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