Just a flying visit I'm afraid and then I'm unlikely to be back on the site before Tuesday next week.

Here's a to do list

Set up your new company in VT+

Set up your year ends (I normally start off with Prior year, curr year and five future years).

If you need opening balances use the last full set of accounts created from Sage to set up a full set of Opening Balance Contras (basically an opening set of journals). Use the closing day of the year of the accounts to creat your journals.

Now save, come out of VT and copy the .vtr file as you may be about to mess it up. This next bit you will end up doing a bit of experimenting with to get it right.

Extract your data from Sage to a .csv file.

You are going to be manipulating the columns per the help facility in the universal input sheet when you think they are right, copy and paste into the sheet and batch post from Sage (or whatever package you want) into VT and all of the entries are created.

Its highly likely that you will mess up your columns or your entries will be incorrect. If that happens don't bother trying to fix it, copy in your saved .vtr file and just do it again until you get it right.

To get to the universal input sheet its the thing that looks like a spreadsheet next to the p+r button.

The p+r button is a batch input option and basically the button that you are likely to use the most.

Try to enter no more than a months worth of data between pressing enter. Its very quick and has predictive data entry.

All of the usual bits and bobs are there. Printing invoices, setting up supplier accounts, etc.

Your should find everything intuitive and easy to pick up.

The way that I learnt the software was to take a set of accounts produced in Sage. Reenter all of the data for a year from opening balances and ensure that the figures that I got from VT Accounts were identical to those coming out of Sage.

Give it a few days for yourself to get used to it and then I can almost guarantee you will never want to use Sage again as it is soooo controlling by comparison.

That of course is both a good and bad thing. Sage tries to make itself idiot proof where VT assumes that the people using it are not idiots. As such Sage will protect you from making mistakes where VT makes it easy to rectify mistakes which in the wrong hands of course can be dangerous.

To use VT you really have to be happy with all of the concepts of manual bookkeeping (which I'm sure that you are).

I think thats enough to get you started. Sorry that I'm not going to be around much just when you need me but others such as Bill and Kris might also pick up any cries for help during my absence.

Good luck Elaine,

kind regards,

Shaun.