software on disc with perpetual licence - The Book-keepers Forum (UK)

rafapak · Senior Member

software on disc with perpetual licence

richard2013 · Veteran Member

VT Cash book free - Ideal for clients / cash based micro businesses
VT T+ - One time licence - can be installed on any number of platforms- licence restrictions is that one license=1 user, another user need new licence
VT Accounts - Annual subscription
And no, I don't get any commission! But once I set up, I plan to use VT! Moneysoft for payroll once "qualified" by ICB. Taxfiler's said to be a good software for returns.

rafapak · Senior Member

thanks richard for reply. well, I plan to buy software for learning purposes. I don't have my own business. I am learning accountancy and would like to learn also how to use accounting software. I would like to be able to enter simple transaction into accounting software. Can you explain to me how this system of one licence- one user works?

I visited quickbooks website and found one can buy quickbooks on disc. I think this solution suits my needs best.

www.amazon.co.uk/Intuit-QuickBooks-Pro-2015-PC/dp/B00MGJUN32/ref=sr_1_1

TrevorD · Senior Member

Have a look at Solar accounts or buy a cheap copy of Sage Instant accounts on eBay.

I have been looking at payroll software for a payroll bureau and unfortunately Moneysoft have thrown the towel in when it comes to Auto Enrolement !!!! I feel all payroll customers will need AE info and you can charge more - So I will be getting 12Pay (or Brightpay if they ever come up with a CIS support). myPAYE is well recommended, no up front charges but charge per payslip (as I will be printing two million pay slips may - get expensive - hehe).

Regards

Trevor

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

but for the price that you pay for Sage Instant as Richard says you could get VT transaction+ where you can have multiple clients rather than just the one that Sage allows you to have.

I can't comment on Solar accounts as I've never used it.

Hi Trevor,

I really don't know what's happening with AE. I've read discussion over on Aweb where accountants and financial advisors are saying that they want nothing to do with it as they see it as the next PPI in waiting. And the argument seems to be that AE is nothing to do with us which is not I fear how our clients will see it.

TrevorD · Senior Member

If Rafapak only needs some software to experiment on (as a student) .... then sadly Sage is the standard. I agree it only supports one company but for training purposes he could have a play ... back it up ... and play again. Solar supports multiple companies and a one off fee.

On the AE side .. I don't mean advise on pension providers etc and get into a PPI situation. Its just that employers need to know on an ongoing basis if an employee has to be enrolled and when the next annual letter needs sending out etc and the general admin/bureaucracy surrounding it - so any help could be gratefully appreciated by an employer !!! I hope Moneysoft do have a change of heart and enable some of this admin, or people will leave them in droves !!

Regards

Trevor

TrevorD · Senior Member

PS - I got a brand new copy of Sage Instant 2014 on eBay for £38

rafapak · Senior Member

is this in the form of disc?

TrevorD · Senior Member

Yes - I got a CD disk to keep forever and use. An instruction booklet and 45 days free support.

Regards

Trevor

rafapak · Senior Member

to be honest i never bought anything from ebay. Can you tell me in few words how to shop on ebay?

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi,

generally very carefully and always pay with PayPal so that you have some comeback from your credit card facilitator if the item doesn't turn up, turns out to be something other than advertised or is broken / useless.

An issue buying discs from Ebay is that with some software once it has been installed on one machine it is only any good after that as a coffee coaster as it can never be installed on a different machine.

If the seller tells the complete truth about what it is including that the disk has been used then there would be no comeback when you find that what you have purchased is useless as the assumption is that you should have known what you were buying.

I think that we spoke some time back about the BPP I-Learn disc's for ACCA studies which would be a good example of that. One regularly see's them for sale on Ebay but if you know anything about what you are buying you will know that they will be useless if purchased.

There are some bargains to be had on Ebay but in general I'm finding it more expensive that Amazon resellers and quite often when you do find a bargain the seller will be charging some extortionarte price for the postage and packing.

And there of course you have another issue. Many sellers will only post within the UK so even if you found a bargain that was legitimate the seller may be adverse to posting it to Poland.

Why does it have to be a disc rather than a download?

rafapak · Senior Member

Thanks Shaun for reply. When I look at the product advertised on the internet I have problems to judge if this product is for download or if it is in the form of a disc. I think I have to take closer look at the description of the product so that I can find if given product is for download or in the form of a disc.
There are many accounting software available from Amazon. I think I will go for this option.

Do you think Shaun that I should go for downloadable products instead of the ones in disc format?

I still don't know if quickbooks is better for my needs rather than Sage. I don't know which criteria should I take into account when taking decision. Can you help me in this matter?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sage-Instant-Accounts-2014-PC/dp/B00H93SAIU/ref=sr_1_1?s=software&ie=UTF8&qid=1414840023&sr=1-1&keywords=sage+instant+accounts+2014

is it a good idea to go for this product from the link?

-- Edited by rafapak on Saturday 1st of November 2014 11:11:00 AM

-- Edited by rafapak on Saturday 1st of November 2014 02:53:45 PM

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Hi,

sorry, didn't realise that you had now made the move to the UK.

whether its a good idea or not depends on whether it is the software that you need to run your business.

Sage instants would be used for servicing a single company.

Its similar in many ways to Sage 50 in feel but lacks quite a lot of the functionality of its big brother which unfortunately comes with a serious price tag.

That said, many clients and practices use Sage and it is definitely a good idea to know how to use the software.

If your intent is simply to learn how to use the software rather than it being the software used by your practice then there are Sage workbooks that come with a 180 trial version of Sage 50.

I think that I've mentioned to you before to look at the deals that are being run by the training companies as they are able to negotiate serious discounts with Sage that they are able to pass on (in part) to students.

Personally I am not a big fan of Sage. I can use it but I choose not to as I disagree with Sage licensing and find some of the functionality very clunky, slow and unforgiving.

I appreciate why Sage have gone the way that they have as they aim their software at the end business user so attempt to make it idiot proof.

Personally I prefer VT which I find much faster to use but adopting my approach will limit your client base.

How you go depends on how you are offering your services. If its to be working on client systems then you need to be able to use their software. If you are taking in their paperwork and doing the bookkeeping on your own system then the choice of software that you use is your own.

On the seperate question of download vs Disc I'm happy either way. My only criteria is that the software exists on my own machines so accessible offline, not in the cloud.

kind regards,

Shaun.

rafapak · Senior Member

thanks for reply,Shaun

I went to sage website again and found they have sage workbooks available for customers. All learning is divided into three stages. Each stage costs 173 pounds which I don't find that cheap. Do you think there are similiar workbooks available for quickbooks? Well, I will go and check in the internet.

-- Edited by rafapak on Saturday 1st of November 2014 05:48:11 PM

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

As I said, try the training providers who will be able to supply courses including training software cheaper than Sage supply just the training software.

To the best of my knowledge there is currently no equivalent for Intuit software.

111 Bookkeeping and Payroll · Senior Member

Could you not download VT+ and try it out free for 60 days? That will give you time to play with the software and see if it suits your needs.

http://www.vtsoftware.co.uk/tranplus/download.htm

However, as Sean points out, if you plan on using sage at any point after your training it would be best to learn their software.

PS I was very nearly going to suggest Tas books as it was free last time I looked. It appears that Sage have introduced their promotional pricing and it now starts from £530!

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

111 Bookkeeping and Payroll wrote:
PS I was very nearly going to suggest Tas books as it was free last time I looked. It appears that Sage have introduced their promotional pricing and it now starts from £530!

Bless Sages little cotton socks.

EPF_Solutions · Senior Member

Once upon a time, Sage was a nice friendly helpful little company, with a good product at just a slightly premium, but still very affordable price! And TAS Books was something cheap produced by someone else!

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

And then Sage became a Plc and needed to appease their shareholders with year on year improving results.

All thta I can say is that Sages need to keep making more money year on year is the best thing that could have happened for their competitors.

One day their management will wake up, smell the coffee and realise that those who use their products are not cash cows with bottomless pockets.

EPF_Solutions · Senior Member

I once had a letter from them saying that their resellers had asked for a price increase, so here it is. But they never asked me, and it was what made me decide that they had priced themselves out of the market I was serving, so I gave up. Which is why I'm sticking with my Version 8, unlimited companies, unlimited network users (if I find a use for it)!

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

EPF_Solutions wrote:
I once had a letter from them saying that their resellers had asked for a price increase

lol, why would you want your underlying cost of goods to increase.

Sounds like a good case of not taking your audience into account before sticking your foot in your mouth.

Of course, on the bright side for them that cloud companies have adopted similar client tax pricing models at least they have competition that they can appear favourably against.

If only some publishers and training copanies would jump on the opportunity and push QuickBooks training courses / materials for the UK market then Sage would be forced to either change their pricing strategy or go the same way as the Sinclair C5.

That said, from my perspective its too late for them anyway as I don't simply view VT simply as a much cheaper product. I view is as a much better product.

TrevorD · Senior Member

Now - Shaun

I know you love VT software - want to have their children and have it engraved on your tomb stone !!!

I really wanted to trial the software and become a lover. However, I down loaded the trial version onto my 64 bit windows seven computer - It complained that various drivers were out of date and I should let VT scan the internet and replace them !! My computer is totally up to date and I don't want drivers replaced willy nilly !! I asked the VT help desk what drivers it needed etc etc and basically they could not help me and was just instructed to let it do its thing !!! Now, I am not willing to let a 32bit software product messs with my 64 bit PC and drivers !!!! so no trial no sale !!!!

Regards

Trevor

EPF_Solutions · Senior Member

The thing I used to like about Sage was that clients couldn't do much damage by changing entries, and there was a proper audit trail of any corrections. When I changed to QuickBooks for the company I part owned, I liked being able to change entries, but wouldn't have wanted to let clients loose with it! I'm not sure I'd like to let clients loose with VT, where they can mess up everything, but I've just done an incomplete records job with it, and it's brilliant. So much easier than it used to be with Sage!

Incidentally, has anyone tried Adminsoft Accounts? It's a complete system with stock control and everything, and it's free unless you want to pay to remove the adverts. I had a quick look, but haven't tested it properly. www.adminsoftware.biz

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

TrevorD wrote:
I really wanted to trial the software and become a lover. However, I down loaded the trial version onto my 64 bit windows seven computer - It complained that various drivers were out of date and I should let VT scan the internet and replace them !!

Sounds as though we have the same setup (W7 64bit)

Just to confirm, you don't have a recent version of Sage installed on the same machine.

Old versions of Sage are fine but the newer versions even when not running refuse to coexist with VT.... Now, I wonder why that would be!!!

For info on the drivers issue with Sage/VT see this thread http://www.book-keepers.org.uk/t57012366/sage-compatibility-issue/.

Shamus · Forum Moderator & Expert

Cheers John, I'll take a glance.

VinceH · Expert

I found Adminsoft Accounts around the time (a month ago?) I commented on Sage's new Data as a Protection Racket sales model.

I've downloaded and installed it, and only taken a very quick glance - posting a few initial test transactions to see what's what. At first glance, I thought it was a bit limiting - but I haven't had a second (longer) glance to form a more informed opinion.

The reason for that is that it won't run until I can be bothered to fix it. The problem is that it writes its data files to a subdirectory of where its installed - something that no software this side of 2001 (when XP came out IIRC) should be doing [cough, tut tut, Vince - you've done that, too. Ahem]. (I installed it in Program Files, so it falls afoul of UAC - the fix is just to move it.)

I haven't bothered because there's no point until I can find the time to sit down and come up with a good set of test data to cover a wide range of scenarios - and all of the things I do in particular that I know Sage (all hail the evil one) can and does cope with. Once I've done that, I'll be looking at anything I can get my grubby hands on a demo of in order to try them.