Hi Nicola and welcome

I find Xero brilliant and have recently moved from Sage over to Xero.

It depends what you're looking for though, and also what your clients want. Cost is obviously a big factor and influenced my move as I now only pay for what I use rather than a massive Accountants Club subscription to Sage (although I do know they've just changed their membership structure so still might be worth investigating).

I would recommend signing up for Xero and doing their training course (all free) to become a certified advisor, as then it is one option, even if you choose to offer others.

Best of luck finding new clients
Clare

I have clients that operate both ways - it's pretty easy whichever you choose. The main two I have are cashbook for clients who don't need invoicing and the full version for those that do. For some reason the subscriptions come out of my bank in two payments but that isn't a problem for me. I have recurring invoices set up in my own company to bill the clients for the software in some cases and in other cases they're on flat rate that includes provision of software.

You also get a free practice company when you sign up as a partner and I run my own accounts on that.

Remember that the quoted prices on their site don't include VAT when you're talking to clients about the cost of software!

Hi Nicola, and welcome.  (and Clare who is before my time here)

Also have a look at VT Transaction + .   Costs £150 including VAT as a one off price and you can have as many clients on there as you wish.  Some people swear by it, most like it's simplicity and ease of undoing mistakes, and others can't get on with it.  There's a free 60 day trial so it's worth having a play with even if you decide not to use it.

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

-- Edited by Leger on Wednesday 29th of April 2015 02:40:34 PM

I really must give VT more of a go. I have it but tend to use it only to produce final accounts rather than as a whole accounting system
Maternity leave project perhaps LOL

Hi Nicola,

welcome to the forum.

another vote from me for VT Transaction+. If you don't believe John and myself just look at the Accountingweb software satisfaction survey.

Here's a link to everything that you ever wanted to know about how good or bad software is perceived by those who use it seriously but never thought to ask

www.accountingweb.co.uk/category/tags/software-satisfaction-awards

based on 15000 responses from 6000 firms.

VT topped the survey for desktop solutions by a mile

With cloud offerings it seemed a closer race between Freeagent, KashFlow and Clearbooks.

Note that this is a report from our side of the fence. From a clients perspective they may have a different view on what the best software for them is and part of our job is to convince them why they are wrong and really want to use the software that amkes our lives the easiest.

I would say though that it's important to be able to use Sage even if it's not one's own practice software

For Payroll software try both 12pay and Moneysoft payroll both of which are regular site recomendations and reasonably priced.

kind regards,

Shaun.

Hi Phil - many thanks for the advice.

Hopefully, I don't intend to restrict myself if I can help it - as you say, the more versatile I am, the better service I should be able to offer. I already have working experience of Kashflow and Quickbooks (albeit an older desktop version in that) and I have both AAT and IAB qualifications in Sage so feel reasonably confident that if a client wants/has a particular package, I should be able to accommodate them but I was concerned that there might be other software (such as VT T+) that I need/haven't considered that experienced bookkeepers view as vital to their practice. I've certainly got some food for thought, which is great :)

Hi Alys

Hopefully I'll find VT T+ simple as well. I definitely like the fact they offer a 60 day trial, it gives you plenty of time to get your teeth into it before having to commit money to it. Good luck with building your practice!

Hi Nicola and a belated welcome!

I started out with just Sage, but now also use Quick books (occasionally) and have access to and have trained up on e-conomic (my only cloud based option). You never know what software a potential client will suggest/already has but I only agreed to up-skill on the e-conomic one as a new client told me he had to use it (was a Franchise and was told by the Franchisor that he had to, lets face it so they could be big brother!). Im not impressed by e-conomic at all and after a chat with his Accountant he agreed I should use Sage. Turns out it wasnt part of the written agreement with the Franchisor, so it was tough, not that they were happy with it!

I wasnt sure which payroll software to go for - someone suggested Iris but then also mentioned a very heft price tag so I toyed with 12pay and Moneysoft - only went for the latter as I have a client requiring CIS reporting, but have also used 12 pay and Ive been impressed by them both. 12 pay is probably better if you are dealing with companies with quite a few employees (just from an interface point of view)

Keep hearing good things about VT (Shaun is selling the idea well!) so might have to give it a try at some point, although never find the time for such things.