Accounting Software and Money Management: January 2013

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Assessing Overall Needs for Accounting Software

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Requirement for an accounting software depends on the nature of your business and how you run it. Ideally, you should look for an accounting software package that can meet all your overall business needs as well as detailed accounting requirements. Sometimes, you may face a situation where there is no available or affordable accounting software to match with your requirements and you may have to consider changing the way you operate your business in order to suit the available packages. In order to make sure you don't buy an overly complicated accounting system, you need to get involved the people such as accountants and professionals concerned who will use it in defining their requirements.
To assess what your overall business needs and accounting requirements in order to select an accounting software based on your needs, you need to gather some information together on your business. It may be helpful to consider the following tips towards assessing your business and accounting needs. You can also look at how to evaluate accounting software and how to find the right accounting software if you like.

Type of your Business

Whether it is a corporation or individual business, If it is an individual business you may not need a commercial accounting software and you can manage with free accounting software which are mainly designed for personal and small business financial accounting.

How many transactions

You need to analyse and see the records in your accounts and If the number is less then you may find that a manual accounts system will be the best choice. If you have a high level of transactions per month, then you need to select a accounting software package that is designed for this level of activity.

Number of people using the software

If you have one or two people who does all the accounts work then you can use a simple low-cost package. If you need to have several people entering transactions at the same time then you will need something more sophisticated.

What is your computer systems

Personal computers with a Windows Operating System such as Windows 7 and XP are the most popular for business use, and there is a series of accounting software for this platform. If you use Macintosh or Linux then you may have a more restricted choice available, and you may need to consider using a Windows based PC just for the accounting package in these situations.

How you want to maintain your basic bookkeeping

How you want to calculate taxea such as GST, QST and VAT

How you want to manage your Payroll processing

How to prepare Management information and decision support reports

How you want to mange your Invoicing

How you want to manage redit control

Compatibility with other accounts systems

How you want to manage Stock control

Accounting towards Automation

Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

How to Find the Right Accounting Software
Increase Bottom Line with Software Automation
Free Accounting Software
Accounting Software Save Time and Money
Accounting Software

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Executing your Accounting Software

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Putting your accounting software into operation is much more than just installing some software on to your computer. You should consider the followings in your implementation plan.
However, if you want to know how to find the right accounting software before studing about implementation and select accounting software based on your needs you can read the other articles too in this blog. Knowing how to evaluate accounting software is equally important as selecting an accounting software

Accounting Package Installation

You will usually get the accounting software package in the form of a CD-Rom and may require you to register the package with the supplier so that it is fully licensed and works correctly.

Initial company setup

You will need to enter details of your business including the year-end date and other details. Your accounting software package may have several different Charts of Accounts like the headings that you use in your accounts depending on your choose to suit your type of business. However, you may need to tailor this to your requirements. You can consultant your accountant and seek advice you on this work, or your accountant himself can undertake it for you.

Parallel running

You may find it useful to run your old accounts and the new package alongside each other for a while to ensure that you are getting correct results. However, it is difficult to maintain parallel running for very long because of the duplication of effort.

Staff Training

Your staff who work with the accounting package on a day-to-day basis should ideally have some formal training in the use of the accounting package. You should schedule this training so that it is done shortly before the installation of the software.

Support and Maintenance Agreement

It is a good idea to purchase a support agreement from your supplier for your new accounting package, at least for the first year of operation so that you have a readily available contact to help sort out queries and problems. This is not necessary if you go for free accounting software depending on your business requirements and money management techniques. Many business organizations find that a support agreement is a good investment even after this initial period.

Accounting towards Automation

Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

How to Find the Right Accounting Software
Increase Bottom Line with Software Automation
Free Accounting Software
Accounting Software Save Time and Money
Assessing Overall Needs for Accounting Software
Accounting Software

How to Link to This Page

To link to this page from your website, simply cut and paste the following code in the table to your web page.

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Friday, January 11, 2013

Accounting Software Save Time and Money

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The whole purpose of using accounting software is to make your life easier by saving you time and money. If you are a business owner, you know the value of managing time and resources because you have limited amounts of both, so it is a good idea to take measures that will allow you to use them in the most productive manner. Accounting software will help you towards this and it gives you the ability to deal with a significant administrative matter in an effective and less costly way. To your time and money using an accounting software it is very important to know how to evaluate accounting software and select accounting software based on your needs which also help you how to find the right accounting software package to implement right money management techniques.

Technology has advanced to the point in which individuals can run quite complicated business operations, such as accounting, by themselves and also they can save time and money without keeping full time accounting experts in-house or retaining the services of a professional accounting firm. What we do twenty years ago with ten or fifteen people in the accounts department can be done today with just one person with the help of accounting software package, and save your time and money. Sometimes you can even select a free accounting software without going for commercial accounting package. This is one of the great advantages of using accounting software for home and business: it frees you up to direct all of your entrepreneurial activity toward developing your business rather than scattering your energies on tedious and time-consuming administration.

Accounting software will save you time because you can make things faster in the whole process of bookkeeping, you can analysis and answer queries much quicker such as whether you have paid supplier in last month, and if so, how much), certain things can be semi or fully automated, such as bank reconciliations, VAT returns, and your monthly and year end accounting information is going to be more straightforward

Accounting software save you money and resources because you may be able to negotiation lower accountant’s and/or bookkeeping fees, you can indirectly save money by freeing up your or your bookkeeper’s time, and you may be able to make better financial decisions as a result of better and more timely information.

Accounting towards Automation

Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

How to Find the Right Accounting Software
Increase Bottom Line with Software Automation
Free Accounting Software
Assessing Overall Needs for Accounting Software
Executing your Accounting Software
Accounting Software

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Free Accounting Software

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You can study, download and use the free accounting software programs listed on this page. Free software can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions. The word free in the term free software refers to freedom and is not at all related to monetary cost. Free software is generally available without charge but is not bound to such a restriction. Free software differs from proprietary software, which to various degree does not give the user freedoms to study, modify and share the software.

Free accounting sofwate programs mentioned here are ideal for both personal and small businesses. You can use these financial accounting software to manage your own or your businesses finances. In most or all of these free accounting software programs have included with common features enabling to handle double-entry accounting, a general ledger, financial reporting, handling of budgets, accounts receivable/payable, bills, invoices, and so on. You can also see the individual review for each program mentioned below and read the software's documentation on the site for more detailed information on each case before downloading any free accounting software. However, this page is not listed with commercial accounting software such as the well-known QuickBooks or, Mint for those who prefer to use an online product other than to mention them here.

You can also look at how to evaluate accounting software and select accounting software based on your needs which help you how to find the right accounting software from these range of free software pakages mentioned below.

Free Accounting Software for your Business

GnuCash: Free Accounting Software

This is a free personal and small business financial accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL. Versions are available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, Solaris, the various BSD systems, etc. Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible, GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports.

jGnash: Free Personal Finance

jGnash is a free personal finance manager with many of the same features as commercially-available software. It was created in order to make tracking your personal finances easy, but also provides the functionality required by advanced users.jGnash supports double-entry transactions, account reconciliation, report generation (in PDF), multiple currencies, investment accounts and transactions tracking, secure file encryption, the ability to schedule recurring payment reminders, the ability to import QIF and GnuCash files (see elsewhere on this page), etc. The program works on any platform that supports a Java virtual machine, such as Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc.

Manager: Free accounting software Tool

Manager is a free accounting software that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with modules such as cashbook, invoicing, receivables, payables, taxes and comprehensive financial reports.

Grisbi: Personal Finance Manager

Grisbi is an open source personal accounting application for Windows and Linux that supports multiple accounts, currencies and users. Features include handling of receipts and expenditure, scheduled transactions, etc.

HomeBank: Free Personal Finance Software

HomeBank is a free and easy personal finance software that will help you managing your personal accounting. It is designed to easy to use and be able to analyse your personal finances in detail using powerful filtering tools and graphs.This finace software benefits from more than 18 years of user experience and feedback. It is available for 50 languages on GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, MacOSX, and Nokia N.

KMyMoney:Free Finance Program

KMyMoney is an open source Linux-based personal finance program supports double-entry accounting, investments, ledger, setting up of custom reports, etc. KMyMoney intends to provide all important features found in the commercially-available, personal finance managers and especially suggested for the non-technical user.

TurboCash: Accounting Software for Small Business

TurboCASH is the leading open source accounting software for small business and is available in 25 languages, covering over 80 different tax regimes. It appears that certain modules are not free (including the manual, payroll, etc).

Accounting towards Automation

Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

How to Find the Right Accounting Software
Increase Bottom Line with Software Automation
Accounting Software Save Time and Money
Assessing Overall Needs for Accounting Software
Executing your Accounting Software
Accounting Software

How to Link to This Page

To link to this page from your website, simply cut and paste the following code in the table to your web page.

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Financial Accounting

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Financial accountancy or financial accounting is the field of accountancy concerned with the preparation of financial statements for decision makers, such as stockholders, suppliers, banks, employees, government agencies, owners, and other stakeholders. Financial capital maintenance can be measured in either nominal monetary units or units of constant purchasing power. The fundamental need for financial accounting is to reduce principal–agent problem by measuring and monitoring agents' performance and reporting the results to interested users.

Financial accountancy is used to prepare accounting information for people outside the organization or not involved in the day-to-day running of the company. On the other hand to help managers make decisions to manage the business and day-to-day operation, accounting information is required which invloves Management accountancy.

In short, financial accounting is the process of summarizing financial data taken from an organization's accounting records and publishing in the form of annual (or more frequent) reports for the benefit of people outside the organization. Financial accountancy is governed by both local and international accounting standards. In this process many companies or businesses use accounting software packages which can be either free accounting software or commercial accounting software tool.

Financial accountants produce financial statements based on generally accepted accounting principles of a respective country. In particular cases financial statements must be prepared according to the International Financial Reporting Standards. Financial accounting serves three purposes which are 1.producing general purpose financial statements, 2.producing information used by the management of a business entity for decision making, planning and performance evaluation and 3.producing financial statements for meeting regulatory requirements. Main objectives of of Financial Accounting are to know the results of the business, to ascertain the financial position of the business, to ensure control over the assets, to facilitate proper management of cash and to provide requisite information.

Accounting towards Automation

Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

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Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Management accounting

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Management accounting or managerial accounting is concerned with the provisions and use of accounting information to managers within organizations, to provide them with the basis to make informed business decisions that will allow them to be better equipped in their management and control functions.So, it involves preparations of management reports and accounts that provide accurate and timely financial and statistical information required by managers to make day-to-day and short-term decisions.

Unlike financial accounting or financial accountancy, which produces annual reports mainly for external stakeholders, management accounting is primarily forward-looking and generates monthly or weekly reports for an organization's internal audiences such as department managers and the chief executive officer. These reports typically show the amount of available cash, sales revenue generated, amount of orders in hand, state of accounts payable and accounts receivable, outstanding debts, raw material and inventory, and may also include trend charts, variance analysis, and other statistics and also called managerial accounting.

According to the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA): "Management accounting is a profession that involves partnering in management decision making, devising planning and performance management systems,and providing expertise in financial reporting and control to assist management in the formulation and implementation of an organization's strategy".

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) states that management accounting as practice extends to the following three areas. There are 1. Strategic management—advancing the role of the management accountant as a strategic partner in the organization, 2. Performance management—developing the practice of business decision-making and managing the performance of the organization and 3. Risk management—contributing to frameworks and practices for identifying, measuring, managing and reporting risks to the achievement of the objectives of the organization.

The Institute of Certified Management Accountants(ICMA), states "A management accountant applies his or her professional knowledge and skill in the preparation and presentation of financial and other decision oriented information in such a way as to assist management in the formulation of policies and in the planning and control of the operation of the undertaking". Management accountants therefore are seen as the "value-creators" amongst the accountants. They are much more interested in forward looking and taking decisions that will affect the future of the organization, than in the historical recording and compliance (score keeping) aspects of the profession. Management accounting knowledge and experience can therefore be obtained from varied fields and functions within an organization, such as information management, treasury, efficiency auditing, marketing, valuation, pricing, logistics, etc. Accounting software tools irrespective of commercial accounting software or free accounting software are very useful for management accountants to perform their tasks.

Accounting towards Automation

Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

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Increase Bottom Line with Software Automation

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When you own a small business, time is money. Every time a task that should be automated is handled manually, it wastes your time and your business loses money. To make matters even worse, performing these tasks manually, in front of clients or prospects, projects the wrong image. In many businesses we can not see that all the tasks associated with business have been fully automated with software yet. However, in many businesses, we can see that the accounting system has been automated with the help of accounting software.

Even though technology is readily available and even affordable, many small business owners do not take full advantage of these powerful software packages due to various reasons. It may be hard to believe, but only a small percentage of business owners have the technical expertise necessary to handle the automation process. The others have neither the time to learn nor the ability to hire the experts to do the job.

But one thing is certain: One way to increase your business’s bottom line is to get software that automates the tasks you do manually and consequently, inefficiently. Business owners who cannot afford to invest for automation system can still think about automation of accounting system with the use of free accounting software.

Something as simple as contact management software is so valuable. First and foremost, searching for contact information is never more than a few mouse clicks away. Some software will even allow you to access this data while away from you office.

Have you finally mastered your email system? Love the way it keeps you off the phone? If you’re not careful, you’ll soon be wasting as much time responding to your email as you did returning your phone calls.

There’s not enough space to list all the benefits of using autoresponders or all the ways to utilize autoresponders in your business. Here are just a few – use them to send out product and pricing information, to capture contact names and addresses, to help with frequently asked questions (FAQs) lists, to deliver different chapters of an e-book – anything that keeps your company name in front of existing or potential customers can be handled more efficiently using an autoresponder.

Raise your hand if you’re still carrying around your paperbound daily planner! Throw it away and get software to keep track of your appointments and those of all your employees. You’ll appreciate how easy it is to know who’s doing what and when.

And think about how much time you spend each year gathering the paperwork your accountant needs at tax time to prepare your company income taxes. Why allow your accountant to charge you his or her hourly rate to do the type of data entry you could have been doing all year long IF you had only purchased and installed business accounting software.

If you think, “Well, I do this only once a year,” you are right, but remember, there are many more income-generating things you can do with the time you are wasting. Every second of saved time helps your business operate more efficiently. If you are willing to go for accounting package to automate your accounting systems you can also look at how accounting software save time and money and help to make money mangement easy.

Even the most automated of offices is doomed should your hardware ever crash and your data not be backed up. And we’re not talking about “if” this crisis will occur; we’re talking about “when” it will occur. There are so many easy-to-use and affordable backup software programs available that you’ve no good excuse for not backing up your valuable data.

There are many other business tasks you can automate but there’s not enough room to list them all. Tasks like project management, employee management and inventory management are more efficient when they are automated. You can even translate your paper marketing and sales information for fast and easy delivery via the Internet.

There’s no end to the list of office tasks that can be automated using the software that is readily available today. Put together an office automation budget and decide which tasks are the most important to automate. Then get going – you’ve got work to do!

Accounting towards Automation

Accounting Software
Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs

How to Evaluate Accounting Software in 4 Steps

How to Find the Right Accounting Software
Free Accounting Software
Accounting Software Save Time and Money
Assessing Overall Needs for Accounting Software
Executing your Accounting Software

How to Link to This Page

To link to this page from your website, simply cut and paste the following code in the table to your web page.

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Online Accounting

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There was a time when the accounting was more of book keeping done in huge ledgers and was the purview of select few. It's not so anymore. Accounting is much more widely accepted as a business function and general people also look for the accounting details of the firms they are associated with. Also lot more transparency is required now. Keeping in line with the development of IT and other technologies, the accounting is also now based on internet and has taken wide strides. On-line accounting services, viewed as merely experimental only a few years ago are now becoming the run away business.

As such accounting industry as been little slow to adopt the newer technology and has not left fully its love for the pen and pencil work. The accounting industry has seen new trend of outsourcing its work now. All these have forced the industry to adopt the On-line Accounting. The internet as well as other technologies are used now to build more efficient book keeping systems. Also it's becoming more cost efficient for larger firms to outsource the work. Outsourcing is very much easier with work being delivered on-line. It's much more cost effective as well as fast also. However, those who are not willing to go for online accounting with outsourcing they can have option of selecting an accounting software to manage the accounting functions with inhouse team which is as good as online accounting. If you have a small business you can do the same with the help of free accounting software package.

The shift from the practice where clients paid the accounting firms as per the billable hours to a fixed fee based system is forcing the accounting firms to deliver efficient work in cost effective manner. This means that they can not any longer cover their inefficient work by merely putting in more time into the projects. This has favoured the on-line accounting practices much. Value billing has forced accounting professionals to become more efficient.

On-line accounting very effectively cuts short the time taken to transfer the time taken by information exchange between the clients and accounting firm. The seamless transfer is far more efficient and much faster. The accounting firm has dynamic access to the sourcing documents of the clients firms and can access anytime any information it requires from its clients side. The on-line accounting system also allows the accounting firm access to client data from far away locations at the a few clicks on the internet. The time sensitive financial data is readily available to the accounting firm.

Other than the speed and cost of services, on-line accounting enables better customer service and more reliability and trust. Accounting firms recently have been exposed as in cahoots with some very big clients, committing serious financial crimes. In this scenario the new practice builds more transparency also.

The on-line accounting practice also provide for more timely communication between the firm and clients. Since the client has more immediate access to information and to time sensitive documents with on-line Accounting practices, questions and problems can be more easily identified and resolved. This translates into increased profits as well as happier clients!!

Since the clients get better service, they get more value for the money they spend. It is generally quite cheaper for the business owner to outsource the bookkeeping and accounting than to hire and supervise it in-house. Savings for the business owner can be as much as 30% for some clients! On-line Accounting is great for such services.

The accounting firms also charge now a fee (fixed on a monthly basis) almost five times the average monthly fee (based on billable hours) they charged earlier.

Generally the various on-line accounting processes available are customized for their users where they can choose the menu of features they like.

On-line Accounting is an excellent tool for accounting and book keeping, one that is help full for both the accounting firms as well as the clients.

Accounting towards Automation

Accounting Software
Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs

How to Evaluate Accounting Software in 4 Steps

How to Link to This Page

To link to this page from your website, simply cut and paste the following code in the table to your web page.

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How to Find the Right Accounting Software

You are here: Accounting Software and Money Management > How to Find the Right Accounting Software

Let's face it, everyone wants to know where their money is going, but nobody wants to keep track of where it went. In the non-profit world, the focus of an organization is not on how much money was made. However, that does not diminish the importance of having a good system that accurately tracks the organization's money. An effective accounting software package can help make monitoring finances less cumbersome and help save money at the same time. You can also look at how accounting software save time and money towards implementation of money management techniques with selecting an accounting software based on your needs.

As with any major purchase, there are many factors that should be addressed before making a decision on which new accounting software package to buy, or whether to buy at all. The following list is by no means all inclusive, but should give you some idea of what to look for when evaluating your options.

Organizational Needs

Probably the most important step in determining the kind of software needed is to make a list of what your organization requires from an accounting software package. While this will be comprised primarily of the accounting functions your organization performs on a regular basis (i.e., allocations, fund-raising, billing, payroll), it will also include compliance with current accounting standards, grantor (somebody making legal transfer) and/or government reporting requirements and internal reporting requirements. A good accounting package will be capable of meeting all of your reporting requirements and adhering to current accounting standards without forcing too much re-creation of data. It is not a bad idea to study about free accounting software package which will be able to work for your business case where you need to have simple accounting and reporting system. You can also refer to how to find the right accounting software and how to evaluate accounting software after analysing your organizational needs.

User Friendliness

With most accounting software developers now providing (or soon to be providing) Windows-based packages, there is a marked increase in the "user friendliness" of these packages. This is where some of the potential for long-term savings lies. Not only are Windows packages generally easier to use, but they also allow for multitasking and often have vastly improved help functions (many provide the entire software manual at the click of a mouse button). If this allows four of your staff members, who earn twelve dollars an hour, to save fifteen minutes a day for an entire year, you will pay for your $3,000 accounting system in a year with just your payroll savings.

Haredware Requirements

While the development of Windows accounting packages has increased "user friendliness," it has also increased the need for more advanced and powerful hardware. Knowing your current hardware limitations is essential in evaluating any software purchase, especially accounting software. It is imperative that you know that your hardware has the adequate memory, hard drive space and processing speed to accommodate the software before purchasing it. Without checking this information first, you could end up with a far worse situation than the cumbersome accounting system you were intending to improve.

Flexibility

As with any software package, flexibility is an important consideration. Non-profit accounting can be extremely complex and dynamic. There are frequently new grants and projects which may have different reporting requirements and there are always new accounting pronouncements, making flexibility vital. Many packages offer reporting that can be virtually tailor-made to your needs. Others offer versions of their product in which the actual programming code can be accessed and altered to suit the organizations needs. If you use other non-profit software indirectly related to the accounting function (i.e., fundraising or membership), many packages can be adapted to interface with those systems.

Price

You didn't think that an accountant would overlook this important consideration, did you? Of course we all have limits on what we can spend, but more important is the value we get for what we do spend. Beware of the hidden costs that can be associated with a new software purchase. Make sure you know which modules (i.e., accounts payable, accounts receivable) are included with the general ledger software, and the cost of any additional modules you may need. Many systems start with the bare bones, which is rarely enough, and charge additional fees for what many of us would consider basic needs. Also, find out how much technical support you'll receive with the software and how much additional support will cost. Many software companies offer free support for a period after the purchase, but will charge fees for support of additional modules. Be aware that some developers may require payment for mandatory periodic upgrades and maintenance fees, and virtually all software developers will charge additional fees for multiple users.

After you consider these factors, it is a good idea to ask potential vendors for product demonstrations. Demonstrations help to provide a better understanding of the products and may inform you of beneficial features that you had not considered. An accounting firm regularly providing demonstrations and independent from one particular software vendor, such as Raffa and Associates, provides the added advantage of an objective demonstration and comparison of several software packages viewed by the firm as the most effective software for your situation.

This should get you started on your not-too-envious task of finding the right accounting software package. As difficult as it may seem, focusing on the above factors and developing a plan for the selection process should make the task less daunting and more effective.

Accounting towards Automation

Accounting Software
Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs

How to Evaluate Accounting Software in 4 Steps

Increase Bottom Line with Software Automation
Free Accounting Software
Accounting Software Save Time and Money
Assessing Overall Needs for Accounting Software
Executing your Accounting Software

How to Link to This Page

To link to this page from your website, simply cut and paste the following code in the table to your web page.

<a href="http://accounting-software-and-tools.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-find-right-accounting-software.html" target="_top">How to Find the Right Accounting Software</a>

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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Money Management Techniques

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Life is hard at the best of times but it is very difficult to meet ends at the present time. What with the credit crunch, the downturn in the global economies and job cuts in almost all the industries. We all want to live the life of our dreams by having a better house to live in, drive the car of our dreams and pay our bills without having concerns about our bank balance at the end of the month. Most of these things are possible with changing our lifestyle and better money management.

Nowadays every bit of information that we need is at our fingertips because of the internet, development in software and information technology. This is also true for money management where most of the businesses ranging from smaller to larger business entities started using accounting software as a tool to manage money in their businesses. There are hundreds of sites offering you advice and information on how to become debt free with money saving tips, so finding money management techniques is a matter of searching on the internet with right key words. There are money management sites which cater to your financial planning with lots of advice and information on how to manage your money more efficiently. If you are running a small business or have an individual business you can use free accounting software to manage money in your business.

It is no surprise that money issues seem to hit the younger generation the hardest. This is probably because the instant culture that affects young people and very poor money management habits. Young adults want to have things that they often fail to realize are out of their budgetary reach. One thing that we can attribute this to is the ease of getting instant credit. Another reason for this is that most young people want to live their life at the level of their parents but they fail to realize that it has taken their parents twenty or thirty years to get where they are.

Money management techniques and money saving tips have become quite popular in the recent months. More and more people begin to realize that to move towards a debt free future, you need to start saving money in all the areas that you possibly can. One place people are turning to achieve this is the internet, where you can find many organizations that provide sound financial advice and practical info on how to start achieving all your financial goals, understand everything from financial planning to getting out of debt, to managing your money wisely, to saving for your future.

If you are some one who finds himself in a financial predicament then there are many organizations out there waiting to help you. Consumer credit counseling services offer confidential budget, credit, and housing advice in addition to debt management, financial education, and bankruptcy counseling. Money saving tips and money management advice are available online from a number of sources. All you have to do is to reach out and help is at hand that can help you on your way to a better financial future. You will have to make sacrifices on the way but when you look back, you will realize that it was worth all that effort that you put in.

Accounting towards Automation

Accounting Software
Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs

How to Evaluate Accounting Software in 4 Steps

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Monday, January 7, 2013

How to Evaluate Accounting Software in 4 Steps

You are here: Accounting Software and Money Management > How to Evaluate Accounting Software

Step 1

First list what your accounting needs are. Are you a individual business owner, small home-based business or a large corporation? Do you have payroll? What types of taxes are you required by law to pay depending on your country? Do you have to file state taxes along with federal ones? What type of accounting features do you need? Which do you not need? You must know the answers to each of these questions to assist you in how to find the right accounting software for your situation. Make notes of every one of your monthly transactions and answer the questions presented. You will use these notes to evaluate the accounting software.

Step 2

Know what kind of budget you can go for your accounting software. You can find free accounting software or you can spend hundreds of dollars for commercial accounting software, but you must know how much money you have in advance to proceed with right money management techniques which also helps to narrow down your selections. It is possible for you to be able to use the free software, but it is more likely that you will need more than what you can get for free.

Step 3

Get some consultation and inputs from others. A good way to get some ideas on accounting software is to inquire with people you know and work with for references about them. It can be especially helpful if this is a similar type of business to yours. Make notes of their ideas and also ask for any problems they encounter with the software they currently use. You can also access an endless amount of information on accounting software by doing an online search.

Step 4

Make a comparison of the accounting software. Once you have a list of all of your accounting needs and a few selections of accounting software to use, evaluate each accounting applications features so that you can select accounting software based on your needs . You can use the Internet to do this. It is a good idea to use a trial version or get a demonstration of the accounting software prior to purchasing it. You want to be sure the software is going to be easy to use and exactly what you need for your situation.

Accounting towards Automation

Accounting Software
Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs

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Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs

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Choosing accounting software can be a very confusing exercise. It is important that you choose your accounting software based upon your needs as this will ensure that your needs will be met and you will be comfortable with using the software. Choosing an accounting software package is all about simplifying your accounting process. Choosing the wrong one will only complicate matters.
There are many different accounting and management software packages around, and choosing the right one for your business can be difficult. You can refer more details on how to find the right accounting software if you like. You can also look at free accounting software which may rightly work for you depending on the size and nature of your business before going for any commercial accounting software package. Checking out what accounting software is on the market by looking at websites, in stores and anywhere else you can find the information. Ask friends working in this field if they know of a good software program. At this point you are trying to gather information about features available and names of certain software programs. With this in mind here are some key points that you should consider when sourcing an accounting software package. Assessing overall needs for accounting software and looking at how to evaluate accounting software are also very important aspects towards selecting the accounting software package.

Is the software produced by a reputable company- will the company be around in a year’s time? Do they offer support, training and service? What is the cost and are they available after hours? Do they offer regular upgrades to coincide with tax changes etc.
Is the software appropriate to your needs? Make a list of all the things you need your accounting software package to do e.g. if you run a retail operation you may require stock control and payroll facilities. Decide exactly what you want the product to do for you. Also check that the software offers extra modules that you can add on as your business grows, for example a payroll system for when you start hiring extra employees.
Is the software tax compliant? Your accounting software package should have reporting facilities that will easily provide you with all the information you need to prepare your monthly or quarterly Business Activity Statement. The new tax system has also made significant changes to payroll records and has introduced the Pay As You Go system. Check with your accountant to make sure you cover all the necessary tax codes.

Once you have identified the best products for your needs find the best reseller in your area for the products you are considering and arrange for them to demonstrate their products to you.
Remember to ask the accounting software company about support & training, installation process, their track record and a list of 4 to 7 references that you can call to check up on their work. Most companies will allow you to download a demo so you can try the accounting software yourself. This will allow you to figure out the ease of use and if you like the general layout of the program.
After you have tested the software on your list you should easily be able to narrow down your choice to one accounting software program that meets your needs.

Accounting towards Automation

Accounting Software
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

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Accounting Software

You are here: Accounting Software and Money Management > Accounting Software

Accounting is one of the most important and often most complicated parts of running a business. Fortunately, with today's business accounting software, anyone can manage money like a pro. Today, there are many accounting software packages made available for various applications and needs. Prices of these software packages also vary in a big range depending on various factors such as quality, brand and inbuilt features. Thus, selecting a right software package should be carefully done with a proper understanding and analysis of the business that is being run. Nature of the business, size of the business, the budget and cost of the package, what basic functions and features should be available with the package and so on are some of things one has to consider before deciding on any accounting software package.

Maintaining and keeping accounts can be challenging for any business and many businesses depend on accountants to maintain the business accounts. However, many organization aim to save time and money by using specialist accounting software, and you can also refer how accounting software save time and money. If you choose the right package, good accounting software can help your business manage accounts more efficiently. It can make the process quicker and more straightforward. You can learn more about how to find the right accounting software which is also linking with assessing overall needs for accounting software and how to evaluate accounting software depending on the nature of your business. The growing emphasis on e-filing - or submitting records electronically - means that the use of accounts software is even more attractive because many packages can make this process very simple. However, not all businesses will benefit from commercial accounting software and free accounting sofware will work for some businesses. These tips will help you to select the right type of accounting package and plan your implementation effectively.

Actually, there are free accounting software packages available which are good for small business and free software is generally available without charge but is not bound to such a restriction. Further, we can find free versions or free editions accounting software packages which are free to download depending on the suitability of your requirement. For these free versions accounting software, there is a paid version too which is called commercial accounting software. Good thing in accounting software packages is that, many vendors or companies who develop and market these software give a trail period ranging from 30 to 90 days for you to just try and see whether it is in-line with your requirement. Thus, it a matter of downloading the package free of charge and testing it, if you are happy about the software during the trial period you can pay and make it yours otherwise it automatically inactive once the trail period is over.

Accounting towards Automation

Select Accounting Software Based on your Needs
How to Evaluate Accounting Software

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Saturday, January 12, 2013

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Friday, January 11, 2013

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Free Accounting Software for your Business

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Wednesday, January 9, 2013

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Tuesday, January 8, 2013

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Monday, January 7, 2013

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