An accounting software is a unique form of application software that operates as an accounting information system. An accounting software records and processes business transactions within operative units such as accounts payable and accounts receivable, payrolls, ledger sheets, and trial balances. Speed and accuracy are the most crucial requirements in business, and, therefore, making use of an accounting software is necessary in order for a business to achieve its goals. Accounting software is designed to run a series of extensive tasks from computing staff payrolls to tracking business inventory and preparing a business’ income tax returns. These programs achieve bookkeeping milestones by expense management, resource planning and financial forecasting (Low, 2016). Expense management uses systems that are assigned by a business to process, audit and bill employees’ expenses, whether incurred during entertainment, travel or during any other exercise. The scenario would be similar to an event where an employee fills out an expense report at a travel agency which is then forwarded to their company for approval. The process by which accounting systems deploy functions to working resources in order to maximize the efficiency of the resources at hand is referred to as Resource planning. Resource planning is essential as it ensures minimal wastage of resources. Accounting programs are also designed to perform financial forecasting whereby they predict how the business in question is likely to perform in the future, normally in the ambiance of budgeting.
When choosing accounting software, business owners need to pay attention to several considerations in order to prevent their businesses from incurring unnecessary costs. The most important consideration is the type of business and the tasks that the software should impeccably perform, as well as the future of the business (Morris, 2019). By considering a business’ needs, one is able to cater for business growth while selecting a suitable program for their business.
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Other considerations one should have in mind before the purchase of accounting software is the knowledge required in the software operation. Accounting software might be effective and very efficient but it all comes down to the ability of the employees to use it. Therefore, one must take into account the level of education of their employees (Morris, 2019). Putting into consideration the costs is substantial as well. One should consider the initial cost of implementation as well as the upgrade fee and the licensing costs.
A significant deal of choosing the suitable accounting software for one's business depends on the size of the business, the employees' diplomacy level, the business' income flow and their budget (Brown, 2019). While purchasing accounting software, the size of the business will go hand in hand with the cost of the software and the option of a web-based package. A small business might not be in a position to pay high license costs and that may require the selection of a web-based program. Most web-based programs require a quite affordable subscription fee while others operate for free (Morris, 2019). In addition to this, these programs allow working hand in hand with the staff to speed up operations.
QuickBooks, SlickPie, and Sage 50 are among the variety of accounting software available for businesses. This software has unique features and is suitable for small businesses. QuickBooks is the most widely used software. It has two different versions, i.e., online and licensed version. It offers both accounts payable and accounts receivable services as well as cash management. SlickPie is a free online accounting package that is built for smaller businesses. Its online nature makes it accessible from anywhere. This program offers online invoicing, online billing and document management (Brown, 2019). With QuickBooks and Sickpie, users are able to produce financial reports and aid in monitoring the growth of a business.
Sage 50, also known as Sage Peachtree, is another accounting software commonly used by both small and relatively bigger businesses. This program provides accounts payable and accounts receivable services, cash management and bank reconciliation (Brown, 2019). Its online services make it easy for customers to receive billed invoices. Employee management and payroll management are also a reliable feature of this program.
These accounting software applications, however, have their benefits as well as shortcomings. With QuickBooks, there is an assurance of up-to-date reports. One is able to generate an updated business reports at an instant. This program is also open to growth in the case of expansion, it can accommodate up to 30 users and many clients at the same time as well as facilitate the most common online payments (Carvalho, 2019). As much as QuickBooks is largely beneficial, it lacks business-specific features such as bar-code scanning and lot tracking and it is quite unstable since it keep crashing.
Among of the advantages of SlickPie is its simplicity in use. SlickPie also provides for tax tracking, it is fitted with an automated feature that makes it easy for users to work with and it has an excellent level of accuracy. SlickPie, however, has its shortcomings as it has a poor customer support system and limited features as well as very few integrations.
Apart from Sage 50 being a very accurate accounting software, its use enables the retrieval of previous year’s accounting records. It also has a well-established reporting function that can produce financial reports according to the user requirements, i.e., annually, monthly and quarterly. With Sage 50, one is able to create an account receivable and account payable to use at any given time. This software is however very hard to set up and requires very qualified personnel to install it as it is quite complex. Users can also find it very hard to navigate around the program.
The systems discussed above are suitable for use as strategic business management tools in regards to the retrieval of older data, reporting functions and financial forecasting. All these software are capable of performing all financial analysis functions associated with excellent business management strategies. With regard to record management, both QuickBooks and Sage 50 have strong management features, i.e., fixed asset management, cash management, among others as compared to SlickPie which has none. However, SlickPie has excellent tracking features unlike the other two. All the three accounting software operate online, therefore, customers are able to access their invoices online. Both QuickBooks and Sage 50 require a subscription fee to operate while SlickPie runs for free. Unlike SlickPie, both QuickBooks and Sage 50 perform accounts payable and accounts receivable services at any given time.
References
Brown, S. (2019). Top 5 Easy-To-Use Accounting Software for Small Businesses. Life Hack . Retrieved from URL: https://www.lifehack.org/502092/top-5-easy-to-use-accounting-software-for-small-busineses
Carvalho, S. (2019). 9 Advantages to Using QuickBooks. Practice of the Practice . Retrieved from URL: https://www.practiceofthepractice.com/9-advantages-to-using-quickbooks/
Low, R., & Tan E. (2016). The Role of Analysts’ Forecasts in the Momentum Effect. International Review of Financial Analysis. 48 doi: 10.1016/j.irfa.2016.09.007
Morris, K. (2019). Factors to Consider When Choosing Accounting Software. Small Business- Chron.com. Retrieved from URL: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/factors-consider-choosing-accounting-software-3824.html Accessed 28 May 28, 2019.
