The best way to select an accounting program is to match your
company's needs against popular accounting programs. A typical
program will contain modules, or sections of a program, that
cover particular accounts, such as accounts payable, accounts
receivable, invoicing, inventory, payroll, banking and so on. The
best software includes modules you can use to track your contacts
and your schedule, to maintain a list of tasks and reminders and to
perform mail-merges for form letters and labels.
Schnyder offers the following suggestions for choosing a
suitable accounting software program:
Purchase an off-the-shelf commercial or shareware package
rather than a custom program, because most of the bugs have already
been removed. Most off-the-shelf programs also provide a good
user's manual, a strong help system and support services.
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Get a recommendation from your CPA. Also check with
members of local business organizations and other small-business
owners.
Look for software that's easy to set up. Some programs
ask questions about your business and use the answers to create the
first records and to enable features suitable for your
business. A program should be easy to customize so you can
select features appropriate for your business and remove features
you don't need.
Consider software created specifically for your type of
business. If you run a pet store, for example, look for a program
that provides features for retailers or even specifically for pet
stores. Shareware is the best source for business-specific
accounting programs. For names and addresses of Web sites from
which you can download share-ware programs, see the June 1997
"Computer Ease" column.
Schnyder also recommends asking yourself the following
questions:
Does the software provide all the functions you need? For
example, if your company maintains an inventory of supplies or
goods produced, the program should include an adequate
inventory-management system.
What monthly reports and journals does the program
produce? Can you customize them for your business? Can you create
new reports without too much effort?
As your business grows, can you easily move from your
current software to a more advanced version?
You don't want to have to enter data more than once, so your
accounting program should be able to share data with other programs
on your computer. For example, look for a program that can import
data from and export data to your spreadsheet program. Or if you
want to insert financial reports into documents such as proposals
or business plans, make sure your accounting program can export
data to your word processor.
Can the accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll,
inventory and other modules communicate with each other and easily
pass information back and forth?
"Accounting software should be completely integrated,"
Eason says. "Too many companies purchase an accounting package
and try to 'marry it' to another program to make it
complete. An accounting program should be true double-entry,
interfaced with other modules (such as inventory, purchasing, sales
order/invoicing and so on). A business needs to be able to keep
track of all the operations it uses to perform its work as the work
is being performed. I searched for an accounting package that
contained most of the features and capabilities of the accounting
systems I used when I worked for large companies."
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