Accounting made easy
The lack of information available to small business owners
is making it difficult to select accounting software to help with day-to- day
operations . By Karine Benzacar , CMA Many entrepreneurs are still using Excel
spreadsheets as accounting tool of choice. Little do they know what they're
missing . These people do not realize how much they could benefit from the use
of a dedicated accounting package or know how they can be basic accounting
packages simple and low cost. According to studies conducted by Intuit , a
leading provider of accounting software, 800,000 Canadian companies are using
accounting software, but there are still 1.6 million companies that do not.
" One of the key issues for small business owners is to have enough
information to make quick, informed financial decisions with confidence, "
Chris Davey , senior director of Intuit Canada , says . " Accounting
packages such as QuickBooks give users the ability to easily track finances in
real time and present critical data in a single control panel . Streamlines
also time consuming tasks like payroll and billing. Eventually, the owners of
small businesses make money , save money and can time accounting redirect to do
more of what they love. " Sage Software , the other major player in the
industry with its package of Simply Accounting , echoed his comments.
"Small businesses today have to do more with less , making it easy to use
and key tools for success , " Jamie Sutherland , vice president and
general manager of Simply Accounting , says . " Simply Accounting is built
for simplicity and speed , managing financial and operational needs and provide
scalable accounting solution . " Many accountants are familiar with the
major software packages , such as SAP and Oracle , but they do not effective small
business account packages have become . If accountants can convince their
clients to use these packages, you can spend your time on the most valuable
services such as business planning and tax advice , the services for which they
can charge a higher price. The greatest benefit of a dedicated accounting
package is the ease of use and reducing errors . If used correctly , the
accounting software packages can eliminate hours of frustration associated with
tracking accounting transactions manually. Unlike Excel spreadsheets that
require users to build in formulas and create reports, all the standard
features and reports are preprogrammed . Some benefits packages include control
features to classify expenses in the accounts and ensure that debits equal credits
in any transaction ( a fundamental characteristic of accounting ) .
Entrepreneurs can also store important information about customers , suppliers,
employees , and inventory of these packages. When it comes to preparing
invoices or creating controls , the procedure involves little more than a few
keystrokes to update all relevant information . Packages also become manifest
when there is not enough money in the bank to cover outstanding checks .
Packages can also take the place of costly payroll processing providers by
automating payroll processing , including calculation and withholding payroll
taxes and creating T4s at year end . Small business owners so they can perform
some of the functions of accounting by yourself instead of outsourcing the work
to accountants . The use of an accounting package can save hundreds of small
businesses or CMA MANAGEMENT April 20, 2010 This does not mean go bankrupt
counters . Quite the contrary , as business owners take over these tasks in the
home, which in turn to their accountants for business strategy consulting .
"I prefer to manage my own accounts dayto day because I know what I'm
doing , but I'll never say I'm an accountant and still rely heavily on my
counter financial advice , " Lisa Turk , director of sales operations and
owners Jasper Design small business , he says. Buying an accounting package is
almost like buying a car - there are some competitive products in the market,
the most popular is Intuit's QuickBooks and Sage Simply Accounting . The main
companies to compete for the position of market leader , each year the
introduction of new features they expect will give them a competitive advantage
over its rivals - until the following year when his contestant copy and adopts
the same functionality . Simply Accounting and Quickbooks thus have very
similar functions and differ only in terms of its user interface. Quickbooks
presents the very in layman's terms , but uses terms like " customer bills
" and " vendor invoice " instead of " accounts
receivable" , and this is well received by most business owners non-
financial people " accounts payable" . Nature . Sofia Mintz , CMA,
CPA and says: " As an accountant , I would prefer to work with software
that uses accounting terminology I am familiar . , However, most of my clients
do not use the software if they can not understand and a simple user interface
makes it easy for my clients to do most of the accounts in advance before
beginning to review their books . " Simply Accounting , moreover , has
greater appeal to accountants , as it has the option to use the terminology
accounting in its user interface . Of course , for the small business that
wants to stay as far away from possible financial conditions , Simply
Accounting has an interface of a layman too. Buying an accounting package can
be very cheap , at $ 49 for the simplest version of more than $ 3,000 for
multi-user version with many bells and whistles. Prices of Simply Accounting
and Quickbooks is very similar and more often the decision comes down to which
tool is easy to use . Both companies allow users to download trial versions of
their websites. Once employers take an accounting package and this package are
paying for itself in just a few months , is unlikely to ever go back to Excel .
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