Business Database

swvillafan

Hi there,

We use sage HR & sage payroll and they are both reasonably easy to use, lots of built in reports and I believe you can do your wage slips etc in there aswell!

[Deleted User]

Sage isn't all that expensive when you consider the savings it will bring by improving your processes. There are alternatives that you may wish to consider, just be careful that whatever you look at is HMRC Accredited.

busenbust

natc wrote: »

Thanks very much for your help though. I shall have a browse on the net and see whats what, someone has suggested that SAGE is actually the way to go....

^Never a problem

bazster

natc wrote: »

Never used Access, but opened it, looks ajust like excel? That right?

No, that is not right. A single Access table opened in datasheet view does indeed look like an Excel spreadsheet, but it's not, very far from it. Properly designing a relational database, using Access or any other database software, is not fantastically difficult but there is stuff to learn, which people without an aptitude can find hard going.

Access comes with a whole bunch of database templates, you might try some of those, and you will find a whole lot more (of varying quality) online. Or you might get someone to run you up a simple database to your requirements, I do it for lots of companies.

Sage is horrible.

busenbust

busenbust wrote: »

:huh: Excel is a spreadsheet with database capabilities; Access is a fully-fledged database giving you control of textual and numerical data. You really need to decide what your information is more suited to, application wise I mean And yes, Forms and Reports can be generated as a means to an Invoice.

HTH.

I repeat, Excel and Access are not identical:)

Psycence

I create / maintain Access Databases as part of my job, for what you want to do Access sounds like your best bet as it will cost you Zero extra if you already run the Office Suite.

Its relatively easy to learn how to make a simple database but the Visual basic side takes more time and effort to become proficient in!

Dont waste your money buying an off the shelf solution which is probably not going to be tooled up to what you need

MoneyBags

Access would give you alot of flexibility, which buying a product off the shelf would not. That said the learning curve can be steep.

I would recommend buying a book or taking a course or paying someone to set it up for you.

pitkin2020

Agree with the 2 posts above, access is by far going to be what you need. You could get someone with the expetise to build it for you for not much more than off the shelf software. The difference will be something that is tailored to what you want from it and can be updated as you business needs change.

I use an access database for invoicing and expenditure, input client details and work carried out and then generate the invoice. I then have reports for End of Year Tax, income, expenditure, mailshots etc all in one package.

busenbust

busenbust wrote: »

:huh: Excel is a spreadsheet with database capabilities; Access is a fully-fledged database giving you control of textual and numerical data. You really need to decide what your information is more suited to, application wise I mean And yes, Forms and Reports can be generated as a means to an Invoice.

HTH.

You can download the Office Professional 2010 Beta for free; fully-functioning but with an expiry .

ahillsy

You could also consider QuickBooks (£89 .95 + VAT for cheapest starter edition).

I haven't used Sage/Quickbooks so really not in a position to recommend one over the other, or even tell you if they will do exactly what you want. I'm posting as a software developer - from my point of view if you can find something reasonably priced off-the-shelf, I'd say go for that if you don't feel comfortable with making your own database in Access. If you know someone who can knock something up in Access for you at mates-rates then it would also be an option. But if not, you'll either end up paying more for someone to create a solution for you, or if you do get it done cheap then it may not be the highest quality/reliability.