Best accounting package for a small business

emmonk

Hi,

I have recently taken on the book keeping for a small VAT registered business and everything is currently in a very disorganised state!

I would like to use an accounting package to sort everything out and continue from this point. I am not sure what is the best one to use. I do not need payroll and we don't have don't have any stock that needs keeping track of.

What do you recommend? Sage, Quickbooks, something else?

Thanks for your advice.

Emma

Hatrick24

Hi,

I have used Quickbooks for quite a few years. It is really easy to use and very flexible. It will deal with VAT (i.e produce a VAT return) and provides a wide range of reports. It's also not expensive to buy.

I haven't used Sage, so unfortunately can't offer a comparison.

Savvy_Sue

Do they have an accountant, and if so do they have a preference / recommendation?

emmonk

No, they don't have an accountant so there is no preference.

Thanks,

Emma

Pennywise

There is no "best" accounting package. It depends on lots of things. Sage may be "best" for one business, but Quickbooks may be "best" for another, and a simple cash book or excel spreadsheet may be "best" for someone else, not to mention all the other brands, particularly online such as Kashflow, Xero, etc.

Do you need sales ledger and/or purchase ledger functions? If so, will the software be used to raise sales invoices, send out statements, issue remittance advices for purchases, etc? If not, then Sage and Quickbooks are probably over the top for your needs.

If all you're going to use it for is back office book-keeping, i.e. the client will be raising and chasing sales invoices, and will be paying bills themselves, etc., then you just need a simple system of transaction recording.

In my practice, we recommend VT transaction (https://www.vtsoftware.co.uk) for simple record keeping. We use it in house where we do client book-keeping and we have loads of clients who use it when their accounting/book-keeping is simple. It deals with VAT and also has sales and purchase ledger systems in built, which are a lot easier to use than Sage as they allow for easy adjustments and corrections and easier than QB as you don't have to go through a bill payment procedure to pay a supplier bill - you simply enter the receipts and payments via a simple in/out screen and can then easily allocate payments/receipts to sales and purchase invoices (and more importantly can easily change the allocation later if necessary).

VT Transaction is cheap, being a one-off purchase of about £130, whereas both Sage and QB are a lot more expensive for a full ledger based system. (VT is can also be used for multiple businesses which may be useful if you are doing the books for others as well.)

If you want the system to create sales invoices, issue customer statements, and use it as the driver to pay supplier bills, etc., i.e. be an integral part of the business, then I'd suggest Quickbooks is probably a good option for you.

easy

Take a look at Kashflow too. That is an online system, lovely and straightforward for non-accountants to use, full sales and purchase ledgers, full VAT functionality (including submitting VAT returns from inside the package, so you don't have to sign in to HMRC website and enter the return seperately).

The advantages of it being online are - that you can work on it anywhere you can get an internet connection so don't have to be in the office at one specific computer - the data is held securely and centrally, so you don't have to worry about drive failures and backups (you can choose to receive a data backup every week if you want to, I do) - if there are any legal changes to accounting procedures or software improvements these are implemented immediately and automatically, so you don't have to worry about installing updates etc.

It's not expensive, £15 per month (plus VAT), and that includes 24/7 support (which really is 24/7, I've been on to them at 10p.m. on a Sunday night before now). You can also try it for 60 (I think) days free of charge. Some accountancy firms do a deal on those rates, and will then do year-end stuff included in the price.

I use it for a some of my clients, and it does work well - I've been in the business for lots of years and I use Sage (which is more of an accountants tool) and Quickbooks too for other businesses.

It's worth you taking a look.

Faldinio

Sorry to hijack the thread but does anyone know of any decent FREE accounting software suitable for a small business, not VAT registered?

Failing that, is Quickbooks most basic version (£9/month I think) any good?

Pennywise

Faldinio wrote: »

Sorry to hijack the thread but does anyone know of any decent FREE accounting software suitable for a small business, not VAT registered?

Try VT's cashbook - https://www.vtsoftware.co.uk - completely free and if it doesn't do all you need, you can update to their VT transaction ledger system for around £130 one off fee.

ukbill69

We have started using quickbooks online and it seems very good and plus side we would never loose data and plus you get updates all the time without any costing.

firstinflight

Faldinio wrote: »

Sorry to hijack the thread but does anyone know of any decent FREE accounting software suitable for a small business, not VAT registered?

Failing that, is Quickbooks most basic version (£9/month I think) any good?

Give Gnucash a whirl.

Fairly basic, but should be sufficient for a non-vat business

edenbank6

Saw this freebie on HotDealsUK which seems to do everything you want on a simple level.

http://www.tassoftware.co.uk/products/tas_accounts_software/basics.html