Is excel ok for basic accounting

Spankey

Hi, im just about to deliver a new laptop to a hairdresser client and she asked me what programme is easy to use as they would like to do seperate accounts for each member in the shop now.
Do you think microsoft excel will be good enough for them to use and easy to understand for beginners ?
Having never used excel i dont know anything about it.

thanks.

Savvy_Sue

Well, Excel has the virtue of having LOTS of online tutorials available, even if they've never used it before.

Depends what they want to do!

paddyrg

Excel isn't an accounting package, it's a spreadsheet package. It's a tool. It'll only ever be as good or bad as the operator and the information going into it, and if their forte is hairdressing, it may not be information and accounting system design and management.

Why not spend a few quid on something like intersalon or one of the other many salon management suites out there? They will manage bookings, revenue, accounts, websites, facebook intehration, all sorts beyond the basics and needn't be expensive. They can then play to their strengths and let the software designers play to theirs - everyone saves time and time is clients...

Wywth

Spankey wrote: »

Hi, im just about to deliver a new laptop to a hairdresser client and she asked me what programme is easy to use as they would like to do seperate accounts for each member in the shop now.
Do you think microsoft excel will be good enough for them to use and easy to understand for beginners ?
Having never used excel i dont know anything about it.

thanks.

What sort of client are the hairdressers to you, and what services do you provide (other than delivery)?

Why is the hairdresser seeking advice from you over something you clearly have no idea about? If they are your client, it may be best to come clean with them now about your lack of knowledge over such things

Now if they were asking you about how to fix an old fridge ... :cool:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=59032325&postcount=5

londonTiger

i use excel for my SA filing accounts but i have a working knowledge of P&L - it's likely that not all the staff will be clued up with excel, can they be trusted to use it without damaging data?

I think they need to use an accounting package - a lot of them work onthe basis that if you enter wrong information they cant be edited or deleted by an ordinary user but require admin permissions. This was you can prevent errors caused by untrained staff.

londonTiger

there are lots of free accounting software available

paddyrg

PS - whatever you suggest, suggest something with extensive online customer care - the moment you say 'Yes, Excel could do that' you'll be called in to every single problem they create for themselves (and there will be many). There is a place for supported, commercial off-the-shelf software - this is a prime example

Lovelyjoolz

I do accounts and payroll for a few salons and really, for the simple accounts they need to produce, excel will work fine if they have templates set up to start them off AND they know what they need to put in.

I was a hairdresser once and part of the training involves an element of bookkeeping so they may well already be aware of how to use simple excel spreadsheets.

If you're just their IT person, point them in the direction of a bookkeeper who can help them get started.

Pennywise

A spreadsheet is just a blank piece of paper.

You have to know how to lay out the rows and columns into a sensible and organised manner, adequate to provide the necessary analysis, and also do the calculations (ie additions and cross-balances).

If you don't know how to lay it out properly and put in the necessary calculations and checks/balances, then it's a waste of time.

Far better to use some accounting/book-keeping software. Some are free, some are at a small cost.

But, like someone has said above, don't get involved unless you know what you're doing and are charging for your time - they'll keep coming back to you whenever something goes wrong or when the accountant/taxman says it's not good enough. Far better to point them in the direction of some proper software that comes with a phone support hotline, so that you can stay "hands off".

Spankey

Wywth wrote: »

What sort of client are the hairdressers to you, and what services do you provide (other than delivery)?

Why is the hairdresser seeking advice from you over something you clearly have no idea about? If they are your client, it may be best to come clean with them now about your lack of knowledge over such things

Now if they were asking you about how to fix an old fridge ... :cool:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=59032325&postcount=5

I find that very painfull to remember as i still get frost free flashbacks, it was hell.