Business Accountz Professional (PC/Mac/Linux)

Product Features

• Manage customers
• Design and print invoices
• Send quotations and estimates
• Track unpaid invoices
• Preset transactions
• Pure, fast bookkeeping
• Fully editable
• Instant VAT returns
• Unlimited Reports
• Exports to spreadsheets
• Nominal Ledger
• Accountant ready reports*
• European, US, Canadian, Australian and South African VAT Rates
• Platform Independent
• Hardware Independent
• Free lifetime forum support
• Optional licence add-ons (Budgeting + Forecasting, Multi-currency, Multi-company, Management Information)

Manufacturer’s Description
Business Accountz Professional is multi platform offering a solution for all customers whether they use Windows, Mac or Linux operating systems. You can move files from one platform to another and the software is also compatible with MacBook Air and netbooks with a download link inside the box.

The software offers free lifetime email and forum support, plus optional Telephone support.

Designed to keep the books for all types of business, whether sole-trader, partnership, limited company, VAT or non-VAT registered. Business Accountz Professional makes bookkeeping enjoyable and simple and adds Invoicing, Quotes, Estimates and customer tracking to the Basic system. You can see and edit everything you enter, and using Accountz Rapid Data Entry system, you will do it far more quickly than anything else currently available.

Business Accountz Professional has all the features of the Basic edition plus full customer tracking. It includes the designer so you can create invoices, estimates, quotations, credit notes and delivery notes using your own logo and other graphics. You have full control over the design including all text, colours, fonts and tables. You can also use it with pre-printed stationery, but one of the beauties of Business Accountz Professional is that you don't need to buy expensive proprietary stationery, just use blank paper!

Full customer tracking is added to this version of the range. Each customer can have an unlimited number of contacts, and each of those can be linked to files or folders on your computer. You can also see your complete customer history right back to day 1. And that includes all your quotes and estimates too. Accountz software is all about saving time, so common tasks such as converting quotes to invoices can be done with a single click.

Tracking unpaid invoices is also straight forward, 1 click and you can see precisely what a customer owes you and how overdue they are. Individual terms can be set for different customers and you have the choice of traditional end of the month statements or a user defined number of days since the invoice was issued. If you have problems with credit control, adopting strict terms and the ability to see exactly who owes you what and sending statements should greatly increase your cash flow.

Other features of Professional include preset transactions. You can set as many of these as you like and call them up with 2 clicks of the mouse. It is instant invoicing with the minimum of effort. You can also use them to input regular payments and transfers too. So for example, if you buy stationery on a regular basis, set up a preset, name it 'stationery' and call it up every time you need that kind of transaction. Enter the date and total amount and it is done. It is one of the things that makes accountz software the fastest in the world for data entry.

All data from accountz software is cross-platform compatible, so if you use a Mac and your accountant uses a PC, no problem, you can share the data. Of course, you can export all reports including a full nominal ledger activity report and trial balance and email direct to your accountant if they would prefer that.

One of the great features of the Business Accountz range of software is its live profit and loss and balance sheet. There is no posting or monthly closing down. Wherever you look, everything is up to date. Click on the Chart of Accounts and instantly see your turnover, gross and net profit. See how much you owe and how much you are owed. Check your bank balance. See your overall cash position. See your current VAT return. Know precisely where you are. And most of this is done with either 1 or 2 clicks of the mouse. Accountz is faster and easier because it saves you time and is easier to remember. That's why those who use Accountz software prefer it.

By the way, if terms like nominal ledger sound like gobbledegook, no need to worry. Pretty much everything in Business Accountz is written in terms you will understand. For example, credit and debit are replaced with From and To. Accounting made easy in other words. Where's the money coming From? the Bank. Where's it going To? Motor Expenses. If you can understand that, you can keep your books with confidence.

However if you are an accountant/bookkeeper or have become familiar with ‘Debit, Credit, Journal and Ledger’ terminology you can turn this configuration on and switch between the two in Business Accountz with ease.

For more information about Accountz products, including live Webinars, optional telephone support and our one day training courses, please visit the Accountz.com website.

Within the Business Accountz application you can access a comprehensive and searchable Online Help Menu and the Business Accountz Forum. You also receive 30 days free telephone support from the point of product registration.

Key Components


Invoicing and Document Designer
Business Accountz Professional and Business Accountz Enterprise editions include the document designer. You can design any document types compatible with the functionality of your Business Accountz product starting with one of the default templates. Every element in your design is selectable, and its attributes are shown in the right hand panel. In the screenshot above, the table is shown (selected elements in the designer have a red border) and the panel on the right reflects the level of control you have. You can change most aspects of the table including turning everything off (which is useful if you already have pre-printed stationary).
You can add graphics and move and resize them to suit your style. Static text can be added anywhere and you have full control over the font, size, style and colour. There are also drawing tools if you want to add lines and other shapes.

You can add and remove columns from the table and resize them. So for example, if you resell goods you may want to turn on the quantity and unit price columns. If you have the multi-currency option, you can design separate templates for each currency.

Anything that can be printed can be designed in the designer including invoices, quotes and estimates, delivery notes, customer statements and management reports.

Invoices can be left open and added to at anytime, and then printed, say, at the end of the month. Multiple invoices can also be opened, even to the same customer, so if you need timed billing, this is a great way to both record, and then invoice it.

Because Business Accountz is a live system, any transactions added to an invoice are automatically shown right through to balance sheet level. You will never be left in the dark. And remember, saving and backup is fully automated, so you can get on with running your business with the minimum of fuss.

Customer Records
Customer Records are included in Business Accountz Professional and Enterprise only. Full details of customers and their contacts are recorded here. Multiple contacts can be added to each customer, and each contact can include email, telephone and notes. You can also link individual contacts to files and folders on your computer.

From here you can see the complete history of each customer including everything they have bought from day 1, and any quotes or estimates you have sent in the past as well as pending. You can also see precisely how much they owe, set individual terms, and send statements to ensure prompt payment.

Preset Entries
The preset entries feature is a great labour saving device enabling you to enter commonly occurring transactions into the software with just 2 clicks of the mouse, leaving only the transaction amount to be completed. This is useful if, for example, you have a particular product that you sell regularly.

Simply create the preset and assign the required data to it (accounts, description, VAT Code, Supplier/Customer (if necessary)). To enter a transaction using the preset, select it from the drop down list conveniently located above the transaction table.

Chart of Accounts with detailed view of the transactions of a bank account and bank reconciliation
As with all table views within the Business Accountz range, you can select which columns you want to see. You can also sort on any column and produce customised reports using the filter drop down menu. The default views are shown in the above screenshot. This is where bank and other financial accounts can be reconciled against statements. The process is very simple:

1. Double-click on the account you want to view in the left panel
2. It will open in the right panel, select the Uncleared Entries view from the drop down menu
3. Tick the Cleared field of each transaction that is on your printed or online statement
4. Finally, click on the Cleared Entries view from the drop down menu to view the finished statement

The beauty and simplicity of this is that you do not need to finish a reconciliation once you have started. You can exit, or go elsewhere in the system and finish it when you are ready (for example, you may find a mistake and need to correct it half-way through a reconciliation, and in Accountz products you can do that).

VAT Return
VAT is one of the major bug bears for business owners. However, Business Accountz makes light work of it. It is just a single key press away. It is available at anytime, so you will always know exactly how much is owed. You can also view previous periods at anytime.

It can be set for standard accounting, cash accounting or the flat rate scheme. You also have the ability to change the period at anytime, so if you want to synchronise your VAT returns to your year ends, you can do so.

An important aspect of Business Accountz is that you can use it even if you are not VAT registered. The company setup wizard will configure it for you so that VAT does not get in the way (for example, the VAT columns will not appear in any transaction tables). If you later become VAT registered, a simple wizard will turn it on for you.

We know from feedback from HMRC that they are very happy with the way VAT is covered in Business Accountz. They particularly like the transparency of the system. You not only see the relevant box totals (which you can copy directly into the Government Gateway if you have an online account for HMRC VAT filing) but you also get to see the transactions that have been included in each return.

One huge benefit of Business Accountz is its ability to associate dates and VAT rate changes. You do not need to manually change the Standard rate should it change, although you do have full control of manual changes should you prefer to do it yourself.

Account Details - you can add notes to accounts and also determine where an account can be accessed from.
By default, the company setup wizard will structure the chart of accounts and set up the accounts relevant for the particular type of business. Any account can be reconfigured and this view shows part of the process. For example, each account can have its access restricted if necessary to help reduce errors.

The accounts structure can be reconfigured at anytime. New groups can be made, and they can be nested too. For example, you could open a Motor Group in Expenses, then within that open further groups for each company vehicle you have. That way you can account for the fuel used independently for each vehicle. Of course, that level of control is not for everyone, so equally you could just have a simple Motor Expense Account instead.

The Chart of Accountz in the Business Accountz range is so versatile, you can restructure the accounts in anyway you like. Just as importantly, you can also rename any account or account group. For example, you may prefer to rename the Profit and Loss Group to Revenue Account. You can also add and remove accounts at any time. If you have multiple bank accounts that is fine, just as it is for any other type of account.

One significant difference with the Business Accountz range is that it is possible to create a profit and loss report for any period, from 1 day to a number of combined years. If you are asked for a report on the previous 6 months, you can get it immediately just by setting the start and end dates, even if it straddles your year end! This is a great feature if you are looking for business finance and need to impress someone with your financial skills.

Sales Transactions
Like all tables in Business Accountz, entering transactions is a pleasure. The Sales Transaction module differs from the traditional sales ledger in many good ways:

• It is not necessary to associate a customer with a sale
• It is not necessary that the sale must be on credit
• There is no posting, everything is updated immediately
• You can sort on any field (making it simple to find things)
• You can create and name filters (to create the most detailed of sales reports)
• You can edit anything anywhere at anytime
• You can lock individual transactions
• You can allocate a transaction to a different VAT period
• You can drill down to the source document, e.g. an invoice
• Automatic transaction numbering for easy filing
• Fully exportable

The above are just some of the great benefits Business Accountz has. There is no need to produce a report to see what you have previously entered. It is all there in one view (or you can set filters to show only the current year, or for any period).


Expenses and Purchasing
One of the more friendly features of the Business Accountz range is the way that transactions are both entered and shown. As per Sales Transactions, our Purchase Transactions module differs from the traditional purchase ledger in that:

• It is not necessary to associate a purchase with a supplier
• It is not necessary that the purchase must be on credit
• There is no posting, everything is updated immediately
• You can sort on any field (making it simple to find things)
• You can create and name filters (to create the most detailed of reports)
• You can edit anything anywhere at anytime
• You can lock individual transactions
• You can allocate a transaction to a different VAT period
• You can drill down to the source document
• Automatic transaction numbering for easy filing

Business Accountz Configuration
You can configure your copy of Business Accountz in many different ways including the ability to add keyboard shortcuts to most operations.

There are many colour options, so for example, you could choose to use alternate row colouring for tables to make it easy to read each transaction line. There are also options for the visually impaired, for example using high-contrast and reversing foreground and background colours.

An option that many users like is the ability to display dates in any format. For example, 1st August 2010 could be displayed as 01/08/10 or 01-Aug-2010 or in fact, just about any way you please (including having the month first if you are based in the USA).

Data Import
You can import transaction data into Business Accountz in OFX, QIF or CSV file format using a data mapping wizard. You can also import bank statements in the same file formats.

App Supported
In 2010 Accountz launched an iPhone app called Mobile Accountz Lite which supports Home Accountz, Personal Accountz and the Business Accountz Range. Mobile Accountz Lite allows users to view and edit their chart of accounts and perform expense tracking on the move. Users can then sync the data in the app with their full Home, Business or Personal Accountz software.

About Accountz
Accountz is a British company established in 1985. It has received critical acclaim for its software from users and the press including The Times, Computer Shopper, Personal Computer World, Independent on Sunday, Computer Active.