Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best accounting package available at the moment, 5 Aug 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
I run a small business, designing and developing software and have tried many different accounting solutions including Sage; this package is so much simpler to use and does it without losing any functionality.
What you get is exactly what you would expect to see in an accounts package aimed at the U.K. market including VAT and corporation tax calculations, Stock control functions, Customer credit management and even payroll functions. If used in conjunction with Outlook Business Contact Manager the customer management feature is much closer to a full CRM package. This package also integrates with banking functions allowing you to pay invoices directly using BACs and to import electronic bank staements and reconcile your bank statements.
As this is part of the Office suite there is a great deal of integration between this package and the rest of the suite. Creating custom invoices, quotes and letters is so simple using word. any infomation can easily be exported to excell for manipulation. If the functionality is not available in the package the solution uses a SQL server backend so it is a simple task to export the exact infomation you need and to extend the solution where needed.
The use of a SQL server database means this is a fully scaleable solution that can be installed as a 2-tier solution with the database sat on a server and muliple clients all accessing the same database.
In conclusion I can highly recomend this accounting package to anyone who runs a small to medium sized business who want to keep upto date with their account without having to spend too much time managing there accounting software.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Superb integration with MS Office and other Microsoft software makes this a winner, 22 Jul 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
After years in preparation, Accounting 2008 has finally arrived. There are two versions: Accounting Express is a free download and best suited to the self-employed and very small businesses, while this Professional version is aimed at businesses of up to 25 people. There isn't a huge functional difference between the two versions; Express is only missing higher-end features, such as stock control, support for BAC payments, and multi-user and multicurrency support. This Professional version of Accounting is a better option than the more expensive Intuit QuickBooks Pro 2008. Accounting 2008's main competitor is accounts software giant Sage though, and freebie Accounting 2008 Express is probably there to draw 'start-ups' into the Microsoft fold - when they grow, Accounting 2008 Pro will be the logical next step. Also many small businesses simply plump for Excel and pen and paper for their accounts, so there is a lucrative market for a cheap integrated Office accounts product that easy to use by anyone who's already MS Office savvy. That said the Accounting 2008 is no pushover to learn to use correctly. It took me nearly 20 minutes to work out how to import data from a MS/Sage .ofx file for the first time [I'm PC literate and not an accountant], but there is plenty of help on-line and within the program. So you will naturally have to invest a few evenings time to begin to use the program effectively. If you're just looking for software to help with your self-employed tax returns though, you'd probably do better to head towards the far cheaper 'TaxCalc 2008 Personal 6' rather than Office Accounting Professional 2008 [which is a complex accounts package designed to help with running a small company].
Highly rated by PcPro [5* out of 6], Microsoft Accounting 2008 predictably scores highest for it's superb integration into MS Office. You need a modest PC minimum spec [1GHz, 512Mb RAM, 2Gb free hard drive space, 1024x768 VDU], plus Windows XP/Server 2003 with SP2 [probably also OK with Vista but check first]. You ideally need Office 2003/2007 - although XP Office gives almost as much functionality. Extra features require Outlook [email attachments], Business Contact Manager [share financial data], IE 6.0, and XP Pro/Server 2003 [share data amongst multiple computers]. Word [2002 or later] is needed to create customised invoices, sales orders, quotes, memos, customer statements, and purchase orders. Word or Outlook 2007 is needed for emailing attachments in pdf or XPS format. Save as pdf is available as a free download [Adobe took exception to it being included on the Accounting 2008 CD]. Plus you can import data into Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 from Sage Line 50 (50 Accounts) or Sage Instant Accounts. However Accounts 2008 does need a decent modern PC to run smoothly [it's very sluggish on a minimum spec PC]. Also some lists and reports don't distinguish credit and debit balances that clearly, which might confuse new users
Connecting more than one user to Accounts 2008 at any time requires additional licences (there is a three licence pack boxed set available that literally saves you a few pounds). This version is tailored to the UK market, so there's full support for UK VAT [both accrual and cash-based schemes] plus payroll, the latter being available via an annual subscription of £9.95 - although unlike the US this charge doesn't include support for eBay UK [at the time of writing]. Note that version 'Accounting 2008 Pro Plus' includes one years subscrition to these Payroll features, which may save some money. However, there's no direct banking integration, but you can download OFX-formatted files and reconcile them with Accounting's bank account. The [British] Institute of Chartered Accountants have accredited the software, although they recommend you download the 60 day free trial of Accounting 2008 Pro from Microsoft to check if it does what you want.
Accounting gives you a list of 20 predefined reports in Express, and 40 in Professional - not a lot, but MS Office integration more than makes up for this. Reports can be quickly exported to workbooks, with column headings and formulas intact. You can build your own Pivot Table-based reports or run Access-based reports inside Accounting, tweak them and return them to the list of reports inside the program. It's also easy to amend reports to add custom fields and layouts. Freebie Accounting 2008 Express is obviously superb value, and the price of the Pro version makes it very attractive for larger businesses.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Know your onions, 27 Jul 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
If you're starting a small business the most important thing to get right from the start is keeping accurate accounts- by the time Companies House and the Inland Revenue are breathing down your neck with their hot heavy breath come returns submission time it's already too late. This is an intuitive seemingly easy to use package with flow charts to help you through taking and placing orders, keeping an eye on cashflow, getting paid and even doing the payroll for employees. You can follow the process as simply or as complicatedly as you like. It would make it easy for people used to a paper system to easily adapt or for someone setting up for the first time to get into a routine with only the minimal advice of an accountant or book keeper.
Actually 2 weeks before my other half got his review copy he bought Sage accounting. He hoped to cut the amount of money he spent with the accountants next year. I'd be having a conversation while he typed away when suddenly he'd burst into a torrent of screams and curses- he's put through a transaction which was wrong or the work around to pay dividends had just gone up the spout. ~Then the phone line went dead. He couldn't see an easy way to get around the problem and started reentering the data again in despair. It took him just half an hour to reenter everything into Office Accounting Pro. Get something wrong- void the transaction of course- pay yourself a dividend, a doddle, go back to using the cash accounting scheme for paying VAT- works fine (not in Sage which was why the accountant was so expensive).
Now all that needs to happen is for Sage's stranglehold to be broken on accountants- although this program will export into Sage if needed. In the meantime I have peace and harmony at least.
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by Karen S. Fredricks
