A Desk In The Sun

As soon the initial finance for my first company landed in the bank I went out and bought a copy of Sage Line 50 Accounts. I did it, almost without thinking, on the recommendation of our bookkeeper.

This was unusual for me. Normally if I’m using market-leading technology it’s because I’ve blagged a free journalist’s review copy. Otherwise I’ll search the internet to see what users say will do the job most economically.

Accountancy, however, is an art I’d rather leave to others. And Sage’s products are understood by any bean counter with a PC. They used to say: “Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.” Well, I’m sure nobody in the UK ever got fired for buying Sage.

It’s a great position for the company, which is one of the great British technology success stories. As a consumer, though, I’m not total enthusiast.

Sage’s achievements and my misgivings can be traced back to the roots of the company as a commercial printer with a sideline in specialist estimating software. The latter expertise came to the fore in 1989 after Amstrad launched its £500 PCW, the first low-cost personal computer. Six weeks after the PCW appeared Sage released a £99 accounting package.

Sage’s empire developed with paid-for telephone support and a stationery supply service. The latter was a logical step for a printing firm, but annoying for people like me who’ve never run a retail business churning out large quantities of invoices with a dot-matrix printer.

By the time my company was issuing its first invoices cash was tight. So I was not amused to find that, despite having an expensive colour laser printer, there was no way to create our own stationery using Sage. As a service company, which was never likely to have vast numbers of billable customers, it was an expense we could do without.

Of course, if we’d expanded rapidly this wouldn’t have been a problem and Sage would have grown with us. But, caught by the bursting of the first dotcom bubble, belt-tightening became a way of life. We could no longer afford a bookkeeper and that became my unwanted job.

This revealed Sage’s other weakness, or strength, depending on your skill set. I’m quite good at understanding technology, but accountancy’s a whole new language to me. And Sage is aimed four-square at bookkeepers and accountants.

I struggled on with Sage, but when it came to running my own affairs I wanted something I could understand. The most obvious choice was Intuit’s QuickBooks which is the dominant small business accounting software in the United States.

In terms of price, there’s not too much to choose between Sage and Intuit’s range of products. Both will cope more than adequately with a company’s financial needs as it grows, dealing with VAT, payroll and providing a wide variety of reports. Although, some financial professionals have told me QuickBooks is less flexible for report writing than Sage.

For my own books, however, I use MYOB (Mind Your Own Business). It’s colourful, straightforward and as free from jargon, as you would expect from Australian software. Ease of use does not prevent it from providing all the necessary accountancy functions. There’s now an MYOB sequence of packages that will meet the accounting needs of any business from a sole trader up to a fair-sized company.

It’s this continuing need for upgrades that makes accountancy software such an attractive niche. If you can catch a business early there’s a pretty good chance it’ll stick with the same brand at least until it gets so big it needs a bespoke product. It’s a business model that left Sage as the only technology representative in the FTSE 100 after the dotcom crash.

Given the value of the SME accounting programs you may be surprised by the apparent absence of one very big name. Microsoft. Its most profitable product line is Office where it’s the incumbent in a market which, in many ways, mirrors accountancy software.

In fact Microsoft has made half-a-dozen attempts to enter this market, so far without a great deal of success. Its latest attempt, called simply: “Small Business Accounting 2006” appeared in the US last autumn. A UK version is still being worked on.

Its great advantage is that the program is closely integrated with the modules in Microsoft Office so it should be easy technically, for instance, to change a lead into a quote into a sale. So far this benefit hasn’t convinced a massive number of American businesses, but Microsoft’s great marketing strength is its ability to include free, cut-down or test versions of software with its other products.

So which accounting package should you buy for your business? All I can say is you’ll be safe with Sage, but may be bamboozled by its language unless you’re well-versed in accountant-speak. Other packages should do a perfectly adequate job and are generally easier to understand for us reluctant bean counters.

An important point to remember is that an accounting software brand doesn’t need to be for life. The import and export of files has become much easier in recent years. So look at the companies’ websites to find the package that seems to meet your business needs. Then Google the name to find what users are saying. The presence of a function doesn’t make it easy to use.

Finally, don’t give up. The very least that accountancy software will do is to impose a financial discipline that will stand you in good stead whether your business goes stratospheric or spherical.

The numbers game

Each of the main accounting software companies produces a range of products for different sizes and types of company. All provide phone support or you may prefer to use one of their registered retailers or accountants who can give more local and personal support.

This is a brief round-up of the starter packages.

Sage Instant Accounts v12

For anybody running a small business, Sage is the accountant’s favourite. For people less well-versed in bookkeeping jargon it can be a little daunting. It is, however, a very comprehensive package that allows you to create a wide range of reports showing how your business is performing. There is a 30-day free trial available.

Click to find out more: Sage Instant Accounts 12 (PC)

Intuit QuickBooks Simple Start

This is almost a loss-leader to pull in new customers. Despite its bargain price the package does have enough functions to run a small business and they’re quite easy to use. However, you’ll probably feel the need to upgrade fairly quickly.

Click to find out more: QuickBooks Simple Start

MYOB BusinessBasics

There are almost too many features in this package, but it still remains simple to use. I like the broad range of templates that can be adapted to suit many types of business. It also integrates well with many online banking services. Unusually, there’s a Mac version as well as a 30-day trial.

Click to find out more: MYOB BusinessBasics