Updating Your Accounting System
by Danny Brown on January 30th, 2008
One of the quandaries in running a small business is keeping your accounts up to date. Depending on what size your business actually is, you may be fine with a simple spreadsheet on Excel, or a similar chart. However, larger medium-sized businesses may need something a little more intricate. Therefore, it may be a good idea to take stock of your business accounting needs, and see if it’s time for an upgrade.
Pen vs. Software
Prior to computers, all invoicing and accounting was completed via ledger books, and although it may seem surprising to learn, some companies still work this way today. However, this is very rare, and the simplest system that most companies use is Microsoft Excel. This is ideal if all you have to worry about are small amounts of transactions, and broken down into Money In / Money Out / Balance columns.
This takes into account your sales (Money In), your expenses (Money Out), and your profits (Balance). If you’re a small one-man business, you may find that this is more than enough for your needs. And because Excel allows you to use its auto-sum feature, it will keep a running balance for you as you input any new figures. Yet if you find that you need to keep track of more information than Excel or any other similar chart program can manage, it’s probably time to start looking at more advanced alternatives.
Cost vs. Need
Of course, one of the things you should take into account first before updating your invoicing and accounts system is its cost-effectiveness. If it’s not going to offer you much more than what you currently have (whether that’s Excel or similar), then it’s probably not worth the extra outlay.
However, if it’s going to save you valuable man-hours, which can be spent marketing your business or attracting new customers, then it’s definitely worth the financial outlay. Better still, if you use an accountant or a part-time administrator to do your accounts for you, and the new software enables them to be completed in half the time, again it’s saving you money. So make sure you take the time to look at how much it would cost to upgrade, and how much you would save by doing so. This should then enable you to make a final decision.
Options to Choose From
Once you’ve decided that you definitely want, or need, to upgrade your current system, the next thing to do is decide what software you want to go for. There are literally thousands on the market, and all offer benefits over each other, as well as disadvantages. So, once again, take the time to look at what you need it for, and then narrow your search down to include just the software that will meet your specific needs. You can read more here about [ur=http://www.gowholesale.com/news/view/Choosing_Accounting_Software_For_Your_Businessl]choosing accounting software[/url].
Some excellent options include NetSuite, Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2008, QuickBooks and Simply Accounting by Sage. They all offer unique selling points, so make sure you pick the right one for you, and your accounts will soon be running themselves.
