Software accounting
There are many kinds of accounting software applications on the market today. Few applications are intended to perform accounting functions for large corporate organizations. Rest is meant for personal use. Still lots of applications fall somewhere in between, performing functions suited to small businesses, as well as those suited to the average person. Available software ranges from the very straightforward to the very complex, with much variation in price as well.
Software Accounting is normally composed of various modules, different sections dealing with particular areas of accounting. Among the most common are mentioned below:
Core Modules
Accounts receivable:
Theoretically speaking accounts receivable is one of a series of accounting transactions dealing with the billing of customers who owe money to a person, company or organization for goods and services that have been provided to the customer. This is normally done in a one person organization by writing an invoice and mailing or delivering it to each customer.
Accounts payable:
Accounts payable on the other hand is one of a series of accounting transactions covering payments to suppliers owed money for goods and services. The average household performs this sort of task by writing cheques each month to such suppliers to the electric company, Telephone Company, cable television or satellite dish service, newspaper subscription, and other such regular services.
General ledger:
The general ledger, sometimes termed as the nominal ledger, is the main accounting record of a business which uses double-entry bookkeeping. It will normally include accounts for such items as current assets, fixed assets, liabilities, revenue and expense items, gains and losses.
Billing:
The routine of sending accounts to customers for goods or services is called billing. The document used is termed an invoice. In an ideal scenario the invoice may be attached to the goods or forwarded separately.
Stock/Inventory:
Talking about business management, inventory consists of a list of goods and materials held available in stock.
Non Core Modules
Debt Collection:
It arises where the company tracks attempts to collect overdue bills (sometimes part of accounts receivable).
Expense:
In accounting, an expense depicts an event in which an asset is used up or a liability is incurred. Furthermore in terms of the accounting equation, expenses reduce owners equity.
Inquiries:
It arises where the company looks up information on screen without any edits or additions.
Payroll:
In a company, payroll can be defined as the sum of all financial records of salaries, wages, bonuses, and deductions.
The next crucial step up in the realm of accounting software consists of applications capable of performing a variety of functions important to business accounting. Termed to as mid-market software, accounting applications in this class perform general business accounting functions and frequently include integrated management information systems. Plenty of software applications at this level are capable of providing for accounting in several different currencies. Mid-market accounting software is normally purchased from a dealer.
Higher-end accounting software is more expensive as compared to the other types and is usually much more complex. Generally designed for use by big businesses with millions of dollars in transactions, high-end accounting programs usually have very sophisticated features and options. Software in this type also allows for a high level of customization. Normally, higher-end software is sold through a dealer.
Few companies choose to develop their own accounting software, gearing it completely towards their unique needs. Other companies choose to buy ready-made software packages. Lots of organizations employ a combination of the two, purchasing software and applying local modifications to make it more efficient.
In simple terms, accounting is the lifeline of a business. Accounting more or less deals with summarizing, analyzing and reporting the financial data and information about a business. Accounting software on the other hand records and processes the accounting transactions of a business within its functional modules. Generally speaking financial statements consisting of the balance sheet, profit and loss account, and statement of changes in financial position can be easily prepared with accounting software.
Accounting software is all about the various functional modules that it has. Few of them are- General ledger which takes care of the companys financial dealings; Accounts Payable where the company enters its bills and pays the money it owes; Accounts Receivable where money received is entered.
The different categories or kinds of accounting software are as follows:
a) Small business/personal accounting software that is mainly meant for home users. They are straightforward and inexpensive with simple functioning such as management of budgets.
b) Low end accounting software is more or less for small business markets that are capable of serving a single national market. Such types of software are characterized by single entry products. c) Mid market accounting software are especially made for companies with large businesses. These kinds of software are capable of serving the needs of multiple national accountancy standards and facilitate accounting in multiple currencies.
d) High end accounting software is complex as well as expensive business accounting software that are also known as Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP software.
Though, you have to keep certain things in mind before buying an accounting software, like the prices of the software, its different features, its after-sales support and alike. Large chunk of the accounting software include all the important accounting modules. That is where the more specialized features software has, the more expensive it becomes. It is of utmost importance that your software features must be compatible with your business. In addition, the after-sales support is important like FAQ package, local service center and others.
There are plenty of top accounting software available in every category. Therefore, it is not easy to select the best ones.
A. Small business/personal accounting software: 1.ePeachtree (Best Software) 2.MYOB Plus for Windows (MYOB Software) 3.Peachtree Complete Accounting (Best Software) 4.QuickBooks Online (Intuit) 5.Small Business Manager (Microsoft)
B. Low-End Accounting Software: 1.BusinessVision 32 (Best Software) 2.MAS 90 & MAS 200 (Best Software) 3.QuickBooks Pro 2003 (Intuit) 4.ACCPAC Pro Series (ACCPAC International) 5.Vision Point 2000 (Best Software)
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