Accounting Packages for Small Business

The Basic Accounting Packages For Small Business

You can’t run a business without an accounting system. Some accounting packages for small business are already available to you, but are they up to snuff? What if they aren’t? Do you know what you need from your accounting system? And if you do know your requirements will you be able to run the system? Will it require additional resources added to your business? These are just some of the questions answered in this article.

The First Stop Of Accounting Packages for Small Business

The first step comes from looking at the systems you already have. You no doubt already have an office suite, free or commercial. Did you realize that your office suite actually contains rudimentary accounting software?

Using Office as Your Small Business Accounting Package

A great portion of small business owners start out using the accounting package they already have installed. In most cases that is Excel. Since Microsoft Office is one of the most common office suites, even in private homes, it becomes an obvious choice when looking for accounting software. Excel is a great tool that can do a lot of cool things. Although it has its limits as the main accounting system in large to medium sized businesses Excel has an uncanny ability to make itself useful. However, as a long term solution to, even small business, accounting needs it will eventually fall short.

It simply isn’t feasible to easily go through years of financial data stored in Excel. For that you need a solution that is closer related to a database. Fortunately, Microsoft Office does have that. It has Access, an oft-maligned database solution. The truth is for small businesses Access can be a wonderful piece of software. You wouldn’t want to run medium or large sized companies on Access. The problem with Access is that it really isn’t an accounting system. It does have templates that you might find useful, but chances are, even then, that you will have to customize the solution. If you have the skillset to do that, fine! if you don’t have the skills to design Access solutions you could, on the other hand, be in serious trouble.

Microsoft Office, and similar desktop office suites, provide great tools for startups. Some of those tools will be useful for a long time, either as niche tools or as workflow tools. However, in the end, there are some tasks that will require you to find other software solutions. I’m afraid accounting is one of them. Office have solutions that may work at first, but most of them lack the features to last the duration.

Requirements of Accounting Packages for Small Business

Features have been a main talking point so far. Even though you have accounting software that can probably get you off to a good start you will at some point need to branch out. The most important thing to look for when deciding between accounting packages for small business is your specific requirements. Not every business have the same requirements when it comes to accounting. Most do have the same needs, but you are very likely to run into requirements that are specific to your business.

An important business requirement is integration with third party systems. If you have a CRM system that is specific to your business you may want to be able to integrate it with your accounting system. This saves a lot of upkeep and minimizes the amount of manual errors you will experience. Accessibility is another important requirement that is important to consider. This has to do with upkeep as well as ease of use. It is not good having a system that has all the bells and whistles if it doesn’t make data entry as easy as possible.

Drawbacks of Accounting Packages for Small Business

Buying a commercial accounting package can be very expensive. In fact, for many small businesses it simple isn’t a feasible solution. If you use a commercial system you will have to maintain it yourself. Some systems require dedicated servers, which in themselves can be full time jobs. If your business is a one man show that’s not an option. Even if you are not a one man show do you have the resources to hire a techie?

So, you can go with a free open source system. Are you going to be able to find adequate support? Can you find external hosts that will remove the hassle? You probably can, but those are the questions you need to ask.