Choosing the right software to help manage your business can be overwhelming. You have to first consider several questions:
- What are your needs right now?
- What will your future needs be?
- How expandable is a certain software package?
- How difficult will it be to change later?
Following are suggestions to help you answer these questions:
- Think about locally installed or web-based packages. Locally installed systems tend to be more robust and come with more capabilities and features. Cloud-based systems are portable, allow access from multiple devices, offer ease of use, and are best for small and medium businesses.
- Watch out for systems that track expenses only. Some popular cloud-based “accounting programs” aren’t really accounting programs. The key thing to look for is double-entry bookkeeping. If the software has it, then it’s accounting software.
- Make sure the program can support the number of users you need.
- Begin asking yourself exactly what you need your accounting software to do. Job-costing capabilities? Availability of mobile apps?
- Look for software that can scale with your business so that as your business expands, you can continue to use the same system.
- List features you absolutely must have. Consider the possibility of integrating with other platforms your business uses, like CPM or shopping cart software. Good integrations save you a lot of data entry.
- Consider these features, no matter what type of business you own: automated invoicing, live bank feeds, tools for tax prep, multistate sales tax assistance, check printing, time tracking, scanning receipts to expenses, budgeting tools, purchase orders, expense reports, job costing, inventory support, integrated support and integrated payroll.
- Review cash-based and accrual-based capabilities. You will want an accounting program that supports the accounting method you use.
Many accounting software packages have free trial periods that offer you enough time to get a grasp of the software. Companies should be able to discuss their support capabilities, so that you can get started right away.
If you’d like help making this choice, can us a call today. We can help you identify a package that not only works well for your business but also enables us to analyze your numbers so we can advise you further.
We welcome the opportunity to put our accounting expertise to work for you. To learn more about how our firm can help advance your success, don’t hesitate to contact Kathy Corcoran at (302) 254-8240.
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