Advanced Technologies in

Accounting Information
Accounting Software:
One of the best ways for a small business to cut costs and create savings is to deploy and
utilize accounting software. Well-designed accounting software can help any business reduce
costs by increasing the efficiency with which incoming cash flows and payments, outgoing
bill payments and liabilities, and payroll are handled.

Many small businesses either rely on accounting software for their own use, or keep
accounting software on hand for a part time bookkeeper that handles weekly or bi-weekly
input of financial figures, and handling of payroll and other outgoing expenses. For many
small businesses, this means that the business can avoid the fiscal hurdles associated with
keeping a full time bookkeeper around. 

However, accounting software does represent a significant investment for a business owner.
Generally, the specific financial needs your business has, combined with the kinds of
products it sells, and the scale of your business will determine precisely how much you pay
for an accounting software package. Some are specifically tailored to accommodate certain
business models or product types; others are more general, and though they will work, they
might not work as well as a software package designed for your business.

A comparison of various sorts of accounting software is given below- 

 QuickBooks:
QuickBooks is the ever-present accounting software that largely dominates the accounting
software market among small and midsized businesses. It is a spinoff of the famously popular
Quicken personal financial management system. By and large, QuickBooks was intended for
use by small business owners with little or no formal training in accounting processes. Today,
the software dominates nearly 85% of the small business market.

Today, the software includes features such as audit trails and double-entry accounting
functionality. There are also a variety of QuickBooks variants available, including those for
manufacturers, wholesalers, professional service providers, contractors, non-profits, and
retailers.

In addition, there is also a version of QuickBooks that supports Accountants that provide
services to various small businesses simultaneously. Mid-sized businesses generally depend
upon QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions for their accounting needs. In addition, the popularity
of the software ensures that there is a thriving third party marketplace for add-ons and other
applications that interact with, and contribute extra functionality to QuickBooks.

QuickBooks also has a special Point of Sale edition that is marketed to small businesses that
operate retail shops. For many small business owners, QuickBooks is the golden standard for
accounting software, and many will refuse to use anything else. 
 Peachtree:

Peachtree Accounting is an accounting software package that is sold by Sage Software, and is
predominantly used within the United States. The Peachtree line of software predates
QuickBooks, but never managed to take a foothold in small business markets in the manner
that QuickBooks did.

The software is very common among mid-sized and some larger businesses. It is generally
considered to be less user friendly than QuickBooks, but is often preferred by trained
accountants because it allows for more nuanced control over the accounting process. The
latest version of this software is named Sage 50 Accounting. 

 Microsoft Small Business Financials:

Microsoft Small Business Financials, which used to be called Microsoft Small Business
Manager, is an accounting software package aimed at small businesses that have less than 25
employees and less than $10 million in revenue per fiscal year. This software package was
once somewhat popular, but as of 2009, it was being phased out, and is no longer sold to new
customers.

Many users of this software package have now abandoned it, and have moved to Microsoft
Dynamics GP. However, the software can still be found in some businesses. It is not intended
to be used by a layperson.

 Unit 4 Business World:

This software package, created and maintained by the Dutch software company Unit 4,
focuses on modular management of a company’s resources. It is best suited for mid-sized and
large businesses.

It is well known for “playing friendly” with a wide variety of database and data storage
formats, which makes it popular for businesses moving away from now outdated or defunct
accounting software packages.  It is not intended for use by a layperson.

 FinancialForce.com Accounting:

FinancialForce.com is a provider of cloud-based accounting software that runs on Force.com,

the site that is famous for SalesForce.com.

It provides accounting, billing, professional services automation, and services resource

planning functionality. This software package is known for being highly flexible, and is able
to easily accommodate businesses of any size. However, it is probably not a good fit for the
layperson, since it requires a somewhat in-depth knowledge of accounting practices.

 GNU Cash:

For those that are believers in the free software movement, GNU Cash is the go-to solution
for accounting software. It uses a double-entry bookkeeping system, and though it was
initially aimed at personal finances, it has been updated with features for small business
 accounting needs. It allows importing QuickBooks data, and is available on a wider variety of
platforms than most other packages.

Since it is open source, it can be ported to nearly any computer system. It has well-supported
ports for Mac and Windows, and runs natively on Linux and other UNIX-like, POSIX
compliant operating systems. The downfall of this software is that it does not provide for
inventory management, cannot support point of sale systems, and lacks features like deletion
of reports via the GUI, and cannot generate estimates.

 OpenBravo:

Another open source accounting software package is OpenBravo. OpenBravo comes in two
forms: first, the enterprise resource planning (accounting) software, and point of sale system
software.

It supports Sales, Procurement, Manufacturing, Projects, Finance, MRP and other

functionalities that are commonly needed by mid-sized businesses. On the other hand,
OpenBravo POS allows for retail and hospitality business point of sales.

The POS system is completely integrated into OpenBravo’s ERP software package, which
makes it very easy to update stock levels, and to manipulate other factors that have an impact
on the point of sale system. This software is particularly popular in Spanish-speaking
countries, since the project originated in Spain.

Tally. ERP 9: Tally is accounting software used for maintaining business accounts and
personal accounts and it works on basic accounting principles.

ERP System: Multi-module application software that helps a company manages the
important parts of its business in an integrated fashion.

Key features include:

 Smooth and seamless flow of information across organizational boundaries.

 Standardized environment with shared database independent of applications and
integrated applications.

Mac
Market
Packages License Windows OS Linux Type Structure
focus
X
Business Accounting, Inventory
Tally Proprietary Yes No No Mid-market Management, Taxation, Payroll, Stand alone
Remote Access
Microsoft Office
Proprietary Yes No No Low Market Product is Discontinued Stand alone
Accounting