When it comes to Accounting Programs you definitely have a wide variety to choose from. To make a long story short I am just not happy the way Quicken and QuickBooks are handling things. Let's just say that much that both programs are actually sloppy and somewhat inaccurate. And that's something that has been bothering me for quite some time. I'm not going into all the details here as that would be too much for a Blog Post. I might explain my exact reasons at a later point in time and the best way to do that would be with a couple of videos.
Of course being a Accountant by profession I would love to have a BMD or an SAP Acounting Software, but considering the price tag of about 1500 bucks, well that's just too steep for a personal use. That was the reason to look into alternatives.
Alternative number 1 was a program called EuroFibu, that is actually an Austrian software. While it is not a bad program for my taste it orients itself way to much on the way Accounting is being taught in schools. Nobody actually works that way these days anymore. The second problem I have with that particular software is the fact that it is an adapation from a MS-DOS bases piece of software. And you find many hints of it's origin in the Windows version. That again is somewhat bothersome and doesn't really help as it makes working and adapting the program to your needs somewhat of an really ackward task.
Alternative number 2 was a programm call EAR19. It's a program from Germany and it's a real Windows program. That much is evident. The problem I had with that thing right from the beginning is the fact that it es been written for companies that only record after the income/expense principle. For me as a prfessional accountant that makes working somewhat ackward, since I loose quite a number of possibilities and a number of control mechanisms. But they also offer a version that simulates the accounting blanace model. But they didn't rewrite the software but split it up into different categories, what again makes the workflow for an accountant quite ackward. As an accountant you're useed to the fact that you can record all business events from your main screen. EAR19 devides that into severl categories, forcing you to open upen the appropriate menus in order to enter certain accounting tasks. When looking at the data evaluation tool it clearly showed that they were written for the income/expense model. That's not exactly the way it's being done in the balance model. And it doesn't give you required information right away.
Alternative number 3 was a program called easy2000. It's another true Windows Program and mostly targets users with very little accounting experience. But it gives you the option to work in a true accounting mode. That means that you can actually enter the accounting data as a prefessional accountant does it in real live. I'm not particularly happy with the layout of the recording dialog as it's somewhat cluttered and the color scheme is anything but a happy choice. But it gets the job done. You can enter all transactions as you would in real live. It has its own dilalog to record payments. In my opinion this dialog is pretty much not necessary since there are better ways to record a payment. It even allows for Split-Recording of your expenses. While that is a necessary task the solution in this program makes recording Splits somehwhat of a quite ackward task. You better know exactly what you're doing and in wich direction the split has to work or you're likely to end up with wrong entries. The Data Evaluation Tools are the big let down. While you do have all the tools an accounting program is supposed to have the layout on the screen makes it a somewhat daunting task. Not being an accountant might make it not that easy to get the necessary information out of those lists. Those lists remind me of the time when all accounting programs were run under MS-DOS and it is quite apparent that nobody really took the time to give those lists the appropriate layout.
Alternative number 4 was the Syska Euro Fibu. I've worked with the REWE SQL and from some of the parts it's similar to the EuroFibu. The EuroFibu is a full fletched Accounting Program that works after the Banlance Principal. That's something I really did aprriceate a lot. There are certaion additional features like the entire cash register feature, that comes in quite handy when doing your own accounting. It does Split entries on the income and the expense side. Although I have to say that the way it does Splits is a litte different than the REWE SQL does it. So it takes a little getting used to. The Main Screen is at first a little cluttered for my taste. They put way too much options on there. But since this is a program written for Windows it's quite easy to set it up the way it works for your needs. Playing a little around with the settings will let you get the most out of the program very quickly. But it means you have to know what you're doing or be able to call someone with a good knowledge of accounting. Of coiurse it comes with all the basic data evaluation tools. On top of that you get your advanced data analysis tools. This includes a toll for all the invoices due. An export feature af all data sets into Excel for further data evaluation. It comes with a professional cash register feature, that lets you record your cash expenses in a correct manner. And it generates all the necessary reports for you to profesionally perpare all the paperwork when doing your taxes to get the most back from the state. All in all it's a good program. For doing your personal finances it might be a little over the top...I admit that.
I'm still not entirely sure which program I'm going to go with. Yes I do have a favorite, but it will all depend on the costs for the license.
No comments:
Post a Comment