All About Accounting Software

“Step away from Quickbooks”, says B2Bee, “stop pretending you’re a part time accountant.” B2Bee has a product for small businesses and professionals who are not well-versed in complicated accounting software. B2Bee is an accounting software company that provides web-based invoice and expense management tools.

B2Bee’s accounting software tool, the Bee, is comprised of three core financial tools that small business owners need to manage their finances. With a lot of options, other accounting software can be difficult to use.  However, small business owners cannot afford to get lost in a sea of options. The Bee gives users everything they need to get paid, manage their expenses and track their profitability.

The Bee accounting software is available from any web browser so users can easily access the on-demand solution to create and send out invoices, document, label and track expenses, and produce reports to help monitor the pulse of the business.

A few Bee features:

• Simple, one-time set-up
• Branded to seamlessly fit in with your business
• Pre-designed, professional invoicing templates that can emailed or mailed to clients
• Ability to document and categorize expenses by client or project for quick accounting and invoicing
• Online dashboard for quick view of financial state of the business
• Online profitability report provides quick comparison of revenues and expenses

(Marketwire)

“The reaction of most people when they open accounting software like QuickBooks for the first time is ‘Wow, what have I gotten myself into?” said the CEO of B2Bee, Scott Miller. “For small business owners, all they really need is a simple solution that will help them get paid while managing the money that is coming in and going out of their business.”

The Bee gives business owners the right tools to quickly and easily manage their finances, without paying for costly extras for their accounting software solution. The accounting software product is designed for the non-accountant small business owner. The Bee is available for free for 30 days and then for a monthly subscription cost of $14.00 per month after. For more information visit: www.getthebee.com.

Sage North America, the Accounting Software Vendor, has announced the release of Peachtree 2011 and Peachtree Quantum 2011. The accounting software company is rolling out new features for service billing and job reporting at small businesses.

The accounting software updates in Peachtree 2011 include a new function that will help service businesses invoice customers for unbilled time and expenses. The unbilled items can also be filtered by date, customer name or job, and outstanding expenses can be directly transferred into an invoice. The accounting software also has a built-in dashboard that helps process large volumes of data about an item or service.

Peachtree 2011 accounting software also features customizable job status indicators in stoplight colors to help identify what is on or off track. Users can delete, rename, or change the stoplight buton colors as necessary.

The Peachtree Quantum 2011 accounting software has job management features for small business that give user s the information they need to take advantage of government stimulus opportunities. Peachtree Quantum is able to do so by enabling users to track the data required to comply with federal project parameters so that small businesses can take action.

The accounting software also includes a centralized dashboard that projects a list of jobs. Users can use job indicator stoplight buttons to sort the jobs by status. Peachtree Quantum also gives users the ability to build customized reports with real-time data on-the-fly. Another genius tool in the Quantum accounting software update is the job profitability module that compares estimated vs. committed jobs.  The updated software can also create several user-defined reports that can be exported to Excel, PDF or e-mail.

The accounting software allows users to proactively manage projects with access to job info in one place. The Job navigation tab will help provide a customizable dashboard view. Peachtree 2011 and Peachtree Quantum 2011 have been updated to simplify accounting and make your life a little easier.

Exciting news for enterprises that use Macs as their IT platform-Sage 50 is now Mac compatible. Sage is a business management software solutions vendor with a suite of platforms in several sectors, including accounting.

Apple Mac users can now enjoy the benefits of Instant Accounts and Sage Micropay Professional payroll software. “Demand has never been greater for complete and easy-to-use business software solutions on the Mac,” said Liam Mullaney, managing director at Sage Ireland. It was only a matter of time until Sage brought their user-friendly product to Mac’s user-friendly interface.  “Sage Ireland is giving Mac users the functionality they are looking for while delivering the kind of user-friendly experience that drew them to the Mac in the first place,” said Mullaney.

Mac seems to be the IT platform of choice for several companies, however in the past accounting and payroll software had to be run on standalone windows-based PCs. Now that Sage’s accounting software is Mac compatible, businesses can integrate their business software on a single easy-to-use Mac platform.

Beryl Furlong, GM of Apple reseller Typetec explains that “Our Mac-based customers have for many years been looking for a sound, financial application that is supported on the Mac OS and I think this clearly offers a very attractive solution to them.”

Mac has already seen strong growth in business adoption in the past few years and now with new business solutions software that are Mac compatible, accelerated growth seems inevitable.

“There’s an app for just about anything.”

Apple’s slogan is fast becoming true. iPhone and iPad users can now find easy-to-use personal accounting software in the Apple App Store. CashPilot was released December ’09 on the App Store in the Finance category, but the company has already iterated a new Version 1.2.4 with improved language support. CashPilot was designed to facilitate the management of income and expenses; CashPilot is personal accounting made easy.

CashPilot users can easily export or email weekly, monthly or yearly expense reports. Accounting automation through CashPilot optimizes efficiency and with iPhone and iPad integration, personal accounting can be done anytime, anywhere.

Ralf Boesswetter, the founder of CashPilot, created the application as a solution to accommodate his personal accounting needs. CashPilot was quick to spread because the app allows users to monitor and manage their finances, thereby making them feel in control of their money.

CashPilot’s interface is easy to use and navigate; no bookkeeping experience necessary. Here’s a screenshot of the CashPilot interface on the iPhone:

CashPilot provides users with real time access to their financial data. With a few taps, users can access reports, graphs, and their purchase history. Users can also easily edit, configure, delete and manage their spending categories.

Financial management is a legitimate concern for many people, in our current economy. CashPilot facilitates asset management and gives users control over their financial destiny for a nominal fee of $2.99. See CashPilot in action here: http://www.cashpilot.net/en/video/

As we mentioned last month, we wanted to give our readers some insight into the accounting solutions available to small businesses, and when they should switch from SMB-geared platforms, so here’s our estimation on the latter subject:

QuickBooks has been around for almost three decades, and owns about 85% of the small business accounting market. A large number of small businesses will only ever need this Intuit software for their accounting requirements, but a portion of these companies will certainly outgrow QuickBooks—and it’s important to know whether your own company’s needs exceed what QuickBooks can deliver.

For most of its existence, QuickBooks allowed five users maximum, and any company with more concurrent users switched to another accounting software after crossing that threshold. Now, QuickBooks allows up to 30 simultaneous users, so the decision to switch isn’t entirely a size-based one. Another factor potentially stopping users from switching to a mid-range accounting system? Price—the QuickBooks Enterprise Solution (the platform supporting up to 30 users) costs about $3,000, while at best, midrange accounting software ranges from $25,000 to $30,000. Because of mid-range systems’ costs, some companies whose needs exceed QuickBooks will stick the program because there are a large number of supplementary add-ons available.

Still, even if you balk at a hefty price tag, there are several reasons to take the plunge and invest outside of QuickBooks. Obvious causes include an increase in sales or number of employees, or a need for industry-specific accounting functionalities. A slightly less apparent reason is accounting controls—while QuickBooks has an audit trail, but some of the more complex accounting systems offer better support.

There are many who recommend using QuickBooks for as long as it’s fitting, but Intuit executives have stated plainly that their products are not intended to ride the wave of expansion from SMB status to larger enterprise. The most important thing, of course, is to assess accounting needs accurately, and then decide what type of accounting and financial software to choose—just don’t be shy if you need something more than QuickBooks!

Competition with the business software industry continues to grow and companies are looking for more ways to reach out to customers in a variety of different segments with a number of different requirements. However, the most recent accounting product announced by a Kiwi-based software company may be the most bizarre. In releasing its newest accounting software platform, it hopes to capture the market for blind accounting software users.

Kiwi has touted its product as being the first accounting software program able to stand up to the user tests within blind people. Surprisingly, the market for accounting software for blind users is rather strong as there has been interest from a number of organizations all over the world.

Its features are dedicated to improving the accessibility and usability of its accounting software to blind or visually impaired people. Improvements include screen reading software which helps users confirm what they have input to the system as well as providing a number of visual enhancements that make it easier for those visually impaired to see.

For more information on this new and innovative accounting software product, you can read the full article here.

Online business software provides companies with benefits that make it a more attractive option in comparison to traditional software products. Web based business services provide customers with one benefit that matters the most in these tough times, price. With the continued economic slowdown and slowing down of business activity, companies are much more conscious of the prices they are paying.

Business has slowed down for many software companies but one sector of business software still sees strong activity. Online business software providers have noticed an increased interest in their products. Online accounting software provider Xero provides users their accounting service for a monthly fee. With the movement towards an online system, companies can enjoy the benefits of lower cost software as well as increased flexibility.

In addition, companies have less to worry about when choosing an online accounting software provider. Access to the latest version of software is always provided as well as secured storage of data on the provider’s servers makes it a safer alternative to in-house accounting solutions.

For more information on pay as you go accounting software, you can read the full article found here.

AccountMate has released the newest update to its AccountMate Software Package. This upgrade should provide users with a host of new features that will simplify many accounting processes. With over 200 new enhancements, AccountMate has provided users with features that should greatly benefit company accounting processes overall.

The new update features many new features that will enhance the way companies perform accounting as well as secure many of the critical and confidential business processes that are performed in the system. With security such as password protection, companies can be confident that their secure data is not being looked at by anyone. Also, with features such as real-time snapshots of company performance and statments, executives can have an accurate and up to date picture of how their company is doing.

For more information regarding this new release from AccountMate, you can read the full article found here.

Accounting Software plays an integral role in maintaining accurate financial and accounting data while also making it much easier to maintain all of this critical data. AccountingWEB is a website dedicated providing people with information and news on accounting and accounting related software products. The newest addition to their website is the new area dedicated towards Microsoft’s Accounting Software. This new zone should provide news and updated information to interested people about Microsoft’s Accounting Software.

Microsoft recently entered the accounting software market and has had some limited success. Microsoft is determined to remain a competitor in the accounting software market. It hopes that its new section on AccountingWEB will give its accounting product the exposure it needs to become a popular software option. This section should address many of the questions prospective buyers may have regarding Microsoft’s Accounting Product and provide a lot of information on current and upcoming features for its accounting software.

To Read more about this topic, you can read the full article found here.

Solar Accounts announced its new accounting software package which is designed for individuals as well as small businesses. This accounting software package is specifically geared towards the smaller companies as smaller companies tend to have trouble finding a software package that fits what they are doing. With a large share of the accounting software market geared towards larger companies, this is welcome news for smaller businesses.

Solar Accounts’ accounting software expects to make it easier to perform accounting functions as they try to promote its easy to use interface and features. Solar Accounts is very cost friendly as well. With only one initial payment, Solar Accounts becomes the owner’s property, with the opportunity for a free upgrade within 6 months.

Solar Accounts simplifies many processes including:

-Setting up business accounts
-Invoice Creation
-Real Time Information Updates
-Spreadsheets and Reporting Functions
…and more!

For more information on this exciting new accounting software, you can read the full article found here.