My accountant wants me to ......

lanod2407

My accountant wants me to use the same accounting package as he does to make life simpler for him.
However I've a local supplier of accounting packages and I want to buy her accounting package as it's more comprehensive from a total business perspective - and its a fraction of the price. She's offered to provide my accountant with a free copy of the package - but then he's got 2 different packages to run ....

Any advice - is it standard practice for the accountant to stipulate which package a client uses?



PS - I'm a small start-up operator - so the fees I pay my accountant are relatively small compared with a larger operation.

FionaC

Yes a lot of accountants would like you to use the same software as them. Its less hassle and the accounting software provider gives them the software/support for free in order to get their customers to buy the software.

I know some accountants use multiple software packages but they are usually bigger companies.

What packages are we talking about?

lanod2407

He uses Big Red Book and I want to use Sort My Books .... any tips???

Carlow52

While not arguing the merits /demerits of either package, my instinct is not to use the accountants package as it increases your reliance on him.

Having said that

Sort books says this

How it works:
You put in:
Sales Invoices
Purchases Invoices
Payments
Receipts
SortMyBooks will give you the following information:
VAT Returns including Annual Return of Trading Details
Professional, personalised Invoices
Customer Statements
Cash Flow report
Job-Costing
Sales Book – by customer, date or nominal account
Purchases Book – by supplier, date or nominal account
Debtors – how much is owed and for how long, this report also includes contact name and phone number to facilitate collections
Creditors – how much is owed and for how long
Payment Analysis – by payee, date or nominal account
Lodgement Analysis – by payer, date or nominal account
Bank Reconciliation
Missing cheques report
Petty Cash reconciliation
Cash Account reconciliation (eg. for Retailers)
Drill-down Profit & Loss
Trial Balance
Charts including Top Ten Customers and Top Ten Expense Items
...and more
At any time you can produce the following information for your accountant:
VAT Returns
Sales Book
Purchases Book
Debtors
Creditors
Bank Reconciliation
Profit & Loss Account
Trial Balance
You can provide this information instantly at the click of a button. LOL:D

Do the same for BRB and compare and see what the differences are and see if the extra cost is worth it.
You also have to consider how solid the applications are: search for the online forums of both, you will see what its like at the coal face for each

lanod2407

LOL

................. I take it you have your reservations then???!!!

Thanks for the reply

foxy06

Of all the accountancy packages which would be the best?

FionaC

Big Red Book is good for small businesses and quite easy to use. Don't think its that expensive to buy either

aidan.connolly

One word of advice :- Get it set up properly at the start.

I have come across many good accounting packages in companies over the years, and the ones that work best were always the ones that were set up correctly from day one.

If you accountant is willing to set it up for you, whatever extra that may cost you for the software and set up, you might save it in the time taken to prepare your accounts, since they should be able to upload your records on to their system.

Good luck.

Bren1609

foxy06 wrote: »

Of all the accountancy packages which would be the best?

Sage commercial is good for small businesses and its compatible with Sage accounts production which your accountant probably has aswell.

There is another reason why your accountant wants you to use BRB and that is because (in my experience) 90% of clients make a mess of their bookeeping and normally your accountant will have to try and fix all the mistakes that are made. It makes it so much easier to do this if you both use the same package.

Anyway, you should take the advice from your accountant. Thats what you pay him for.

pat9999

you should use the package that suits your business. i am an accountant. it does not matter to me what package clients use. as long as you know how to use it so that there is not a mess to clean up! and it should cost you no more in accounting fees what ever you do.

pm me or call if you want a sympathetic ear but better still an accountant that can work with your requirements (and not the other way arround)
pat

Mr Clonfadda

You need to consider how big your business is going to grow. Any accounts system will produce some sort of audit trail broken down by expense headings (Nominal Codes) this will do most accountants. BRB is essential computerised manual book system and i think it is overpriced for what it does. You shouldn't run your business for your accountant. You need to use system you are happy with and that you can get good support with.

ejmaztec

One thing that you have to remember with Big Red Book is that, once registered to a particular computer, you're stuck with paying an annual support fee to BRB. If any components need replacing, e.g. hard drives etc, the programme reverts to demo mode because the hardware code changes. The only way to restore the package to full use is to contact BRB and ask them to generate another code. If you haven't paid the annual fee, they won't help you.

I have known the code to change after a Windows re-install, where no hardware has changed. I hate the BRB with a vengeance, and cannot understand why fellow accountants think it the best thing since sliced bread.

I prefer Sage because it isn't anywhere near as volatile. You don't have to pay any annual fees, or have any issues when your computer decides to kill itself, provided that you keep the usual backups.