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Small business accounting software

Small business accounting software is often referred to as ‘business management software’, and it can really help your business to save time and money. However, choosing the right small business accounting software can be tricky, and there are lots of things to consider. Perhaps you are looking for your first accounting software packing, or you already have another package such as Quickbooks. Whatever your situation, there are a number of things you need to consider before purchasing small business accounting software

Basic requirements

In order to choose the best possible small business accounting software, you need to think about the requirements of your business, and then you can match this to the appropriate software package. In order to do this, you need to involve the people who are going to be using the package, as they will know what sort of things will be needed. If you cannot find a package that suits your needs, then you should think about altering the way you work, as small business acounting software can really be beneficial. Here are some basic requirements that most businesses will need to look at:

• Basic bookkeeping
• VAT calculations
• Payroll processing
• Financial report production
• Invoicing
• Credit control
• Compatibility with other accounts systems
• Industry accreditation
• Stock control

Specialist requirements

The basic requirements listed above are part of most small business accounting software packages. However, you may have more detailed or specialist requirements that not all packages will have. Here are some of the more specialist requirements that you should think about:

VAT schemes

There are a number of VAT schemes that you need to consider when looking for small business accounting software. The most common VAT schemes are the Cash Accounting Scheme and the Retail Schemes. If you use a VAT scheme, then you will want small business accounting software that has this feature.

Foreign currency

Another specialist requirement that you might have is the use of foreign currency. If your business deals with foreign currencies, then you need a small business accounting software package that can deal with this. There are some accounting software packages on the market that have this function, although many packages cater for larger companies. However, if this is an essential requirement then you should be able to find a package that works for you. 

Retail point-of-sale

If you own a shop, it is likely that you have a high volume of small sales, and that you have a retail point-of-sale to process these sales. If this is the case, you need a small businessa accounting software package that can interact with this type of system, because you do not want to have to put in thousands of transactions manually.

Electronic payments

Many businesses pay invoices using electronic funds transfer. If you have such a business, then you need a software package that has this function integrated within it. If electronic funds transfer is a big part of your business, then you should look at how these small business accounting software packages work and the costs involved.

Prioritising your requirements

Once you have a list of your basic and detailed requirements, you need to put them in order of priority. Obviously, most small business accounting software packages will have some of the features you want, but maybe not all of them. The basic requirements should be of the highest priority, as these are things in your business that affect its everyday running, and so need to be just right.