Advice on Financial Software

Product supplies - Asked by morethanopera on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 12:23

We currently use Microsoft Money, which is simple to use and meets most of our requirements. However, it has not been supported for some years and we need to look at alternatives. I purchased a basic module for MYOB and found it was much more difficult and didn't meet our needs, though I believe a more high end version would do that. Quickbooks has now been suggested. Apart from the usual reconciling with bank statements and reports, we need it to categorize by project and budget by project. Can someone advise please?

Reply by Neil McLachlan from Co Serve Consulting on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 13:16

Have you had a look at cloud based alternatives such as Xero or Sassu? They're very easy to use and the automated bank feeds ease reconciliations. On the down side they're not discounted and some people are uncomfortable with having financial material held off site. Neil McLachlan | Co Serve Consulting | 02 4782 6917 | www.coserve.com.au

Reply by morethanopera on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 14:15

Hi Neil, I've heard that Xero is much more sophisticated than we require, but I'm not discounting anything at the moment. I'd just like something that is relatively easy to use and can do what we require. cheers

Reply by Grant Laing from Blended IT Solutions on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 14:57

Hi, I would normally suggest quickbooks here, and get your accountant to set it up for you. You can get a online version for about $35/month or just the basic version for use in house. They also have a version like Microsoft money called quicken and home and business version as well. There is also a program called cashflow manager which might suit the bill as well, but is a little more expensive than the basic quickbooks versions. Quickbooks and their other versions are easier to use than myob and xero, and will also allow you to do the per project categorization. I would suggest you download a 30 day trial, there is some links below. and see which one you are more comfortable with, just use the sample data in the application and just try things like invoices and so on to get a feel for it. Ultimately you need to feel comfortable with it or you won't use it. Here is some links; http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/home-and-small-business.jsp http://quicken.intuit.com/ http://www.cashflow-manager.com.au/Home.aspx http://www.reckon.com.au/category.aspx?cid=4&gclid=Cj0KEQjwyrqgBRDepamt-LWA2oABEiQAV7nwwOsGOQC3fjiwbVhIQTgv5fkvut_2e8_-BszVcL7AoUkaAmXH8P8HAQ Let know if we be of anymore help.

Reply by morethanopera on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 15:15

Sounds terrific. Do you know which one does budgets by project? cheers

Reply by Mick Devine from Calxa Australia on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 15:20

The fact that you need to categorise and budget by project suggests that you need something at least as sophisticated as Xero or MYOB AccountRight or QuickBooks/Reckon - and you may need to invest in some training and support. MYOB offer discounts through Connecting Up, Xero do some discounting directly. None of them are great with budgeting by project but you can get a donation of Calxa through Connecting Up which will work with any of these accounting applications.

Reply by Andrew Davis from ANDLIN Network Management on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 15:45

As stated by Calxa. Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks will all do what you have asked for. While i have never used the Calxa product, I did take a quick look at their website and it certainly has features that you will not get with any of the above items and can work well with all three accounting systems. As for which one is better. Personally I have used MYOB since 1995, and would not hesitate to recommend it. But I would recommend that you talk to your Accountant as they may be able to give you some assistance with their knowledge of your organization and current processes. No matter which solution you choose, there will be a learning curve and moments of "Why cant it just do it like this!!!" due to the fact that you have been using an old product and anything will be different. As for the Cloud, I would not get to bogged down with that as (while I would personally rather keep data in-house) it appears that all vendors are making a push to this. So whatever you choose, you may end up with a cloud solution regardless. I hope this helps a little :)

Reply by Marielle from Hume Business Solutions Pty Ltd on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 16:40

We specialise in finance management, business intelligence and budgeting solutions for funded organisations in the healthcare, charity and not for profit spaces. We have developed a fantastic solution for budgeting by project which has been used by various NFP’s and healthcare organisations. If you are interested visit our website on www.humcomputers.com.au or contact us at sales@humecomputers.com.au or on 02 9637 4500

Reply by Pam Chilman from AMC Training Centre on Wednesday, 10 September, 2014 - 16:49

MYOB's AR range caters for reporting by project including allocating a budget per project, so could you confirm which of the products in the MYOB range you have, in case you are referring to a product different to their AR range. As indicated in other replies a number of other products will also do tracking by project, to different degrees. It depends on the extend of the reporting you require. The products you refer to work well for small organisations in the area of projects, however if you require more comprehensive project reporting then Calxa is definitely the way to go, as is a great reporting tool for projects and generally the NFP sector, and is available through the donations program via Connecting Up. As a training organisation we often see organisations challenged with the products they have, and encourage investing in training - either face to face or online. There are Accredited Partners in all the products mentioned that can assist you in various ways. Let me know if you need assistance with checking details on your basic MYOB product including entitlements to upgrades. Pam AMC Training Centre Accredited in MYOB, Xero, Reckon, Calxa. www.ausmanagement.com.au 02 6215 9710

Reply by morethanopera on Thursday, 11 September, 2014 - 08:17

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback people. I'll need some time to digest it. One issue I found when trying MYOB is that I couldn't get it to register a transaction where the money was spreaad over different categories. If I recall you needed to raise an invoice first and then pay that invoice. When you're banking money after a gig with some for box office, some for front of house, etc. this is a clumsy way of doing it. Would someone comment on this? cheers

Reply by Mick Devine from Calxa Australia on Thursday, 11 September, 2014 - 09:14

Good morning! Try using the Receive Money function under Banking for this type of receipt and then you don't need to raise an invoice. When you talk about 'categories' here, I'm assuming you're talking about what MYOB refers to as Accounts? MYOB has Categories which can be added to transactions for cost centre reporting but jobs are a more flexible way of doing this. I think you'd benefit from talking to an MYOB Certified Consultant such as Pam from AMC - a small investment in training could save you hours or days of wasted effort Good luck! Mick

Reply by from PiCRM Software on Thursday, 11 September, 2014 - 10:29

Good morning. It sounds like you may have some reporting challenges that could be either time consuming or very administrative. MYOB is a good accounting system and it is easy to use once you get use to it . Many of our clients experienced significant administrative challenges with financial reporting because of their unique requirements. Reporting across categories can be achieved with MYOB but it generally does not provide the information in a useful and timely format. With those clients they use our Not For Profit System where they create the transactions and MYOB is updated. The benefits for our clients include: * Saved on hiring a extra full time bookkeeper which was considerable for a team of 3. (See the Cancer Support Group case study at http://www.notforprofitsystems.com/nfp-case-studies/ ) * Reporting preparation down to a few hours where it use to be in excess of many days * Real time alerts reducing errors resulting in improved allocation of funds. * Easy to use and I think our clients would say it is easier and faster than MYOB * Cost effective. * Improved confidence having all your financial data integrated to your financial system. I would welcome the opportunity the discuss your requirements further. You may contact me on 0406 626 312. Regards, Troy