So, last week I wrote about why Excel is not a good choice for bookkeeping software. This week I’m revealing our alternatives and why they are better.
Desktop Software
Sage is old. incredibly rigid and not very user friendly. It is however what a lot of people have heard of. It is also expensive.
Quickbooks is more user friendly, but also expensive.
VT Transaction +, probably the best desktop software solution available. Incredibly quick and light on resources, also priced very well. Doesn’t have all of the (often unnecessary) features of the above.
Desktop software is slowly being replaced by online solutions. A lot of the problems mentioned in my last article still exist for these programs. Notably, the risk of hard drive, and other security failures, and the lack of multi-site access.
Online solutions also allow us to help our clients with any problems they may encounter, something which is very difficult if not impossible for desktop software.
Online Solutions
So, these have a clear advantage over desktop, which of these do we recommend?
Sage One. This is Sage’s flagship new product, however having relied on their legacy desktop software for so long they are seriously in need of catching up. Sage One is hamstrung by poor reporting and lack of basic features. While there is an argument for simplicity, Sage One takes that maxim too far.
Kashflow, we have had clients use Kashflow and it reminds me of Sage desktop in the cloud. This includes everything from using the same account code numbers to overall ‘feel’ of the product. Some may see this as an advantage, but this also includes Sage’s rigidity and lack of user-friendliness.
Quickbooks Online is being heavily advertised at the moment, and it better than both of the above options in my opinion, being rich in functions and easy enough to use.
Xero, our top pick. Xero’s ease of use and underlying power is what makes it the best solution in our opinion. I think this is also validated by clients having issues with all of the above and taking to Xero like a duck to water.
You might think that we would pick Xero, if you’ve looked around our website at all. But there is a reason why that is so, and we believe that the user friendliness trumps all other potential software. Add in the ability for us to assist and it becomes obvious that Xero is a great choice.
If you’d like a demo of Xero or to find out how you can get Xero for FREE, then head over to our Contact Us page and send us a message.
