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Review: Online accounting with KashFlow
With more and more online accounting solutions coming on stream this year, Nigel Harris revisited a service with a couple of years on the clock.Managing director Duane Jackson set up KashFlow Software Limited in February 2006 when The Rt Hon Lord Young of Graffham, a former Secretary of State for Trade & Industry and ex Chairman of Cable and Wireless, and now the company’s chairman, invested in the KashFlow product. The company has received two rounds of venture capital funding from Lord Young. KashFlow was developed for use by the Prince's Trust and is now marketed to small businesses generally.
As an online application, KashFlow offers the typical advantages of 24/7 access, anywhere you can get online, with multiple concurrent users. However, it is specifically aimed at the micro business end of the market, the sort of start-up that might seek Prince’s Trust backing, so it strives to be useable by small business owners with no accountancy knowledge, and has gone out of its way to avoid accountancy jargon. For example, what we professionals would know as a purchase invoice KashFlow refers to as a “receipt”, just like the man in the street.
The user interface is very clear and uncluttered. Tabs at the top of the screen give direct access to Customers, Quotes, Sales, Suppliers, Purchases and Bank. Each of these sections is just a mouse click away so from posting a sales invoice you can click straight over to Bank in one step – no need to navigate in and out of each section through a hierarchy of menus. The software appears to be robust enough to save data while you flit around the system – I know, because I tried it!
A number of useful features caught my eye:
- The sales section is the real strength of KashFlow and even includes basic CRM features in the customer database;
- You can set up repeat invoices so you don’t forget to invoice a customer;
- Sales data can be output and customised in various ways - invoices can be emailed to customers (with a PayPal button for credit card payment), invoice data can be used to generate packing slips, customer details can be used to print envelopes;
- The system can send the user reminders by email when an invoice becomes overdue so they don’t even need to monitor unpaid invoices themselves;
- Retail and wholesale stock lists for invoice pricing purposes (a Stock Control option can be enabled which deducts the quantity of each stock item invoiced to customers from the initial quantity you entered and can warn you when you hit a minimum stock level; stock is not automatically increased when goods are purchased though);
- An API is available to download to connect KashFlow with PayPal for those taking online credit card payments. PayPal data can then be automatically imported into KashFlow;
- The bank reconciliation routine is easy enough for a business owner to follow;
- Reporting is good for a non-accountant user, and you can report at a project or department level. Data can be output to Excel and exported for working on by the accountant.
- There is a wealth of help and FAQs on the website and ongoing help is provided within the fee paid (or free during the trial period). Email help is claimed to be very fast.
I was less encouraged by the handling of VAT. KashFlow handles standard and cash accounting for VAT, and the Flat Rate Scheme provided the user is disciplined in entering transactions. However, although you can lock down a period once a VAT return is completed the user can over-ride the system and enter transactions in the earlier period, and these will not be picked up on the next Return. However, partner firms who supply KashFlow to their clients can lock the system and prevent users overriding this lock.
Duane Jackson told me, "We will soon be upgrading that side of things so that VAT reconciliation is dealt with properly, along with online filing."
Security is always a concern with online applications. KashFlow recognizes this and uses SSL encryption to transfer all data between the user’s PC and KashFlow’s server. Additional security during the login process prevents viruses and rogue software on the user’s PC from detecting their login details. Physical security at the London Docklands data centre is state of the art, making the service as secure as possible from end to end – certainly more secure than the traditional paper or computer records of an average small business.
KashFlow does not include any payroll functions but users can sign up for 12Pay, a HMRC approved payroll product, which offers a free version from their website or a paid-for version (£48 per year) which integrates with KashFlow. Both versions handle unlimited numbers of employees and payrolls.
The company claims that KashFlow improves the user’s cash flow, ie:
- Totally free access to the full product for two months - no obligation to buy - which is an attractive alternative to the up-front cost of desktop software;
- Low monthly payments - £13.99 (or £149 up front for year one, then £99 pa thereafter); and
- No annual contract – you can cancel at anytime.
Like many online accounting services, KashFlow appears to be highly responsive to its customers and has an ongoing programme of improvements and additions. Hopefully the VAT accounting problem I mentioned will be rectified in the near future. Until then I would highly recommend KashFlow for non-VAT registered businesses as an easy to use system. Firms interested in promoting KashFlow with their clients can join the partner programme, which enables them to oversee and maintain their clients’ bookkeeping online, in real time.
Number of comments: 2
AccountingWEB.co.uk 26-Mar-2008
Categories: IT Features, Software
Times read: 2555
"the user can over-ride the system and enter transactions in the earlier period, and these will not be picked up on the next Return"
KashFlow now has full VAT reconciliation and online filing of VAT100 and VAT101. All HMRC approved.
There have been a number of significant changes since this review, all listed at www.kashflow.co.uk/changelog.asp.
For instance, there is now seamless integration with PayPal. KashFlow is currently the only accounting software that is PayPal certified.
Thanks for taking the time to review the software, Nigel.
Just to clarify - with transaction locking, if you are a member of our Partner Programme then you can lock trasactions on an account prior to a certain date and set an option so that the client CAN'T unlock.
