I have been asked to evaluate software for a start up for a IT consultant who would in the future be working on multiple different IT projects.
They are looking for the following in an accounting software.
Online accounting + VAT/RTI filing, project profitability reports, convert estimates to Invoice, cashflow management and most important of all user friendliness. Other preferred options would be the system can issue Purchase Orders as well as being able to invoice and carry out the accounting using his mobile. Budget around £350.
The ones considered are Freshbooks, Zero, Quickbooks and Free Agent
I am familiar with quickbooks (desktop version) and thought for a non accountant it maybe too complex with too many features. I liked Free Agent just because of the simplicity and the ease of navigation on its interface.
Would appreciate any inputs or perhaps even better recommendations.
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Replies (11)
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He is wanting a lot for his budget
Firstly if he is wanting to do RTI filing he will need a separate payroll package. if he is a sole director taking minimum you or a payroll bureau would surely be a better bet than paying £100 for payroll software and having a go yourself. Something cloud based like free agent or Xero would sort most of the bookkeeping out but I think he may struggle to get something that job costs etc for his budget. I would agree Sage is not the answer though.
FreeAgent will do most of what he needs and it's core user base is IT Contractors,
It does RTI filing, VAT filing, project reporting/costing, estimates.
It doesn't really do cashflow reporting, but I'm not sure of any that do - I think there might be an add on for that though...
For user friendliness it can't be beaten - it's designed for non-accountants (but as an accountant I love working with it too and I use it to manage my practice books)
I have to be honest and say I haven't used Freshbooks, but out of the other choices FreeAgent wins for this client hands down.
RM
Keepek
you can check out Keepek. It's a nice tool for small businesses including startups.
Foreign exchange
I just realised free agent doesn't deal with foreign currencies or purchase orders which has now become an essential requirement
The only one that seem to cater for my client needs is quickbooks online plus
IT consultant - Practical experience
Several years ago I was in a similar position and opted for QB. My main reason was the time recording feature. Working from home it meant that I could run a timer when working on a job and have it recorded immediately.
Later I added a palm pilot to run a time recording application when I was out of the office. This was integrated to QB.
Each client could have a job attached.
All of this suited me due to the way I worked.
However, I am now looking at alternatives. My priority will be to find a system that matches how I work and makes it easy for me to record activity accurately and bill it easily.
Only then will I consider what my accountant needs. However the application will be cloud based.
Don't know if any of that helps.
Quickbooks
I would opt for QuickBooks Premier - it does everything he needs including currency, purchase orders and even cashflow forecasting and budgets, payroll/RTI and is well within his budget. I have helped a lot of companies with quickbooks set up and training and non-accountants pick it up very quickly as long as the initial set up is done for them and tailored to their needs.
You'll never get a blanket answer....
....to this as there is no right or wrong system. And the recs will usually be pretty much the same:
FreeAgent
Xero
Kashflow
Clearbooks
Quickbooks
Crunch (perhaps)
FreshBooks
The list goes on.
I'd say trial a few and simply see what takes your fancy.
I would recommend a combination of KashFlow & a download of HMRCs RTI software - latter is free. KashFlow is written to be friendly to the inexperienced.