I'm a huge fan of VT software. I find it flexible and agile. I've tried to adapt to Xero for some clients however adapt is just what I can't do. Some people think in a completely different way and I feel like Xero is the equivalent in software for me - I just don't get it and in fact hate using it. However I'm concerned that more and more clients will want to move to the cloud. Is there anything like VT in a cloud. Any rumours that VT will do a cloud version? Just wondering which way to turn in order to keep on the ball with software offerings. Anyone else have the same problem with Xero?
Related resources
Replies (9)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
whats your specific dislike with Xero? - xero is far from perfect but i much pefer xero to the competitors offerings. The only real annoyance for me with xero is it doesnt copewith unallocated payments on account very well (compared to sage cloud)- other than that i generally prefer xero to all the other offerings out there - the main plus point is the find and recode feature - easy peasy to amend crapola quickly compared to other similar fare
One thing with xero is you really have to use it quite a bit to get up to speed efficiency wise and work out how to get the most out of it.
I agree entirely that VT+ is superb. The question all its rivals should be asking is why they didn't do it the simple VT way. I also agree that Xero is awful. It has no proper sales or purchase ledger (at this point its fanboys always claim it does, and I then have to explain to them what a sales or purchase ledger is), it has umpteen utterly useless or overcomplicated screens and reports, and there is no backup facility, so there is no way of easily restoring an earlier correct position if a client messes it up. Certainly, a cloud version of VT+ would be unbeatable when MTD for IT & CT comes in.
I also agree about the ease of use of VT+ and have used it for a many years and am not keen to have clients start using cloud software that a lot will struggle with not to mention the added cost. I have a few using the free VT cash book on Dropbox - they are happy with it and I can access it - just like the cloud! We also use VT Accounts for accounts preparation and worry that if a lot of clients use a different package - QB, Xero etc. that it will take us more time in pulling together the final accounts. VT integration between VT cash book and final accounts is easy peasy.
I use both !
I favour VT but can see the advantages for Xero as well. It does have some nice features that VT doesn't, particularly bank feeds and adding the invoices to the transaction - means I don't need to have a pile of paperwork at the year end.
Work colleagues also integrate with Dext etc but I'm a bit old school for all that and I'm not convinced its much quicker anyway.
However, I agree that I much prefer the sales and purchase ledgers on VT and it all just makes more sense.
I use Dropbox for a couple of VT files, which means I can access anywhere but I get in a muddle when trying for more than one Dropbox address - presumably I'm not understanding the process correctly.
But I agree, a cloud version of VT would be fabulous.
I couldn’t agree more. With VT, everything is so easy, easy to move a select number of items from one account to another, easy to match payments to invoices, easy to change dates. The only thing lacking is a bank feed, but with a bank csv, that isn’t a big problem because the software remembers most of the designated accounts when you import it. Xero is just cumbersome in comparison, as is QBO, both of which I have to use for some clients. My ideal would be VT in the cloud, with clients doing the heavy lifting, and if it comes to it, pressing a QU button every 3 months (without my input). I haven’t tried to get a client to use it, via, Dropbox. Perhaps this is a way to go
Thanks for the heads up on VT in Dropbox - I will give it a go. Even just drilling down in Xero does not lead me to what I need to find. Yes VT could do with a bank feed and foreign currency improvements, but at the moment I spend more time amending client's errors on Xero than I would inputting everything from the start in VT. However that's what the client wants, so that's what they get, I'ld just like to be able to offer a VT equivalent that would appease them and save me from the Xero trauma.
"but at the moment I spend more time amending client's errors on Xero than I would inputting everything from the start in VT."
would the situation not be equally bad if client posted loads of stuff wrong in vt?? - i have a client who uses vt and is a bit slapdash with codings - it would be much easier for me to find and recode stuff and setup correct prompts in xero than work with what they give me.
some clients who make life hard should just have to pay that bit more end of if they refuse to up their game - if you havent used find and recode features and are not setting up correct defaults for numpty clients perhaps you may not be getting the best out of xero. exporting transaction history all acounts generally flags up most issues in xero reasonably easily - so i am puzzled if you cant find stuff in xero - the search bar generally works for all gross amounts whetehr that be bill or payment.
I agree with most of the replies in massively favouring VT over Xero; I also agree with The OP that I just don’t “get” Xero and its workarounds.
Personally, given VT’s likely demographic, I don’t see a Cloud offering as that essential: these don’t tend to be frequent users needing instant access or raising invoices on the go or any of that sort of stuff which sounds great in adverts but very few people do in reality.
What the desktop advocates amongst us need to be doing more is banging the drum and getting the message out there that the Cloud does have some advantages in some limited circumstances but is mostly just a case of Emperor’s new clothes.
Another advocate for VT here. I do use it with one client in dropbox as they do most of the transaction bookkeeping and I chip in with more complex stuff like downloads of invoices from their bespoke system, payroll journals, depreciation and accruals/prepayments. However, it is really easy to get conflicted copies
of the VT file arising without realising (from both of you accessing simultaneously) and you effectively end up with two versions with different transactions in both. It is a real pain and happens more frequently than I'd like, especially as I then have to unpick and re-enter to get one copy complete. VT cloud would be a dream