Simply Accounting takes aim at new entrepreneurs
by
Alan Zisman (c) 2007 First published in
Business
in Vancouver April 24-30, 2007; issue 913
High Tech Office column
Sometimes you have to wait and wait and wait for new versions of the
software you use.
Microsoft
first released Windows XP in October 2001; many patches later, its
replacement, Windows Vista, finally arrived on store shelves this past
January.
Apple fans were
recently disappointed to hear that the upgrade of that company’s OS X,
promised for spring ’07, had been postponed until October.
Using
the same version of software for a long time is not necessarily a bad
thing. Upgrading can be traumatic and often require retraining and the
purchase of expensive new hardware. But some software developers manage
to churn out an ongoing stream of new releases. These regular upgrades
may prove to be worthwhile and in some cases may be pretty much
obligatory.
British-based
Sage Software
develops its Simply Accounting product line locally in Richmond. The
company claims that Simple Accounting is the No. 1 selling small
business accounting software in Canada, and in a 2006 survey, Simple
Accounting was most recommended by Canadian accountants.
Like
other accounting software developers, Sage offers annually updated
editions to include ever-changing payroll taxes. Simply Accounting’s
2007 editions also allow the company to improve built-in help and to
simplify the chore of setting up and maintaining business accounts.
A
new report centre centralizes the variety of reporting tools and
includes descriptions and sample views of each report. Backup has been
automated to ensure that important business data remains available.
As
previously, it comes in various editions. There’s pricing for single
users and multiple users, a ($150) basic version, a pro version with
inventory and other features for service and manufacturing companies,
and a ($500) premium version aimed at growing businesses with multiple
locations or companies, among others.
A new addition to the
lineup for 2007 is the ($70) entrepreneur edition aimed at small and
home-based businesses that have outgrown keeping their financial
records in chequebook-style software.
Sage promises users of
this edition a simple, two-step setup and no accounting jargon. As with
the higher-priced editions, reports can be opened in Microsoft Excel
and Word.
A few years ago, Microsoft bought accounting software developers
Great Plains
and, since then, has been expanding its line of business accounting
products. Recently, it offered a free product: Microsoft Accounting
Express 2007. Microsoft claims it’s aiming at “the millions of new
businesses that use pen and paper, spreadsheets or personal finance
software to manage their business.” In other words, the same businesses
Sage hopes will use Simply Accounting’s entrepreneur edition.
Sage representatives claim not to be worried about Microsoft moving
into their turf.
They
note that Accounting Express was designed for the U.S. market only and
are confident that their Canadian-based customer support and depth of
experience working with the Canadian small- business market would stand
them in good stead.
Trial downloads of the various Simply Accounting versions, good for 60
days of free use, are available at
simplyaccounting.com,
as is a no download/no installation online evaluation version of Simply
Accounting premium 2007.
Microsoft Accounting Express 2007 can be downloaded from
ideawins.com.