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Your Company’s Growing Needs
As your company expands, your accounting software should support and enhance your company’s growth. With some entry level software solutions, you may notice that the customer support may not keep up with your needs – or your bookkeepers may be compensating with workarounds such as spreadsheets.
Perhaps your solution may even crash periodically causing frustrating delays in productivity. Maybe your entry level solution has served you well so far, but the reporting may not be comprehensive enough for your expanding needs. What was once an “affordable” solution may have become a limitation.
- Is your entry level software reliable – or does it stall, lock up or crash?
- How is customer support – are they available, fast and effective?
- Are you using workarounds to compensate for the software’s limitations?
- Will your solution integrate with third party software applications?
- Can you use one application for multiple businesses?
- Does the reporting provide a comprehensive picture of your business?
Entry Level Limitations
Here are some snippets of reviews about a popular entry accounting level software (ConsumerAffairs.com). If these sound familiar, you may want to consider a better alternative.
“At least once a day, when I’m processing invoices, the system crashes and I have to completely close it and start all over again.”
“After calling their support line, I was instructed to delete all payroll entries…Do not use [this entry level solution].”
“After hours of holding on the phone…this software is less than 3 months old and no warranty…We will be looking for new software.”
Vetting Reliable Software
When it’s time to upgrade your software, it’s important to consider vetting accounting software solutions that are reliable, user friendly, and provide clear reports.
- Has your potential vendor received good consumer reviews?
- Is the software proven to be flexible, comprehensive and reliable?
- Does the vendor provide excellent support?
- Is their solution “one-size-fits-all” or is it tailored meet your unique needs?
- Can the software scale up or down?
- Are there excellent audit trails?
Something to consider is that many businesses are now categorizing software as a monthly operating expense. For many, gone are the days of holding onto ineffective or outdated software.
A Better Alternative
It may be more cost-effective to invest in professional level accounting software that is flexible enough to support your business needs and eliminate work-arounds and data silos. Improved data security and audit trails are another benefit. Professional level software often requires a one-time licensing fee with nominal annual charges for updates and version upgrades.
Overall, your software provider should be able to consult with you individually about how professional level accounting software will help your company and the potential ROI – by sharing prior success stories of helping businesses similar to yours.
This post was written by guest blogger Alix H. at TimeClick Software’s partner Passport Software. Learn more about Passport Software’s professional level business accounting software. Passport Software’s payroll module has an optional interface with TimeClick Software.