If you are a bit of a revolutionary, tend to work mobile and are a Mac lover, AccountEdge may be the just the thing for your small business. This accounting software is the only business solution in this review that offers free iPhone and iPad apps that can synchronize with their software. They also offer full versions for Macs and PCs as well as Canadian and network versions. All versions of this software include numerous reporting options, comprehensive payroll tools and an online time tracking app.
If you are familiar with accounting software, you may remember MYOB. AccountEdge emerged from MYOB to become a flexible accounting tool. Through the years, we have watched MYOB progress into the unfussy, simple-to-use accounting software that it is today. We give Acclivity (the U.S. distributor) kudos for adding mobile apps, which is common for online accounting tools but rare in software versions. We think this is quite progressive thinking for Acclivity Group.
This product is somewhat in tune with the rebel spirit, since it offers mobile Mac versions. And like Macs, it does not play well with others. This software cannot directly import QuickBooks files; you have to first move them to Excel, format the data in a specific manner, then import to AccountEdge. On their website, they say it is difficult to convert QuickBooks data but they will do it for you for just short of $500. Though we found this accounting software easy to use and comprehensive, it would be much easier to implement for a company just starting out or with nominal data to import than for a company with years of data to convert.
New for 2011:
AccountEdge has made a number of practical improvements including the ability to manage progress billing and retainer payments. They have also added an extremely handy time tracker, which employees or contractors can access via any internet connection to log time remotely. Their new mobile tool is a great app for traveling sales teams; it can be used to record sales, enter and track expenses, bill time, manage customer information and maintain lists. The mobile version can synchronize with Mac and PC versions.
Getting started with AccountEdge accounting software is simple if you do not have a lot of data to import from another accounting application. If you are just starting out, it comes with a helpful New Company File Assistant. When creating an account you can use a business profile layout provided by AccountEdge or create one of your own. This accounting software comes with 100 custom business templates; each template is defined by an industry and comes with suggested configurations for each industry. This is a good place to start and it is fully customizable.
Using AccountEdge is easy with labeled icons at the top of the screen for payroll, purchases, sales and more. Once the icons are opened, a chart opens with subcategories for each subject leading into one another. This accounting program seems to be designed for small business owners who are not entirely familiar with formal accounting terms, for example in the banking section, the choices are a labeled “spend money” and “receive money,” rather than “accounts receivable” and “accounts payable.”
AccountEdge accounting software has help files that come with the download and you can download a full user manual. Acclivity also provides some basic accounting information and online they host a support library with how-to guides and product documentation for both their Mac and Windows versions. All online information and instruction is available to all license holders. However, for telephone or email support you have to subscribe to a support plan. Email-only support is $129 per year and telephone and email support is $199 per year. They also provide per-call support starting at $50 for ten minutes.
AccountEdge can provide local support through certified consultants who are available for remote and onsite support. We searched for consultants in our state and found one near our office in Salt Lake City. When we searched for local support in more populous states such as California, we found local support in cities ranging from San Diego to Sonoma to Nevada City. This is extremely helpful for small business owners who want one-on-one, onsite support.
AccountEdge allows you to track your sales easily. You can enter information about received payments, receipts and transaction journals. You can enter sales in an organized manner, categorizing by salesperson, ship date and amount. AccountEdge now has a useful time-saving tool that will convert a purchase to an invoice. This is helpful if you incur an expense, such as supplies to complete a project, which you need to recoup from your client.
This section of AccountEdge can help you track purchases, calculate taxes, print checks and email payment notifications. It can also track vendor information and print and calculate amounts to be printed on 1099 forms.
The payroll section of this product is impressive and easy to follow. You can enter payroll categories, a timesheet, process payroll, print checks, pay liabilities and print pay stubs and tax forms. They offer payroll services for an additional fee if interested.
AccountEdge has an impressive inventory module. It is designed to work with Enstore for online sales. Three images can be attached to an item file as well as location, tag words and weight. In addition, warranty type and substitute items, which are not included by default, can be added by configuring a customized field. It can also support partial shipments and can manage up to 30 different pricing levels per item. Its powerful search tool will let you search by any field, including by item tag words.
The banking section is split into three categories; Bank Register, Receive Money and Spend Money. The Bank Register section allows you to reconcile accounts and gives you access to a transaction journal. Under the Receive Money section you are able to print receipts and prepare bank deposits. Under the Spend Money section you can prepare electronic payments, print checks and print and email payment notifications.
AccountEdge has a helpful feature that lets you undo bank reconciliation in case you make a mistake. You can also restrict which users are allowed to have access to the bank reconciliation features, to further reduce the chance of error.
The time billing section is well organized and lets you create an activities list, enter activity slips and create an activity log. Along with entering activity slips, you can enter a timesheet, prepare time billing invoices and create a transaction journal.
Acclivity has a new tool that works with AccountEdge called Time Tracker. This tool is available for a low monthly price and can track employee and contractor timesheets and activity slips. It can apply time to jobs and to payroll categories and can be securely accessed through any internet-connected Mac or PC. We like this new addition.
The job costing section was a little difficult to find as it is not represented by an icon. To get to it you click on ‘lists’ on the toolbar and then go to Jobs. Once you get there, you can insert the job number and name, income, cost and expenses. Then you can get a feel for whether you will have a profit or a loss.
The general ledger can be found in the Accounts section under the accounts list category. In Accounts List you can get a detailed look at assets, liabilities, income and many other aspects of account information.
This section is well organized and easy to follow with tabs at the top of the screen labeled with the individual sections of the ledger.
The assets can also be found in the accounts list section under the tab labeled assets. In the tab there are individual categories such as office equipment, vehicles owned, buildings and a number of other categories. Many accounting programs do not offer a tool for tracking fixed assets, so it is nice that this one does.
This is a bit of a weak point for AccountEdge, and even they relate that migrating QuickBooks data to their software is difficult. Nevertheless, they do offer a migration service for $499 that will import your QuickBooks data into AccountEdge. We looked through their online support to see if it can import from Sage products and we did not find a tutorial on how to do it. It's likely a difficult process. We are assuming you would have to convert your Sage data into a CSV file and rearrange the data to match the format that AccountEdge requires. However, they do make it simple for you to convert from an older version of their accounting software to a newer version.
This small business accounting software can provide quite a few preconfigured reports, including nearly 50 accounts receivable reports, almost 30 accounts payable and around 20 payroll and inventory reports.
We like the improvements AccountEdge has made in the last year, including the progressive iPad tool that we think is a clever tool for mobile sales crews or consultants. This accounting software has all basic small business accounting needs covered and can help online retailers with their storefront, Enstore. The only thing we would like to see Acclivity add is the ability to import data from other accounting applications easily.
