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A BIT OF HISTORY
Up until a few years ago I also used GPAS to do the accounting for my clients. My frustration with these packages, the frequent complaints from my clients as well as complaints from other users prompted me to build my own system. In terms of adaptability, scalability, reporting and ease of use my system is above any GPAS for small to med size businesses that are available on the market today. Once I install, configure and maintain my solution for your company, it will beat your Quickbooks, SA, ACCPAC, Peachtree and all the rest by miles. The reasons for this are very simple. Canned accounting packages
1) Do accounting and nothing else
2) Are not customizable
3) Were not designed for your business needs.
How did you end up using a GPAS in the first place? Your company is using the wrong tool because you as owner/manager committed one of the following sins:
• You followed the recommendations of your accountant or your accounting firm. Accountants know next to nothing about system/software. It's like the blind leading the blind. All they know is the canned packages and recommend one over the other because of some feature that makes their job easier; it does not make your business processes and your job easier or more efficient, it only makes the accounting process easier.
• You followed the general masses. I often hear, "You should use such package because that's what most companies use or because it's popular." It is not because a product is popular that it is good. Oftentimes, it is quite the opposite. Many products are popular not because they are genuinely efficient but because the producers convinced the masses that their product was the only one they needed.
• Some businesses in desperation resort to a programmer to write something for them. What does a programmer know about accounting? Very little. A few months later they find themselves worse off with a different set of issues and problems.
I often hear people say "It makes sense to use the same software as our accounting firm so that files can be swapped easily." In other words, their concern is to make their accounting firm's job easier, not their company's. That's incorrect. It is not you who should make the job easier for your accountant, but the other way around.
Many are aware of the serious limitations of their current system but have no choice, it's the off the shelf package or nothing and they've learned to live with their pain. Well, things are starting to change. More and more SMEs are defecting their canned software and looking for someone who can not just do the accounting but also design and maintain an integrated system at the same time.
Up until a few years ago I also used GPAS to do the accounting for my clients. My frustration with these packages, the frequent complaints from my clients as well as complaints from other users prompted me to build my own system. In terms of adaptability, scalability, reporting and ease of use my system is above any GPAS for small to med size businesses that are available on the market today. Once I install, configure and maintain my solution for your company, it will beat your Quickbooks, SA, ACCPAC, Peachtree and all the rest by miles. The reasons for this are very simple. Canned accounting packages
1) Do accounting and nothing else
2) Are not customizable
3) Were not designed for your business needs.
How did you end up using a GPAS in the first place? Your company is using the wrong tool because you as owner/manager committed one of the following sins:
• You followed the recommendations of your accountant or your accounting firm. Accountants know next to nothing about system/software. It's like the blind leading the blind. All they know is the canned packages and recommend one over the other because of some feature that makes their job easier; it does not make your business processes and your job easier or more efficient, it only makes the accounting process easier.
• You followed the general masses. I often hear, "You should use such package because that's what most companies use or because it's popular." It is not because a product is popular that it is good. Oftentimes, it is quite the opposite. Many products are popular not because they are genuinely efficient but because the producers convinced the masses that their product was the only one they needed.
• Some businesses in desperation resort to a programmer to write something for them. What does a programmer know about accounting? Very little. A few months later they find themselves worse off with a different set of issues and problems.
I often hear people say "It makes sense to use the same software as our accounting firm so that files can be swapped easily." In other words, their concern is to make their accounting firm's job easier, not their company's. That's incorrect. It is not you who should make the job easier for your accountant, but the other way around.
Many are aware of the serious limitations of their current system but have no choice, it's the off the shelf package or nothing and they've learned to live with their pain. Well, things are starting to change. More and more SMEs are defecting their canned software and looking for someone who can not just do the accounting but also design and maintain an integrated system at the same time.
A General Purpose Accounting Software is just that; a software that does accounting (and nothing else) and is general by design. It is suitable in simple cases only, like retail store, restaurant, 2 men plumbing business, wholesaler, etc... i.e. businesses that have a simple workflow.
If on the other hand, you are for example a med size trucking/transport company or equipment rental company or a title loan company or a contractor or a property manager, or in event management, or in HighTech, a GPAS will make you seriously limp.
If on the other hand, you are for example a med size trucking/transport company or equipment rental company or a title loan company or a contractor or a property manager, or in event management, or in HighTech, a GPAS will make you seriously limp.
Accounting and System/Software For Small/Med Size Businesses