| Unless you're a CPA or related financial professional, | | | | I also recall how my clients often struggled when |
| your relationship with accounting software is likely an | | | | faced with systems that included software from |
| uneasy one. While financial management is absolutely | | | | different vendors, which meant dealing with |
| essential to any business, setting up and running | | | | incompatibilities, never quite knowing who to ask for |
| accounting and other financial systems is a task few | | | | support, additional (and often overlapping) training and |
| are comfortable with, and most of us need help. I | | | | so on. Dealing with different vendors also inevitably |
| recall when, as a seasoned system professional I was | | | | results in finger pointing and difficulties in making |
| assigned the task of locating and installing a new | | | | everything work together. |
| overall accounting system for the fairly large | | | | This is one instance where consolidation in an industry |
| company I worked for. It was an educational | | | | works out in favor of customers. A prime example is |
| experience for sure, and it left me with a newfound | | | | the lineup of popular business management and |
| respect and appreciation for the folks who design, | | | | accounting software that is now all part of The Sage |
| install and run those systems. This goes for relatively | | | | Group, a global supplier of business management |
| simple software like QuickBooks, Peachtree, ACT!, | | | | software and services. So anyone working with |
| the Timeslips products, or similar business | | | | Peachtree or Peachtree Quantum, MAS 90 or MAS |
| management software, and even more so for more | | | | 200, ACT!, Timeslips and a variety of other popular |
| comprehensive business management solutions like | | | | inventory management, CRM, human resource and |
| Sage MAS 90 or MAS 200 software, or the very | | | | operational management solutions is now dealing with |
| complex systems used by large companies. | | | | one source and resellers/distributors who are familiar |
| Way back during the early era of personal computing | | | | with all of those products. |
| when I installed a very inexpensive (but quite | | | | What this means is that for a lot of businesses, the |
| powerful) accounting software suite for a client I | | | | multi-source problems are a thing of the past as they |
| quickly learned that while accounting system | | | | can now deal with just one vendor. This also means |
| installation is easy, proper setup and configuration is | | | | there are fewer integration headaches and less finger |
| not. I also found that training is essential, and being | | | | pointing. Software training, too, benefits. Peachtree |
| able to get decent support even more so. Another | | | | training or classes, ACT! Software training, or MAS90 |
| problem with accounting and business management | | | | MAS200 setup training and customization are now |
| software is that while the principles of accounting and | | | | available from companies specializing on all the various |
| business management rarely change, it can be quite a | | | | Sage Group offerings. Yes, you can now go to |
| task to switch from one system to another, train | | | | Peachtree or MAS or Timeslips "University" and just |
| new people who may be used to different software, | | | | generally do one-stop shopping for not only |
| use multiple systems, and just generally acclimate | | | | accounting system software, but also installation, |
| finance departments to a certain type of software | | | | setup, support, services, customization and training. |
| or certain ways of doing things. | | | | |