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Hollyballoo

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Hi all

I'm going to get myself organised and am thinking about accounting software for sole traders :study: - can anyone recommend a programme they feel is particularly useful for our line of business without all the unnecessaries clogging up the system?

I'd stick to good old pen and paper but somehow its not quite as efficient for projections etc ;) (ie...to let me know that I'm spending far too much time online when I should be out there earning a living :shock:) and besides which, when I'm sitting on the puter, I can at least pretend I'm being business efficient, even if I am switching applications between the accounting and good old ss.com!
 
Hi Holly,
I do all my accounting in Exel. Easy and it does projections, graphs and other useless stuff, love the auto sum the best.
Love Ruth xxx
 
I use Quickbooks, it is great it works everything out and keeps track of all my stock. If you want any further info then let me know.
 
Try Sage or MS Money (lord knows they have enough ;) )

Both are very popular for what you need. You could also more than likely download demos and give them a whirl to see which suits you. You may even want to try Ebay when you know which one your after.

Good luck
 
Thanks for the suggestions...

I do currently have Money (standard) which is excellent for all my personal finances but someone said that the business add-in is a bit of a nightmare so that's why I thought I'd see what you all recommend.

I was looking for something that pretty much does it all for me (being the lazy type that I am as well as being cerebrally challenged when it comes to accounting....the only thing I excel in is getting my flexible friend out at every available opportunity and then ducking when Mr Postie arrives :oops:). I was probably a data input clerk in a previous life...love plugging in figures but don't know much else beyond that...:ack: MS Money certainly gives you a reality check I'll say that much and so if I can get a financial suite that will do the same for my business, then hopefully it will keep me on the straight and narrow....

I'll be looking into all your suggestions so thanks again....

ps. went to a shareware site and downloaded an accounts package....took nearly 2 hours :shock: ...only to discover that it was all American and I couldn't even plug in my own address because it said my zip code was invalid.....doh :silly:.
 
At the moment I send all my receipts and bank statements off to an accountant who charges me £10 per month, more for my tax returns - My question is....... is this good value for money or am I better of doing it all myself? (I do keep a manual note of all incomings and outgoings).

I run my business from home and am very much just building a clientelle (quite nicely just now!) so what do you think?

Thanks
Dellie
 
Hi all,

I am the daughter of a retired Inland Revenue Inspector (don't shoot LOL) so it has been drummed into me to keep adequate records.

I have everything on my computer in Quickbooks. At the end of the month I pay myself a wage based on the treatments I have done - ie. different amounts based on Full sets, rebalance or manicure. When I enter in a sale it works out how much the total is, if I have any retail it takes it from my stock etc. I can do loads of reports - Profit and Loss, Balance sheet, most profitable customer, stock take sheets, percentages of each sale - ie. I know that about 16% of my income comes from retail sales in a particular time period. I can always reconcile my bank statement and my VISA statement at the end of each month.

I did look at MS Money but the UK version does not do the stock issue.

I need (well want) to know how my business is doing compared to last year on an ongoing basis - I also want to know before the event if I am likely to pay tax - but then a successful business will eventually give you a tax bill LOL.

Hope this helps.
 
Peppercorn Nails said:
At the moment I send all my receipts and bank statements off to an accountant who charges me £10 per month, more for my tax returns - My question is....... is this good value for money or am I better of doing it all myself? (I do keep a manual note of all incomings and outgoings).

I run my business from home and am very much just building a clientelle (quite nicely just now!) so what do you think?

Sounds very reasonable to me, but then the appeal of having someone else do the paperwork bit is worth a lot to the likes of me ;).
 
naturalnails said:
I have everything on my computer in Quickbooks. At the end of the month I pay myself a wage based on the treatments I have done - ie. different amounts based on Full sets, rebalance or manicure. When I enter in a sale it works out how much the total is, if I have any retail it takes it from my stock etc. I can do loads of reports - Profit and Loss, Balance sheet, most profitable customer, stock take sheets, percentages of each sale - ie. I know that about 16% of my income comes from retail sales in a particular time period. I can always reconcile my bank statement and my VISA statement at the end of each month.

Hi Fiona,

Thanks for mentioning Quickbooks - had a quick look on Amazon on this one - which version do you have because the ones I saw had an add-on payroll which I don't necessarily need, being a one man band.

From what you're saying about its other features, this sound like exactly what I am looking for - particularly as I will soon be offering beauty treatments too and it would be great to break everything down, produce reports on retail sales etc.

I thought it looked rather expensive really but I guess it is worth it - I suppose it will be a bit of a nightmare shifting over all expenditures, sales etc from my personal accounts in Money though initially - or would you just start from afresh with the new programme and not try to complicate things? I really want to get an accurate picture of what I'm really earning now, but taking into account all the training courses, travel, hotel costs, kits etc from last year or is that going to be tricky?

I just hope its not too complicated to operate!
 
hollyballoo said:
I just hope its not too complicated to operate!

You could enter all your backdated information to give yourself a clear vision of your business or you could just enter everything from now on - take your last bank statement and VISA statement (if that is how you work) and enter in the starting balance and go from there.

The version I have is 8.0 without the payroll bit as I dont need it - so any version from then onwards would do you well.

Surf around and see what savings you may be able to find on it.

If you do get it I will be more than happy to help with any questions you have.
 
It can get expensive trying out the different packages on the market. What you need is a husband like mine who owns a computer company & had a custom made accounting package made especially for my business. It addresses stock, invoices, works out my VAT & all the rest. I tried Sage & Quickbooks but wanted something to suit me (simple in other words LOL!!).
The simpler the better for small businesses & my accountant is happy too, less work for her, a smaller bill for me :D

Best wishes
Karen
 
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