Different Types of Accounting Software You’ll Use in the Profession

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The accounting software you use in your business is a good indicator of how seriously you take your business. Old school spreadsheets are limited in what they can do. Modern accounting software can provide additional features and modules, the most useful of which are accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and trial balance.

Depending on which company you work for, you might use a brand name customizable third-party system, or a software package that has had local modifications implemented, or you may even work with an in-house software program developed by the company’s own programming team. The business has progressed rapidly since the 1990s, and now it is more common to see larger companies dominate the market.

What Are the Most Useful Features in Accounting Software?

When it comes to practicality, companies choose software packages that can easily record accounts receivable and payable, and that have ledgers or “books.” Billing and invoicing is also preferable, but this is secondary to an increasingly common trend in software technology: the ability to track inventory.

Programs that can track inventory records—and more importantly, centralize them and organize all files to convert to stock and inventory forms, purchase orders, sales orders, debt collection and payment processing—is in high demand. Even companies that do not deal with massive inventory can find point-of-sale software useful, solely because it converts all financial data to tax-friendly accounting reports. Therefore, mid to large companies have an even greater interest in using tax-workable accounting software to simply their end-of-the-year processes.

The Best Accounting Software

Finding what is defined as the “best” accounting software depends on (A) your company’s needs; (B) how convenient it is to teach the program to your employees; (C) how seriously you take software reviews. The best reviewed software programs of the year are not always what your financial department would deem useful. Right away, we can list what the most popular accounting programs were for 2014.

They included:

•Quickbooks Online
•Sage One
•Freshbooks Cloud Accounting
•Harvest
•Free Agent
•Zoho Online
•LessAccounting
•Working Point
•Xero
•Kashoo

One trend that is definitely gaining in the industry is the use of cloud servers, as opposed to local software packages or applications. Several years ago the idea of storing a company’s finances online were perceived as an unnecessary risk; now, even though online security has come a long way, it is simply more convenient for companies to store information on a cloud server than it is to be overly protective and store data locally. Too many risks abound in doing so, from damaged data to local theft to fatal computer crashes.

Besides, with managers and company owners doing statewide, nationwide and international business, remote storage is the most practical approach. Your business is in your head, it’s in the company’s assets, and it should not be held down to a physical location, which hinders profit potential. Choosing accurate, affordable, and remote accounting software with the latest inventory and accounting features will quickly lead to greater efficiency.