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Buyers Guide: How to choose the right accounts software and supplier Accounts S

Buyers Guide: How to choose the right accounts software and supplier Accounts Software Buyers Guide DMC Software Solutions Ltd Churchill House, Isis Way, Minerva Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6QR T: 0800 652 2423 F: 01733 371961 E: info@dmcsoftware.co.uk W: www.dmcsoftware.co.uk Welcome to our guide Most accountants would agree that a good accounting solution is essential to the success of any business. Accounting software can make it easier to produce financial management information on a timely basis. This guide has been put together with organisations involved in the selection process in mind. Whether your business is small, and only has basic needs, or whether your business is large, with intricate processes DMC Software Solutions can help you. We have been helping people solve their accounting system problems for years and we feel by writing this guide we will help many more. Choosing and implementing a new accounting system should not be scary; within this guide you will find hints and tips to help make the process of choosing and implementing a new accounting system a simple one. You will find information on… • What a good system should offer you • What to look for when selecting a system • How to choose the right supplier • How to ensure your new system is future proofed and can grow with your business • What to avoid when searching for the right solution I hope that you find this guide helpful and that it provides you with perceptive advice to help you with selecting and buying your new system. Should you have any questions or require any further information please do not hesitate to contact us. Kindest Regards Mike Ramsay Managing Director DMC Software Solutions Ltd Accounts Software Buyers Guide DMC Software Solutions Ltd Churchill House, Isis Way, Minerva Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6QR T: 0800 652 2423 F: 01733 371961 E: info@dmcsoftware.co.uk W: www.dmcsoftware.co.uk Contents 4 What is an Accounting Package? 4 Changing with the times 4 What to think about when initiating change 5 What a good accounting solution should offer 6 Future proofing 7 Things to avoid 7 CRM integration 8 Finding a provider 9 Checklist Accounts Software Buyers Guide DMC Software Solutions Ltd Churchill House, Isis Way, Minerva Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6QR T: 0800 652 2423 F: 01733 371961 E: info@dmcsoftware.co.uk W: www.dmcsoftware.co.uk What is an Accounting Package? Accounting packages are used for processing important financial transactions in your business. It will provide you with critical information about your business and its performance. A good accounting solution will help manage your business accounts more efficiently, making the processes more straightforward. There is a growing need for e-filing which means accounts software is more attractive to many businesses as it makes the process very simple. Changing with the times In today’s market there are less than 100 accounting systems being constantly updated. 10 years ago it was a very different story with more than 800 solutions available. Business’ buying habits have changed dramatically and the bespoke applications are phasing out, as people are favouring better established packages. Modern packages offer flexibility and they can be configured to meet your exact needs and business processes. What to think about when initiating change Making the decision to change your business and accounting solution is potentially quite difficult. Great care needs to be taken as a wrong decision can have disastrous effects on your business. It is inevitable as time progresses and your business changes, your accounting system requirements will alter too. Once you have made the decision that your current solution no longer achieves what you require you need to consider and be clear on the following points: What limitations are you currently experiencing? • What areas are proving to be problematic? • What effects do you want the change of accounting system to have on your business processes? • What do you expect from your new system? What is your business plan? Knowing what your current needs are is not enough! you need be thinking ahead, thinking to the future! How will your business change over the next few years? What effect will this have on your business processes? Without considering this you may well have to make a later change. What is currently happening in the market place? Think about what other businesses are doing. What solutions are they using? What effect is this having on the service they provide? Even if another business has made change with a negative effect you learn from them by improving on their pitfalls. Accounts Software Buyers Guide DMC Software Solutions Ltd Churchill House, Isis Way, Minerva Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6QR T: 0800 652 2423 F: 01733 371961 E: info@dmcsoftware.co.uk W: www.dmcsoftware.co.uk What a good accounting solution should offer: When making a selection beware; the correct solution for one company may prove to be completely the opposite for the next. Be aware of those who offer an “out of the box” solution that suits all. Key areas that you need to look at when choosing your software are… Customisation: Is the software customisable? Customisation is a key feature to look at when purchasing a new system. Most providers offer a level of customisation, but you need to look for the provider that offers development. You will find many suppliers that offer screen configuration but it is important that you choose specialists who can modify the appearance and content of your screens catering for your exact needs. Reporting: Reporting is an important feature of any accounting package. When selecting the correct package it is essential that the reports are flexible and that you have control. Many solutions in the market place offer standardised reports for you to choose from. However, you will find it invaluable if you can select a solution where these standard formats are available but you have the option to customise them or even build your own. With this functionality it ensures that the data you are analysing is relevant! N.B. When producing reports it is important to work in a format that you are familiar with. Look out for accounting tools that enable you to export reports into Excel. This will allow you to amend them or even create new spreadsheets to suit your own business. Integration: It is best to choose a product that allows integration with other modules and other products. This allows data to be brought in from other sources to be viewed as one. This facility reduces the need to re-key data and therefore helps to eliminate errors and improves productivity. Seamless integration with additional modules and applications allows information to be accessed business wide. The combination of front and back-office information in one central database improves the service that you can offer to your customers as everyone in the business can see what is happening with each customer at every stage. Multi-currency: Foreign currency capability is something that should be considered when choosing a new system. Although not essential for everyone it may be useful in the future. Nobody can accurately predict how their business may change. This feature will allow you to trade with customers and suppliers outside of the UK in any mixture of currencies. A good system will record all transactions in a base currency with details of the exchange rate used in every line of transaction. Security: Internal and external risks to data are plentiful. It is an employer’s responsibility to notify all employees of internal risks. A relaxed attitude to security puts your company’s most valuable asset at risk- Your data! Did you know a large percentage of all employees admit to leaving their computer on when they have left the office? Businesses can increase the protection of their data against external risks by selecting the correct system. Look for a system with the most secure platform and best available security. Accounts Software Buyers Guide DMC Software Solutions Ltd Churchill House, Isis Way, Minerva Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough, PE2 6QR T: 0800 652 2423 F: 01733 371961 E: info@dmcsoftware.co.uk W: www.dmcsoftware.co.uk Future proofing: To ensure that the solution you choose is going to grow with your business and not provide pinch points in the future you need to ensure that your chosen solution has the following qualities. Scalability: It is important when you are researching your software that you look at the number of users the system can accommodate. It may be that you only require two users at this stage but as your business grows you may require additional users. Some solutions cater for only 1-2 users so if you have the potential to grow it may be worth considering a system with greater scalability to prevent having to change to another solution further down the line. Modular: If you select a modular product you can select the modules you require now with the scope to select additional modules at a later date. You do not need to invest large amounts of money in the early stages to uploads/Industriel/ acc-guide.pdf