I use Xero and I'd recommend it strongly. Responses below.
On 11/08/10 11:26, Tom Steinberg wrote:
Thanks for all these suggestions - I'd like to focus on one particular
issue - automation and automatic checking to prevent common problems
and mistakes:
* If someone doesn't invoice for a month, I'd like to be able to
select "Projected payment delayed by 1 month" and have it a) change
the forecast b) keep a version history.
Do you mean if someone doesn't pay an invoice to you, or vice-versa?
Either way, Xero does let you enter expected payment dates for items in
accounts payable and receivable, does project your income and
expenditure based on those dates and does highlight invoices that have
not been paid before that date. You can change the date and it gives you
a history (including comments if you enter them) of the changes that you
make.
* If people are paying tax under PAYE, I'd like to just be able to say
"This person has a gross salary of X" and have the system tell me how
much tax we need to save each month, regardless of how the tax system
changes under our feet.
I don't think Xero does anything related to PAYE. I think
(traditionally) that this is done separately, anyway, by payroll
software rather than accounting software? But not sure. Does Sage do it?
* I'd like the system to nag me, by saying "You projected this payment
would have been made by date Y. Has it been made? If not, when do you
expect it?"
I don't think it nags you, but it does make it very obvious when
invoices are late. They come up in red. And (with a small number of
clicks) you can send a reminder email directly from Xero with the
invoice attached.
* I'd like the system to understand VAT, and say "You just got paid
£100 for X. Would it be correct to assume that 17.5% of this is VAT?"
You can certainly do this - there's a drop-down on the invoice form (for
payables and receivables) that specifies whether the amounts are
inclusive or exclusive of VAT.
* And of course I'd like it to produce lovely reports for all of these things.
It certainly produces some lovely reports. Its executive summary is one
of the best snapshots of an organisation's finances I've seen -- a
sentiment which has been echoed by others. But I'm not sure about the
other reports as I haven't used them much.
Mostly, I find it really easy and quick to use. Even bank reconciliation
is a pleasure. They've clearly put a lot of time into smoothing out the
kinks. The interface is slick and intuitive, which I really value.
Gets a strong thumbs-up from me.
Am I, perhaps, asking for moon on a stick? Or do things like Sage and
Intuit just do this?
thanks,
Tom
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Harry Metcalfe
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Web: http://harrymetcalfe.com
Twitter: @harrym
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