Business Software Advice

Mile High Mania · 06-10-2006, 08:15 AM

I wanted to see if any of you had some inexpensive ideas for my father-in-law. He's getting into a small business and is looking for a software package to do the following:

-Accounting module to capture fees collected, expenses, etc.
-A module to track customers and deal packages.
-Module to maintain participating dealership information, names, email, www, addresses, etc
-Ability to scan in sales packages under a name or number
-Reporting of historical data.

I know this is kind of specific and odd, but thought I would ask. I don't think they'll have more than 5-7 employees.

Thanks,

jspchief · 06-10-2006, 08:46 AM

Without really understanding the scope of his needs... I'd suggest Quickbooks. It's relatively inexpensive, user friendly, and broad enough that it can be customized to fit almost any small business.

I've been using it for about 7 years, and really like it.

KC Jones · 06-10-2006, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mile High Mania

I wanted to see if any of you had some inexpensive ideas for my father-in-law. He's getting into a small business and is looking for a software package to do the following:

-Accounting module to capture fees collected, expenses, etc.
-A module to track customers and deal packages.
-Module to maintain participating dealership information, names, email, www, addresses, etc
-Ability to scan in sales packages under a name or number
-Reporting of historical data.

I know this is kind of specific and odd, but thought I would ask. I don't think they'll have more than 5-7 employees.

Thanks,

Have him hire a small time IT cosultant with strong references who does this stuff for small businesses all the time. That guy will help him pick software, hardware, etc. I haven't used quickbooks in years but it can probably do a lot of that stuff. Someone with modest technical talents could whip up a DB schema using MS Access, PostgreSQL, or any small/free RDBMS for a lot of this, or you could even look at open source offerings - gnuCash is a full double ledger accounting package that's quite flexible.

If your uncle plans to have a small network of PCs for the 5-7 employee's he ought to look at either MS Small Business Server, Clark Connect, or Novell's Suse Linux for small business. Any of those will give you a lot of things you'll want right out of the box.

**jAZ** · 06-10-2006, 04:07 PM

When I bought my business I looked at both Quckbooks, Peachtree and MYOB (along with a couple more expensive alternatives).

We went with MYOB. It was easy to use, and is well designed with more features for less money than QB or Peachtree.

I'd recommend it for anyone doing small business stuff.

The one issue might be the "scan in sales packages". I'm not sure what this means, so I can't say for sure that MYOB will support that.

You can download trial versions of all 3 products (or at least I was able to a year ago).

06-10-2006, 08:15 AM
Mile High Mania #triggering Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Tejas Casino cash: $3267229	Business Software Advice I wanted to see if any of you had some inexpensive ideas for my father-in-law. He's getting into a small business and is looking for a software package to do the following: -Accounting module to capture fees collected, expenses, etc. -A module to track customers and deal packages. -Module to maintain participating dealership information, names, email, www, addresses, etc -Ability to scan in sales packages under a name or number -Reporting of historical data. I know this is kind of specific and odd, but thought I would ask. I don't think they'll have more than 5-7 employees. Thanks,
Posts: 30,361

06-10-2006, 08:46 AM	#2
jspchief BAMF Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Your Face Casino cash: $9998710	Without really understanding the scope of his needs... I'd suggest Quickbooks. It's relatively inexpensive, user friendly, and broad enough that it can be customized to fit almost any small business. I've been using it for about 7 years, and really like it. __________________ Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all.
Posts: 27,207

06-10-2006, 04:07 PM	#4
jAZ Supporter Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Tucson, AZ Casino cash: $9847493	When I bought my business I looked at both Quckbooks, Peachtree and MYOB (along with a couple more expensive alternatives). We went with MYOB. It was easy to use, and is well designed with more features for less money than QB or Peachtree. I'd recommend it for anyone doing small business stuff. The one issue might be the "scan in sales packages". I'm not sure what this means, so I can't say for sure that MYOB will support that. You can download trial versions of all 3 products (or at least I was able to a year ago).
Posts: 24,799