Small business accounting software: what’s the big deal?
Small business accounting software is very important. In this post I will let you into the secret of how to find the best accounting software for you.
A few years ago I had the wrong accounting software for my own needs and I got myself into quite a sticky situation (Opens link in new window) with my accounting as a result.
Fortunately I found a fantastic accounting software that made my life much better in a matter of days. That was years ago now and I have never looked back.
How it should be…
When you have the right small business accounting software you almost forget it is there. Doing the accounts should take a tiny amount of your time and energy, leaving you free to actually run your business and generate revenue.
How do I achieve this?
There are so many choices out there now that finding the best small business accounting software is easier said than done. You don’t have time to try out each system individually – I don’t know any small business owners who have the luxury of wasting an entire week of their time to choose the best accounting software…
So you need advice, preferably from other users of the software. You have several different routes available to you:
- Ask friends. This is a great option if you are fortunate enough to have friends with similar business interests as yourself. However, if they have been using software A for the last four years, they will probably have no idea how it compares to software B.
- Search forums for advice. This is another good option. You could go somewhere like ukbusinessforums.co.uk (Opens link in new window) and get other business owners’ opinions on the software that they have used. Again, one drawback is that people can only objectively recommend the one or two different types that they have experience in using.
- Look for reviews online. This is an excellent option as if you find the right source you can compare the different small business accounting software providers side by side. However, you do need to pay attention to who is behind the review…
Smoke and mirrors…
Check out the results for the following google search… ‘small business accounting software reviews uk’
This is what is on the first page of the organic Google results, third from the top…
Here is a website with reviews, which also includes customer reviews of various types of small business accounting software. So at first glance this seems to be an excellent source of information.
However, if you look at the bottom of the homepage of the website, you will discover that this website is owned and operated by one of the small business accounting software providers themselves!
I’m not suggesting the company in question are doing anything wrong per se, but I would like to demonstrate why you should be informed as to where you are getting your information from. I think it is unlikely that an accounting software company would give its own software a bad review on their own accounting software review website…
So, what’s the secret?
What is the secret to finding the best small business accounting software? Well I hope to be able to help you with that very soon. I am currently building AccountingSoftwareUK.com (Opens link in new window) and I truly hope that this will be the solution to the problem above. I have been in your shoes, looking for the best solution for my needs and with a stroke of luck, I found a very good small business accounting software provider, KashFlow (Opens link in new window).
I have started with an in-depth review of KashFlow which can be found in the Reviews section of the website. I have a lot of work ahead of me, as I evaluate the other small business accounting software providers in the UK market today.
I will evaluate them with the same set of criteria and in the same way, so that you will have a place where you can compare the different software providers side by side. User reviews will be important in allowing others to have their voices heard and you will be able to make an informed decision.
If you have any comments about this post, words of encouragement or other relevant thoughts, please post them.
Cheers!
Chris