When a company needs new accounting software, where do they go to do their research? The majority of people these days begin their search on the internet. Yet, when you search Google for the word “accounting software reviews”, the first page of search results do not typically offer you a comprehensive list of accounting software reviews. How can this be? Here are some of the most common myths about searching for accounting software reviews, and suggestions on how to really get the information you need.

Myth #1: Reviews must be unbiased, since they are on the internet.

The internet is a land of fierce competition, where millions of people are competing to show up on the first page of Google. There is big money to be spent and earned in online advertising. So when you enter the search term ‘accounting software reviews’, you will likely find some sites that review accounting software packages. Just because they review a variety of software packages does not mean that they picked all the best ones out there they could find! Many of these sites feature only products that pay to be there. Therefore, the list may not be a comprehensive one. Also, if they are paid reviews, you might not get the most honest results, since the reviewers are being paid and want to keep their customers. This is something to keep in mind.

Myth #2: Google knows what you are looking for.

All of us have been guilty, at some point, of thinking that whatever shows up on Google page one must be the best result for what we are looking for. After all, most of us don’t sit and contemplate how Google retrieves its results! However, Google is not a person, and it doesn’t ‘know’ anything at all! It uses a proprietary algorithm to display the most relevant search results. (An algorithm is a computer program.) Of course, Google’s algorithm is very good, and that’s why the majority of people choose it as a search engine. However, a computer program cannot tell what you really seek. You can enter the term ‘accounting software reviews’ and Google will serve you results based on what it knows. But what it doesn’t know is that what you really want are unbiased results provided by people who have actually used the system in real life. You might not get that by simply searching for ‘accounting software reviews’.

So despite the above, you are still hoping to find some good reviews for your prospective accounting software! Do not despair; there are better ways to get what you are looking for. One great way to find a comprehensive list of accounting software programs is to visit www.Capterra.com. Companies can pay to have top placement, but there is still a comprehensive list of accounting software vendors for you to search through, by feature or simply in list format. There are also customer reviews along with many of the software packages, which are not biased since they are submitted by actual customers. Another place to look for customer reviews is www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com They do a yearly review of accounting and payroll systems, as well as many other systems. They provide extremely detailed and useful information about the features and usability of accounting software systems. One final place to find some of the best accounting software reviews is your potential accounting software vendor. Ask if there is a customer who has a business similar to yours, who is using the product and would be willing to speak with you. Yes this is more work, but you will be talking to an actual customer like you, and they can provide feedback on specific questions you have.

Accounting software is of course instrumental in helping manage your business finances. And in addition to that, accounting software includes a host of functions that help you organize information and manage processes within your business. The ability to manage inventory in multiple locations is one of those functions. Multiple inventory management can help you become more organized, streamline processes, and even keep your customers happy.

View stock quantities at multiple locations.

Do you have your inventory items in different locations? Maybe you have two different stores, multiple warehouses, or perhaps you keep some of your inventory on a truck. All of these are scenarios in which tracking inventory at multiple locations can be helpful. Above all, tracking inventory by location allows you to quickly see what you have, how many, and where it is. This saves the time of searching for your items, and it also keeps your customers happy by letting them know whether that item is available to them.

Customized pricing by inventory location

Tracking inventory by location lets you set pricing by location as well, especially helpful in the case that your stores have separate pricing schemes. Costing can also be tracked by location, which gives you a more accurate picture of true costs and profitability by location.

Keep track of quantities on order (purchase orders), assigned (sales orders), on hand and sold by inventory location.

When you organize your inventory items by location, your processes can become streamlined in several ways. You will be able to see, by location, which items are on order, which are assigned to sales orders, and which are available and sold. When you can view all of this information by location, it becomes much easier to stay organized, give customers accurate shipment information, and keep just the right quantity of inventory items in stock.

Tracking your inventory by location keeps you organized and because of that, you can also keep customers happy and add more profits to your bottom line.

Accounts payable professionals know that there is much more involved with their job than just paying invoices! There are certain aspects of accounts payable that can be simplified and streamlined with the setup of a good accounts payable accounting software program. Here are some key things to look for in accounting software to help you streamline your accounts payable.

MICR Check Capability

MICR Check printing lets you print checks on blank check stock (with a special ink) instead of on preprinted check stock. This can be useful when the check information changes, such as address changes, etc. With MICR check printing, you simply change the data and print the checks instead of wasting the remaining preprinted checks. This same tool can allow signatures to be printed, rather than requiring a manager to be present to sign checks.

View vendor balance when entering purchases.

Being able to view vendor balances when entering accounts payable transactions can be helpful, since you can instantly see your status with that vendor. If a payment is necessary, you can promptly make one from the system and then process the new transaction.

Flexible vendor sorting

Perhaps you can’t remember the vendor’s name, but you can recall their city or contact name. Having a system that allows you to sort or look up vendors in a variety of ways can be extremely helpful for this reason.

Useful reporting

Accounts payable software is meant to make your job easier and also to pull information out of the system when you need it. Be sure to find a system that can provide the information you and your managers need, the way you need to see it, and in a timely manner. Can you sort credit card purchases from line of credit purchases? Can you move around the fields of information as needed for your accounts payable aging report? Can you sort your purchases by vendor and by account? Not only will strong reporting keep you well organized, it will also keep you looking good when others request details from you, and you can provide them what they need in a timely manner.

By setting up and using a good accounts payable software system; you can make your job so much easier, and also impress your peers with your simplified workflow and reports.

Many of you processing payroll in a wide variety of states face a similar challenge: local payroll tax withholding amounts by work location and by residence for your employees. Here’s more about how it works, and also suggestions for handling it within your payroll software.

Employees who work at several different locations during the same pay period may require a different local tax withholding amount, determined by the city in which the work is performed. In addition, there may also be a local withholding tax for the city of their residence. Without a way to track both of these taxes, you can easily make the wrong calculations or spend hours of time manually trying to figure it out. Here are states with some cities that assess local employment taxes.

Keeping track of these withholding amounts is complex. But there is a way to handle this situation within your payroll software. You can create ‘Local Tax Entities’ within your payroll software, relate the tax entities to the appropriate employees, and then during time/pay entry you can select the appropriate local tax entity assigned to the time/pay entry. This is something not all payroll software programs will allow you to do. It is worth asking your software provider if there is a way to handle it in the program you are using. If not, give us a call. CenterPoint Payroll Software can easily handle payroll local tax withholding, and much more. (PS: if you are a Red Wing Software customer with a current Customer Care Plan, give us a call and we will help you get this set up!)

Since we are a software company, we work with customers nearly every day who are moving to a new system, and are often bringing some information over from their old system to the new one. (This is referred to as ‘migrating’.) Of course, we all have our own opinion when it comes to migrating. Your company may have migrated with great success and had no issues, and another may have run into some problems along the way that left a bad taste in their mouth. There are so many variables involved in migrating your software, all of which can affect the success of your migration. Here are some statistics from a survey taken by real customers of Red Wing Software and customers of other software products. Understanding the experiences of others who have been there can help you make your own migration successful.

The most important factor for a smooth migration is the support team. This answer got 59% of the responses - more than double that of any other choice selection! There are many things that can help with your software migration: training, help documents, videos, and more. But the support team is probably your most helpful resource during a migration. Anytime you have an issue or question, or need to know how to do something, you can just pick up the phone and give them a call. That’s why using support should be a big part of your plan to get the software up and running. You may feel like you are calling too often or bothering the support team, but that is their job, and they deal with the exact things you are dealing with every single day. Every call you make is an investment in your future with your new software.

36% of respondents said training was the number one thing they could have done to improve their migration experience. If you are thinking of getting training prior to migrating, you might want to consider this number! Once you start the wheels moving in the process of your migration, it’s hard to stop it and get training at that point. So think ahead when it comes to training. If you or your staff don’t know anything about the software and need to familiarize yourselves, plan to either attend training, or at least do some online tutorials, well before the actual migration process begins. Then you can get all of your questions answered and understand processes, which will greatly reduce your stress level once you start using the software.

Only 9% of people said they had a plan to help them stay organized. You might think you are far too busy with everything else involved in your software migration to come up with a migration plan. But just think about it, how lost would you be in your daily life without a calendar to keep track of what there is to do. Even if you just jot down some notes on paper, it’s a good idea to put a plan together for your migration. Key components to include are: who will do what, how long each step will take, and what will happen if one of the steps falls through or is completed late. When you are prepared for whatever happens, the migration process will go much more smoothly.

You know you have to make the switch from your old program to something newer! In the end, your company will reap the benefits of newer technology. Why not make your migration a successful one by heeding the comments of those who have been there and done that?