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Home » Articles » Finance & Accounting » Compare MS Accounting Quickbooks

Small Businesses Essentials: Microsoft Office Accounting Software V/S QuickBooks

Finally, Microsoft has a decent accounting package. The package, originally named as Microsoft Small Business Accounting 2006, has been renamed to Microsoft Office Accounting. Microsoft's first try at Accounting Software is quite impressive, to say the least. At least they've done a decent job for a first time. Inuit, on the other hand, has associated with Google to bring Google Apps right to the heart of your accounting. Sounds like we have a fair fight going on! TA takes a close look at the 2 accounting packages, the good and bad of each software. In the end you'll be able to take a call on your own as to which software package is best suited for your small business needs.

MS Accounting

MS Accounting, as of now, is very affordable software for most small businesses, and provides basic functionality of Quickbooks & Peachtree. It can also be called a very sharp mixture of QuickBooks and Peachtree. And this time, Microsoft has been successful at creating a product that avoids passing off as a complex, confusing or difficult to use accounting/bookkeeping package. Microsoft Accounting provides a graphic representation of your business, through its various icons. And most people who have used it have mentioned it was a snap to reconcile accounts and enter new clients and employees into the system. Microsoft has also pulled off a facility of MS Accounting data integrating automatically into the full suite of Microsoft Office products. Analytic reports, such as business projections based on receivables and sales leads, can be built on the fly. Microsoft's colorful Access reporting tools draw data from all the Office applications: Outlook, Word, Excel, etc. Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 is a powerful bookkeeper for start-ups and other small businesses with basic accounting needs. This version is completely free, but big companies may need to buy the more full-featured Office Accounting 2008 Professional. This includes more complex tools, such as multi currency support, an intuitive, flowchart-style user interface that will be familiar to longtime QuickBooks users.

QuickBooks

Well, QuickBooks is after all, QuickBooks. In many experts' opinion QuickBooks is probably the most comprehensive of out of the four packages (QuickBooks, Peachtree, Sage, and Microsoft Office Accounting). QuickBooks provides relatively efficient functionality, with a standard interface, customizable reporting, and it certainly is not a very expensive accounting package. It will do the basic accounting, invoicing, customer statements, financial reporting, payroll subscriptions, credit card transactions, etc. The perceived value for QuickBooks is not just from the feature-rich capability of the package. QuickBooks has a big plus in its wide market area and availability of support. The support network is solid and effective, and their own web site can guide you on where and how to find support. It is also relatively easy to find QuickBooks consultants. As for drawbacks, the only possible drawback is that its ultra feature richness may make it confusing for an accountant/bookkeeper who is not so computer literate. The latest from QuickBooks "revolutionary" ideas is the tie-up with Google, which, at a close look, boils down to a single icon called MARKETING TOOLS on the main QuickBooks page. You'll find Google Maps, AdWords, and some links to Google Base. The Google page preenters your QuickBooks information and QuickBooks gives you a $50 credit toward your AdWords account.

Conclusion

Every person in the accounting / financial management department knows that accounting software is only as good as the data entered into it. It is up to the individual CFO or manager to review the needs of the department and recommend a package and also up to the accountant / bookkeeper to do justice to his manager's decision. MS Accounting is certainly scalable, but at this point it's a very good basic package for small business, and scalability is yet to be seen. On the other hand, QuickBooks has more reach and perceived value. By all signs, the accounting community is all set to witness a tough fight between 2 giants.