QuickBooks often comes to mind when people think of popular accounting software, but FrontAccounting provides benefits that other programs overlook. FrontAccounting is gaining a large following for several reasons. Learn more about the benefits of this accounting software for small to medium businesses.
Price
The best part of FrontAccounting is its price. FrontAccounting is an open source program, meaning it’s free to install and use. In comparison, QuickBooks Accounting Pro costs approximately $200 and the highly-rated Peachtree Complete Accounting 2007 costs about $100. If you want a more recent addition of PeachTree, PeachTree Premium 2010’s MSRP is just under $1,500. You can save a bundle of money by using FrontAccounting.
Features
FrontAccounting is loaded with helpful features. Take care of both your accounts payable and receivable while printing out invoices. It tracks manufacturing and inventory, deposits and allocations, and all of your sales orders. The software is adaptable when it comes to your preferred language and currency. Plus, if you happen to own multiple companies, it happily keeps track of them for you from a single program. If you ever need support, FrontAccounting has an online forum where you can ask questions and get answers from the developers and other users. There is also built-in maintenance features that allow you to create backups, run restore functions, and upgrade to the latest version as needed.
QuickBooks Pro features helpful business and accounting tools like expense tracking, invoicing, and payroll. It also helps with yearly tax preparation. There’s also a built-in coach that tutors you if you get stuck using the software. If you’re used to the software, you can turn the built-in coach off. One great feature of QuickBooks is that it is compatible with Google’s online database so you can easily put your inventory online for the world to see. Only one user can use QuickBooks Pro; if you need multiple users to access the software, be prepared to purchase several copies or upgrade to more complex software.
Peachtree offers many of the same functions such as inventory management, customer tracking, and sales orders. It is important to note that Complete Accounting is limited to only five users. If you need more users, expect to buy extra software. Also, Peachtree limits their free support desk to just 30 days from the time of installation. After that, you pay a hefty fee for support or pay up to $330 for a support plan.
Requirements
FrontAccounting runs in the Cloud, so your files are stored online. For that reason, you do need Internet access, working HTTP and MySQL servers, and PHP. To view reports, you also need a view that reads PDF files. The software works with Linux OS, so you do not have to use Windows to run FrontAccounting.
To use QuickBooks Pro, you must have Window XP or higher. You need a minimum 1.8 GHz processor, 4x CD-ROM drive, Microsoft .NET Framework, and Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.
For Peachtree Complete Accounting, you must have Windows 2000 or higher, as well as Microsoft .NET Framework, Internet Explorer 6.0 or better, a 1 GHz processor or higher, and at least 256 MB of RAM. The other necessity is Internet access. In addition, you must have at least 256 MB of RAM.
Michael Randolph writes on accounting, finance, banking, business, investment and other related areas. Those thinking about entering the financial world should consider the finance jobs with moneyjobs.com.
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