Software Licence Queries Explained!

What is a Software Licence? How do you get a Software License? Why do you need Software Licensing anyway? These are the important Queries I wish to answer in this post.

This article is inspired by questions I got from one of my readers who earlier requested my advice on accounting software for his business. After weeks of reviewing a number software product from various vendors with him, he was finally decided on the free software to download.

After using the software for three months he got an alert message that his trial period was about to expire and there was need to purchase a software licence. This made him panic especially that he was not sure what would happen to the transactions already processed.

When he contacted me and narrated the situation, I realized there was need for me to do a bit more of explaining to him because the software in question was only offered free for download on the internet for a three months trial period after which you have to buy a software licence through a registration process yet he missed this very important point.

In answering his questions this is what I Explained.

A Software licence is a legal instrument governing the usage or redistribution of software. The license grants you as the end-user permission to use the software giving you rights and restrictions depending on the type of license you purchase. In other words, when a developer sells software, they are actually not selling the software but they are selling a license which allows the user to use their software.

The fact that you are able to download software for free does not automatically mean you can use the software for free. Software with a shareware license is offered for free either in magazines or on the internet but the “freedom” is for a specific trial period after which you must buy the right to use the software. Software which can be used totally for free is licensed under freeware license.

The license is what imposes restrictions on the end-user for example on the number of computers it can be installed on and the number of users to access the application at the same time.

A single user license software can only be installed on a single system while a multi-user license means that the software can be installed on multi systems depending on the numbers specified in your license. An enterprise site license is a license for all computers within all offices of a company or school. This also covers multiple locations or satellite offices of a company.

If you found this article helpful, feel free to leave your comment.

How to Get Your Software Approved

How do you get your Accounting Software Approved by Government before it can be used? Is there any list of Approved Accounting Systems? These are the questions that I wish to address in this post.

The impression created by a number people and organisations that governments have lists of “certain “Approved Accounting Systems is to some extent wrong. There is no “FDA” like Approved Software. Here is why government takes a keen interest in the Accounting systems used in businesses.

You will agree with me that most Accounting Systems are used for invoicing and generating of tax invoices and final computation of any taxes. This is exactly where the interest of the government tax wing comes in because tax authorities have minimum requirements of an acceptable tax invoice including computer generated invoices.

The minimum requirements for any Computer system to be accepted for generating and printing tax invoices as an alternative to having a manual invoice book in most cases are as follows.

1. The system must be programmed in manner that it locks all details pertaining to invoices processed on the system immediately the invoice is printed. For example when you process an invoice and print it out, the system must not allow you to open the same processed invoice and further make changes. It should be locked into read-only and never allow reprints.

2. If the software you intend to use allows posted invoices to be edited, it should then have a provision to produce an audit trial report highlighting any additions, deletions or changes made at any given time.

3. The invoice numbers should be consecutive and increasing and should be system generated. This simply means that the numbers must be generated one after the other and in an increasing manner for example if your first invoice is 001 the next should be 002 in that order.

4. At the end of all transactions, the system must be able to produce a listing of all invoices that have been processed in the system showing all details such as invoice numbers date, description of goods/services, name of customer, vat inclusive totals and vat amounts charged.

5. The system must further have no provision whatsoever to bypass any of the minimum requirements specified.

You cannot be given any clearance to use the accounting system for tax purposes if it does not meet these requirements. That is why some people think any system cleared before is the only “approved” system which I said is a bit incorrect.

Here is how you can get your Software easily “approved” if you intend to use a different Accounting System from the ones commonly used. Get an expert to evaluate the System you want to purchase and determine whether it meets these minimum requirements. Get exact details of how these requirements are programmed in the System in order to explain to any authorities. Then you will have no problem getting your System cleared.

If you found this article helpful please feel free to leave your comment.

Google Apps Marketplace Finance

Google recently launched an Application Market Place comprising services from third party providers of Accounting and Finance Applications and others that integrate with Google Apps.

This is good news for developers of Small Business Accounting and Finance Applications as well as users of Accounting and Finance Applications.

The launch of a Marketplace by Google has provided a great Business opportunity to third party developers of Applications than can integrate easily with Google Apps such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google docs to develop their Applications using the Google platform. But how are developers and Business owners going to benefit? You may be asking. This is how it will all work.

For an entrance fee of only $100 a developer can join the Google Apps Program and have access to add as many Apps as they wish to add to the Google Apps Market Place for approval. Once the submitted Apps are approved, the developer will have access to over 25 million Google customers. The Apps will be available for Google customers to buy and Google only gets a percentage from the sale. This demonstrates how much Google is embracing “small players” in the Market a situation I would describe as a win-win situation.

Business owners and other users of Accounting and finance Applications will also benefit greatly from the Google Marketplace, with only a few clicks as a customer, you will have access to product reviews and know the most hot products on the market making it even more easy to choose the right Accounting and Finance Application you require for your Business.

Improve Your Business With simpro Mobile Pen

Small Mobile based Business operations are often characterised with delays in paper work and Accounting entries. The release of Mobile Devices such as simPRO Mobile Digital Pen by trade management Software provider simPRO, this may soon be a thing of the past.

The simPRO Mobile Digital Pen has since its release been successfully integrated with Xero Accounting Software. I wish it could be intergrated with even more Accounting Systems.

This means that Small Business Xero Software users can now have their field based staff complete an Invoice sheet right at the clients premises and that invoice is available immediately for Account update In Xero at the office.

According to simPRO, the Mobile Devices work by utilising the anato based digital pen & paper technology to create invoice pages.

You can then hand write your orders, invoices and expenses while in the field. The content is then stored in the pen and then this is transmitted via Bluetooth to your mobile Phone and subsequently to your office through the internet. At the office, the data is first stored in a web based simPRO Mobile form portal in PDF format in the original handwriting with signatures.

The bookkeeper will have to check the invoice and approve it before it is finally converted in to a data file using powerful hand writing recognition software while retaining another copy in the sipmPRO Mobile Portal form.

You can Watch the Video for a full illustration on how to integrate the simPRO Mobile Devices with Xero Accounting Software.

What Operating System are you using?

What Operating System are you using? Is it Windows xp, Windows server 2008 or Windows 7? What is an operating system? In this post I will look at these answers and how an operating System used in a small business can affect the choice of additional hardware and software needed to create and improve a computer network or a server.

Computer systems are dynamic, ultimately, as a small business entrepreneur you can not afford to spend your hard earned cash on any of the different hardware and software products which you can not easily integrate with a set of devices and application while your business is growing.

An operating system is the software that enables the computer hardware to communicate and operate with the computer software. In short if you went to a computer shop and bought a computer without the operating system, the computer will not function it will be useless until you install an operating system on the computer.

The most popular operating system is Microsoft windows the list includes among others windows xp operating system, windows vista and the latest or newest version of windows operating system being windows 7.

All Operating systems are classified as either single user, single user multitasking or multi-user operating system.

If you install your accounting software on a single user operating system, then only one user has to access the system at a given time. If many of your accounting staff need to access your accounting records at the same time from different networked locations and computers then another operating system such as server 2003 or the most recent version of windows server 2008 should be installed to create your small business server.

It is always important to consult an expert for advice on which operating system is suitable for your business before buying any of your computer hardware and software to determine if it is compatible with your existing system to avoid wasting our resources.

Online Web Based Software,a Better Way to Start.

Deciding to use an available Online or Web Based Accounting Software can be a Better Way to Start your business and in line with the Small Business principle of “use what you have to get what you do not have.”

The purpose of being in Business is to generate profit. Ultimately, it is the profit that will make your Small Business to grow. However, Business profitability is a long term objective and the viability of any Business depends on its ability to generate cash for the day to day running of the Business as well as generate surplus Funds which you can then invest in assets such as computer systems.

On the other hand, effective financial management of your Small Business requires immediate attention to you immediate business accounting needs such as Invoicing, Job costing and Inventory tracking.

The biggest question though is, how do you manage to maintain professional and proper Accounting Records when a Business is too Small to finance the purchase of computer hardware and other components required for installation of an Accounting System?

Today I want to talk about Web Based Accounting Software or Online Accounting software and how best you can use the Software as a Small Business owner.

Web Based Accounting Software is an Online Accounting Software Solution which you can use to maintain your Business Accounts transactions Online without having to download or install the Software on your Computer.

Whether you are a consultant, a contractor or no matter how Small your Business is, Online Accounting Software can be another good start for your bookkeeping until you eventually grow your Business to a sustainable level.

All you have to do to use Web based Accounting Software is simply.

1. Find a website providing online web based Software and sign up for an account. Some of the sites I would recommend include Clarity Accounting, Quickbooks online, Xero, Clearbooks and Free Agent Central.

2. Once you sign in your account with your password on any computer with access to the web anywhere in the world, you will have instant access to features such as processing your quotations and invoices as well track you customers easily. Without any need of installing the Software on your own computer. This is a cost effective yet professional way of maintaining your Small Business Accounts.

3. Note that there are various types of Online Accounting Software to choose from, to find a suitable Software, seek advice from an Accountant or expert

If you are already using Web Based or online Accounting Software, feel free to share your experience and comments to help other Small Business people know about Online Accounting Software solutions and how best they can use the software to manage their Businesses Better.

5 School Business Accounts Software Needs

Running a School is just like any other form of Small Business Management. If you went to a government School in a rural district. You would think a school can not be a profitable Business with even Fund Accounting needs to an extent that it would even require an Accounts Software.

However, the increased number of private Business people and organisations opening up Small private schools, Colleges, universities and international schools prove to the contrary that running a school is a good business.

My focus in this post is to try and help any private school owner, or even government schools to identify the school Accounting needs and know how best those needs can be managed by the use of either a free School Accounting Software or buy one to improve the Management of the School.

1. A School, like any other Business collects and pays out cash. It has debtors as well creditors. The student fees collected need to be receipted correctly and proper records of students owing maintained.

2. Some Schools sale School items and other necessities through a school shop and this means that the sales and purchases and all trading activities have to be tracked.

3. Other Schools are privileged to receive donations from other organisations and from other Fund raising ventures. At the end of it all, the funds need to be accounted for.

4. A School as a Business will have various stakeholders such as parents, teachers and the owners who will need detailed reports about the operations of the school business.

5. Most privately owned Schools now provide more convenient payment options for their students which are only possible with the right Software Solutions in place. From the outlined needs its clear that the accounting needs of a school business are more that just payables and receivables accounting but require a tailored school management Software.

It really matters what area of you business you focus on because in any business or organisation there are only two extremes to be attained growth and decline most entrepreneurs fail to isolate factors that are critical to the success and eventual growth of any business such as a School Accounting software.

Some of the available School Accounting Software to choose from includes Active Educate. You can also find Various School Accounting Software on Softwarenetwork.com and Capterra.com

What is Invoice Billing Software?

Customer Billing and Invoicing are among the immediate Accounting needs at the start of every Business. The quality of your Invoice, quotation or any related Business document you produce has potential to build your Business so What Software can you use?

It is a common Business practice that before you can be given any job or before a customer buys from you, they may request you to issue a Quotation.

It is very easy for a customer to misjudge your ability to deliver better service by the quality of Invoices and Quotations you produce.

No matter how Small your Business is you can still afford to produce very professional invoices and Quotations using the available Basic Customer Invoicing and Billing Software.

There are a lot of free and easy to use billing software solutions for small to medium scale Businesses today and you do not need to be a qualified Accountant to use Invoicing Software.

If you are wondering how to find one, this list contains some sites where you can find Online Invoicing Software, free downloads as well those for sale.

Express Invoice . This is a professional Invoicing Software for easy Customer Billing. You can easily create Invoice, Quotes and Orders.

Free download centre. This site has a number of Invoicing software to choose from as well as on Free download manager.

Invoice Expert. This is a free Invoice and Billing Software designed for small and medium sized Business very easy to set up within very few minutes.

Get the right Invoice Billing Software and watch your Business grow.

Job Costing Software Construction Accounting

A number of emerging Small business Contractors in the Zambian Construction industry and other service providers struggle to find their ground.This is attributed to myriad of problems including the inability to realise that handling of their job costing needs plays a vital role as far as the success of any construction business is concerned.

With out a reliable Job Costing Software for easy tracking of costs against the projects undertaken and accurate allocation of every expense to the specific job or overhead account, your Business would in no time grind to a halt and eventually wind up. Since you would not easily know what to charge for your jobs and whether the Jobs you undertake are profitable or not.

That is why prudent Business people who appreciate this aspect of Contract Business and Job Costing Accounting don’t hesitate to spend fortunes on good Job Costing Software in an effort to enhance Business accountability through easy tracking and managing of costs of labour and materials used as well as any hired labour and up to the Customer billing stage.

Therefore, for every successful contractor in today’s business world, job costing software is an essential business reporting tool. But just why is Job Costing Software important for Construction and Contract Accounting?

I will give you two reasons why you should consider buying a Job Costing Software if you provide service to your clients such as Construction, transportation and installations.

1. A Job Costing Accounting Module will easily let you know what the profitability of a given job is at completion. This information will help you in quoting future jobs to avoid carrying out jobs at a loss.

2. Using software will give you total control over all the jobs with details of materials drawn to specific jobs and you can easily know which jobs are completed. Some jobs take longer to complete but a job costing software helps you allocate costs and measure profitability for both short term and long term jobs.

This is the general concept of Job Costing Software but the detailed functionalities and management reports will vary from one type to the other. Your choice should therefore depend on your accounting needs of your Construction business. Alternatively, simply consult an expert and define the area of your business the expert will then identify the accounting needs for you and advise on the right job accounting Software which suits your needs.

One such software I can recommend to you is Pastel Evolution Job costing. This is an add-on module and lets you easily Invoice jobs to your customers by first opening each job as a Job Card where you can link more items besides the materials. For example you can purchase an item directly for use in a job and allocate employee hours from your payroll module into the job.

If you found this post helpful or you need any clarification feel free to leave a comment.

Retail Point of Sale POS Software Systems

What is Point- of -Sale often referred to as POS System? After reading this post, you will know more about Point of Sale Software Systems and how to use it for Retail Accounting and improved efficiency in your retail business.

The goal of every start up Business to medium size through to large organisations is to grow. Among the best tips of choosing a better Business Software is to ensure that you choose an Accounting Software that will sustain and support continued growth to the extent that your Small Business growth is not hampered by the limitation of your Accounting or Bookkeeping System.

Retail Point- of- Sale is the Software system used in most groceries supermarkets and multinational consumer stores. The system integrates Retail Inventory management as well as receivables modules using the Inventory Barcode Technology. Retail Point- of -Sale Software comes as a core module in some brands of Software Programs while in others as add on Module meaning that it can be integrated or added to the existing system at a later stage. But note that this is only possible if the system accounting software you are using is designed to integrate add on modules.
In very simple terms, this is how a retail point-of-sale system works.

1. First install your POS Software or if it is an add on module; integrate it into the existing Accounting software by installing the update from your Vendor by following the instructions provided.

2. Buy and install peripheral devices like Point of sale Cash Registers with the provision for hand held point of sale barcode scanners or fixed barcode scanners and others like cash drawers and slip printers.

3. If you already have a list of inventory items on your Accounting System, then you simply need to link the individual Inventory items to the Inventory barcodes on the products by entering the digits in your computer system once only. You may be asking; what is a Barcode? Well, I will not give the technical description of a bar code but the image below shows an example of a Barcode.

For illustration purposes I will use a screen shot from Pastel evolution Accounting Software to show how barcode information is linked to other product information such as price and description. Also note that the fields and information required to be entered may vary from one software to the other always refer to the instructions given by the vendor manual or seek consultation.

Once all inventory information is updated on the computer system and all peripherals are in working condition, then you or your cashier at the check out point-of-sale cash register can simply pass the product items on the barcode scanner and be able to make a sale, tender, print slip and accept payment easily either by cash or credit card without difficult.

The advantages of a Retail Point-of –Sale includes security, flexible pricing as it reduces pricing prices and improve efficiency in your Business. I do not know of any disadvantages yet but if you are using any POS Software System and you think there are disadvantages to using Point-of-Sale then leave your comment.

Top Rating Accounting Software Review

There are hundreds of Accounting Software on the market but what are the Top Rating and Best Small Business Accounting Software? These various Accounting Software review will help you find the answers.

It is indeed very difficult to find the best Accounting Software from the hundred if not thousands available on the market without the recommendation of an Accountant or an expert. Before even considering hiring a qualified Accountant for your business, you will discover that you need an Accounting package for immediate business needs such as Invoicing. As your business grows from small to medium, you also need an Accounting software to continue meeting your growing needs. Therefore in this post I have compiled a list of various Accounting Software Reviews according to user ratings as well as expert rating.

Isoftwarereviews.com Are you looking for Free Accounting Software? Find a detailed review of various Free Accounting Software available for free download and use. If your focus is Free Accounting Software, then isoftwarereview.com has the right review with all answers about what Free Accounting Software is available and what is the best for your small, medium to large Business.

Toptenreviews. Top Ten Reviews you will find a very detailed and researched review to help you make an informed decision on which Accounting Software is right for your Business.

 Smallbiztrends.com Find a review of 17 small Business Accounting software applications with a North American focus arranged in alphabetical which can help you manage your Small Business effectively.

Sbinfocanada.about.com Explore various Top Selling Accounting Software Programs for your small Business needs to simplify your Business tasks and manage your Business effectively through this review based on sells.

Isoftwarereviews.com Find out what is the rating for Accounting Software and most popular Accounting Software for Small Businesses based on votes by users. From this review you are likely to tell what are the Top Accounting Software and most popular Small Business Accounting Software.

2020software.com Explore various Accounting, and business software systems. www.2020software.com provides a “short list” of software products from thousands of software systems to serve you the time and effort in your search for Accounting Systems.

Myownbusiness.org Get some insight on how to get the most out of your Business through the use of Better Accounting Systems. This site deals with numerous Small Business Issues from the start up of your Business and Accounting Computer Software Systems.

Energized Accounting: Learn how to get the most out of the software you’re using to do your accounting with a little help from the advice in this blog.

Small Business Inventory Management

If you are running a small Business or you intend to start a small Business, running small Business is a tough Business; in fact research shows that a number of new small Businesses which start up end up failing. And one of the main reasons for the failure of most small Businesses is Inventory management problems.

What is Inventory or what does the word Inventory mean to you? Inventory in very simple terms is the physical (tangible) aspect of doing business. Inventory refers to stock necessary to do business for example if you have a small manufacturing business, your inventory will be made up of the raw materials or components used to assemble your product, any unfinished goods and finished goods. If you run a small trading business such as a retail store then the merchandise stock which you buy to sell makes up your inventory.

In a literal sense, all business activities are centred on stock or Inventory. Therefore the success of your business depends on how well you manage your stocks through a good accounting system for your stock.

Poor Inventory management and accounting system can result in out-of-stocks and over stocks resulting in either loss of sales for your business or stock losses through theft and damages.

Here are the four ways in which you can effectively manage your stocks to grow your small business.

1. Maintain an assortment of the range of products- but not too many. If you run a small home retail shop for instance make sure you stock all necessary stocks to avoid loosing sales.

2. Keep your stocks low but not below the minimum. I earlier stated that stocks represent money in your business so the more stock you keep the more cash gets held up in your business and you may not be able to pay the people you owe promptly in addition, you may incur further costs such as storage costs if you keep too much of stock. However, in trying to keep your stocks low you should not keep them too low to a level where you run out- of -stock because that can mean loss of sales.

3. Make bulk purchases to obtain low prices if you can- but please don’t over buy. This is a very simple principle when you buy in bulk you are able to negotiate with the seller for lower prices through a discount, in turn you can fairly price your products beating the competition.

4. Devise ways and means to dispose of any obsolete and slow moving stocks so that cash is not held up in such stocks.

From the four listed points, you will note that Inventory management whether in a small business or a big business involves two closely related elements. Firstly know what to order and how much to order, when to order and what price to pay. Secondly making sure that the items, once bought into stock are used properly to produce profits and grow your small business.

Stock Accounting Software And Systems

In this article I will look at the two common Stock Accounting options for Stock Tracking, Issuance and advantages of Stock Accounting Software over a manual system of Stock cards.

The use of computers today provides stock Accounting options for small to medium scale business from the traditional manual stock record keeping methods.

The two preferred Stock Accounting methods are both designed with an intention to provide the information needed for daily Business decisions about Stock Management in your business.

The choice of the Stock Management System to choose depends on the size of your Business and the amount of stock maintained.

Stock Cards-Kardex Files

If you just started your business and you haven’t got any computer yet, you do not need to worry you can still manage your stocks effectively using the manual stock records maintained on kardex files as follows.

1. Open a stock card for every stock item in you Inventory.

2. Record all the opening balances of stock if any on the stock cards.

3. Record every stock movement such as Purchases, sales and returns as shown in the image.
From my experience of working with manual systems, the accuracy and discipline of the recording system is very critical or it may defeat the whole purpose of improving stock management.

If you are going to decide to maintain manual records in your business you should put in strict controls to ensure records are more accurate. However, as the number of items, supplies and general demand of the business increases, the manual record keeping system becomes difficult to maintain accurately.

Computerised Stock Accounting System.

This will be the time to consider a computerised system for Inventory control, but in order for you to get the right stock management system for your small business you need to identify your Inventory needs such as stock tracking, Invoicing, stock pricing, Issuing stock, storage of customer and vendor information, sales and other reports.

Lastly, various Manufactures of stock management systems have an assortment of retail stock management systems as well as other stock accounting software to choose from depending on your needs. If you have questions feel free to ask.

Choosing an Accounts Software Package

Quick points and tips to consider when choosing an accounts software package for your small business accounting purpose.

When making a decision on how to choose the right book keeping or accounting software, as a user you need to consider quite a number of points whether you are deciding on your own behalf or on behalf of the organisation.

The first and most important thing is the size and experience of your would be supplier or developer of the software and the details of the product. Before you choose, get the full details of the accounting software in order to determine whether it is able to meet your entire book keeping or accounting needs. Get to know about details such as system security controls and any stand by facilities within the system. If you can’t determine on your own I will advise that you engage a consultant to help you decide, alternatively seek advice from colleagues already using the software. Get further details on delivery dates, lead times and other matters relating to changeover and implementation.

Another important thing in making your decision is about documentation, ask your supplier or developer whether you will be provided with manuals for your own training, staff training and for reference when you experience problems once the system is set up.

Find out if the supplier may offer to help in setting up the system and sorting out any “teething troubles”, also most importantly find out whether the supplier is going to offer continued support in form of a “ help line” and training in some cases after putting a signature to that cheque.

Then finally look at the cost. I know you may be thinking of the cost being the first thing to look at. But i think the cost should be the last thing to look at because it is worthy paying a bit more for the right bookkeeping or accounting software that will meet all your accounting needs fully than get a cheap product and compromise on quality. Having considered all these steps on how to choose your right accounting software you can then confidently choose.

Now having taken you through the steps, on how you can choose the right accounting software, let me introduce you to a product i believe qualifies the above test. This is an Accounting software you can confidently choose.

For over 18 years, Sage pastel has delivered the very finest in accounting software relied upon around the world, sage pastel is always at the forefront of economic, legislative and technological developments with about 18000 users in 52 countries across the globe. Sage pastel should surely be big with experience.

Pastel accounting is simply a powerful and flexible Accounting solution with product range for small to medium sized business, ease-to-use, and innovation and flexible. Pastel provides products such as Invoicing, My Business, Xpress, Partner, Evolution and payroll Accounting. Pastel allows you to add additional modules to your core accounting application as your need or business grows.

Pastel is an easy to install software you can learn how to install the software so quick. When you load your pastel programme, an easy-to-use installation tutorial will load automatically.

With a big net work of local users and partners you will have access to soft ware updates and upgrades as well as first line telephonic and email support once you join the big family of pastel partners and users.