Let me start this article by saying I am a qualified accountant who has taught accounting at a variety of levels for over 18 years. I have also worked extensively as a business consultant for small and medium size enterprises. I am continually amazed when I come across a business either not using a computerized accounting package or using spread sheets to do their accounts. Therefore I decided to write a short article on the benefits of using a computerized accounting package. The package I recommend for small to medium business is MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) accounting software package.
Small and medium sized businesses can now buy ‘off the shelf’ accounting programs at remarkably low cost. Larger businesses will often have customized programs made for their business. The accounting programs carry out functions such as invoicing, dealing with payments, paying wages and providing regular accounting reports such as trading and profit and loss accounts and balance sheets. The introduction of computerized accounting systems provide major advantages such as speed and accuracy of operation, and, perhaps most importantly, the ability to see the real-time state of the company’s financial position. In my experience I have never seen a business that has upgraded to a computerized accounting system return to paper based accounting systems.A typical computerized accounting package will offer a number of different facilities. These include: * On-screen input and printout of sales invoices * Automatic updating of customer accounts in the sales ledger * Recording of suppliers’ invoices | * Automatic updating of suppliers' accounts in the purchases ledger * Recording of bank receipts * Making payments to suppliers and for expenses * Automatic updating of the general ledger * Automatic adjustment of stock records * Integration of