Quick Look: Accounting Software
Web Commerce Today, Issue 47, June 15, 2001
This article contains older information. Go here for newer information on marketing tools.
Several accounting packages were reviewed by PC Magazine in their January 29, 2001 issue: QuickBooks, Quicken, NetLedger, and Peachtree. www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2678673,00.html
Getting a tight fit between your accounting program (inventory, sales, etc.) can be difficult. We're only beginning to see fully integrated products, such as HipHip Merchandizer with HipHip's MerchantSuite. In the meantime, here are the more popular products available:
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QuickBooks 2001 |
This is the most popular small business software. Several e-commerce programs will export data for easy import into QuickBooks. But be careful. Some site exports don't really format this as QuickBooks needs it, so you may have to do a lot of work to get it right. This is a strong program -- I use the Pro version -- but not the best for online sales, since it is reputed to take only about 14,000 sales orders. A new feature in the 2001 version is the ability to e-mail invoices -- very handy. Costs $100 to $250 and has generous rebates. |
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Mail Order Manager (M.O.M.) |
Many users swear by M.O.M. to run their online businesses. You'll need several components, depending upon your business needs, and you'll pay several thousand dollars. There is a related online store, SiteLink, but I haven't heard much about it. I haven't been impressed when I've gone poking around. Some online stores will export data for import into M.O.M. |
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NetLedger |
NetLedger has gotten very good reviews. PC Magazine rated it higher than QuickBooks. But the anecdotal information that I've received so far doesn't praise it. It has a tight integration with Yahoo! Store and is priced at $19.95 per month per user. |
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Great Plains |
Recently acquired by Microsoft, Great Plains is an enterprise level solution. It also has an integrated e-commerce platform. The accounting software has a good reputation, but it's not inexpensive. |
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Peachtree |
A popular small business accounting package. V. 8.0 was PC Magazine's Editor's Choice for desktop accounting applications. |
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Stone Edge Technologies |
One of the software gaps is order management systems. Some hosted shopping carts include improving programs, but the stand-alone carts have been lacking here. Stone Edge Technologies has developed an excellent add on for ShopSite that takes the order file downloads and brings them into an order management system. You can read my review from Web Commerce Today, 7/15/00 (www.wilsonweb.com/reviews/se-ordermanager.htm). The developer plans a similar Order Manager for Miva Merchant before too long. |
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