CPA Practice Advisor - 6
FROM THE TRENCHES
Do Your Best
Small Business Accounting
SO MANY THINGS have changed in small business accounting over the past few years, it
may be time to re-invent yourself, your practice and your clients' businesses using these
tools. As public practice professionals, it is clear we need professional grade tools for
write-up, and our small business clients have dozens of choices for accounting software
today. The AICPA ENGAGE conference this year proved that the pace of change for small
business software is not going to slow down.
The key selection questions for
small business accounting include:
which product to use, what are the
benefits to my clients, how many
third party tools are needed to create
a complete solution, who supports
the implementation, when should
an upgrade be considered from a
small business platform, and where
is the product going to be used.
Most products are going to require
add-ons for sales tax, reporting and
other required functionality. If you
are going to run a Client Accounting Services practice, how does
this restrict your choices? The day
this article was written, two public
practice CPAs asked which tools to
6
JULY 2019 ■
use for their clients and both answers
were AccountantsWorld Accounting
Power with Payroll Relief, which is
clearly a Client Accounting Service
leader that includes virtually all
functionality needed without using
third party applications. Further,
three more people asked about the
differences between QuickBooks
Online Advanced edition and other
QuickBooks Online offerings...and
the answer is Intuit is building more
advanced functionality into the larger
product, just like they have done with
QuickBooks Enterprise desktop. The
one sure thing after working in the
small business accounting market for
40+ years, one size does not fit all.
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SO, HOW DO WE PICK?
There are many more criteria than
the list above that drive making
your decision. There are clearly the
"safe" choices which come from the
larger vendors: QuickBooks desktop,
QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage Business Cloud, Sage 50 and Accounting
Power. There are choices that do
a better job with inventory and
costing such as Gravity Software,
AccountingSuite, Zoho Books and
BQE Core. Note that with very little
effort, you have ten product offerings
with even more options as you will
see below, each of which is uniquely
different. We maintain reviews of
all of these products and more at
www.accountingsoftwareworld.com.
But the base product is only part of
the story.
If you decide that you desire
cloud accounting software, consider
these characteristics:
■ Minimal up-front expenditures
■ Leverage "legacy" technology investments, like portable computers and
printers
■ Quick deployments
■ Automatic backups
■ Bank/credit card/debit card feeds
■ Ecosystems of complimentary tools
■ Easy communication with external
advisors
There are also five critical considerations before implementing any
small business solution:
■ Does the application provide access
RANDY JOHNSTON
EVP & Partner
K2 Enterprises &
CEO of Network Management Group, Inc.
randy.johnston@cpapracticeadvisor.com
@RPJohnston
to critical functionality to meet
specific business needs?
■ Does the application adequately
secure sensitive and confidential
information?
■ Can the application process the
anticipated volume of transactions
generated by the organization?
■ Is t he appl icat ion capable of
prov id ing adequate f inancial
and operational reports to team
members?
■ Will the application generate an
adequate return on investment
(ROI)?
You'll need to do your own
research so you know what a product can do and what it can't do. To
further illustrate with QuickBooks
Online consider the five options
available:
Each vendor's product has
strengths and issues. For example,
in QuickBooks Online, strengths
include: brand/product familiarity,
easy conversion from QuickBooks
Desktop, large number of external
advisors offering support, five
options to help businesses with
various needs, great mobile app,
and a large 3rd party ecosystem.
Potential issues include: one of
the pricier offerings relative to its
capabilities, payroll is a paid addon service, remaining stigma from
its early days, perception of lack of
reporting options. As of March 2019,
new usage limits are in effect for
Simple Start, Essentials, and Plus:
■ Entries in Chart of Accounts is
limited to 250
http://www.accountingsoftwareworld.com
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CPA Practice Advisor
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CPA Practice Advisor
From the Editor: It's Time to Take a New Look at Your Tax Practice
Financial Planning - How to Extend Your Firm with Personal Financial Planning
From the Trenches: Do Your Best Small Business Accounting
Point-of-Sale Systems
Apps We Love: DIY/Construction/Home Repair
The Proadvisor Spotlight: Summing it up at Scaling New Heights: 35 years of Intuit Innovation
Small Business Accounting Programs
A Year in the Life of a Payroll Accountant: Is Paid Family Leave Taxable?
How will AI and Automation Change Workers' Jobs?
5 Marketing Tips to Attract Construction Clients
Transform Your Thinking on Serving the Construction Industry
The 21st Century Accountant: How Robotic Process Automation Tools Work
The Millennial Advisor: Remote Work: It's Time
The Leadership Advisor: Innovation for Small Firms on a Budget
The Staffing & HR Advisor: Successful Succession: 7 Tips for Getting There
3 Tips to Organize and Strengthen Your Client Relationships this Summer
AICPA News
Lean Six Sigma Advisor: 5 Ways to Maintain a Positive Attitude for Change
What Millennials Want: How to Woo the Modern Workforce
Bridging the Gap: Leveraging the Four Cs to Automation and Advisory
CPA Practice Advisor - 1
CPA Practice Advisor - 2
CPA Practice Advisor - From the Editor: It's Time to Take a New Look at Your Tax Practice
CPA Practice Advisor - Financial Planning - How to Extend Your Firm with Personal Financial Planning
CPA Practice Advisor - 5
CPA Practice Advisor - From the Trenches: Do Your Best Small Business Accounting
CPA Practice Advisor - 7
CPA Practice Advisor - Point-of-Sale Systems
CPA Practice Advisor - 9
CPA Practice Advisor - 10
CPA Practice Advisor - 11
CPA Practice Advisor - Apps We Love: DIY/Construction/Home Repair
CPA Practice Advisor - The Proadvisor Spotlight: Summing it up at Scaling New Heights: 35 years of Intuit Innovation
CPA Practice Advisor - Small Business Accounting Programs
CPA Practice Advisor - 15
CPA Practice Advisor - 16
CPA Practice Advisor - 17
CPA Practice Advisor - A Year in the Life of a Payroll Accountant: Is Paid Family Leave Taxable?
CPA Practice Advisor - How will AI and Automation Change Workers' Jobs?
CPA Practice Advisor - Transform Your Thinking on Serving the Construction Industry
CPA Practice Advisor - 21
CPA Practice Advisor - The 21st Century Accountant: How Robotic Process Automation Tools Work
CPA Practice Advisor - The Millennial Advisor: Remote Work: It's Time
CPA Practice Advisor - The Leadership Advisor: Innovation for Small Firms on a Budget
CPA Practice Advisor - The Staffing & HR Advisor: Successful Succession: 7 Tips for Getting There
CPA Practice Advisor - 3 Tips to Organize and Strengthen Your Client Relationships this Summer
CPA Practice Advisor - AICPA News
CPA Practice Advisor - Lean Six Sigma Advisor: 5 Ways to Maintain a Positive Attitude for Change
CPA Practice Advisor - What Millennials Want: How to Woo the Modern Workforce
CPA Practice Advisor - Bridging the Gap: Leveraging the Four Cs to Automation and Advisory
CPA Practice Advisor - 31
CPA Practice Advisor - 32
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