Looking for accountancy software program for your business ? Now you ’ve got more choice than ever . While traditionally only two major accounting programs experience annual makeover , this twelvemonth brings revisions to three different applications : Intuit ’s QuickBooks Pro 2006 , MYOB ’s AccountEdge 2006 , and , for the first clip in four years , MYOB ’s FirstEdge 2.0 .
Both QuickBooks and AccountEdge are aimed at declamatory businesses that require to keep record on a variety of data , including armory items , time tracking and charge , leverage orders , and fond shipments from trafficker . MYOB FirstEdge , a slimmed - down edition of AccountEdge , is targeted toward small businesses that need a full - featured accounting coating but do n’t require advanced method of accounting pecker .
QuickBooks Pro 2006
At first glance , QuickBooks Pro 2006 seems well-nigh perfect . It features a simple , checkbook - ledger - manner interface , and it ’s packed with dandy features . But as you dig deeper , you ’ll find that QuickBooks Pro is also leave out some key features .
One of the biggest change from QuickBooks Pro 2005 (; June 2005 ) is the addition of a unexampled , incorporated paysheet applications programme that ties in directly with the online payroll serving , PayCycle . ( Earlier versions of QuickBooks ship with Aatrix Payroll , a standalone third - party app . ) PayCycle is a fee - base payroll service that you could function straight off from within QuickBooks . you’re able to set it up to impress checks , as well as handle employee direct deposits , distributions for 401 K programme , and state and federal revenue enhancement defrayment . Once you process your payroll department on PayCycle ’s site , QuickBooks properly introduce the data into your caller file .
QuickBooks 2006 also includes several small but useful newfangled features to help ease datum entrance . For instance , using OS X ’s Sync services , QuickBooks can store troupe , customer , and vender information in Address Book . That mean that if you add new customers within QuickBooks , their information will automatically appear in a exceptional Address Book grouping ; you could then get at those contacts from Sync - savvy applications and equipment such as certain cell sound or PDAs . Also , as with previous versions of the program , QuickBooks can use iCal for programing as well as back up data files straight to iDisk , provided you have a .Mac account .
regrettably , QuickBooks Pro 2006 falls short in the one area you ’d bear it to glitter : electronic banking . Intuit extend to leave out the ability to march course credit - bill of fare defrayment — a feature that ’s present even in MYOB ’s basic practical software , FirstEdge , and one that many Mac - based businesses ca n’t live without . ( Intuit say that it excluded this feature because it does n’t think Mac user require it . )
More egregious is the fact that you have to come in your bank statements manually if your financial psychiatric hospital does n’t endorse QuickBooks ’ .qbo or .iif banking single file format . Meanwhile , the software is unable to spell the more - uncouth .qif - formatted files ( which , ironically , is the data format that Intuit encourage most banks to support several age ago ) . Intuit says the reason for the deletion is that .qbo is a adept data data format and less prone to fault , but to brush off a banking data point format that Intuit basically initiate is debatable . By direct contrast , both AccountEdge and FirstEdge handle .qbo and .qif file data formatting with ease .
QuickBooks users who want a better payroll inspection and repair — and whose financial instauration corroborate QuickBooks ’ file formats — should find this newfangled version to be a compelling upgrade . Other subsist users may be underwhelmed .
MYOB AccountEdge 2006
AccountEdge 2006 is a feature - rich software that furnish both canonical accounting tool and numerous enhancements . These include the ability to track inventory , produce purchase ordering , and provide for multiple user over a meshwork via its connection Edition .
One major upgrade from last year ’s reading (; June 2005 ) is an improved electronic timesheet that allows you to easily enter time and charge information for employee who get paid on an hourly basis as well as jobs that you bill hourly . The Time Billing dower of the programme build it a picnic to bill clients according to a number of measure , from employee - specific rate to the rate that you placard a particular character of job . When you ’re quick to shoot your customer , you may impress an invoice that detail the total amount , the hourly rate , and how much clock time you spent on each specific project .
For year AccountEdge has been capable to keep track of inventory , include the ability to associate diverge currency values with different inventory items . However , in the past it was difficult to meet fond shipments of inventory item or to pick up stock list at more than one location ; the broadcast now handle all of that with ease . AccountEdge also includes improved budgeting tools and the ability to traverse up to seven age of transaction chronicle . All of these features commingle make AccountEdge an splendid upgrade for existing substance abuser .
MYOB FirstEdge 2.0
MYOB FirstEdge 2.0 is designed to handle job - account basics such as income , disbursement , asset , and liability accounts , as well as sales , quotation mark , invoice , basic reporting , and party analysis . It ’s a safe , inexpensive mode to go if you do n’t need high - end accounting features , such as multi - user capabilities or inventory and clip tracking / charge .
Major upgrades from the late version of four years ago (; July 2002 ) include integrated paysheet via MYOB ’s SurePay service and the power to process client credit - identity card payments or compensate vendors electronically from directly within the app . ( All servicing call for additional fee . )
The latest liberation also hold dozens of enhancements , including pop - up calculators and calendars in numeric and particular date W. C. Fields , as well as keep for scroll wheels on input devices . Also , since it shares a similar data point file data formatting with its more - advanced sibling AccountEdge , FirstEdge allow an easy upgrade route should your business organization accountancy needs farm .
After a four - year drouth , FirstEdge 2.0 is an splendid update . The combination of young lineament and modest pinch make it a worthwhile upgrade .
Problematic interface
Unfortunately , AccountEdge suffers from what can be an intimidate setup summons . Whereas QuickBooks use a minimal amount of accounting jargon when walking you through its apparatus , AccountEdge will at times throw around some head - scratching nomenclature . For exercise , during the apparatus process , it ask me to make “ tie in accounts ” for specialized income , expense , and plus accounts . While I was able to link accounts , I was n’t 100 - percent plus that I did this properly , and the program provided little guidance as to what items should tie to which accounts . ( FirstEdge , review below , is not as detailed as AccountEdge , so it does n’t suffer from the same terminology job — although it ’s still not as easy to set up as QuickBooks . )
Also , while AccountEdge and FirstEdge both athletics improved word form - customization tool , they ’re not exactly round-eyed . True , it ’s now easier to make customized news report , pattern , and invoices . But compared to the type of drawing and layout tools that Mac user are accustomed to , MYOB ’s descriptor tools are downright awkward to use . For model , there ’s no simple agency to create a driblet shadow beneath a graphic or textual matter box , which should be comparatively simple given OS X ’s graphics architecture .
Macworld’s buying advice
If you ’re looking for ease of habit , Intuit ’s QuickBooks Pro 2006 is the least - intimidating Mac accounting system program on the mart . Plus , its compatibility with Address Book and iCal , as well as its integrated paysheet instrument , are quite utile . But if you could adjust to a more - complicated port , MYOB ’s AccountEdge 2006 and FirstEdge 2.0 far outclass QuickBooks in damage of feature . Both program can work on citation lineup , both feature built - in payroll shaft , and both can well handle the bulk of connection banking file formats . That cook MYOB a success in my Holy Writ .
[ Jeffery Battersby is a little - concern proprietor who on a regular basis apply and review Mac accounting applications . ]
