Hey all, Can anyone suggest a very basic accounting package. I might be getting some extra work as a contractor, not making tons of money I expect but need to generate invoices and then be able to spit out a report at EOFY for the tax nazis. Is there a basic and not too expensive software package I can use without having to spend hundreds of dollars to get on the MYOB train? There will be no employees or anything complicated. :)
Cheers
I have excel already but know SFA about using for the purposes described. :)
Excel. I've run my contracting arrangements on it for 10+ years.
How do you generate invoices?
I just use a simple Word template and save as a PDF. If I really wanted to get funky I could integrate Excel with Word to create the invoice, and from there to Outlook to send it, but have never been bothered with that.
If you're just generating a couple of invoices a month, you don't need any more than that.
do you ever make mistakes on the invoices, accidentally enter the wrong field and then notice after you sent it? Also now that you mention that, I think Quickbooks actually has an integration with Word in a ways, you put in variables in the Word template you already made, submit the Word document, some kind of magic happens, and it becomes your template for the automatically generated invoices. It changes the variable to the billee name, the amounts, the line item, totals, etc.
@AustriaBargain: Not personally as my invoices are pretty tight … usually one entry for time, another for expenses with the latter just having an attached schedule.
You could very easily set up a simple "mail merge" from Excel to Word to generate invoices if you're worried about errors going from one to the other.
The Quickbooks functionality you're referring to just sounds like a mail merge but with some of the working "hidden" from you.
I would definitely recommend Xero. It's easy to use, affordable and makes invoicing/expensing effortless. You could also get up to 30% off the monthly subscription if you sign up via an accountant who is a Xero partner. Price is from $25 p/m (without any discount).
If you're organised and expect to invoice in the short-term only, Excel is fine. But in comparison, it's extra time and effort you'd rather spend elsewhere.
Xero is the best choice, but it's pretty expensive. $25 a month is crazy. I see looking for xero experience on a lot of job ads, if you could self teach it, and it's dead simple, then that would be handy. I don't know about $300 a year worth of handy.
Look at the features of Quickbooks Online, they even have a cheap sole trader option but i think there's some limits. But even the Pro version is cheaper than xero.
If you do not need to account for GST, you can sign up for Xero under your accountant's partner plan for $10 per month.
Oh and avoid anything 'reckon'
Waveapps is free and will save you some time in setting up Excel/Word templates.
Can also recommend Wave Apps for a good, free, basic accounting software.
Thanks all. :)
xero. will do it all for you and not very expensive
waveapps when you're not GST Registered,
I did get pissed about the way it handles sales tax reports (GST) though when I last used it, (being a summary with no detailed report showing net/gst/gross)
same with the speed of bank recon / journals / gross ups iirc
I recommend Intuit QuickBooks and not to be confused with Quickbooks by Reckon.
For the price of the basic version $15 p/m this should do you fine. I'm on the Essentials and have just moved away from Myob and love it. Integration with bank feeds, custom sender email name and mobile app are included. They have also just launched vehicle tracking for logging of travel.
Xero? Gnucash? Excel?