Office Accounting: Welcome To The Family

By David H. Ringstrom, CPA

Office Accounting has come a long way since its humble introduction as Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006 (SBA). There was only one version of Small Business Accounting, which was available for $149 retail. The subsequent release, Office Accounting 2007, expanded into a free Express version and a paid Professional version, which built on the initial release and offered features such as multi-user access. The pace has quickened with Office 2008, now available in 14 different versions.

Pricing: Unless otherwise noted, all prices listed in this article are per user, and could be subject to change without notice.

Global reach

Office Accounting 2008 not only expands the capabilities of Office Accounting 2007, but also offers versions for users who speak Spanish or British English. I’ll first give you the rundown on the United States versions — note that all prices are estimated retail prices, so discounts might be available from certain retailers. I’ll then describe the Spanish and British versions.

Express Edition (Free): This single-user version is geared toward start-up and home-based businesses in the United States. As shown in Figure 1, Express includes these core accounting features:

ogeneral ledger

oaccounts receivable

oaccounts payable

oinvoicing

obill payment

obanking

Figure 1: Office Accounting Express provides accounting basics at no cost.

Office Accounting Express integrates with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook, as well as add-on services for payroll, credit card processing, eBay, and others. This version includes 30 reports to give users insight into their accounting records, and is advertising-supported — certain screens contain advertising. Office Accounting Express 2008 is a free download from http://www.ideawins.com.

Standard Edition ($99.95): The Standard Edition is only sold in stores or through online retailers, and includes all of the capabilities of Office Accounting Express, plus 11 additional reports. This version also includes Office Accounting’s robust new budgeting feature, and eliminates the advertisements displayed in Office Accounting Express.

Professional Edition ($199.95): Office Accounting Professional is designed for established businesses. This version includes everything within Office Accounting Standard, as well as these additional features:

o   A total of 79 reports

o   A customizable company dashboard, shown in Figure 2

o   Multi-user access

o   Job costing and class tracking

o   Inventory tracking and valuation

o   Sales orders and purchase orders

o   Cash flow forecasting

o   Recurring transactions

o   Finance charges

o   Integration with Microsoft Point of Sale

o   Multi-currency support

o   Fixed asset manager

o   The ability to run on SQL Server 2005 Standard, Workgroup, or Enterprise editions

Figure 2: The dashboard provides an executive summary of current financial activity.

Users can start out with Office Accounting Express or Standard, and then upgrade to Professional as their needs change — simply choose Upgrade to Professional on the Help menu. Alternatively, Office Accounting Professional can be purchased at retail outlets, or as a download from www.ideawins.com. None of the Professional versions displays advertising.

Free trial available: Anyone can try Office Accounting Professional free for 60 days, and then choose whether to purchase a license or revert back to Office Accounting Express, as shown in Figure 3. Reverting back to Express preserves all of your accounting records and simply disables the advanced features available in Professional.

 

Figure 3: Office Accounting Professional offers a free 60-day trial.

Professional Upgrade Edition ($149.95): This version provides all of the functionality described above, but provides a discount to anyone upgrading from Small Business Accounting 2006, Office Accounting 2007, or a competing product.

Professional Plus Edition ($299.95): This edition includes all of the features of Office Accounting Professional, but adds one-year subscriptions to eBay’s Market Place Services and ADP’s payroll service. The Plus Edition offers substantial savings off of the standard monthly fees of $9.95 and $13.95 per month, respectively, for these services.

Professional 3-User Edition ($399.95): This version offers a $200 savings for users who need three Office Accounting licenses. The 3-user edition allows three users, such as the company president, sales manager, and bookkeeper, to access Office Accounting simultaneously. Access can be tailored to specific areas of the program on a per-user basis.

 

Bilingual Editions

These bilingual editions include the exact same functionality as their counterparts listed above, with the additional capability of displaying menus and forms, as well as printing invoices and other documents in English or Spanish (Figure 4):

Figure 4: The Display Language option in the Spanish Language version allows users to choose between English and Spanish.

Express Spanish Language Edition (Free): This single-user edition is a free download from www.ideawins.com/espanol.

Professional Spanish Language Edition ($199.95): This multi-user capable edition can be purchased online at www.ideawins.com/espanol. A free 60 day trial is also available.

Spanish Language Upgrade Edition ($149.95): This version provides a discount to existing users of Small Business Accounting 2006 and Office Accounting 2007, and can be purchased online at online at www.ideawins.com/espanol.

 

United Kingdom Editions

Unlike QuickBooks or Peachtree Accounting, the new United Kingdom versions of Office Accounting are designed in accordance with British accounting rules and standards. This provides a new alternative for U.K.-based accountants, as well as U.S. accountants who may work with a U.K. subsidiary.

• U.K Express Edition (Free): This U.K.-specific version offers these core accounting features for free, and is available for immediate download at www.msofficeaccounting.co.uk:
• Nominal ledger
• Sales ledger
• Purchase ledger
• Invoicing
• Purchase invoice payment
• Banking
• Integration with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook
• Integration with Payroll and e-Payment add-on services
• Help with common questions via the Resource Centre
• Generate VAT returns, as shown in Figure 5

Figure 5: All U.K. versions of Office Accounting offer the ability to generate VAT returns.

U.K. Professional Edition (£199.99): Just as in the U.S., the U.K. Professional version adds advanced features helpful to established businesses. The program can be procured for purchase or a free 60-day trial at www.msofficeaccounting.co.uk. As of this writing the software is being offered at an introductory price of £149.99

o   More than 40 additional reports

o   Multi-user access

o   Job costing and department tracking

o   Stock tracking and valuation

o   Customizable company dashboard

o   Sales orders

o   Purchase orders

o   Cash flow forecasting

o   Recurring documents

o   Late payment charges

o   Foreign currency support

o   Ability to utilize SQL Server 2005 Standard, Workgroup, or Enterprise

U.K. Professional Upgrade Edition (£149.99): When the current introductory price expires, users of Sage Instant Accounting or Sage Line 50 can switch to Office Accounting at a discount.

U.K. Professional 3-User Edition (£499.99): When the current introductory price expires, the 3-User Edition will offer a discount to those that wish to allow access to three simultaneous users.

U.K. Professional Plus Edition (£299.99): The Professional Plus version offers all of the functionality of the Office Accounting Professional, along with one year of payroll services. This offers a discount from the standard monthly subscription rate.

Robust support: No matter what version of Office Accounting you choose, plenty of support is available. For example, the site www.oatraining.com offers exhaustive training resources. Accountants on either side of the Atlantic can gain additional support by joining the free Microsoft Professional Accountants Networks for United States accountants and United Kingdom accountants.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Microsoft.