Producing error-free reports was once the job of confident accountants. Thanks to computers and smart engineers, today we have accounting software that can do just that. Although the skills of experienced accountants are needed, records, spreadsheets, and reports have become much more accurate.
There are programs for all consumers, from people who need them for home use to small businesses and multinationals. The price range is an indication of the requirements the software can meet and the modules included.
Personal Accounting Software
Programs for home use fall into the category of personal accounting software. It has basic modules for managing household budgets and expenses and downloading bank statements, allowing you to track your finances and perform accounting transactions.
These programs are inexpensive, very easy to use, and very popular with homeowners who understand how to plan their financial management with accounting software better.
Inexpensive Software for Small Businesses
This is accounting software for small businesses, which is a step up from personal accounting but still far from what high-end software offers. The main users are small businesses or people working from home. There are no special modules here but general functions that allow the user to process payroll, generate invoices and reports, and reconcile accounts.
Software for Medium and Large Businesses
Established or growing businesses can benefit from mid-sized software that offers more specific modules for various processes. In addition to the usual budgeting, expense, payroll, and billing functions, features such as multi-currency accounting are offered. This is because large companies transact in different currencies, and this software can help them manage the financial aspects efficiently.
An important feature of mid-range software is the ability to network, but not to the same extent as high-end software. However, it is sufficient to allow accountants and financial managers to access the information it contains from anywhere.
These programs are expensive and only large, reputable companies can afford them.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
ERP, also known as high-end accounting software, is used by mid-sized and multinational companies with multi-million dollar operations. It is a very flexible software with an extensive list of modules that can take several months, sometimes more than six months, to implement and often requires training programs for users.
The main ERP modules include inventory management, production, and order processing. The software provides a real-time representation of business processes so that each department is integrated into the system.
Vertical market and custom software
Some companies and industries require accounting software with industry-specific functionality that even ERP cannot provide. The main customers are the construction, medical and banking industries.
The choice between industry-specific and custom software depends on several factors. For example, vertical market software has lower implementation costs and more affordable support, while custom software may include modules specific to the company’s needs but may have higher implementation costs.
As the demand for online accounting software increases, programmers want to use more modern technologies to provide high-quality software at lower prices. As companies grow from start-ups to multinationals, they need flexible software to keep up with this growth. So programmers must provide solutions that allow them to manage change without migrating consumers to new software every couple of years.
