| NewViews was born in the DOS world of 1985
as an alternative small business accounting package to the clunky, unwieldy programs of
the day. Its all-encompassing visual data presentation gave you a commanding view of the
entire accounting system in a flexible, real-time, integrated package. Over the years
competing accounting programs have progressed significantly, although along different
evolutionary lines, while NewViews had remained relatively stagnant in its DOS state, with
adaptability to newer operating systems and hardware increasingly a problem. Its
single-user structure was also limiting.
To say the release of a Microsoft Windows version was long
overdue is like saying that a snail moves a little slow. The release of a Microsoft
Windows version had been promised by its creator, Q.W. Page and Associates, for about ten
years. There was much anticipation by NewViews users, expecting an updated product built
on the strengths of the original, if not a leap forward in radical design. Unfortunately,
the NV2 Windows version is very much a work-in-progress and although it retains the
distinctive personality of its predecessor, it has lost some of its edge and power. It
still offers more flexibility and reporting capabilities than the off-the-shelf packages
like Simply Accounting, QuickBooks and Peachtree, but with a longer learning curve.
The program is strictly business, without fancy graphics or
icons. The basic structure is a familiar explorer-like interface with a three-window view.
Folders that contain the reports and journals are listed in the left window. The full
report or journal is displayed on the upper right, and the details of each account or
transaction detail is underneath it on the lower right. The windows can be organized to
suit and columns, text and numeric fields are infinitely resizable. This comprehensive
view is even more all-encompassing than the NV1 DOS version and is what NewViews does
best, although some juggling of the windows may be necessary to get the desired
information on the screen at times.
The system of journals, accounts and reports are built from
the ground up and there are no standard or industry-specific charts of accounts or reports
supplied with the program. The user sets up the arithmetic for the account totals, and a
variety of reports can be set up for different purposes or different levels of detail and
for virtually any time period, from the first entry in the system to the last. There are
no wizards to help in the process. This blank slate approach means that it requires more
knowledge to set up and its lack of similarity to other accounting packages can mean
increased training for users.
Information can be exported for further refinement to Excel
or Word, now a common feature on many accounting programs. Inventory, costing, and order
entry have been added. If there are several related companies, they can all be on the same
set of books with inter-company transactions immediately recorded on all the companies.
Divisions and departments are similarly accommodated. The limit on the size of the books
is the disk space available and NewViews claims that the number of users has been tested
up to 300 with no significant effect on performance.
Every program has its own lingo, and NV2 is no exception,
but it has added unnecessary complications with ‘dismiss’ instead of
‘cancel’, ‘database’ instead of ’ledger’ or ‘set of
books’, and ‘performing a long-duration all-or-nothing operation - please
wait’ instead of just ‘wait’. The true context-sensitive help that is so
extensive on the DOS version that it made the manual almost redundant is currently not as
comprehensive in NV2 and is still under development. The many macro-like mini-programs or
procedures that extended the functionality of NV1 have not been transferred to NV2 with
only a handful now available. It is also not as visually appealing, with washed out
standardized pastel colors instead of the strong selectable palette of its DOS parent.
Complex transactions involving several debits and credits
require some experimenting to get right and there is inadequate assistance provided by the
online manual for what may be a routine matter for many. Care must be taken when entering
account numbers, because there is no error message if an incorrect number is entered. It
will simply select the next account on the list. Changes to entries or deletions can be
made for any date and there is an improved audit trail for all changes, recording the
date, time and user that made them.
The conversion process from NV1 to NV2 works reasonably
well and is made up of several steps, requiring the preparation of NV1 before the data is
converted to NV2. If there is more than one journal, they must be amalgamated into one
report and all the accounts have to be identified according to their type. The last
conversion step takes a great deal of computer time; a relatively large set of books may
have to run two or three days to complete. The converted data will show up in a separate
folder.
Rather than a mature, refined accounting package that
reflects a ten-year development process and a twenty-year background in accounting
systems, NV2 suffers from the deficiencies of a not-ready-for-prime-time product. After 8
updates and at least 14 service packs since April 2005, there is still no solution for one
of the problems still faced by some users; the habit of the program hanging or freezing
momentarily during use. It is unknown what hardware configurations will be plagued by
this, but even new fast systems with good components and lots of RAM memory can suffer,
and you won’t know until you run it. The solution that has been offered by the
company is to hook up an external hard drive to a USB port, which is not the answer that
the purchaser of the software would want to hear.
If you are a current NewViews DOS user, I suggest adopting
a wait-and-see attitude, unless you have an urgent need for some of the features of NV2
and want to keep your years of data in the same program. For someone who is looking to
upgrade from another accounting program or install a new system in the near future, it
would be best to also investigate the other accounting packages that are on the market.
Despite its shortcomings, it is still an intriguing product and may be worth revisiting in
the future to check on its progress.
The package sells for $595. A one-year upgrade plan is
$195, as is a one-year support plan. NV1 users can get the program for $495. Minimum
system requirements are 512 MB of RAM, Pentium 2.4 Ghz and Windows 2000 or XP. Recommended
is 1 GB of RAM, 1280 x1024 screen resolution, MS Office and access to high-speed internet.
The support people are knowledgeable and helpful.
Copyright © 2006, R.K. Lauria & Associates Inc. |
