Financial Assistants: you don't have to a CPA
to master today's accounting apps

These four packages crunch the numbers
so you can focus on the big picture

It might be a stretch to say Henry Czubkowski found religion when he converted to Simply Accounting 2003 Pro, but the owner and president of New Jersey-based HPC Business Consultants, whose clients are primarily churches, is definitely a devotee.

"One of the best features in the new version is a report called Customers with Decreased Monthly Sales," says Czubkowski, who explains that the tool eliminates the need to manually track customer records. "Before, when we were losing customers, we didn't know why; now we can follow up with the customer to find out if there's a problem."

For many small-business owners, losing customers in today's economic climate can be catastrophic. An accounting package that helps track such customer information could help ensure that your company is around for the next economic recovery. With that in mind, we looked at four packages --

• MYOB's MYOB Plus 12,
• Best Software's Peachtree Complete Accounting 2003,
• Intuit's QuickBooks Premier 2003, and
• Accpac International's Simply Accounting 2003 Pro

that have features promoting smart business practices. Here are the pluses and minuses of each.

MYOB PLUS 12

EDITOR'S RATING 7.3

A straightforward app, the $229 MYOB Plus 12 offers enough handholding that small companies won't need to employ dedicated IT or financial departments to use it. We encountered problems with MYOB's installation tech support, however, which soured our overall experience.

The package's internal HTML-based help could also use some improvement. It sometimes took several searches to find the information we needed. MYOB's online data could also use some organizational help. If you're willing to pay for more comprehensive service, MYOB offers an annual support plan for $189 or pay-per-call assistance for $4 per minute.

PEACHTREE COMPLETE ACCOUNTING 2003

EDITOR'S RATING 7.2

The $299.95 Peachtree Complete Accounting 2003 improves upon its advanced inventory control with some slick additions, but if you already own an earlier version, you won't find enough new here to warrant an upgrade. Nevertheless, Peachtree remains an exceptional choice for growing small businesses--particularly those with Web stores.

Tech support costs extra. After 30 days, you'll pay $179 to $299 per year. Another drawback is the lack of online banking or electronic bill payment. Direct-deposit service, according to the company, is coming this fall.

QUICKBOOKS PREMIER 2003

EDITOR'S RATING 8.7

QuickBooks remains the best small-business accounting program in the business. The all-inclusive QuickBooks Premier 2003 offers a comprehensive set of tools and help Fries, useful forecasting features, and a number of fee-based services such as payroll and online banking. That's why it nabs our Editors' Choice award as the top accounting app for the second year running.

If you encounter a serious problem, however, be prepared to pay. Support is free for installation and upgrade problems, but the rep may decide your question doesn't fit either of those categories. When we phoned in a simple setup question concerning the necessity of upgrading Internet Explorer for use with Premier, we were told it wasn't an installation question and therefore not free. Paying per call costs a hefty $75 for the first 20 minutes and $25 for each 5 minutes thereafter, with a maximum of $150. We also got a sales pitch for the $349 Ultimate Support Plan, which offers 24/7 support. Pitches for fee-based services also pop up within the app, which can be distracting.

SIMPLY ACCOUNTING 2003 PRO

EDITOR'S RATING 8.3

If you're looking for a full-featured accounting application, you'll find little lacking in Simply Accounting 2003 Pro. This $89 application has a long history in enterprise accounting and offers all the tools you'd expect.

The first 30 days of support are free. After that, you can choose from several support packages, including SimplyCare Pro, which offers payroll-tax tables, free upgrades, a newsletter, and up to 100 minutes of phone support for $199 per year. You can also opt for Priority Response, which provides phone support alone for $150 per year, or Pay-As-You-Go, which costs $3 per minute with a $45 minimum. Accpac doesn't provide e-mail support, but the Web site has an active discussion area.

Copyright 2003 Gale Group, Inc. ASAP Copyright 2003 ZDNet Computer Shopper June 1, 2003,
BYLINE: Nancy A. Feldman and Gregg Keizer, Reviews by Eileen Bien Calabro and Barbara Krasnoff