Sage Instant Accounts can be purchased by a business for as little as £115+Vat. As I am sure you will all agree this is a very reasonable price for accounting software. What happens however if this business decides in a few months down the line that they need to be able to create invoices and process transactions in a currency other than the currency their business currently operates in?

The only option for this business is to upgrade their software to the Sage 50 Accounts Professional 2010 which is priced at £1075+Vat. This is an increase of £960 which is just under a grand.

When businesses purchase sage software via the Sage website they are also given the option of purchasing sage cover. For those businesses who wish to purchase Sage Instant Accounts and opt for the Sage cover the price increases from £115 to £215.

For those businesses who wish to purchase Sage 50 Accounts Professional 2010 and opt for Sage Cover, the price increases from £1095 to £1595 however if they choose the sage extra cover it increases to £1970.

Also if a business wishes to have 2 users access Sage 50 Accounts Professional 2010 then the price increase from £1095 to £1325.

The reason for this blog is to highlight additional costs that businesses may not initially consider when deciding which accounting software they are going to purchase.

Fusion Accounts offers businesses a low cost monthly fee so they do not have to pay any large upfront costs. Fusion also offers all business free support so they know in advance what the software is going to cost.

Businesses can purchase Fusion Accounts for as little as £14.95+Vat per month and should they wish to activate Foreign Currency at a later date the increase is minimal £19.95+Vat. Both of these prices also include multi-user access for five users.

When we look beyond the cost implications of purchasing accounting software we also need to consider accessibility. Fusion Accounts is web-based therefore no matter were one is, so long as they have internet access they can access their data. This also enables bookkeepers and accountants to support their clients remotely. Once a user enters a transaction it can automatically be seen by other authorised users. Businesses and accountants no longer need to take backups of the data and transfer these files to and from one another. Instead they login into the system and do what they need to do. This alone presents huge time savings and is more secure for all parties concerned. Businesses don’t need to worry about taking daily backups of their data.

Is online accounting software the way to go for your business?

If you would like any further information contact Fusion Accounts

Tel: +44(0)28 90 246171, Email: info@fusionaccounts.com

I am continuously reading about how I should be using Twitter and other social networking to as part of my marketing activities.  Whilst agreeing with this in principle it is quite difficult to put into practice and I’m never really too sure of the value.

I have a personal twitter account @stuartm9999 and we also have a twitter account for Fusion Accounts - @FusionAccounts.  Although I find it easy to tweet verbosely on my personal account the product account is a bit more sparse than perhaps it should be.

Then this morning I got a great tweet from an unexpected source – Belfast City Council.

On Saturday I tweeted that I had received my new food recycling basket from Belfast City Council.  This morning I received a direct message from them with a link to further instructions on how to use it.

This has really lifted my perception of them as an organisation and consequently my belief in twitter and other “social networking” as a marketing tool.

We received an email yesterday from a Sage Accounts reseller.

The basis of the email was to advice of the Sage Line 50 V11 End of Life Policy. See below.

‘From 1/4/10, Sage Line 50 V11 Users will no longer be able to upgrade their software to new Sage 50 2010 without having to purchase Sage Cover Extra’

I can imagine how frustrating it must be for Sage users when products are no longer supported and businesses need to upgrade their software.

When I looked on the Sage website to find out more about the Sage Line 50 v11 product I found the following information. http://www.sage.co.uk/news/instant_accounts_and_line_50_v.aspx

Our online accounting software Fusion Accounts provides businesses with free automatic upgrades and free support so they don’t have to worry about purchasing or installing new software. This presents huge cost savings for businesses. Other cost savings we offer to businesses is the low cost monthly subscription so they don’t have to pay any large upfront costs.

To assist businesses who wish to move from Sage Accounts and enjoy anytime, anywhere access with Fusion we are currently offering a free sage import.

So if you are a business owner who would like to avoid support and upgrades costs contact us today.

Fusion Accounts has been accredited by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. Fusion Accounts, is an innovative, web-based business management, bookkeeping and accounting system.

Product manager Stuart McLean spoke about what this means for the company

‘We are delighted that our online accounting software has been accredited by the largest bookkeeping institute in the world. To be recognised by the Institute and to be described as a comprehensive package which includes all of the functionality of more well known bookkeeping software packages is exciting for the company’

‘We would like to use this opportunity to thank all of the businesses using our online accounting system Fusion Accounts, for their ongoing contribution and feedback which has resulted in many new enhanced features and functionality. We also look forward to continuing to meet & exceed their expectations’

The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers was established to provide a series of professional qualifications that reflect the needs of business and the aspirations of people wanting to enter the profession. It exists to represent bookkeepers at all levels and to promote the professionalism of bookkeepers to businesses, government and the general public.

In today’s world more and more businesses recognise the importance of having real-time access to their financial data. To assist these businesses Fusion Accounts have put in place a simple and easy migration path to help businesses import their existing data from other accounting packages that don’t offer this anytime, anywhere access.

In reviewing the software the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers point out that the beauty of an online bookkeeping package is that it can be accessed from any computer with internet access. Speaking directly about Fusion Accounts the Institute commented on how the software offers businesses good value for money as support, upgrades and backups are included in the monthly price.

A real benefit of Fusion Accounts is the fact the multiple users can access the software simultaneously and user access can be restricted for privacy and security.

Bookkeeping is a growing profession. It is about understanding how a business works and then providing accurate figures that enable the business to know exactly how well it is doing. Fusion Accounts aims to help business reduce costs, save time and become more profitable.

This is a common question we get asked from many business owners and the answer is ‘Yes’. Fusion Accounts provides businesses with simultaneous multi-user access. A business can create multiple users within Fusion Accounts. There is no restriction on the numbers of users they can have.

The most important thing to remember is that when you create a new user you must remember to assign them ‘roles’. The ‘roles’ you assign to a user will determine the level of access they have within Fusion Accounts.

Typically businesses grant their business partners and accountants full access to their accounts so they can view financial reports and see how well the business is performing year on year. However not all users will require this level of access so a business can restrict access levels to suit the person viewing the information. For instance a business may decide to grant their sales people access to Fusion. They can provide them with a login that only allows them only to create sales orders and sales invoices. The benefit of granting sales staff the ability to do this is that once the sale has been made they can create their own customer invoices. This reduces the need for double entry of data and will reduce any mistakes being made at the time of creating the invoice, e.g. incorrect product being selected, incorrect quantity being entered.

As Fusion Accounts is web-based it means that users can access the data at any time and from any location. One of the main benefits of using an online accounting system is that no installation of software is required. A user can access the data via an internet connection.

Should you need any help selecting ‘roles’ for your ‘users’ contact our support team!

Business Need - I am looking for a system where the invoice does not require me to enter quantity and unit price

Within the 'Business Details' section of Fusion Accounts a business can choose not to 'Show quantity and unit price on invoice'.  If this is not required the business simply unselects this option and then clicks on the 'save' button to update the changes. The business details page can be found under the 'Business' menu.

If you choose not to show quantity and unit price on invoices, at the time of creating the invoice having chosen a sales account the business will only be asked to enter in a price for the invoice. 

So yes, Fusion Accounts does support service invoices.

This morning we received a call from a potential client.  The client has three business locations, London, Dublin & Dubai.

What the client wanted to know was could Fusion Accounts provide them with a set of consolidated financial reports across each of the three businesses alongside individual financial reports.

Also did Fusion Accounts have multi-currency to support the various currencies of each location.

Fusion Accounts can support all of the above.

Foreign currency is offered as a free upgrade to businesses within Fusion Accounts.  When a Business activates foreign currency they can invoice in any currency and accept receipts and make payments in any currency.

With Fusion Accounts being web-based it can be accessed anywhere in the world. 

Although many business owners do not wish to understand the intricacies of double entry bookkeeping, they are interested in invoices.  By understanding how an  invoice is processed through the books you will gain understanding of the bookkeeping process but also how your accounts can be used to assess how your business is doing.

A businesses books are made up of a set of accounts or (nominal accounts) with transactions debiting and crediting these accounts such that the sum of the balances of these accounts is always zero.  There are also accounts for customers and suppliers – although these do not form part of the businesses financial position.

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Two more bank reports are now available.  The Debit Transactions report shows all the transactions that debited an account and the Credit Transactions shows all the reports that credited the account.

These reports are available on the Bank Reports page of the Bank menu.

Many businesses financial year coincides with the calendar year so during January is accountants and bookkeepers are often busy preparing year end accounts for both the business owners and statutory bodies – companies house, HMRC etc.

To lessen the burden here are some simple periodic checks that can be carried out to ensure your books are in good order.

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