Accounting software packages-types and benefits

Business processes comprise of several accounting activities. They are transactions, related to amount payable and receivable, trial balance, pay roll, billing, general ledger, sales and purchase order, time sheet, debt collection etc. Accounting activities of a business venture can be divided under two heads. One is core accounting activities and the second is non core accounting activities. Amount payable and receivable, trial balance, billing and general ledger are the core accounting activities. Debt collection, payroll, sales and purchase order processing are non core accounting transactions. Accounting software packages offer distinct modules for each core and non-core accounting transaction.

The major benefit of accounting software packages is smarter, faster and error free accounting. Both free and paid accounting software packages are available in the market. For start-up business ventures and SMEs free packages help a lot. But, with increase in scale of operation, complexities of business processes increase. In such case free accounting software packages can not be that much helpful. You need to opt for paid versions.

There are two types of paid accounting software packages available in the market. One is off-the-shelf and other is custom accounting software. Off-the-shelf packages offer accounting solution that matches to the needs of a number of organizations. On the other hand, custom accounting software is designed keeping specific accounting requirements of a business venture in mind. It has higher customization capacity and compatibility to keep pace with the growth of your business. Compared to off-the-shelf packages, custom applications are costly. But they offer good value for money by offering exact and business specific accounting solutions.

Source by Paul