Tech Review: Finally an idiot-proof, free accounting software
November 17, 2009 by Aaron Kremer
For better or worse, I run BizSense by feel.
In any given month, I know how much is in our account, and I know about what we should be bringing in and spending. But I don’t worry too much about it. If we need a new computer, I drive to Best Buy and pick one out. When we line up a new ad contract, we order pizza.
In the end, I hope the business proves wildly popular and profitable, so I keep my head down and keep typing.
But partly it’s also because I refuse to learn Quick Books and have given up on Quicken, for which I paid $100 that I will not be getting back. There also isn’t enough time in the day to learn obtuse accounting software. I looked at Quick Books and yelled “Uncle” after five minutes.
And granted I have a bookkeeper who keeps a close watch on all our figures and who makes calls for us when clients are late in paying. So I’m not really solely responsible for the books.
Still, I should be studying the numbers more closely.
Several weeks ago BizSense reviewed Mint.com, which simplifies accounting for the masses. What I really need is a similar program that takes only minutes to update and can show me some simple graphs and data that may not jump out to me. Surely something had to be out there better than a plain spreadsheet and one that has a few useful bells and whistles for us business owners.
Hello, Outright: Where have you been for the last three years?
Outright is a free online accounting program stripped down to the essence of what most small-business owners need (not ones using a huge amount of capital that requires fancy accounting tricks): money in and money out. Business is simple, right?
There are several others out there, but this one is worth checking out. Like most of the best online technology we review, it has a minimalist design with muted colors and easy navigation. Outright, which has venture backing from some hot-shot funds, is also free from ads.
The website does not produce everything – no cash flow and no income statement. Just profit/loss and a breakdown of income and expenses by categories.
But the site produces colorful pie charts and while none of the data surprised me, it’s still nice to review. One helpful addition to the site would be for the specific spending categories to give you the sum instead of just the breakdown. For example, so far in the meals/entertainment category for November, we’ve spent $43.62 at Lift Café, $37.86 at Comfort and $16.75 at Chanello’s Pizza. It’d be nice to get that sum right there on that category page instead of having to click back or whip out the calculator (total: $98.23).
The site took me a few minutes to set up, and after synching the business’ banking account and credit card, it could pull all the data off our latest statements. All I had to do was add the categories. Then input our line items for revenue and expenses for the past two months and – uh oh. Turns out we aren’t making as much as I thought.
Well, that’s not good, but it’s good to know.
Editor’s note: BizSense is looking for a tech-savvy writer to help review technology that our audience could find helpful. If interested, please send brief paragraph explaining your writing background to Jobs@richmondbizsense.com.
It sounds as if you are doing exactly what QuickBooks does in the accounting software you are speaking about. What QuickBooks doesn’t mention is that it is more than helpful to have some training. Their TV commercial says you can set up a company in 15 minutes. That’s a bit misleading if you want to set it up as a CPA firm would like it to be setup. The QuickBooks website can lead you to QuickBooks Pro Advisors, like me, to guide you thru the process and provide training. It takes a couple of hours, but then you, the business owner or bookkeeper, are on your way. And we won’t leave you stranded as your knowledge progresses. Don’t rule out QuickBooks so fast!
Another good option for online bookkeeping to consider is http://www.freshbooks.com Wichita plays nice with many other great web based services & plugins. Also offers instand hard copy invoicing in a few clicks, iPhone access and developer’s API’s an modules.
Wow, yet another “accounting” package that’s not! If you’re just looking at transactions from bank and credit card statements, you’re not getting the full picture. Also, this will suffer from “garbage-in-garbage-out” of the highest order. Much will depend on the mapping of transactions to “categories.” And, FYI, “profit/loss” is just another name for an income statement.
What a great review Aaron thank you. I love the point you make, “Business is simple” – It really is; it’s the work involved with being an entrepreneur that’s a pain. I like to think we’re in the business of helping keep it simple. At the very least, I hope we make the back office a little easier; if we’re doing our job, you won’t have to worry about taxes at all.
One of the ways we’re trying to keep it simple is to use familiar language. Dawn is right, the profit/loss or P&L is the income statement; we’ve found most business owners think of it as a profit & loss, with an “income statement,” foreign to them – technically, the same thing but for the sake of the business owner, keep it simple.
Worth adding Dawn, we keep an eye on the garbage-in-garbage-out too. Outright automatically categorizes most imported transactions; and while we don’t get everything, you can pull a report of duplicates or uncategorized transactions to reduce the amount of actual bookkeeping you need to do. Not perfect yet but we’re trying!
Let us know what else we can do. You can send me an email directly to my name @ outright.com
Aaron,
I’d be the last one to sing praises for Quickbooks. Years of using it and I still find some things difficult and frustrating. I’m quite sure the bloated program was responsible for bringing down one of my computers several years ago.
However, you do need to keep closer track of your numbers than you may be inclined to do. Business may be simple, but taxes aren’t. Neither is the time element of business. You would be surprised to find out how many businesses fail because they have to pay before they get paid. I think there are alternatives to QB, but I haven’t been sold on one yet.
As with any software package, you can learn so much by trial and error but I would recommend training as you can’t afford to make mistakes with your accounts hey!!
You’re committing the error that most new business owners commit – demoting the importance of financial record keeping and reports. That is until you get into cash flow issues and can’t understand why or until your taxes are due. Then you will finally send all the paperwork to an accountant and want it done yesterday.