Overall Satisfaction with AccountEdge
I use AccountEdge mostly for ledger entry of transactions, client/contractor/employee information, and to run reports for tax and accounting purposes. I do not use it for its (formidable) inventory, billing, merchant services and invoicing capabilities.
Pros
- AccountEdge is great for running reports. It allows you to look up information in numerous ways. I like the fact that the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss reports are interactive so in the screen view mode (as opposed to the printed report) you can easily drill down into accounts and transactions.
- AccountEdge is also good at creating invoices and statements. Check printing and modifying check layout.
- The software is quite easy to install and get up and running. The company provides a lot of information on their site, and there is a generous community on their user forum.
- Reconciliations are fairly easy IF you are not expecting to be able to link your bank accounts to the software. AccountEdge does not do that yet (at least in the US). This is a major flaw in the software--one that I hope is addressed in the very near future.
- I like that they offer merchant services and point of purchase sales support, but I have no experience in using those capabilities.
Cons
- Linking directly to bank accounts. It seems to be the wave of the future, and it is a big glaring omission from the AccountEdge arsenal of tools.
- AccountEdge allows printing of government tax forms from within the program, but it is at an additional cost and runs on a separate (but somewhat integrated) ap called Formviewer. This is somewhat clunky to use. I have never been able to get it to print US 1099/96 forms correctly. What's up with that?!
- Similarly, AccountEdge offers direct filing of US government tax documents through a third party. This is also somewhat opaque and clunky. I bought the service this year and thought it was an "all in" purchase, only to find when I went to file W-2's that there was a per employee charge. Maybe I missed the memo as I was trying to sign up for this service, but I felt taken advantage of when I had to pull trig and pay twice.
- Finally, it is needlessly opaque and complicated to figure out how to purchase and use the printable forms and government eFiling. It almost feels like a scam. I'm hoping that the new owners fix this, pronto. There is no room in today's world of consumer and business software for hidden costs and incomplete or missing information at the point of purchase and installation.
- I've used the software for 22 years now, and am very happy with the way it works.
- I've been able to train people on it fairly well.
- I look forward to the day when I do not have to download information from banks manually to reconcile. Time burner.
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