AccountEdge Pro: Accounting Software {Review & Giveaway}

I have decided to go out on my own again and become a Virtual Assistant!  With that hard decision, I have had to find a lot of things that I will need in order to get the business up and running and one of the main things I have been looking into has been accounting software that I could use for an at home business.  There aren’t many out there, at least that are from well-known companies and even less that are available for Mac users.  That’s when I found AccountEdge, the premium accounting software for Mac.

About AccountEdge

AccountEdge is a robust small business accounting app for Mac OS X that follows rules your accountant will love without you needing to become one.

Get where you’re going quick with the Side Bar (new in the Command Center), track your mileage, streamline your invoicing, and break down items by weight on invoices and packing slips. Learn more about what’s new in AccountEdge 2012

AccountEdge lets you manage your small business on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Integrate with Checkout Point of Sale, web store Enstore, and more.  AccountEdge is also available for Windows. And if you are already using QuickBooks you can switch!

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AccountEdge Basic can be purchased for $99 and the Pro version can be purchased for $299 or you can upgrade from Basic to Pro for $159.

My Take On It

I have been using AccountEdge for about a month now and although some of it is still a little confusing for me, it’s getting easier to remember where everything is and how to use it.  It just takes some practice to remember where things are, especially when you don’t use it all day and every day.

It has been a very long time since I’ve used accounting software and when I say a very long time, I mean about 10 years! I never had to set up a company for the first time and not knowing everything you need to know about accounting makes it a little harder to do.  However, I love that AccountEdge has a nice step by step process for setting up your company with easy questions to answer and you can even start inserting customers and suppliers while you’re getting your company file set up.

Although I haven’t taken advantage of it yet, I love that you can use a mobile app to record your sales, enter payments, enter expenses, and more.  All from your iPhone and iPad and you can sync it with your data on your computer by using DropBox, a free and secure web-based file hosting service that is used to sync files between AccountEdge 2011 and AccountEdge Mobile (among other uses).

The only problem I have found is correcting mistakes – I haven’t figured out how to correct an error in dollar amounts in payments or other items once they are posted.  This doesn’t mean that you can’t fix your mistakes, I just haven’t figured it out yet.

I love that you can print or email statements, invoices, purchase orders, and payroll stubs.  Makes it a lot easier for companies to go paperless, which a lot of them are doing these days.  You are able to customize many of the reports throughout the software to work for you and your company, which is great.  Your invoices and purchase orders can be partially customized based on the customer and type of sale (service, professional, time billing, etc.), which makes it nice because not all companies have one type of customer or provide one type of service.

I’ve only used one other accounting software (QuickBooks) before and I can say that AccountEdge covers everything that QuickBooks does and possibly more as I don’t know if the other program allows for you to sync with your iPad and/or iPhone and it’s been awhile since I’ve used QuickBooks.  I would definitely recommend AccountEdge to others, especially those that are just starting out and need something that does everything.

The Giveaway

AccountEdge has offered on of my readers their own copy of AccountEdge Pro (Windows or Mac version).

To Enter:

Valid for Residents of the United States & Canada and that are age 18 or older. Please no PO Boxes.  This giveaway ends on 03/22/2012 at 12:01 AM EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter. Winner will be announced on Shawn Ann’s World and will receive an email. The winner will then have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Disclosure: Items were received for the purpose of this review. All opinions are that of my own. No other monetary compensation took place.