Accounting software is computer software that records and processes accounting transactions within functional modules such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and trial balance. It functions as an accounting information system. It may be developed in-house by the company or organization using it, may be purchased from a third party, or may be a combination of a third-party application software package with local modifications. It varies greatly in its complexity and cost. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Computer program. ... It has been suggested that Accounting scholarship be merged into this article or section. ... Accounts payable is a file or account that contains money that a person or company owes to suppliers, but hasnt paid yet. ... Accounts receivable is one of a series of accounting transactions dealing with the billing of customers who owe money to a person, company or organization for goods and services that have been provided to the customer. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... In bookkeeping, the trial balance is a worksheet wherein all the balances of each ledger are entered in two columns, namely debit and credit. ... An accounting information system (also called accounting cycle) is the system of records a business keeps to maintain its accounting system. ... In the video game industry, a third-party developer is a developer that is not directly tied to the primary product the consumer is using. ... Software that has been modified by a local partner in order to adhere to territory specific accounting rules. ...

The market has been undergoing considerable consolidation since the mid 1990s, with many suppliers ceasing to trade or being bought by larger groups. For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

Modules

Accounting software is typically composed of various modules, different sections dealing with particular areas of accounting. Among the most common are:

Core Modules

• Accounts receivable—where the company enters money received
• Accounts payable—where the company enters its bills and pays money it owes
• General ledger—the company's "books"
• Billing—where the company produces invoices to clients/customers
• Stock/Inventory—where the company keeps control of its inventory
• Purchase Orders—where the company orders inventory
• Sales Orders—where the company records customer order for the supply of inventory

Non Core Modules
Accounts receivable is one of a series of accounting transactions dealing with the billing of customers who owe money to a person, company or organization for goods and services that have been provided to the customer. ... Accounts payable is a file or account that contains money that a person or company owes to suppliers, but hasnt paid yet. ... The general ledger, sometimes known as the nominal ledger, is the main accounting record of a business which uses double-entry bookkeeping. ... Billing may mean: The process of sending accounts to customers for goods or services is called billing. ... Inventory is a list of goods and materials, or those goods and materials themselves, held available in stock by a business. ...

• Debt Collection—where the company tracks attempts to collect overdue bills (sometimes part of accounts receivable)
• Expense—where employee business-related expenses are entered
• Inquiries—where the company looks up information on screen without any edits or additions
• Payroll—where the company tracks salary, wages, and related taxes
• Reports—where the company prints out data
• Timesheet—where professionals (such as attorneys and consultants) record time worked so that it can be billed to clients

(Different vendors will use different names for these modules) In accounting, an expense represents an event in which an asset is used up or a liability is incurred. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... A timesheet is a method for recording the amount of a workers time spent on each job. ... An attorney is someone who represents someone else in the transaction of business: For attorney-at-law, see lawyer, solicitor, barrister or civil law notary. ... A consultant (from the Latin consultare meaning to discuss from which we also derive words such as consul and counsel) is a professional who provides expert advice in a particular area of expertise such as accountancy, the environment, technology, the law, human resources, marketing, medicine, finance, public affairs, communication, engineering...

Implementations

See the article Comparison of accounting software. Categories: | ...

Categories

Personal Accounting

Mainly for home users that use accounts payable type accounting transactions, managing budgets and simple account reconciliation at the inexpensive end of the market suppliers include: Accounts payable is a file or account that contains money that a person or company owes to suppliers, but hasnt paid yet. ... It has been suggested that Accounting scholarship be merged into this article or section. ... Look up budget in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Low End

At the low end of the business markets, inexpensive applications software allows most general business accounting functions to be performed. Suppliers frequently serve a single national market, while larger suppliers offer separate solutions in each national market.

Many of the low end products are characterized by being "single-entry" products, as opposed to double-entry systems seen in many businesses. Some products have considerable functionality but are not considered GAAP or FASB compliant. Some low-end systems do not have adequate security nor audit trails. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Mid Market

The mid-market covers a wide range of business software that may be capable of serving the needs of multiple national accountancy standards and allow accounting in multiple currencies.

In addition to general accounting functions, the software may include integrated or add-on management information systems, and may be oriented towards one or more markets, for example with integrated or add-on project accounting modules. Management Information Systems (MIS), are information systems, typically computer based, that are used within an organization. ... Project accounting is the practice of creating financial reports specifically designed to track the financial progress of projects, which can then be used by managers to aid project management. ...

Software applications in this market typically include the following features:

• Industry-standard robust databases (eg Microsoft SQL, Oracle, Pervasive)
• Industry-standard reporting tools (eg Cognos, Crystal)
• Tools for configuring or extending the application (eg an SDK, access to program code, the ability to be controlled via Visual Basic for Applications (VBA))

High End

The most complex and expensive business accounting software is frequently part of an extensive suite of software often known as Enterprise resource planning or ERP software. Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) integrate (or attempt to integrate) all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. ...

These applications typically have a very long implementation period, often greater than six months. In many cases, these applications are simply a set of functions which require significant integration, configuration and customisation to even begin to resemble an accounting system.

The advantage of a high-end solution is that these systems are designed to support individual company specific processes, as they are highly customisable and can be tailored to exact business requirements. This usually comes at a significant cost in terms of money and implementation time.

Vertical Market

Some business accounting software is designed for specific business types. It will include features that are specific to that industry.

The choice of whether to purchase an industry-specific application or a general-purpose application is often very difficult. Concerns over a custom-build application or one designed for a specific industry include:

• Smaller development team
• Increased risk of vendor business failing
• Reduced availability of support

This can be weighed up against:

• Less requirement for customisation
• Reduced implementation costs
• Reduced end-user training time and costs

Some important types of vertical accounting software are:

• Banking
• Construction
• Medical
• Point of Sale (Retail)

Use by Non-Accountants

With the increasing dominance of having financial accounts prepared with Accounting Software, as well as some suppliers claims that anyone can prepare their own books, accounting software can be considered at risk of not providing appropriate information as non-accountants prepare accounting information. As recording and interpretation is left to software and expert systems, the necessity to have a Systems Accountant overseeing the accountancy system becomes ever more important. The set up of the processes and the end result must be vigorously checked and maintained on a regular basis in order to develop and maintain the integrity of the data and the processes that manage these data.

History

Bob Frankston, has noted that his VisiCalc wasn't an early accounting program and that software that "overly tuned for such function (Javelin, Lotus Improv, etc.) completely failed."

Online Resources

The World Wide Web provides accountants with valuable resources for researching, selecting, and implementing accounting software. With the vast array of software products available, accountants can be overwhelmed by all the choices and options offered. Consequently, they have been turning to the web to search for solutions, to connect with each other, and to share best practices techniques for selecting software. This trend is likely to continue as the software market becomes more saturated and as accountants further embrace online resources.

See also

• Accounting, and List of accounting topics
• Application software
• Construction Software
• Comparison of accounting software
• Double-entry bookkeeping system
• E-accounting
• Enterprise Resource Planning
• Finance software
• ‎Investment management
• ‎Tax

It has been suggested that Accounting scholarship be merged into this article or section. ... Following is a list of accounting topics. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Construction software referes to a broad range of computer software applications designed for businesses in the construction, real estate development, civil engineering, and architecture industries. ... Categories: | ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... e-Accounting is the application of online and Internet technologies to the business accounting function. ... Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) integrate (or attempt to integrate) all data and processes of an organization into a unified system. ... Investment management is the professional management of various securities (shares, bonds etc) assets (e. ... “Taxes” redirects here. ...

External References

• Visicalc discussion by inventor