Open Source Accounting Software

Posted on September 3, 2010 by admin

Open source accounting software which is also called (OSS) is computer software available in source code form. Certain other rights and the source code is provided under a software license which permits users to improve, change and study the software, and which are normally reserved for copyright holders. The requirements of Open Source Definition are often met with open source licenses. Within the domain some of the open source software is available for general use.

Very often in a collaborative, public manner Open source accounting is often developed. It is often compared to user generated, technically defined content or open movements or even legally defined movements. Open source accounting software is the most prominent example of open source development. It was as a part of a marketing campaign for free software that the term open source software originated. The adoption of models of open source software has resulted in a lot of savings to consumers as stated by the Standish Group in its report.

Barriers:

The adoption of open source business accounting software by enterprises comes with a number of barriers commonly recognized. Open source licenses lack of formal support and training, they are viral, and have the velocity to change. They display a lack of long term roadmap. These are the different barriers included in the perception. Many of these barriers are related to risk. Especially in the case of operating systems and OSS projects, one can actually make money from paid documentation and support. On the other hand exact future plans are not disclosed by proprietary projects.

As demonstrated by MySQL, Alfresco, Ingres and many others, the Dual-License Strategy is business strategy by commercial open source accounting software firms. The obligations and rights that a licensor grants to a license are defined in the license. Right to re-distribute, modify and copy source content or code is granted by open source licenses.

Obligations may also be imposed by these open source accounting software licenses for example placing an author attribution in a documentation or program using the open source, or modifications to the code that are distributed. These must be made available in source code form. A right to grant a license to their work is initially decided by the authors, on the legal theory that the author owns the copyright in that work upon creation and the show of ingenuity. The right to use the author’s copyright is what the licensor or author grants through the license to redistribute, modify and copy work.

Ownership of rights:

Ownership of the open source accounting software copyright is still retained by the author and the licensee is simply allowed to use those rights as been granted in the license. This is allowed as long as obligations of the license are maintained. The author of the open source accounting software has no option to assign or sell the exclusive right to the copyright, while the new assignee or owner controls the same. As compared to the ownership of the work the ownership of the copyright is different and separate. A copy of a piece of the code can be owned without the right to redistribute, modify or copy the copies of it.

Mozilla Public License, Eclipse Public License, MIT License, GNU Lesser General Public License, BSD License and Apache License are some of the examples of open source accounting software or free software license. It is under an explicit license for example the Apache Contributor License Agreement, that an author contributes code to an open source project. Even under an implicit license, for example the open source license under which the project already has a licensing code, the author contributes to the code of the open source project.

Contributed codes under a license are not displayed by some open source projects, but they actually require the assignment of the copyright from the author, to enable them to accept contributions into the project. A way of waiving an owner’s or author’s copyright in a work is by placing content or placing a code in the public domain. To redistribute, modify or copy a work in the pubic domain no license is needed and no license is granted.

Negative aspects:

One of the few negative aspects of the open source accounting software and its movement is the proliferation of open source licenses. Legal implications of the differences between the licenses, is often difficult to understand. In 2008 an important legal milestone for the open source movement was passed, when the US federal appeals court ruled that a license for free software does set legal binding conditions on the use of copyrighted work and therefore under the existing copyright law they are enforceable. If end users are infringing copyright or violate the licensing conditions the license disappears.

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Free Accounting Software

Posted on September 3, 2010 by admin

There are different types of software available in the market depending on your requirements. Running a business becomes easy by choosing accounting software that suits your business best. Some of the accounting software might be used on a personal basis while there are others that are designed for use in large businesses only. It is important to know what features it can bring into your business, so that it becomes easy in deciding the type of accounting software you should invest in.

Find out whether it is a real option:

Today, many people are aware about free software available for accounting purposes. Find out first what the implications are for a simple accounting system as a real time option. Free accounting software is offered by the powerhouse – Microsoft. If all you need is simple accounting software then as a businessman you may want to check out free accounting software. For small home businesses and personal accounting Microsoft accounting software certainly works best. If more power is needed later, you can later switch to the paid pro version.

Many businessmen may think that just because accounting software is free, it may not be enough. A lot of time may be spent in thinking whether choosing free accounting software is the best choice you have made or not. You will be wasting a lot of time learning the free accounting software system, if it is limited for what you need. You will only be forced to upgrade it very soon and incur more expenses in the bargain. Some may feel that a better choice is to buy a system which is much more powerful than your requirements as a result of which too much time is spent on learning the complex system in that case and that too for no reason at all. It is always better to think through what you really need first and for this you have to invest some time, and then finally opt for the most apt accounting software.

Ready to use software solutions, which work for many small businesses, are manufactured by a number of major software companies. If ever you need more power for the future, you can buy proven systems with upgrades available from major software makers. Products are sold in volume by major software makers like Peachtree, Quicken and Microsoft, so you are sure to get a lot of power at reasonable rates.

Getting support:

Ensure that you get support whenever you are in trouble. You may need a toll free number for this. If there is serious trouble with the accounting software then you should have an idea of how much the support would cost. As compared to a major brand, if you choose simple software, then even local help would do. You could end up with a useless locked up system that does not work, if you get a no name system. Before you buy accounting software, better think about the support too. All that a small business needs is easy accounting software. To get the accounting job done well, buy enough power first. Think about how you will support the system in the future and also what you need for the endeavor.

Depending on your needs accounting software can either be complex or simple. Most of the commonly available software packages are used to process and record account payables and account receivables. The business is able to keep a track of various vendors they have, as well find out how much money is owed. At the same time businesses are aware of how much money they have at any given point of time.

Helps keep track:

Some of the free business accounting software programs help in creating an invoice which can then be printed for other debt collection processes and also sent to bill clients. To keep a track of the number of hours an employee has worked these software also have a feature that helps create a timesheet record. Very simple to use are the more personal programs that are designed for use in homes. You can create the budget you want as well as make a checklist of your household bills. The software also helps to you to find out how much money is left over at the end of the month, as well as how much you owe and when it has to be paid.

More complex are the higher quality programs like that of construction accounting software. Businesses dealing with thousands to millions of dollars every week use high quality programs. With the kind of features these programs have it becomes easier to keep track of every vendor as well as allow the user to customize the program whenever required. For personal use and small businesses, free accounting software is a better choice. It is unnecessary waste of money and time in using powerful software for small jobs. It also takes a lot to learn powerful accounting software.

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Business Accounting Software

Posted on September 3, 2010 by admin

Like any other system of accounting information, business accounting software functions independently and with least manual intervention. It can be a combination of third party application software package with local modifications and can be purchased from a third party, or it may be developed by an organization or a company in-house.

As far as its cost and complexity are concerned it varies greatly. With many suppliers being bought by larger groups, or many suppliers ceasing to trade, a considerable consolidation has been part and parcel of the market since the mid 1990s. Business accounting software is composed typically of different sections dealing with particular areas of accounting in and around various modules.

Different modules of accounting software for business:

There are core modules and non core modules of business accounting software like:

  • General Ledger – records of the company’s books
  • Purchase order – records of the inventory purchased by the company
  • Sales order – records of the customer orders for the supply of inventory
  • Accounts payable – records of the money received by the company
  • Accounts payable – records of the bills and payments owed
  • Stock inventory – records of the inventory control
  • Billing – records of the invoices to customers
  • Cash book – records of the payments and collections

There are a number of non core modules which are include:

  • Electronic payment processing
  • Payroll – records of the wages
  • Salary and related taxes kept in track
  • Debt collection – records of the bills collected that are overdue (part of accounts receivable)
  • Reports – records of the print outs of data
  • Expense – records of the business related expenses incurred
  • Purchase requisition – records of requests for purchase orders
  • Approved as well as tracked inventories
  • Timesheet – records of the consultants and attorneys who record time worked for bills to the clients

When it comes down to the total cost of ownership of the business, a bigger consideration than the actual software chosen is the configuration and installation of the system. Through consultants, developers and resellers larger and midmarket applications are sold exclusively. A license fee to the software vendor is generally passed by those organizations, and then charges are posted to the client for support services, customization and installation. There are other organizational support mediums to consult with and sell directly to the clients, thus eliminating the reseller.

Categories:

Business accounting software has three categories, namely personal accounting, low end and mid market. As far as personal accounting is concerned it is used mainly by home users, who manage budgets, simple account reconciliation, and use accounts payable type accounting transactions.

Accounting functions to be performed in the case of most general businesses is use of inexpensive applications software at the low end of the business market. A single national market is served by suppliers frequently, while separate solutions in each national market are offered by larger suppliers. As opposed to double entry systems seen in most businesses, many of the low end products are characterized by being single entry products. Some of the low end systems do not have audit trials or adequate security.

Vertical Market

Some of the business accounting software includes features that are specific to that industry only. The software is designed for specific types of businesses and their individual components only. It is often very difficult to choose whether you want a general purpose application or an industry specific application. If there is software designed for a specific industry, it comes with a number of concerns including reduced availability of support, smaller development teamwork and increased risk of vendor business failure. This can be weighed up against reduced implementation costs, lesser requirements for customization and reduced end user training costs and time. Vertical accounting software is available in important sub segments or types like non profit, medical, construction, banking, day care accounting and point of sale or retail vertical accounting software.

Advanced software:

Advanced business accounting software or hybrid solutions are being offered by software vendors at lower prices, as technology improves rapidly today. At multiple stages of growth, this software is suitable for companies. Small businesses also grow in size and open multiple locations and hence require many of the features of mid market and high end software including extremely scalable databases and advanced customization. There is also a need to connect to multiple locations with other companies increasing overseas or allowing workers to operate out of home offices. Many smaller clients too have the need to connect multiple locations.

To allow accounting in multiple currencies and to serve the dictates of multiple national accountancy standards, the mid market covers a wide range of business software. The software may include add on or integrate management information function in addition to the general accounting functions and may be oriented towards one or more markets.

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