Bookkeeping for Small Business: Do it Right

Business Accounting Software

No matter what the industry, being able to properly do bookkeeping for small businesses is extremely important. It might look like a daunting task at first, but it is definitely doable and can be very rewarding if you manage to do it right.

As any business owner can attest, simply maintaining an existing venture involves dealing with a lot of paperwork by default. Bookkeeping is just one of many tasks that are absolutely essential to ensure that you don't lose track of anything - especially concerning the financials.

Express Accounts Listed as Best Alternative to QuickBooks

SoftwareWorld, a leading software review platform has just listed Express Accounts Accounting Software as one of the best alternatives to QuickBooks.

While QuickBooks is a popular accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses, it may not be the right fit for every business. Choosing an effective business accounting software is a critical decision for the financial health and growth of your business. A top accounting app greatly reduces the potential for human error and allows you to access critical information quickly and accurately. 

SoftwareWorld’s article has ranked Express Accounts as having a higher average to QuickBooks with regards to popularity, affordability, and user-friendliness of a top accounting software. 

Express Accounts is a professional business accounting software, perfect for small businesses that need to document and report on payments, sales, purchases, and receipts and we’re thrilled it has been listed as a top accounting software. Download Express Accounts for your business today and take control of your finances and accounts. 

Download Express Accounts for Windows

Change Currencies in Express Invoice

How to Change Currencies in Express Invoice

Change Express Invoice Currency to Euro, Pound, Rupee, Etc.

Changing the default currency sign in Express Invoice is quick and easy to do. The currency tracked by this robust invoicing software can easily be changed to the Euro, Pound, Rupee, Yen, or any other currency using the Options menu.

Download Express Invoice for Windows

Navigate to the Options Menu

To Navigate to the options menu, click on the icon that says "Options" in the top bar menu of the program window. The Options menu includes many options to personalize invoices, quotes, and sales orders, as well as currency preferences.

Once you have opened the invoicing options pop-up menu, click on the "Regional" tab in the left hand menu. 

This will open the regional options dialogue where you can change the decimal symbol, thousands symbol, date format, and measurement units used on your company's invoices. Simply click and type to change the decimal symbol and thousands symbol on your invoices. Printed date format and measurement units can also be changed here by selecting an option from the drop-down lists. 

The Regional options can be expanded to select "Currency". In the Currency dialogue, you can change the currency symbol, currency name, currency order, and currency digits.

Simply click to edit any of these drop-down fields. You can also type in a currency symbol if you cannot find the correct symbol in the drop-down list.

 You can change how currency is displayed on invoices by editing the Currency Order.

When you are finished, click "OK" to save your selections.

Use Multiple Currencies in Express Invoice

If you need to record invoices in multiple currencies, you have two options. You can either add a second currency or you can set up a second business within Express Invoice for invoices in a second currency. 

Setting Up Multiple Currencies

Multiple currencies will allow you to switch between invoices in two different currencies. To set up multiple currencies, select "Multiple Currencies" from the "Invoice" menu.

This will open a window that will allow you to add additional currencies to Express Invoice. To set up a new currency, click on the "Add New Currency" button. Fill out the form with information on the new currency that you would like to add, including the currency symbol, name, currency symbol display order, digits displayed in the currency, decimal symbol, and thousands symbol. 

Each currency that you add will act as a fresh install of Express Invoice. You can switch between currencies within a business. Each currency will keep its own separate lists of invoices and quotes. You can switch between currencies at any time by selecting "Multiple Currencies" from the "Invoice" drop-down menu. Highlight the currency that you would like to switch to and click "Select" to switch to invoices in that currency.

Setting Up a Second Business In Express Invoice

To set up a second business with a different currency, navigate to the "Invoice" drop-down menu, and select "Multiple Businesses" from the drop-down list. 

This will open a window that will list your current businesses. Click on the button titled "Add New Business" to add a new business.

Follow the set-up guide to enter your business information for your second business.

Once you are done adding business information, you can select a currency for your second business by following the steps above. Changing the settings for your second business will not affect your original business settings. To switch between businesses, select "Multiple Businesses" from the Invoice drop-down menu, select the business that you would like to switch to, and click "Select". 

Download Express Invoice for Windows

You may also be interested in:

• Express Invoice Video Tutorials
• Business Software Integrations Improves Inventory Tracking
• Home Business: Accounting and Invoicing Software
• Run Your Business From Anywhere
• Organize Your Bookkeeping

Business Software Integration Improves Inventory Tracking

At NCH Software we take suggestions from our customers very seriously. It helps us improve our products when people who use the software ask us to provide features and upgrades that would help them.

For our business customers, tracking inventory is an important part of their daily business processes. Inventoria inventory management software is a full-featured inventory system for managing available stock, and many customers have asked us to integrate this inventory tracking with our accounting software Express Accounts, our invoicing software Express Invoice, and Copper our point-of-sale software so that they can better track inventory when selling items using these other business programs.

That integration is now available and we've received positive feedback from users who say that it has helped them in their day-to-day business operations.

Express Invoice, Express Accounts, and Copper can all be set to sync with Inventoria. This means, for example, that if you sell a product using Copper point-of-sale it will automatically update the quantity in Inventoria. Both products can be installed on different computers and as long as those computers are connected to the Internet it doesn't matter where the computers are located. That means that your warehouse could be next door, across the country, or around the world and the sale will be reflected in your inventory almost instantly. The sync process works the same for Express Accounts and Express Invoice as it does for Copper.

This integration is a significant improvement to the NCH Software business suite. We've got many more improvements planned for not only our business software but for our entire product line as wells, so stay tuned and continue to let us know how we can best improve our software for you.

Is It Checkbook or Chequebook?

"The United States and Great Britain are two countries
separated by a common language."

— Attributed to George Bernard Shaw
although there's some debate about that too

One of our customers in the United Kingdom recently pointed out that our use of the word "checkbook" in our MoneyLine personal finance software was incorrect and that it should be "chequebook" instead.

Here in the US the British spelling with a "q" "u" and an extra "e" looks pretty strange. But, then, I guess to folks in Great Britain the "c" and "k" in our version looks equally strange.

To top it off, our CEO is from Australia, and many of our software developers are based there too. So we have the conflicting Australian English to deal with as well. It can all get pretty confusing. Sometimes we need a translator just so we can all speak the same language. And we all speak English!

We Americans tend to think our version is the "correct" one, but what do you think? Do we have it right when we say "checkbook" in MoneyLine? Do you use "checkbook" or "chequebook?"

Software to Grow With Your Business, Made Easier

One of the great things about our suite of software applications is that you can pick and choose individual applications so you only buy the programs that you need. If you only need something to help you with invoicing, you can purchase Express Invoice and not need to wade through a complete accounting package just for sending bills to your clients. This is great for small companies that frequently have help from outside with their accounting, and it isn't until you are doing more of the bookkeeping in-house that you'll want a full blown accounting system.

As your business grows and you are getting ready to make the transition to an accounting system, you will be pleased to know that we are striving to make this upgrade easier for you. Now when you install Express Accounts, it will search for Express Invoice on your machine and give you the option of importing the invoices and using the balances from Express Invoice as the opening or beginning balances for your Checking and Accounts Receivable in Express Accounts. Imagine how much time that will save you in setting up your accounts.

Organize your Bookkeeping

It may not be tax season but that is no reason to let your business bookkeeping fall behind or into disarray. Express Accounts has an intuitive design that allows you to start managing your finances within minutes, so you can save time organizing your incoming and outgoing cash flow. Track more than just transactions, store client and vendor information, manage inventory levels and more with this easy and robust accounting software.

Throughout the year, track the performance of your business and watch your business grow. The task bar displays a current overview of your company's financial status and quick access to more than 20 essential accounting reports.

Express Accounts makes staying on top of your business accounting easier, which will save you headaches when tax times does roll around again, and your accountant will thank you for keeping everything organized.

Run Your Business from Anywhere

Small business owners frequently wear different hats, run errands and are pulled in a million directions. That is one of the many reasons why we built the web access feature into our business software applications. We know you aren’t always at your desk when you need to update your records and accounts, check your inventory levels, or check the status of a client’s account. Here’s an overview of a few of our business programs that include the web access feature:

• Inventoria stock control software–update stock levels as you buy or sell product from the road, or from any of your warehouse locations.
  
• Express Invoice invoicing software–send invoices or print customer receipts from tradeshows, or anywhere else your business takes you.
  
• Express Accounts accounting software–the value of seeing your business performance no matter where you are is invaluable
  

By setting up the web interface for any of these programs, you make it possible for other staff members to log into the system, and you can also log in and update information from your mobile phone or any remote computer. This means if you are at a meeting with a client you can make an invoice, and if you are at your warehouse you can update your inventory. To help make sure you take full advantage of this ability to access your data on the go, we created a video tutorial on setting up the Inventoria web access for easy access to your business inventory information wherever and whenever you need it. You can also view tutorials for setting up web access for Express Invoice and Express Accounts.

The End of Accounting Nightmares

Guest post by John Chellan of ISOBE Soft Pvt. Ltd.

I am a small software business owner with lots of experience in software development, but little real knowledge of accounting. Sure, I have done my taxes online, but had never balanced a balance sheet or did any type of journal entry work. Honestly, I’d rather not think about accounting, and just spend my time being more productive developing software and meeting clients.

But at the end of every month, I knew it was inevitable that all those transactions needed to be somehow entered into Excel and create some kind of crude income statement. That was all I could do, and that is all I knew how to do. In the back of my mind, I realized there is was lot more information in those numbers, and I needed either a professional accountant or software to get to that data. So I called a few accountants. Ouch, they were expensive! Next, I tried the trial versions of the two most popular, very expensive accounting programs and I couldn’t figure out what to do—and trust me I spent days trying to figure out what I was doing. Then I tried some free programs off the internet, and they were just silly with no good reports and user interfaces that looked like they came out of the Stone Age of programming. Almost at the verge of going back to Excel, I ran across Express Accounts.

I was skeptical at first and didn’t expect anything different from what I had seen from the trials of the other software. Well let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, Express Accounts was easy to install and quick, too. The interface was broken down in such a manner that one only needs to understand how the sales and purchase process works, and how to enter in expenses. The interface is quite user friendly and intuitive. The wealth of reports was the big thing that really impressed me about the software. Setting up the electronic invoicing and purchase ordering system was also very easy.

I have been using this software for 6 months now, looking for something to go wrong. The reality is, the more I use it, the more I become accustomed to its wealth of functionality. I really think this is one of the best cost-saving tools for small businesses that can’t afford to put up a professional accounting staff and need to streamline the accounting process and produce business data on the fly. Express Accounts has made the end of the month a stress free time, and now I spend my nights dreaming of growing my business.

John Chellan founded ISOBE in 2009. ISOBE started as a humble English language training center in Tamil Nadu and by 2010 had evolved into an educational consultant for colleges, schools and business. In 2011, ISOBE became ISOBE Soft Pvt. Ltd; and began to develop its own home grown software for small to large businesses.

Express Accounts: New Look Gives Users a Better Experience

Some of you may have noticed that Express Accounts accounting software has a different look these days. Earlier this year, we optimized the interface workflow after considering research we conducted about the features our customers use most within the program. What resulted was a "tabbed" interface—by clicking category tabs at the top of the main interface, the user can pull up tasks related to that category, such as Sales, Purchases, Banking and Reports.

The updated interface gives users the option to ignore functionality they don’t use without giving up precious screen space, but also provides quick access to the full range of features for businesses that require a more robust accounting system. The category tab solution also allowed us to stick with the basic interface structure Express Accounts has had for some time now, one that has proven to be easy to navigate, work with, and simple enough to understand quickly. Seasoned Express Accounts users will still find links to their tasks in the left-hand Explorer Bar, within the center control panel, on the toolbar, and within the program’s menus, no matter which category tab they are on.

Here are a few other new characteristics worth highlighting:

• The Home tab saves users from clicking through tabs in search of common tasks they would rather have quick access to. Express Accounts always opens to the Home tab.
• Account overviews are provided in the lower left section of each tab, giving the user a quick reference to how their business is doing without running reports.
• Accounts payable: One of Express Account’s strengths has always been in tracking payments due to your business by your customers. Now you can track your own accounts payable by entering them as they come in and paying them when they are due.
• Improved help documentation gives users new to bookkeeping and accounting a solid introduction to the program. To access the Help, press F1 from within the program, or click the Help button from any window to find the help topic specific to the task you are working on.

We are very excited about the changes in Express Accounts, but we’re not finished yet. Currently, our development team is working on adding more inventory tracking capability into the program, mirroring the features available within target="_blank"Inventoria inventory management software. For all of you who have asked for complete integration between these two powerful programs, keep a lookout over the next six months for this exciting feature update.

Learn more about Express Accounts or sign up for the NCH Software newsletter to stay informed of version updates, new software features, and receive special offers.

Home Business: Accounting and Invoicing Software

Software for Getting Your Home Office Running (Part 2 of 5)

You've got the idea for your business and are swarming with ideas about how to get started. You may think that bookkeeping and accounting is getting ahead of the game at this point—first you need clients. But that's not true. You need to keep track of all your expenses and payments right from the start. Setting up accounting software to manage your accounts out of the gate can save headaches caused by trying to find these details later.

One of the advantages of running a business out of a home office is the tax deductions you can take. But to take advantage of those deductions, your records must be in order. Deductions are retroactive once you have paying clients, so accurately tracking the expenses leading up to that first client is extremely important.

You need a flexible, easy-to-use accounting program or you won't use it. Ideally, it will also handle your invoicing to making record keeping even easier, which is one of the things that Express Accounts accounting software offers. Express Accounts is available for Mac and PC, can be installed and ready to use in less than 5 minutes.

Here are some of the key features of Express Accounts:

• Create journal entries for payments, purchases, receipts and deposits
  
• Create and send invoices from inside the application
  
• Set up alerts to track unpaid invoices and make sure nothing falls through the cracks
  
• Standard reports including Profit & Loss statement and Balance Sheet
  
• Email or fax reports and invoices directly from the program
  

Express Accounts is particularly ideal for your start up business because it allows you to track expenses without having to pay extra bookkeeping costs or for expensive software with features you'll never use. Express Accounts will also grow with your business; it can track all the business expenses of multiple businesses with your original software license, and across several locations. Setting up your home office with Express Accounts ensures you'll have software that is easy to use, and that you can use for years to come without any additional investment.

Next: VoIP Phone System

Single Software Applications are the Way of the Future You Don't Need to Buy the Whole Suite Anymore

The days of needing to purchase an entire software suite are behind us. At NCH Software we have designed our software suites so that each product can be bought individually and still integrate with other individual applications. This gives businesses more control and flexibility to purchase only the products they need without spending money on products they will never use. Customization becomes available to businesses of all sizes so they can craft solutions to best fit their individual needs.

This approach to separating out the units of a software suite is particularly beneficial for smaller businesses just getting started. A small business has fewer needs than a more established company and less capital to put into a fully fledged system with all the bells and whistles. With our software you can start out with just the features that you need and easily add on more features and more products as your business grows. The benefits of this type of scalable system of buying individual products as you need them should be obvious.

For example, most new businesses with limited personnel are going to hire a consultant part-time to manage their accounts, but they are still going to need to invoice their customers. Having the option to purchase a standalone invoicing program like Express Invoice is a great solution in this case. Later, the business can upgrade to Express Accounts as they begin handling more accounting in-house, or integrate with Inventoria for inventory management control. The flexibility of upgrading and integrating as needed caters to the environment and economic needs of a small business owner.

Your telephone system is another area that should be able to grow with your business. As you bring on employees you will need extensions. You might want to set up an information line to answer frequently asked questions when no one is in the office to take a call. Maybe having on-hold music and messaging is something you need. With the NCH Telephony Suite you can add on features like these to your basic system as you grow into the need for them. There is absolutely no reason to purchase features like call conferencing capabilities that you won't ever use, but it is always available if someday you do.

We have had a lot of positive feedback from customers about this approach to selling software. We would never dream of making someone pay for the entire software suite if they didn't need it. Integrating the products together gives you the ability to design a custom software solution, piece by piece, for exactly what you need.

Improving Express Accounts Accounting Software from First Hand Experience

What better way to illustrate the usability of our products than using them ourselves within our own business operations? Here at NCH Software, we use Express Accounts to manage our accounting and billing needs which include: tracking sales, receipts, payments and purchases, reporting (e.g. Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, etc.) and more.

Express Accounts was created with the user in mind so that entering and tracking journal records is quick and accurate. Convenient menu choices allow for efficient reporting and location of data, and reports may be sent automatically via facsimile or email.

Each month our accounting personnel easily enters all the necessary information for each account into the Express Accounts Journal and our operations staff receives monthly reports.

The accounting staff has been feeding all their comments back to the development team on ways to make the program even more user friendly. This internal first hand user knowledge combined with additional user feedback from our customers has helped us develop the basic accounting features to include everything that is need while maintaining an intuitive interface.

And there is more on the way. Keep your eyes open for the next release which will include check creation and credit card processing. This will be an exciting new release, but in the meantime you can get all of the great easy to use accounting features Express Accounts already has completely free. Learn more and download free from the Express Accounts product page.

Whether you have a small business with limited accounting to manage or a larger company with multiple entities, Express Accounts is suited to meet your fiduciary needs. See for yourself download and try our easy accounting software today.

Do we use our own software?

In one word... Yes.

NCH Software has two office locations, one in Denver Colorado and the other in Canberra, Australia. Both locations are set up with the Axon Virtual PBx and the IVM Call Attendant. In some cases employees have extensions on both PBx systems. This allows us to call between the offices on IP Phones for no cost at all.

Someone in the Australian office can just pick up their phone and dial and extension allocated to me in the Denver office, the same if we were only located on different floors of the same building.

If I need to make a call to another business in Australia I can pick up my phone, press my Australian extension and dial a number in Australia and the call we be charged at local call rates instead of international call rates.

FastFox Text Expander is an application that nearly all staff have installed on their PCs and Macs. Our support and marketing teams use it for common responses, signatures, URLs, phone numbers and addresses.

FlexiStation is installed on all computers and we can track our work hours, log leave requests and generally see how our time is spent at work.

Our finance department works with Express Accounts to keep track of incoming and outgoing cash flow for the companies and our sales department uses Express Invoice to create quotes and invoices.

I personally use Debut Video Capture to record webcasts and KeyBlaze Typing Tutor typing tutor because sometimes two fingers for a keyboard just doesn't quite cut it. In one way or another we all use some of the software at home and in the office. Even though we have a testing department sometimes the best way to find a hidden problem, or the best suggestion, when it comes to software is to use it on a day to day level.