Product Reviews

Last year, as well as its annual release of the high-end QuickBooks, Intuit introduced the QuickBooks Start-up Pack, containing 'everything an entrepreneur needs to know to get a new business off the ground'. It contained a new-business version of QuickBooks, a small-business accountancy book, and essential advice on everything from setting up an office to raising capital. It even included a training discount, and 30 days' full technical support, all for under £100.

It's now been withdrawn, but in its place Intuit has launched QuickBooks SimpleStart. It has been two years in gestation and, for once, we in the UK are getting it before our American compatriots. Although it carries the QuickBooks name, it has been written entirely from scratch and shares little code with its bigger siblings. There is, though, an on-screen family resemblance.

As an entry-level offering, SimpleStart will find itself in opposition to the likes of MYOB BusinessBasics, and Sage's Instant Accounts, as well as Intuit's own Quicken XG, which is both cheaper and offers small-business features in addition to its personal accounting facilities. SimpleStart is more business oriented, however, and assumes that you'll be using the self-assessment tax form, although there's no formal provision for payroll.

SimpleStart is based around a money-in/money-out chart, which represents basic operations and is intended to demystify the accounting process. Intuit claims that small businesses will typically have their accounts up and running in SimpleStart within ten to 30 minutes. And, to reassure the less experienced buyer, the price also includes 30 days of support.

The focus is on no-frills accounting functions, to the extent of never mentioning concepts such as sales and purchase ledgers or cashbook. You do get access to a Chart of Accounts, which you can modify by adding and removing categories. You don't get options for preset categories to suit your business though, as you do in QuickBooks or Sage's Instant Accounts, which is a pity for a program aimed at inexperienced users.

The essential invoicing facilities are present, including a customisable form to print your company's name, address and logo. You also

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get templates for goods, services, and 'professional' invoices, which allow you more variation on the information printed, as well as the ability to produce Sales Receipts for transactions paid in full. You could therefore use SimpleStart in a retail situation. You can receive money as cash, cheques, direct debit, standing order or credit card payments, but not by BACS transfer - an increasingly common form of payment, even for small companies. This can be overcome by setting up BACS as one of your suppliers, but it's an awkward workaround, particularly for the novice.

Paying money out can be achieved by writing a cheque, creating an expenses entry, or raising a refund. The latter brings up a Credit Memo form for you to record the details, giving the option to issue a cheque, credit note or credit card refund. Both money in and money out can be viewed or entered in the Register, a bank-statement-like listing that will be familiar to users of QuickBooks, Quicken, and other small-business software.

SimpleStart understands VAT on a cash basis only. This means your VAT liability depends on money actually received, instead of the more common accrual basis where your liability depends on invoices issued. That said, cash VAT is more appropriate for small businesses, where fluctuating cashflow may leave you exposed to VAT on your unpaid invoices. There's also a VAT 100 report, which gives you the totals to enter in the eponymous Customs and Excise form; and a VAT Detail report that analyses the underlying transactions for your own records.

Apart from the Profit and Loss report, which appears under the Your Business section, there are several other reports to help you keep track of your business finances. There's a summary of sales listed by customer; a listing of sales with subtotals and percentage of sales by item; a Customer Activity report that totals invoices and payments for each customer by date; a Supplier Activity report showing incoming bills and outgoing payments for all your suppliers; a Customer Balances report; and an Outstanding Invoices report. The latter tells you who owes you what and for how long - known in other software as an aged debtors list. Lastly, three tax reports help with the reparation of your income tax liability, providing a summary and detailed listings. All of these reports can be produced for standard accounting periods or for dates of your choosing. You can also choose the start of your financial and tax years.

There are none of the bank manager-impressing graphs found in QuickBooks, Quicken and others, and while SimpleStart misses out on some of its competitor's flexibility, it covers the basics well. With an upgrade path to other QuickBooks editions,it provides small businesses with a dedicated, affordable and easy-to-understand option.