MYOB BusinessBasics

Sometimes 'less' can definitely mean 'more', especially when it comes to ease of use, as not everyone looking for a business bookkeeping package will require all the bits most programs seem to offer. Take certain options, such as order processing and stock control, that not everyone needs. The very small business or self-employed individual simply requires some means of raising invoices to customers, making banking transactions and keeping track of the VAT.

If this sounds like you, MYOB's latest incarnation should be ideal. BusinessBasics is the all-new entry-level product designed specially for the very small business, the freelancer or self-employed individual. You don't get a lot on the menu, but you do get a foot on the bottom rung of a well-established accounting software ladder.

BusinessBasics helps you keep your business bank accounts in order, analyse your costs and expenses, create sales invoices and track your outstanding customer accounts. During the process, the VAT is also dealt with and you can even assign costs and invoices to jobs if you wish - all from a simple main screen.

The software arrives with a sample file, allowing you to familiarise yourself with BusinessBasics. Sooner or later, though, you'll need to create your own set of accounts - which is traditionally where things start to get complicated. To help out, MYOB has migrated the New Company File Assistant from further up its range, so you get a step-by-step wizard to guide you through creating accounts and setting up your preferences.

The main screen is uncluttered with just Accounts, Banking and Sales on display. Accounts is where you'll find all the income and expense account information, and MYOB includes a full nominal ledger complete with balance sheet if you need it. Also, any information you enter in BusinessBasics can be used in MYOB Accounting or Accounting Plus, should you decide to upgrade. This provides a useful upgrade path without the hassle of data re-entry.

The Banking option lets you write cheques and receive monies straight into your bank, cash or credit card accounts and, if you wish, BusinessBasics places receipts on deposit instead of banking them immediately. You can then make a payslip for banking later when you're ready, which is usually the way it works in real life. You can also print your cheques in several formats and reconcile the computer bank account with the statement received from your bank. Downloading a statement file from your bank helps with this, although you don't have the e-banking sophistication of products such as QuickBooks (see p81), for instance.

The Sales option lets you raise a quote, turn this into a sales invoice without retyping, and then print the result. You can track payments from customers, analyse debtors and print statements as and when required. Both sales and costs can be allocated to jobs, so you can get a profit and loss statement split into individual jobs to see just how well you're going.

The software looks good and works in a simple and logical way. Paying-in slips and cheque writing forms are as plain and simple as is possible, and with a nod in the general direction of QuickBooks you also get a register. Here you can enter bank payments and receipts, direct sales (without printing an invoice) and even customer payments all in the one place.

Without forcing you to jump through security hoops like most accounting software, BusinessBasics allows you to undo anything you happen to enter incorrectly. You find your erroneous entry by drilling down from whichever enquiry screen you're looking at, right through until you arrive at the original journal. Once the offending item is displayed you can correct it and resave, delete it completely or properly reverse the transaction to retain a nice neat audit trail for your accountant.