Product Reviews

Sage Instant Accounts is aimed at very small businesses. It creates quotations, invoices and end-of-year accounts. With version 14, VAT returns can be sent electronically to HM Revenue & Customs. It also produces a comprehensive range of reports that can be sent directly to Microsoft Office.

A practice mode lets you try out the features so you needn't worry about messing up your real accounts. The user interface can be tedious at times, involving more stages to complete tasks than other programs.

The most significant addition to version 14 is Payment Solutions, an integrated

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way for businesses to process credit and debit card payments made over the phone or by post and, once processed, have them automatically appear in the accounts. This costs £10 a month for up to 300 transactions a quarter. However, the service does not integrate with the web; you may find that PayPal is a better approach.

Correcting mistakes has often been a problem in accounting software. In Instant Accounts, mistakes can be corrected but only through a corrections module. This is a pity; it ought to be as simple as correcting a spreadsheet or document. After all, for the small businesses at which Instant Accounts is aimed, needing to track down alterations made by rogue employees is unlikely to be a problem.

Sage Instant Accounts is a competent product. However, Sage's expertise lies in producing accounting software for larger businesses. Its attempt to cater for the small business owner fails because it's not easy enough to use, especially as many will turn to the package only once a quarter to produce a VAT return. MYOB BusinessBasics is easier to use yet costs less than half the price, making it impossible to recommend Instant Accounts.