If you are in the process of determining which accounting software package to acquire for your firm it certainly can be a daunting task if you are not an expert in the field. The difference in the price between one package to the next can be quite substantial with a few only costing in the hundreds of dollars, while others can be priced in the millions.
Before you even start looking at accounting software packages you really need to fully research everything that your company needs for it to do. To accomplish this you should discuss the needs and requirements with every department head in your firm. This would include of course the accounting and finance department, but also the, sales, manufacturing, shipping and receiving, design, and any other relevant units within your particular business.
Only after this has been completed will you be fully prepared to evaluate all of the accounting software packages that are available and determine which one will be best for your organization, as well as which one will be the most cost effective.
The advancements in this industry over the past ten years has been nothing short of staggering as have the improvements in both the quality of the software as well as their available features. Unless you happen to either be in a very large company or your firm have very specific needs then more than likely a low cost out of the box accounting software system like QuickBooks will work for your firm just fine.
Please remember that there are other costs to acquiring an accounting software system other than its initial price, which are the training cost for the various people that will use it, installation cost, and possibly requiring specialist to come in and set it up for your company. Whichever package you finally decide to go with if you do your homework properly your company should benefit for years to come in the future because of it.