Accounting systems and programs for small businesses
A class of computer programs or systems that will enable an individual in managing financial transactions of business can be defined as the counting software. Due to the increasing cost of accounting software, it has become hard for the small-scale business organization to spend the huge amount of money on that accounting software (Binder, 2016). On the other hand, there is some software like, MYOB and Xero, which are very affordable and comes with all the efficient features to be used by the smaller organizations. They help the organizations with the accounts and business finance management by making the process efficient and easy. This software also is very helpful in reducing the cost for the small business and provide them with the efficient services. Using accounting systems and programs aids the business corporations for using the available resources in their accounting departments in an efficient manner and this will also minimize expensive bookkeeping mistakes. There is the varied range of benefits that will be attained by making use of accounting mechanisms such as it automates redundant tasks, these mechanisms also aids in dealing with all types of transactions related to taxes and many more. The below presented is the research paper that has been executed on the concept of “Can accounting software like MYOB and zero help to reduce the cost of small businesses.”
Accounting systems and programs are set or series of mechanisms that aid the business corporations in dealing with the accounting transactions and solving the complex and crucial accounting problems (Palacios, Lumbreras, Acosta, Peñalvo & Tovar, 2014). Accounting systems will provide automation to the working and the operations within the operations and functionalities and this will increase their speed, efficiency, and productivity. The research has been executed with the prime objective of finding whether the accounting systems and programs like MYOB and zero aid in minimizing various kinds of expenses for the small business entities. The following report shows the importance of XERO and MYOB for the smaller scale business organization. It also shows the importance of accounting software like MYOB and XERO in reducing the cost for the small-scale businesses. The below presented report is also trying to explain that how this both software is the top accounting software and help the small organization to manage the accounting like bigger firms do. The segments in this report consist of 4 different literature review that shows the character of both the software which are Xero and MYOB. All these literature reviews are from the different author who has explained the need for XERO and MYOB and how they are used by the smaller organizations. This report also includes the comparison of both the software to provide the better and clear vision on to the usage of them by different smaller business organizations in the business entities. These accounting systems are designed and developed to facilitate the accounting operations within the business corporation and thus results in an increase in the productivity and efficiency of the departments and overall organizations.
Importance of MYOB and Xero for small businesses
By executing research on this topic, the researcher will be able to gain knowledge of the concept of automated accounting systems and advanced operations related to accounting (Gurung & Prater, 2017). Moreover, this concept will also aid the small business corporations in increasing their speed, productivity, profitability, and quality of services.
According to Zeder, (2018) In this article, the writer has explained the use of both the software that is Xero and MYOB, and which among them is best suitable for the small-scale business and why? The writer of this article has provided some guidance to help with the decision.
According to the author, both the software provide a very tight security but with a premium in order to store the data of the clients. Along with that both the software can be trusted with the information because they use the safest security technique even then the bank system. Further, the author said that the Xero is much quicker than the MYOB (Hair, Wolfinbarger, Money, Samouel & Page, 2015). Although most of the functions of both the software are quite similar and the user can even introduce some add-ons, which can later synchronize up with the i- phones or other smartphones. Xero and MYOB are quite similar according to an author of this article and they both store the data in Asia not in its original place that is Australia but it’s not at all any kind of alarming situation. In later segments, an author has even made a comparison between the prices of both the software. MYOB comes in three categories, MYOB- essential, MYOB- account right live, MYOB- account right premier (Laudon & Laudon, 2016). MYOB- essentials is only suitable for online use and also available accordingly. The price of MYOB- essential is “somewhat overpriced” as said by the author in the following article. In this package, the cashbook only costs around $16 per month and on the other hand, the accounting is $29 per month.
Another category is account right live, this package is suitable for desktop use and comparatively slow running, and this software is not completely based on the cloud. $30 is charged per month for the basic package and $43 for the standard package and the plus package costs around $80 per month.
The third category is MYOB- account right premier which according to an author is much suitable for the larger businesses or clients. This is also for desktop use only. The features included in this software are, inventory management and foreign exchange etcetera.
XERO, on the other hand, does not support the stock control feature like MYOB’s account right premier and the author mentioned that the company does not intend to add this particular feature any soon (Sreejesh, Mohapatra & Anusree, 2014). The cloud-based package of XERO, which are also suitable for online use, costs a very small fee in comparison with the MYOB, which is $ 25 month with most of the basic features. In addition, for advanced features, the user needs to pay around 50$ in order to get the premium features.
Comparison of MYOB and Xero
After comparing all the facts, an author has stated that the best option available for the small-scale business would be Xero’s $60- $80 package. XERO is more receptive to the requirements of the small and medium scale business organization. XERO is also more advanced in technology and innovation, therefore, more suitable for keeping up with the business requirements of SME’s.
In this article Anna, (2016) is explaining the technique or methodology to choose the best software for the accounting in the small business. Author of this article has explained how introducing accounting software can be helpful to the small-scale businesses and what is the correct way to choose it (Bryman & Bell, 2015). There are several points considered before choosing the accounting software like number of invoices and bills processed by the organization, number of customers or clients, amount of staff on payroll, features required etcetera. According to the writer, the plan should be in such a way which is best suited for the organization’s current requirements and needs and later if the business grows then the organizations can be moved to the premium plans or any other. Later the author explained many different types of the software that is suitable for the small business organization. in the article, many other kinds of software are also mentioned by the author but at the beginning of the article, an author has explained the importance of MYOB and Xero for the small-scale business or clients (Smith, Thorpe & Jackson, 2015). Xero and MYOB are the two best options since they have the most basic features and provide the services to the customers at a very low price.
A large number of people uses MYOB software and if the amount of those people are rounded off then it is nearly 1.2 million business organizations. The author has described MYOB as “one of the longstanding player” in contrast to the accounting software market. MYOB software caters to all kind of business organizations type whether large or small. Author has called the MYOB’s small business plan, a bit expensive than the MYOB’s competitors. The essential plan of MYOB starts at $35 for only an individual on payroll and $ 45 for the unlimited payroll. The account right plus plan of MYOB starts at $85 per month. In all those plans many standard tools are included like, sales, bank feed, inventory management, financial and expenses management and payroll management and many more (Hair, Wolfinbarger, Money, Samouel & Page, 2015). MYOB is even able to calculate GST and also track it. A mobile app can be added to the software, which includes customer support and in-depth feedback and reporting.
XERO, on the other hand, is also one of the popular accounting software for small business. XERO has basic features like the invoice, cash, and financial management, cash flow, payroll management, inventory management, quotes, reconciliation from a bank and many more options. Security provided by Xero is very strong because of its multilayered security, which is supported by the smartphone app, and along with that it also provides 24*7 customer services and reporting. XERO is very easy to use and have the high visuals, said, author. Three type of packages is provided by the users which are, starter, standard, and premium. With every package, the amount and type of feature increases (Storey, 2016). XERO also offer 30 days trial period to try the app and the trial period is completely free for those who are using it for the first time.
Research objective
Newton, (2018) titled this research paper as “ XERO vs MYOB”. In this article, the author says that the XERO and MYOB are the two biggest players for the accountants in Australia. Both of the accounting software comes with standard features and provide a perfect platform in order to manage the accounting easily and effectively (Mas, Kolb, Paegelow, Olmedo & Houet, 2014). Along with that they also provide other management options like payroll management, managing HR along with managing the processes associated with the inventory management. In this article, the author has made a “Head to Head” comparison between both the software and explained the importance of both the software.
Rod Drury founded XERO in 2006 who is a New Zealand based, tech entrepreneur. XERO was created according to the latest needs of the customers and therefore it is based on the solutions, which are eventually based on the modern cloud. It comes with great features.
MYOB is much older than Xero and has been around since 1980. It was one of the best software for the Australian based organizations that run a small business (Smith, Thorpe & Jackson, 2015). MYOB also included the cloud-based solution option in its new packages in order to keep up with the XERO.
Author has made a head to head comparison of both the software and the features have compared and defined so deliberately with all the important details of both the accounting software. The first base of comparison is price, XERO charges $25 for a starter pack, $50 for the standard package and $60+ for the premium package. In these packages maximum 5 people payrolls are includes and to include more people, a higher amount of fee is charged. In MYOB’s case, essential’s starter pack is $25, plus package is for $40 and premier is for $50+ for the month (Newton 2018). In account right package of MYOB, the starter pack is for $ 61, pus is for $92 and premier is for$121. All these charges are for a month. After comparing the prices, the author concluded that the Xero is much better than the MYOB with its affordable pricing strategy
Author has also compared both the software in different ways like the number of company accounts, installation, and sign up a process, payroll, inventory, accessibility etcetera. Other comparison bases were, reporting, invoicing, mobile app, employee login, EOFY data roller, online support, phone support, foreign currency and many more.
After the clear comparison, the author concluded that the “Xero is the clear winner” for all the small scale and medium businesses and among all the cloud-based software for accounting. MYOB, on the other hand, is trying to increase its standards and to catch up the pace. The author concluded that the XEROo is used beautifully and saves a lot of time. XERO is designed from the ground up, it is one of the best accounting software for smaller and medium firms. It comes with such features that are elegant, easy to use and efficient. MYOB needs so many improvements and needs to provide the users with an uncomplicated and polished experience by adding some features.
According to Carvana, (2017) planning gives a clear vision of the usage of Xero and MYOB in the small business. Both this software is best for the small-scale business and help prevent the small businesses from spending thousands of dollars on costly accounting software like bigger firms.
Later it explains why Xero is appropriate for smaller firms. XERO provides an online platform. To give a clear vision of the Xero author stated that the importance of intel to the processors can be compared to the value of XERO to the online accounting software. XERO has become so popular in the last few years and has gained a large amount of mass following (Boulianne, 2014). XERO is a new Zealand based SaaS, which was founded around 10 years ago or so and still has a good position in the market. According to the author, Xero was not obtained for the use of accountants but for the business purpose. But according to the needs XERO is being used by the accountants and provide an amazing platform to the small-scale business owners like bigger firms do. XERO can be used in the small-scale businesses to enter the invoices, cash flow, payroll, sales, expenses, bank feed etcetera. XERO also provides a secure multi-layered security for the data stored by the users. The pricing structure is also efficient and beneficial for the small-scale business organizations. Such features at very low prices can be compared to the software used by the bigger firms.
MYOB essential is also good accounting software for the small-scale organizations. It provides so many great features at a very low price. All these features can be compared to the other software used by the bigger firms at a very high cost. MYOB has been around since 1980. Although MYOB is one of the popular software in many different ways XERO is much better than the MYOB. Recently MYOB has included few cloud features as XERO but not as great as XERO. The essential package of MYOB comes with some great features that are required for the basic use. It is very easy to use and does not require any complicated installation process. The author further explains the features of the MYOB such as paying bills, cash flow, invoices, and many more options. MYOB also helps to create and track the GST reports. There is an option in MYOB named as the easy export function, this option is very beneficial in grabbing all the data required by the accountant and then it can be sent off in an individual file. It also has many options that can help the user with the BAS along with providing a graphical representation of all the profits and the losses. It also provides trial balance and balance sheet to make the work easy for the accountant. MYOB allow the user to get connected to the mobile app and then provides all the details. It also receives payments and sends invoices.
Conclusion:
After summing up the above-executed analysis it has been inferred that the small-scale business cannot afford much costly software for accounting, but software like MYOB and XERO are very much beneficial to use by such organizations. They come with very basic features with a very low pricing strategy that can help the small-scale organizations to save a lot of money. Along with being affordable, they give a tough competition to the costly software used by the larger firms. Some of the large industries due to their affordable prices and efficient features also use this software. This software does help to reduce the cost for small businesses.
References:
Anna, F. (2016) How to choose the best accounting software for your small business, [Online] Retrieved from: https://www.prospa.com/how-to-prospa/how-choose-best-accounting-software-your-small-business.
Binder, J. (2016) Global project management: communication, collaboration & management across borders. New York: Routledge.
Boulianne, E. (2014) Impact of accounting software utilization on students’ knowledge acquisition: An important change in accounting education. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 10(1), 22-48.
Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2015) Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Carvana, A, (2017) The top 5 best accounting software packages in 2017, [Online] Retrieved from: https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/620451/top-5-best-accounting-software-packages-2017/.
Colomo-Palacios, R., Casado-Lumbreras, C., Soto-Acosta, P., García-Peñalvo, F.J. & Tovar, E. (2014) Project managers in global software development teams: a study of the effects on productivity & performance. Software Quality Journal, 22(1), pp.3-19.
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. & Jackson, P.R. (2015) Management & business research. Sage.
Hair Jr, J.F., Wolfinbarger, M., Money, A.H., Samouel, P. & Page, M.J. (2015) Essentials of business research methods. New York: Routledge.
Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J.P. (2016) Management information system. Pearson Education India.
Mas, J. F., Kolb, M., Paegelow, M., Olmedo, M. T. C., & Houet, T. (2014) Inductive pattern-based land use/cover change models: A comparison of four software packages. Environmental Modelling & Software, 51, 94-111.
Newton, S, (2018) Xero vs MYOB which will work better for your business, [Online] Retrieved from: https://www.listonnewton.com.au/information-centre/xero-vs-myob-which-will-work-better-for-your-business.
Sreejesh, S., Mohapatra, S. & Anusree, M.R. (2014) Business research methods: An applied orientation. US: Springer.
Storey, D. J. (2016) Underst&ing the small business sector. New York: Routledge.
Zeder, L, (2018) MYOB or Xero, which is best for small to medium businesses, [Online] Retrieved from: https://www.accountantjobs.com.au/article/myob-or-xero-which-is-best-for-small-to-medium-businesses/689.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
