Accounting Software A to Z

An A to Z Review of Accounting Software
An accounting software package is a robust technology solution that is designed to enhance a company’s most important financial operations and related activities from end to end. With powerful capabilities and functionality, accounting software can streamline and fully automate each and every facet of financial planning and management – from transaction processing and bookkeeping, through reporting and analysis.

Want to know just how feature-rich and comprehensive today’s accounting software solutions really are? Let’s take a look at accounting software from A to Z:

An accounting software system delivers complete support for the widest range of mission-critical financial management functions. This includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, budget planning and management (both at the corporate and departmental level), bank reconciliations, cash flow tracking, capital asset management, collections and debt monitoring, depreciation allocations and calculations, and equity/net worth assessment and management.

With the right accounting software in place, companies can rapidly and easily generate earnings statements and a variety of other vital financial reports, such as general ledgers and balance sheets, gross profit margin analysis, horizontal analysis, income statements, invoices, and journals and transaction logs. These reports can help keep operations running as smoothly as possible, and can facilitate adherence to Sarbanes-Oxley, BASEL II, and other stringent financial reporting guidelines. So, companies can minimize their risk of non-compliance, and avoid the stiff penalties and fines associated with inaccurate or inconsistent financial reporting.

Many accounting software packages on the market today also provide extensive customization capabilities. This enables businesses to tailor the solution to meet their unique and specific needs, regardless of which accounting techniques they practice, such as Kaizen costing and budgeting, lot or batch costing, or other well-known and widely-used methodologies.

Performance metrics are also crucial to effective financial management and control, and accounting software applications provide the ad hoc reporting and analysis capabilities that enable organizations to track and assess an unlimited number of key indicators.  Some of these include margins for profits, revenues, and costs; market capitalization (for publicly-traded companies); net income, net profit, or net loss; net cash flow; off-balance sheet assets and liabilities; operating ratios; per capita income; price to earnings ratios (for publicly traded organizations), and quick ratios (also known as acid test ratios).

And, today’s accounting software solutions are about more than just managing money and investments. They are also designed to help corporations to track and manage other important assets – such as real estate; research and development projects and other intellectual property; stock and inventory; technology infrastructure and systems, and other capital equipment; and trademarks and product patents – over the course of their useful life.  This enables the most comprehensive and accurate visibility into and valuation of assets possible, so companies can best determine their overall worth.

So, what, in a nutshell, can all the features of an accounting software system do for your business? They can enable x-efficiency (the ability to minimize costs and maximize returns), yield dramatic improvements in operational effectiveness and productivity, give you a solid competitive edge, and help you reach the zenith of profitability and success!