Mon 7/7/03 -- Though a bigger player on the Mac -- where it goes by the names AccountEdge and the entry-level FirstEdge -- than in Windows, MYOB Ltd. offers powerful accounting solutions for small businesses. While the crowded and competitive world of Windows bookkeeping is mainly led by rivals Peachtree and Intuit (QuickBooks), MYOB Plus Version 12 is a definite contender that deserves more respect than it gets.
The biggest addition in Version 12 -- priced at $229, with multiuser workstation licenses $99 each -- is improved inventory management. The program can now create an inventory audit path; provide running balances for quantities on hand and the value of items; and show how inventory arrived at current values and quantities. MYOB Plus also tracks inventory movement (both cash and noncash); reconciles and recaps inventory value on past dates; and lets you edit and modify inventory transfers.
Enhanced category tracking helps business owners track profits through multiple lines of business, funds, departments, and categories and provides reports that are specific to each. MYOB Plus can track categories over specific periods or all the time, and assign categories to all transactions or only to selected ones.
In addition to plenty of tools for organizing financial data, MYOB has always offered thorough reporting capabilities for viewing and analyzing info. The latest report viewer makes it easier to customize reports by applying scalable columns and filters, and lets you view both cash- or accrual-based balance sheets and profit-and-loss reports. There's also a useful new memo field -- accepting a generous 255 alphanumeric characters on each line -- that helps track why money was spent and where it was received.
Stay on Top of Your Finances
Straight from the box, MYOB Plus installed without a hitch on our test system. The program's setup assistant provided a generous number of sample accounts that can work for various service and retail businesses, and walked us through the process of configuring the program for our fictional service and retail businesses. If you like, you can import financial data from Quicken or QuickBooks.
MYOB serves as an intuitive command center that offers quick access to its major features -- straightforward modules for banking, sales, accounts, time billing, purchases, payroll, and inventory. The modules do a good job of shielding users from accounting terms while processing the mundane debits and credits. For example, the banking module resembles a common checkbook, which makes it simple to enter sales and customer payments.
The Command Center also offers a to-do list, search function, financial analysis, and a card file that organizes and lists all customers, vendors, and employees in a single place. The program maintains a helpful purchase history -- up to five years' worth.
MYOB pioneered (and other vendors quickly copied) the use of an intuitive flowchart for each accounting area, which helps users navigate through accounting processes. For example, under Payroll, you'll find options for paying employees, printing pay slips, and more, arranged in flowchart fashion showing how these tasks should be performed.
The program's payroll features help make sense of complicated payroll processes. MYOB Plus competently applies pre-tax deductions, insurance benefits, 401(k) considerations, and more. Another plus is a new (extra-cost) SurePayroll online service that performs payroll processing, tax reporting and filing, and handles direct deposits.
What Works, What's Missing
MYOB maintains past strengths, including multiuser and multiple currency support; professional time and billing that will appeal to service companies; multiple pricing levels; automatic back ordering; and the ability to import downloaded online bank statements and reconcile accounts.
As in past versions, reporting capabilities offer a comprehensive number of options. MYOB Plus comes with some 177 reports; there's also generous capability to modify both data selection and layout and distribute data into Microsoft Excel and HTML, as well as data links to Microsoft Word. As you'd expect, MYOB Plus and AccountEdge for the Mac OS offer cross-platform file compatibility to accommodate mixed Mac and PC environments.
Apart from the SurePayroll service, MYOB Plus is somewhat lacking in Web-related features compared to Peachtree Complete or QuickBooks. In particular, the program omits e-commerce or online storefront modules, data sharing via the Web, and other features that are available in some rivals. To be sure, these features aren't necessary for every small office, but can be essential for others.
With that caveat, however, MYOB Plus Version 12 is well worth a look for the inexpert bookkeeper seeking to organize as well as manage the finances of a small business.
