In addition to being able to sell through eBay, MOAP's significant new features include more precise access control, better-integrated point-of-sale features, improved synchronization with Outlook, and the capability to track and forecast inventory. MOAP is a great program and may have the goods to convert fringe QuickBooks customers.
What's New in the 2007 Edition
The new release of MOAP 2007 offers enhanced security features that give administrators better control over employee access. Administrators can add and remove permissions to accommodate different roles such as owner, office manager, accountantm or salesperson and set options to program areas by applying three settings: "full control," "read-only," and "no access."
The Microsoft Office Accounting Professional home page offers a great overview of a company's fiscal status with critical tasks, reminders and more. (Click for larger image).
Integration with Outlook has also improved. Synchronized data sharing lets you effectively make changes in one program and view updates in the other, as both applications now refer to the same database. As a result, you can create quotes, sales orders, and invoices without transferring information from one application to the other. One caveat, though; to use these features your business will need to upgrade to the newest "Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager."
You can also now import data from Microsoft Money as well as QuickBooks and Microsoft Office Excel. Stronger form tools can modify forms by adding, renaming, or moving existing fields, as well as adding custom fields. The program offers new and quicker means to synchronize and transfer data to an accountant for advice, and Microsoft Point of Sale is better integrated, enabling you to easily transfer sales without having to retype data.
The eBay Connection
A powerful new feature comes in the form of sales tools that can list inventory items on eBay, check listing statuses, and download and process orders. When you sell an item, you can download the transaction record — which includes commissions and fees — directly into MOAP. The icing on this eBay cake — the program supports payments via PayPal.
A helpful wizard makes it easy to select and list products for sale on eBay. You can link images to inventory items; synchronize eBay inventory with inventory in MOAP; and manage, complete and fulfill eBay orders from within the application. Unfortunately, standard eBay pricing applies. One would think that Microsoft could have made a deal so its customers could save on eBay fees.
With its eBay features, Microsoft has delivered a boon to businesses that sell goods through the auction service. While QuickBooks recently fiddled with Google-based marketing features that are mostly available to anyone, Microsoft effectively scooped Intuit with this powerful and useful new feature.
