Bank manager fleecing me???

[ScotRobson]

Hi Guys

ok I need your help again please.

I am in the process of taking over my fathers business. I have been to the bank to discuss certain things that I will need. The bank manager there was trying to talk me into buying some accountancy software package that I would have to pay £20 per month for ongoing.

The software will be obviously for book keeping, VAT returns, payroll it will also print pay slips and calculate Tax and NI. Also something that sounded interesting is that the software will also help set up and print staff contracts (at the moment the staff dont have contracts!) and one other thing - staff handbooks!

I said to the bank manager that it sounded interesting - "Does it run on macs?" - No it doesnt you will have to buy a PC.

He then proceded to tell me that with the money i will be saving on an accountant, I will be able to afford a cheap PC. This is probably true, but I dont really want a cheap PC if this is something I can do on my Mac.

Now, I have searched the mac rumors boards on book keeping software and have looked at the MYOB website. Please remember I am in the UK so it has to be specific to the UK.

MYOB looks interesting, but I dont think it can do the other things that i will need like Contracts etc as mentioned above.

This is a very daunting but very exciting time for me at the moment. So much to think about and so little sleep because of it

sorry, I guess what im really asking is if you think this is a good deal to go out and buy a cheap Pc and pay £20 each month for the software. Or can I do all of this on my mac and if so....how? and with what?

All advice greatley appreciated.
Many thanks
Scot

 

[skp574]

Don't take everything your bank manager says as gospel. What is the software they are suggesting you use?

I am a partner in a family business. Father, Mother and Son to be exact. My father and I do the day to day work and my Mother does the book keeping.
In total there is five staff. Two of which are sub-contractor who we employ under quotation. However, we are permanently employing their services! So, therefore, they are responsible for their own tax and NI.

We use an accountancy firm to check our year end accounts. At the end of the day if you make a mistake you are liable. If you get an accountant to sign off your accounts, you have some protection. Tax, NI, VAT returns is that something you want to be worried about?

I suppose it really depends on your roll within the company. Are you "on the tools" or more in the office where you have time to do the accounting. Or will you employ someone to do the day to day accounting?

We operate cash book accounting and, since the company was formed 10 years ago, operate Excel spreadsheets for purchase and sales ledgers. All invoices are generated in Word! But it works for us. Excel and Word can run of both Windows and Mac platforms.

Our annual turnover is anything from £300k to £750k. Or accountant is happy with this. We have looked at getting accounting software and our accountant recommends Sage. However, we have not had the time to install and setup the new software. The saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind here.

Sage is not available on Mac, so your bank manager could be recommending this software but under a software lease arrangement. You get the software and further updates all covered in the monthly charge.

There seems to be a lot of help out there for small businesses, don't think it too daunting, once you're up and running things will get easier.

On the other hand if you are Mac based, why buy a PC just to do the accounting? If you do, don't connect it to the internet, then you'll have to be a network administrator as well! I am! I want to move the office computers over to Mac as my network admin time will not take up as much of my time.

Good Luck.

 

[iSaint]

The above poster sounds like he's giving good advice. Your bank manager is trying to protect his business by helping you protect your business. (Is he loaning you money to buy the business?) The bank probably also has a deal with the software company. Our local bank even got into the accounting business by offering certain services like payroll, receivables, etc.

But that doesn't mean you can't find something for Mac. Keep looking.

And good luck, I tried the family business thing - it wasn't for me.

 

[ScotRobson]

Don't take everything your bank manager says as gospel. What is the software they are suggesting you use?QUOTE]

Hi

Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure the exact name of the software and at the moment i'm at work, but sage does ring a bell. I wont post the name of the bank on here incase im not allowed!!!

Yes I am borrowing funds from them to buy the business. I will be the sole owner, with about 10 staff. It is a Hairdressing and Beauty salon. So I wont be needing to buy PCs or any networking or anything like that.

So does anyone out there know of a software package that will do all that I asked on a Mac?

Many thanks
Scot

 

[MemphisSoulStew]

A friend of mine started up his own small engineering business and was given a DO$H bundle by his bank which included Cashbook and Tax which may be useful for you, although MYOB looks like a more comprehensive accounts package.

As for staff contracts there's Planit's Employer's Handbook Software which is OS X compatible.

Show those to your bank manager and demonstrate how you're better at saving money than he is. Buying a PC just for your accounts, the very idea!

 

[ScotRobson]

A friend of mine started up his own small engineering business and was given a DO$H bundle by his bank which included Cashbook and Tax which may be useful for you, although MYOB looks like a more comprehensive accounts package.

As for staff contracts there's Planit's Employer's Handbook Software which is OS X compatible.

Show those to your bank manager and demonstrate how you're better at saving money than he is. Buying a PC just for your accounts, the very idea!

Hello, thanks very much for your reply thats really helpfull, I had searched on google for these things but found nothing.

I had another look at the leaflet my bank gave me and it looks like it is Sage, I think someone mentioned that earlier.

 

[naltst*]

how about running the software on your mac on a pc emulator... If you've got an old copy of windows around itll only cost about 20 bucks... gotta be cheaper than buying a pc...

 

[velocityg4]

At my fathers business we ran a comprehensive program for the PC called Peachtree complete accounting. He is an Certified Public Accountant so when I convinced him to move over to the Mac we moved the books to MYOB. This program was great for all of the companies accounting needs. It offered inventory, Acccounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll and all our needs for month end reporting. So if MYOB worked for an accountant it should work for anyone.

As for employee contracts we didn't have a specialized program for creating them we had a lawyer draw up a standardized form specialized for our business. Which was then printed out in Word for new employees.

 

[Les Kern]

The above poster sounds like he's giving good advice. Your bank manager is trying to protect his business by helping you protect your business. The bank probably also has a deal with the software company.

Speculaltion.
Forget the Mac, forget the bank, forget the manager and forget the software. Go back to the beginning. You have a business. You need to run the business. You need software to help run the business. What do you need it to do? Okay, does it come in a Mac version? No? Get a PC if VPC will NOT work.
Use the right tool for the job. I have 800 Macs. Our accounting department has SW that works on a PC. I got them PC's. Don't make this a Mac/PC thing. Your business needs your full attention.

 

[ScotRobson]

Many thanks for all the extra replies. Havn't checked this threat in a while cause i stopped getting email updates about it, I thought it had finished.

Really appreciate all the advice from everyone that posted.

Scot