How to choose accounting software for small businesses

The accounting software package that you choose when you start your business could affect how much financial control you have in the years to come.

It’s a vital decision that many people make too quickly without really looking at the needs of their business now and in the future.

A good accounts package will be used for all financial transactions and will give you critical information and analysis to let you make sensible decisions. Whereas an accounts package that’s less powerful will just be a way to crunch the numbers and meet your legal obligations, leaving you a little in the dark as to what’s really happening financially in your business.

Any package, whether it is accounting software installed on your computer or an online service, must meet all legal requirements now and in the future. That means it must comply with accountancy standards. It should also be something your accountant is comfortable using.

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Bookkeeping error bites city of Yakima

The city of Yakima had "inadequate controls" over its financial reporting that led it to overstate its cash and investments for 2006 by nearly $9 million, according to the state Auditor's Office.

The Auditor's Office's Nov. 26 report said that while the state Legislature, state and federal agencies, and bondholders rely on financial statement information to make decisions, there were "material weaknesses in controls that adversely affect the City's ability to produce reliable financial statements."

The audit also found the city improperly included more than $1 million in consulting expenses incurred from 1999 to 2005 in the 2006 financial statements.

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IT fails environmental accounting test

More than a third still do not consider the environmentwhen purchasing new products

Despite concern for environmental initiatives, 86% of IT professionals do not know the carbon footprint of their organisation, according to in-depth research released today.

Only 15% of enterprises are planning to calculate their carbon footprint, according to a survey of IT professionals conducted by Computerworld UK on behalf of practical environmental charity Global Action Plan.

Time pressures, cost, lack of corporate commitment, scarcity of information and lack of knowledge in the enterprise are the biggest obstacle to implementing green IT technologies, found the survey.

The national survey of IT professionals of large enterprises, which was backed by Logicalis, found the majority (more than half) of ICT departments do not see their company's energy bills, even though IT is a significant consumer of energy.

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Parma Heights bookkeeping under fire again by state auditors

Parma Heights- For the third time in three years, state auditors hammered the city for shoddy bookkeeping, this time citing city officials for a $20,000 accounting error and $181 in lost checks.

Many of the problems dealt with the city's Cultural Center, which brings in about $225,000 a year. Auditors found that the center's bank account showed more money than the Finance Department's records. And center workers admitted they lost checks used to pay for events at the center. The money was later repaid.

The audit, which was released Thursday and dealt with city finances in 2005, also found three problems that the city had been cited for in 2003 and 2004:

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