alternate ?

[Jack]

Thank you Marka for your response to my custom invoice question, this forum is very beneficial. After reading other postings I have come to the conclusion that;
1. Peachtree is very inflexible and is good provided you don't need to modify it's basic structure or function.
2. Peachtrees documentation is severly deficient and it's support is hit and miss.
If these are true what software would be the best substitute when establishing a NEW business such as an equipment rental business? I am presently considering just using Windows office 2000, integrating Access & Excel for example because:
1)The software support will be readliy available.
2)It permeates the industry so continued support
will be gauranteed.
3)It seems to be far more flexible.
4)MS Windows provides the capability for its
software to commmunicte with each other Word,
Excel, Acccess, Powerpoint etc.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Robert Walraven]

One of the problems with reading comments in this forum or in the Peachtree newsgroup is you tend to hear only about the problems, not the successes. Peachtree Complete Accounting for Windows is an excellent choice for small businesses on a limited budget. What it does, it does well.

Peachtree's inflexibility is actually a good thing. It means the package is much more stable than it would be if users were allowed to alter a lot of the GUI design or, even worse, fiddle with the structure of the database. Anyone who has worked with the (much) more expensive accounting packages that offer programmability will tell you that you'd better really know what you are doing if you are going to mess with your accounting system.

You are not going to find a really flexible accounting package with wide acceptance in the Peachtree price range. I really don't think a company could make a profit if they tried to market such a product.

Peachtree's documentation is actually pretty good. They have a fairly extensive manual, on-line help and you can buy "Peachtree for Dummies" to get you started

Many have complained about Peachtree's technical support, but I don't think it is much different from the kind of support that other companies offer. Sure, a few companies do a really good job with support, but most do not. Probably the best support you can get is not from Peachtree but from the experienced users in this forum and in the Peachtree newsgroup.

Peachtree Complete Accounting for Windows provides a degree of integration with Office products. If you want to do more than what Peachtree offers, you can use PawCom to closely couple MS Access with the Peachtree database. If you are looking for an accounting system that is written entirely in MS Access, there are a few out there, but they are typically more expensive and don't have the user base. Also, MS Access is fine for small applications, but it has its limitations when running across a network.

The major competition for Peachtree is Quickbooks. I think you will find it has essentially all the same issues you are concerned about with Peachtree.

Bottom line - give Peachtree a try. You can download a trial kit from their website and see how it functions for you.

[Dave Soto]

Don't you think you should let people know that you sell PawCom and really are therefore biased in your recommendations? I think it's great that we have people representing companies that work with and resell Peachtree and Peachtree Add-Ons, but certainly these parties should include in their posts a signature that says, for instance:

Robert Walraven
Lead Sales Guy/Developer/Whatever
PawCom, Inc.

Don't you think that would be the most forthcoming way to do things?

[Unregistered]

You mentioned a Peachtree newsgroup. How do you get to it ?

[Robert Walraven]

The Peachtree newsgroup is
alt.comp.software.financial.peachtree

I'm not sure we ever found out who runs it but it has been around for a while and appears to be completely unmoderated. However the SPAM seems to be pretty light. The newsgroup is frequented by many of the same Peachtree gurus that participate in this forum.

[Robert Walraven]

Originally posted by Dave Soto
Don't you think you should let people know that you sell PawCom and really are therefore biased in your recommendations? I think it's great that we have people representing companies that work with and resell Peachtree and Peachtree Add-Ons, but certainly these parties should include in their posts a signature that says, for instance:

Robert Walraven
Lead Sales Guy/Developer/Whatever
PawCom, Inc.

Don't you think that would be the most forthcoming way to do things?

Dave, I seem to have done something to irritate you and I don't know what it is. When I reply to people in this forum I try to be completely unbiased and give people the best answer I can.

I have used Peachtree in our business since V3 and find it to be an excellent accounting system. I was just pointing out that it works just fine for LOTS of people and the problems that you hear here are often the exceptions rather than the rule. This is, after all, a PEACHTREE forum, so saying that Peachtree is a good system is hardly biased.

As far as sometimes mentioning our product, it is a sad fact that most Peachtree users don't even know 3rd party add-ons exist. Peachtree has recently made it almost impossible for 3rd parties to be listed on their web page by raising their fee ten-fold to $10,000 per year for nothing else but a URL. When appropriate to the original posting I WILL mention our product as a possibility but never say it is the answer to the person's problems (unless occasionally when it is obvious it is.) If some other product is more appropriate, I'll mention that instead. In other words I try to present all the important information to the question in an unbiased way.

I might also point out that when I see a posting where I feel that mentioning our tool would be appropriate, I frequently will not reply at once, but will wait to see if other people will answer the persions question.

Since the original poster here mentioned that they will be using Access, I felt it was important for them to know that they can use Access with Peachtree. However, I did NOT say that our tool was the answer to their problem.

As for signing the messages with who I am, I purposely don't do that because I believe that is just a form of advertising and I would prefer to help people without including an obvious promotion for our company. However, if you would prefer, I could sign my messages something like this:

Robert Walraven
Builder of tools to enhance Peachtree
Multiware, Inc. (see add at top of page for more information.)

[Dave Soto]

I think you have been completely accurate in all your statements, and at no time have I said otherwise, nor would I without cause. I promise you I am not irritated in any way, and I think you have every right to recommend your product, especially when it is an obvious solution.

I think the signature is a perfect solution. People may take what you have to say with a grain of salt, but certainly there will be no appearance of misrepresentation on your part. You give your input while being forthcoming about who you represent.

I meant absolutely no offense by anything that I have said.

(And good luck with PawCom, I think the tool looks great)

[Robert Walraven]

OK. I'll try to remember to sign my messages something like this:

Bob
Architect of PawCom