Using Accounting Software

3. Management Information

Accounting software gives you instant access to information you need in your daily business activities.

3.1 You should be able to tighten up your credit control.

• You will be able to run reports on your total credit position, showing how much is outstanding over a set period.
• You can spot potential problem areas by analysing the information by various criteria such as geography or salesperson.
• The software should also be able to produce reports showing outstanding invoices, payment history and the outstanding balance for each customer. This makes it easier to determine what credit limit to give customers.

3.2 Accounting software makes it easy to establish a cost control system.

• The simplest way to do this is to establish a 'standard cost' and to measure 'actual costs' against it. You may need to use a spreadsheet to make the most of this information. See Cost control.

3.3 The software can be used to provide you with detailed sales information.

• You should be able to analyse sales by different categories, such as customer, outlet or salesperson.
• You will also be able to identify seasonal variations.

3.4 Accounting software can help you monitor the stock position.

• Movements in stock levels should be picked up automatically from the sales and purchases you make.
• You may need additional hardware to gather information on fast-moving stock. For example, you may want to connect POS ('point of sale') terminals to your accounting software.