ACCPAC International ' ACCPAC Advantage Series Small Business Edition

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ACCPAC Advantage Series is an integrated modular suite of applications designed for the growing company that needs a complete accounting and operations solution. A well-designed user interface and tiered back-end database processing structure make this a very stable yet flexible suite.

MODULES AVAILABLE/SCALABILITY - 5 Stars The Advantage Series of financial modules is available in four editions: Enterprise, Corporate, Small Business and Discovery. The specific product reviewed here is Small Business Edition, although all editions share many similarities. The Small Business Edition provides core functions, including System Manager and Bank Reconciliation, GL, AR, AP, Inventory Control, Order Entry, Purchase Orders and Payroll (U.S. and Canadian). Other add-on modules available include Optional Fields and Validation Tables and Multicurrency.

The Small Business Edition is limited to five users and five companies. However, I should also be quick to point out that the modules can easily be upgraded to the Corporate or Enterprise Editions. The Corporate Edition is limited to 10 users, while the Enterprise Edition allows an unlimited number of users. Scalability is provided by a variety of available back-end database platforms. At the Small Business level, Pervasive SQL is an entry-level client/server database that is easy to install and administer. However, if the business needs to move to one of the higher-end editions, or already has one of the supported databases in place, the ACCPAC Advantage modules can also utilize Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2 or Oracle.

ACCPAC is also one of only a very few accounting suites that supports the Linux operating system, both for desktop use and as a database server. This flexibility speaks volumes for the highly refined tiered design of the entire system.

EASE OF USE/ TRANSACTION ENTRY - 5 Stars The main program screen is a nicely organized tree structure, with one item for each module. Expanding the module item displays sub items for that module, such as reports, data entry, processing, setup and transactions. The right side of the screen is a work area that can be customized with shortcuts for folders, macros, reports or external programs. Data-entry screens throughout all ACCPAC Advantage modules are consistently designed and provide a solid, sophisticated feel. Since the user interface is the same as ACCPAC's high-end product, you get a lot of the advantages of a high-end product, such as well-developed key field lookup screens and standard client/server record navigation. Each data-entry screen typically consists of multiple tabs, each with a set of related fields. The modern Windows interface allows multiple screens from various modules to be open at once for enhanced productivity.

CUSTOMIZATION/SECURITY - 5 Stars The user's desktop can be customized in a number of different ways. By default, icons in the user workspace simply reflect the selected module's tasks and data-entry functions. However, this workspace can be transformed into a productivity tool by creating shortcuts and macros that can speed and automate the user's activities. ACCPAC has built-in support for Visual Basic macros. Administrators can also customize forms and dialog boxes to hide fields for specific users.

Security is maintained by adding security groups and then adding users to the security groups. A security group is a system-wide user group that can perform specific tasks. However, the same user can be assigned to different groups for different applications, creating a flexible, intuitive arrangement to grant or deny access to various areas.

INTEGRATION/IMPORT/EXPORT - 5 Stars Importing capabilities are provided for several file types, including Excel, *.CSV, Access, dBase, ODBC and XML. If you often import the same data, you can even create a script to speed up the process. For bank reconciliation, you can import downloaded bank statements, automating the matching and reconciliation process. Transactions from the bank statement are matched on check number, account number, bank reference, and amount using the OFX specification.