Sage Software — Peachtree Premium Accounting 2007

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From the June/July 2006 Review of Small Business Accounting Systems

Sage Software’s Peachtree Premium Accounting 2007, which becomes available at retail in early July 2006, is the continuation of the former Best Software program, incorporating GL, receivables, payables, inventory and strong payroll functions, along with an array of small business productivity features such as contact management, time & billing, financial analysis and advanced reporting functions. Now in its 30th year, the 2007 version represents a major revision to the program, with the addition of several new features and enhancements. Premium Accounting is available in industry-specific versions for construction fields, distribution, manufacturing, nonprofits and professional accountants. Pricing for the program starts at $499 for a single user; a multi-user site license is available for $1,099.

Ease of Use/Basic Functionality -- 5 Stars
One of the key areas that Sage Software concentrated on while enhancing the new version of Peachtree was its user interface. The program opens to an exceptional dashboard system that shows a collection of data based upon the task selected. Dashboards include Business Status, Customers & Sales, Vendors & Purchases, Inventory & Services, Employees & Payroll, Banking, and Company. The Business Status dashboard offers customizable views that can include data such as account balances, outstanding receivables and payables, revenue, cash flow, and virtually any other information, with dynamic charts and graphs providing visual data representation and one-click access to income statements, balance sheets, account lists, reconciliation and other functions. Each of the other dashboards offers similar information sections, all of which are easily customizable using the “Customize this Page” button at the top of the screen. Users can also select which of the dashboards to use as their default homepage. The data available to each user is based upon their access rights. Another focus of the software developers was making it easier to access the more than 25 lists in the 2007 release, with at-a-glance information along with drilldown, print and search capabilities.

The program is very easy to install and set up, with a Setup Guide directing the process of creating customers, jobs, vendors, inventory, services, employees, charts of accounts and security preferences. The system houses more than 75 standard charts of accounts for various types of businesses and general industries, and also has the ability to import or convert charts from other accounting programs or to consolidate two or more companies into one.

Data-entry screens offer tabbed interfaces with quick-find lookup lists for inventory items, customers, vendors, accounts and other data. Customer files enable multiple addresses, payment and sales defaults, customer-specific terms and credit limits, and full customer histories are very easy to bring up. AutoFill and self-building selection lists also speed entry for various data fields. Overall, the system is exceptionally easy to use and understand, with task icons and lists intuitively designed and organized around a common workflow.

Modules/Customization/Expandability -- 5 Stars
As previously noted, Peachtree by Sage is now available in several industry-specific versions, including construction, distribution, manufacturing, nonprofits and professional accountants, while the general version of Premium Accounting 2007 is generally targeted at retail and services companies. All of the versions share the same core modules, including the system’s strong inventory functionality, which supports FIFO, LIFO, average costing and unit control costing methods. Serialized inventory tracking is supported, as is multiple pricing levels per inventory item.

The system also offers integration between the time and billing and payroll systems, enabling services companies to more accurately bill their customers. The time and billing system allows multiple rates per staff member, and offers various reports including worker productivity. Payroll functions include optional direct deposit service. The Customers and Sales module provides total management of the customer relationship, from prospect through the sales order process and AR and receipts, while the banking system provides equally strong functionality through checkwriting features, electronic account management and reconciliation, budget tracking, and electronic payment of bills. Sage also offers optional modules for credit card processing, remote access capabilities, outsourced payroll processing, remote data storage and website building systems that integrate with the accounting software for online businesses.