Addsum Avanced Accounting


Why
Features
Reports
Screen shots
Demo
Reviews

QuickBooks
Peachtree
DBA


The new look of Advanced Accounting

Before Intuit/QuickBooks ever tried to tell you that you don't need an accountant, there were businesses running Advanced Accounting (but unlike your accountant, you have different needs, such as strong inventory control). We don't obsolete our products nor force you to constantly buy updates (many of our users think nothing of not updating for years!). We don't put limitations on file record sizes nor adopt non-standard Windows design practices nor proprietary or illogical database methodologies. Unlike our competitors, we don't force you to download a 600 meg or larger demo to even try our product; nor do we install our applications as if we are the only application on your desktop. You won't fall asleep while waiting for our software to load up across a network or on your standalone PC. Advanced Accounting is designed with growth and multiple users in mind. It doesn't just let you do anything and destroy the integrity of your valuable data (QuickBooks use often sadly leads to a quick loss of data integrity). And you will receive the kind of support, when you need it, that QuickBooks and Peachtree users can only dream about. There are certain intangibles that cannot be compared.
Addsum Advanced Accounting software comparisons
 
These product comparisons are designed to help potential users understand what features Advanced Accounting may have as compared to another product. Like other software publisher prepared comparisons, they are not intended to be a fair or unbiased comparison but rather are a start at attempting to point out what set of features/capabilities Advanced Accounting may have as compared to another package. The burden as always is on the evaluator to determine how two or more products compare and in that process (after having determined the needs of the end user) determine which "mix" of features is most appropriate, keeping in mind that it is normally not any one feature or capability that should initiate or exclude a purchase of an accounting software package. One shoe definitely does not fit all. And the package that someone happens to understand operationally is not necessarily the best fit.
 
Software features continually change. And, while every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, purchase decisions should not be made solely based on the information that is contained here. If you notice an inconsistency or a needed correction or have a question, please e-mail us as info@addsuminc.com. Or even better, call us a 1-800-648-6258.
Addsum Advanced Accounting vs. QuickBooks/Peachtree/Microsoft Office Accounting
 
Advanced Accounting, QuickBooks and Peachtree and MS Accounting are really not products that were necessarily designed for the same type of end user, however, because QuickBooks and Peachtree and more recently MS Office Accounting (not long ago introduced as Small Business Accounting and quickly renamed) are packages that potential users are often most familiar with and because Advanced Accounting competes closely price-wise, a comparison is included here. This comparison is also made more difficult due to the fact that there are so many different versions of these competitor products. We believe in keeping things simple. Just like there should be one operating system per major Windows release (and not all of the problems associated with different versions per user type), we offer one principal accounting software product and not limited subsets nor higher end versions of that same product. This strategy benefits users (better overall product) and us alike (we can focus on one thing). Our business model is also not based on constant payroll and other user assessed update charges unlike most of our competitors.
 
Addsum Advanced Accounting 6.1 vs. Quickbooks, Peachtree and Microsoft Office Accounting
Feature/issue Advanced Accounting 6.1 QuickBooks Pro 2009 QuickBooks Premier 2009 Peachtree Complete 2009 Peachtree Premium 2009 Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2009
Single user price
$299
$199.95
$399.95
$199
$499.99
$199.95
Cost per 2nd thru 5th user
(if single user initially purchased)
$145 each
Only offers a 3-user license but user can stack additionally purchase single user licenses to achieve a 4th and 5th user
2 user: $379.95
3 user: $549.95
$180+ each
Only offers a 3-user license but user can stack additionally purchase single user licenses to achieve a 4th and 5th user
2 user: $749.95
3 user: $1099.95
$350+ each
requires upgrade to 5-user
requires upgrade to 5-user
Offers a 3-user license for $499.95
$166 each
5-user price Unlike other packages, there is no additional charge for Advanced Accounting licenses past 5 users
$799
$549.95 for 3-user plus you can stack 2 singles
$949.95
$1099.95 for 3-user plus you can stack 2 singles
$1899.85
$699
$1199.99 Does not offer a 5-pack, but offers a 3-user license for $499.95. Difficult to understand what the multi-user options even are, product is seemingly merging with the Microsoft Office Suite; presumably for five users you can buy two singles plus a 3-user.
$899.85 ?
Can scale past 5 concurrent users within same version
Yes
No
Only by changing
to the Enterprise version
$3000 5 users
$5000 10 users
$7000 15 users
$11000 25 users
No
No
No
Prior versions have had a max. of 8 user "sessions", now company says can support up to "approx." 10 users
Yes
Can scale past 10 concurrent users No Adv Acctg licenses required, but for 10 or more users a client-server engine is desirable. A user may already have the engine. Or one can be purchased for ~$1050 10 users
~$1850 20 users
up to 100 or more
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Has sales order capability and reserves units on hand
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
???
Includes a fully integrated point of sale (POS) system
Yes (included in purchase price)
No (but is available for an additional $799, not real time)
No (but is available for an additional $799, not real time)
No
No
No
Has bill of materials/assembly capability
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Contains a limit as to the total number of customers, items, employees, etc. that may be added
No
Yes (1 gig file max, 14500 inventory item max, 500000 transaction max)
Yes
No
No
Yes (2 gig max file size, 100000 inventory max, 2000000 transaction max)
Multiple location inventory tracking
Yes
No
No
No
No
No?
Consolidated financials
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
Existing program options can be modified and/or new program options added
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Requires recent versions of Internet Explorer to be installed as a prerequisite to software installation
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Works with Terminal Services (or Citrix)
Yes
No, requires Enterprise
No, requires Enterprise
No
No
???
Addsum Advanced Accounting vs. DBA Classic
 
Advanced Accounting 6.1 and DBA (latest version 2002.4) share a common ancestral product, Advanced Accounting 3.0. DBA and Advanced Accounting were both written in (albeit different versions) of the TAS Professional programming language from Business Tools, Inc. While they are different products suited in many cases for different types of users who have different needs, because of the history they have shared and because they were written in similar languages and each use similar database engines, a comparison of the two products is sometimes inevitable.
 
Since DBA was designed more with manufacturing features and capabilities in mind rather than the primarily wholesale/distribution/retail features of Advanced Accounting, DBA most certainly has a number of features (for example, MRP, scheduling and forecasting and many others) that Advanced Accounting does not. For this reason and as with most comparisons, it is difficult to provide a truly balanced, apples-to-apples comparison (in part because the products were not per se necessarily designed to be used by the same end user). This chart is intended to generally be an indication of some of the features that Advanced Accounting 6.1 has that DBA does not and/or to point out some of the areas of similarity that may be important.
 

Advanced Accounting 6.1 vs. DBA

Feature Advanced Accounting 6.1 DBA (thru 2002.4)
Uses Pervasive database engine
Yes-V10 (also works with v9, v8, 2000i and prior)
Yes-2000i (V8 or newer works but requires additional purchase)
Requires purchase of additional expensive accounting software licenses for additional users
No
Just one additional user $795, three users $1995, 5 users $2995 and this does not include any additional Pervasive licensing costs. If you need just one additional user, that would pay for a switch to Advanced Accounting and the conversion of your most critical data.
Yes
Client-server or workgroup database engine configuration support
Yes
No
Data is ODBC compliant and can be accessed via Crystal Reports or MS Access
Yes
Yes
Frequently consumes 100% of CPU resources
No
Yes
Numeric keypad fully available
Yes
Not always available
Product/item number field length
25
15
Tracks inventory movements
Yes
Yes
Max number of checking accounts
99
9
Checking accounts can be made inactive
Yes
No
Max number of terms possible
999
20
Terms can be restricted to appropriate modules
Yes
No
Supports EOM terms
Yes
No
Unlimited freeform notes can be attached to customers, vendors, employees, GL accounts
Yes
No
Any report can be output to PDF, XLS, RTF, other formats
Yes
No
Internal e-mail capable
Yes
No
Years of GL data available for financial statements
7
3
Limit on retaining GL transaction detail and other kinds of history (for example, invoice history)
None
None
GL postings can occur up to how far back into the past
5 years past
2 years past
Transactionalized GL
Yes
No
Tracks credit cards
Yes
No
Integrated credit card authorization available
Yes
No
Tracks alternative customer addresses
Yes
No
Tracks alternative customer ship to's
Yes
No
Point of sale module
Yes
No
Tracks customer payment history and provides credit analysis
Yes
Yes but no credit analysis
Sales order entry, purchase order entry, customer order entry all involve truly GUI/object-based programs
Yes
No
Reserves units on sales orders (critical wholesale/distribution feature)
Yes
No
Correctly calculates average cost in negative units on hand situations
Yes
No
Sales order message line max
75 chars
30 chars
Freeform notes can be attached to sales order/purchase order line items
Yes
No
Purchase order message line max
65 chars
30 chars
Location entry at the line item level possible in SO's and PO's
Yes
No
Average cost computed by location
Yes
No
Job costing capabilities
Job can be defined as anything with series of tasks/cost codes
Limited to reporting on work orders
Payroll tracks W-2 history
Yes
No
Accounts payable voucher GL acct distribution max
200
10
Encrypts user logons/passwords for greater security
Yes
No
User permissions for allowed actions within program options
Yes
No
User can change their own password
Yes
No
Order entry on the fly from customer module
Yes
No


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