accounting software

[Guest guest]

I have to disagree with , but it's coming from my bias as both an

accountant and a soapmaker. I think Quickbooks is a substandard product - I

think it was poorly designed and unpleasant to use, especially if your

pricing structure is variable and you make small purchases and sales.

In all honesty, for most of the soap and toiletry makers I've come across,

accounting software is pretty close to unnecessary - especially the

inventory management bits. A few spreadsheets in Excel or MS Works will do

you more service and cost you less money and be much easier to operate if

you're not familiar with accounting and don't need to produce formal

financial statements regularly.

Unless you are incorporated, you are not legally constrained to follow GAAP

(generally accepted accounting procedures) and accrual accounting, and most

software packages don't handle cash-based accounting as well as they do the

accrual method. You'll probably be following tax rules more closely than

accounting standards since the taxation authority is most likely the only

one you need to report to, and they don't generally require really

complicated statements.

If you do feel that it is necessary to have an accounting package, instead

of using spreadsheets and whatnot (and that's okay too - you may want to

trade off the extra time it takes to do the entries against having to

construct your own Cost of Goods Sold statement), I'd recommend M.Y.O.B over

Quickbooks any day, hands down.

My other suggestion is that regardless of the software you choose to use,

hire an accountant to set it up for you unless you know accounting

principles. It'll save you time and money in the long run. I don't work in

public practice myself, but I have friends who do and they have told me how

much more work it takes to straighten out the innocent mistakes of a

homebusiness owner who didn't understand the intricacies of accounting when

they set up their software. That's where I got the idea of recommending

spreadsheets - it was one accountants suggestion - had the artist in

question simply entered sales on one sheet, purchases of inventory and

supplies and other expenses on a second and recorded transfers of materials

from raw to finished goods on a third, they could have done his taxes and

financial statements in less than one hour. Instead, it took several hours

to figure out how he had set up his software, extract the needed information

and do the work.

Just my $.02

Jules

> Sodium Myristate

>

>I would like to know if there is a common name for sodium myristate.

>The only information I have been able to find is that it is an

>emulsifying agent and surfactant.

>

>Thanks in advance!

>Sue

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