Jackson Maunders - Managing the Estate
www.jacksonmaunders.co.uk - estate agent
As this end-user perspective demonstrates, Online accounting software has many advantages over traditional packages.
Reproduced from Total Business Magazine August/September 2005
“Accounting doesn’t have to be a black art,” says Graham Jackson, who runs the estate agents Jackson Maunders using an online system from Liberty Accounts. Converting from a traditional accounting package has helped Jackson to manage his business more efficiently and effectively, as well as giving him a greater control and flexibility.
In common with many small business users, Jackson was previously using Sage. “My accountant was running the business accounts on it and I was using it to manage cash,” he recalls, “and if I wanted to do my cash-flow I needed to use a spreadsheet.”
But Jackson had browser-based access to business banking and the specialist estate agents software that Jackson Maunders uses, so he was keen to find a quick and simple route to financial information on his business. “I wanted the right level of functionality,” he explains, “but I also wanted to be master of my own destiny.”
“If I want to get up and do my accounts at six then go for a run at nine, I can do that. Why should I commute just to get access to information...?”
Liberty Accounts met his needs perfectly. “It gives you as much control as you want,” he says, “and it’s menu-driven approach makes it very easy to use,” even if you aren’t familiar with accounting jargon. This has helped Jackson to understand more about the financial side of the business, and get more from his accountant. “Because I get instant access to the information I need, I’ve started to educate myself,” he explains, “which makes me a better businessman.” For instance, Jackson starts each week by doing a trial balance and checking outstanding debtors and creditors. “In less than two hours I’m smack up-to-date,” he says, “as opposed to never being up-to-date and never knowing what’s going on.”
The online approach has also delivered the flexibility he was looking for. “Wherever I am, I can see everything I need as long as I have my laptop and internet access,” he enthuses, which enables him to log onto the system from any branch of the business, or anywhere else he happens to be. “With Liberty Accounts, I can sit in a hotel in New York and run this business as well as if I was at the office in Ascot,” says Jackson, “and keep my finger on the pulse. ” It even helps him to obtain a better work/life balance. “If I want to get up and do my accounts at six then go for a run at nine, I can do that,” he enthuses, adding: “Why should I commute just to get access to information?”
Because it provides online access to a shared central database, Liberty Accounts also makes it easier for other authorised users to get at important financial information - whether they work inside or outside the company. Your accountant, for example, can quickly and easily review your accounts or payroll at any time.
“It is possible for the firm and its clients to review and update the same financial picture, even though they’re at different locations,” comments Tracy Purdon of London 1st, an accounting firm that also uses Liberty Accounts. This eliminates the need to send data backwards and forwards between the business and its accountant, reducing the potential for data entry errors and misunderstandings, and minimising the risk presented by viruses.
Storing important data well away from the business, at a secure data centre, also means that Jackson Maunders can be less concerned about system security. “We don’t have to worry about back-ups,” says Jackson, “and we have very robust recovery in the event of a computer failure.” The estate agents has also stepped off the costly round of annual upgrades, as Liberty handles system changes at source, and online access requires only a basic computer with internet access. “‘It’s just heaven,” says Jackson,”‘I would never go back to a traditional accounting package.”
