Accountancy software

[Mustang]

When I started out with my Ltd Co I had fully intended to run all my books using some basic excel spreadsheets. I figured with "only" basic expenses, payroll, sales and VAT to worry about it should be straight forward to do. Now, as time goes by, I see that accountancy software is not that expensive and the concept of the excel sheets is getting more involved.....

I thought I was see what the rest of the freelance world was doing before I succumbed to the temptation of the software!!

So........

1) What do you do for accounting?

2) If you use excel, how many different spreadsheets do you have and for what?

3) If you succumbed to a software package, what one did you go for and why?

Thanks as always for the input!

[n5gooner]

we use Sage Accounts plus 50 version 10.

very good - if a bit tricky to use until you get use to it.

[vetran]

Books

Quickbooks & Bank QIF to IIF assistant to download from the bank.

I understand quicken has a business version now so that might be better.

[GiGo]

Sage Instant Accounts 8.2

Maybe I should upgrade but what I have works just fine.

[xoggoth]

Seems easy just keeping a couple of spreadsheets showing invoices and expenses, but then you have to add fields to show if had been paid personally/by bank account, if received, if vattable etc etc etc and the whole thing gradually becomes a Frankenstein monster. My accountancy sheets ate Lincolnshire last year.

[cojak]

Now I'm in VAT land, my life has been made much easier through using Quickbooks.

(I also got accountancy software in my Linux Mandrake Discovery 10.0 distro but was already using QB...)