Sage Instant Payroll v14 review
Aimed at the small business with little or no bookkeeping expertise, the latest version of Sage Instant Accounts is designed to make life easier for the accounting novice. There are no big changes, more a collection of minor improvements in the way the software works, including a new welcome page giving access to a range of sources of help and support plus a practice company that lets you experiment without affecting your own data. It’s also easier to fix errors in the new version, although we still found it hard going in places.
All you need to run Instant Accounts is a PC running Windows 2000 or later. Installation takes just a few minutes, and there’s a step-by-step wizard to guide you through the process of entering your company information for the first time. Alternatively it’s possible to open a demonstration company or work on your own practice data, with much the same interface used throughout, which we found clear and, in the main, pretty easy to master.
Bookkeeping jargon is kept to a minimum, which is good, although you do end up having to get to grips with concepts like ledgers and account codes as you delve deeper into the package. To this end the basic implementation offers support for sales and purchase ledgers with facilities to bill for both products and/or services. VAT accounting is another standard feature, with everything to do with VAT now collected into one area plus support for online reporting to HMRC.
Stock control is also available, although only if you buy the Instant Accounts Plus version (£169.36 + VAT). Likewise, you’ll have to pay more to run your own PAYE system, in the form of Instant Payroll (available separately for £95 + VAT) and to subscribe to Sage card payment services, to accept payments by credit/debit card.
Telephone support for the first 45 days comes with the package, plus free online support and optional health and safety advice for a year, plus you get a lot more bundled self-service support facilities. Accessed from the – always available – welcome page, these include links to instructional videos, online e-learning workshops, PDF guides and suggestions for both getting started and, as you become more familiar with how things are done, performing common tasks.
We particularly liked the new practice mode as, no matter how many videos you watch or courses you take, there’s no substitute for making your own mistakes. Accounts software will always take a while to get to grips with and it’s good to do so knowing you’re not messing up live data. Sage is certainly addressing a key issue here.
Automatic updates and a Sage newsfeed are other welcome additions. So too is the dedicated error corrections module, although when you get this far you’re entering “proper” bookkeeping territory and we’d like to see error fixing made a lot more transparent.
We were also disappointed with the new report designer which comes in for a makeover in this release, despite which it’s still a lot more complex and harder to use than similar tools in other packages. And that could be an issue, as it’s not just used to customise reports, but invoices, credit notes and other forms. Standard forms are provided, but if you want to create your own this tool doesn’t exactly make it easy.
Still, all things considered, this latest implementation of Instant Accounts has just about everything a small company is likely to need to keep on top of its finances. Plus it’s competitively priced and backed by Sage, one of the biggest and most well respected names in the business.
