[foundation-board] Approval for purchase of accountancy software

Mon Aug 2 11:29:33 UTC 2010

On 31 July 2010 16:43, Rufus Pollock <rufus.pollock at okfn.org> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I think it is clear we need some proper accounting/budgeting software
> and I am planning to purchase some online service solution. It will
> probably be proprietary because no opensource option looks up to it.
> Issues:
>
> a) any objections on me going ahead and incurring this expenditure
> (probably £200-500 in first year)

Without a coherent view of the management accounts, I can't approve
this expenditure in a terribly meaningful way, but of course this is a
Catch 22 situation, so if this will get us closer to being able to
deliver up-to-date management accounts to the Board in order to make
decisions like this, then I'm all for it.

In particular, as per my previous email, I think we definitely need a
clear view of the financial health of OKF to make the August meeting
at all useful. Are you aiming to have something ready by then?

Cheers

Becky

> b) Any suggestions on what to use? (summary of research so far below)
>   * At the moment I'm planning to evaluate xero, kashoo and clearbooks
>
> I need to have a decision by Tuesday as Wednesday I start with PA/AA
> on sorting out OKF books.
>
> Rufus
>
> Requirements:
>  * Open-source?
>  * Not ERP - just personal accounting
>  * But reasonably sophisticated:
>    * Double-entry
>    * Multiple currencies
>
> Detailed Comparison:
> http://www.softwareshortlist.com/products/accounting_software_reviews.html
>
>
> Top options (based on looking around and comparison):
>  http://www.xero.com/pricing/ ~£24 / month
>  http://www.clearbooks.co.uk/pricing/ - £15/£10 / month
>    * UK VAT and Companies stuff
>  http://kashoo.com/ ~ $10 / month
>    * unlimited users
>  http://www.brightpearl.co.uk/pricing-c-925.html ~ £20 / month (for
> most basic -- 1 user)
>
> Others considered:
>
>  http://www.freshbooks.com - invoicing only
>  ...
>
> *Nothing* open-source that i can see (some erp solutions but all clunky)
>
> http://www.nmqb.co.uk/open-source-billing-applications/
>
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