Accounting software

weshtawake

Has anyone experience of using any of the software packages for the Haulage business and would they recommend it?

hobochris

Sage line 50 and/or summit payroll would suite.

maddogcollins

+1 for Sage line 50..Easy to use and suits any industry.We have a few haulier clients and they use Sage line 50. Tas books can also be used but i personally do not like the layout of it.Sage much more user friendly. But I have been using it for a few years.

weshtawake

Thanks for replies guys. Could you say what the approx size of the fleet is and with the Sage Line 50 do they capture costs by individual truck/vehicle i.e. do they set up each vehicle as a Dept/Cost Centre?

Many thanks

Chevy RV

Sage Line 50 Accounts Plus can hold up to 999 departments for analysis purposes e.g. each truck with a unique registration number.

You can track all the sales / purchases - profit / loss by truck then.


PS -Entering that level of data is time consuming and can be difficult to keep track of. You must decide on what type of reports and information you require from the system and this then determines the way in which you input the data.

Regards,


Chevy RV

mickbyrne

A lot would depend on the size of your haulage business and what else you need it to do for you. Sage 50 is a a very reliable accounting package. The price has however crept up over the past few years.

My advice on choosing which software would be best for your business is to find out exactly what you need it for. The accounts, are obviously very important and required, but accounts are a result of your business transactions. When choosing software you should choose software which is the best to record your transactions - if it does accounts as well, its a bonus. You need software which records your sales leads, your individual lorry costs, what do you deliver, do you need software to manage the loads that you are delivering, etc, etc.

I have one client in the quarry industry using Herbst software. This is ideal for him as it has a full weigh bridge module which records and processes all the billing of the material linked directly to the weigh bridge. This software is also widely used by oil delivery companies as it fully integrates with hand-held devices out on the lorries. When an oil delivery is made the purchaser signs the hand-held device, the sale is then automatically updated on the system.

Again alot of the above depends hugely on the size of your business.

If you like you can pm me and I'll give you my number to have a chat.

Regards,
Michael
www.perspective.ie

MartMax

My general thought - any accounting system is as good as they are so long that your business process and information flow are controlled and in systematic ways. It is more than recording invoices and putting through transactions. It is how a business works.

Mr Clonfadda

eureka software in rosslare do specific software for hauliers this then posts into Sage. I know some of the big hauliers firms use it.

mickbyrne

Had a quick look at the eureka site. Site could show more info but the concept seem very good. This would be a solution well worth a look.

mickbyrne

Had a brief look at the eureka website. They could do with putting a few screen shots up but the concept seems excellent. Its great to find out about another alternative.

wandering monk

there are other specific haulage software packages available as well that can also post into Sage 50, such as fleetminder / roadrunner etc. Question I suppose is do you need them? You can set up each truck / van as a dept in Sage 50 and run a p&l by dept to give you an idea as to which are making most / least profit for you.

Best of luck with it

Mr Clonfadda

Yes it very much is a size issue. Departments or different nominal codes or different projects could be used for an accurate costing on several trailers in any accounts package.