Farm software/accounts packages

JohnBoy

Wondering what do people here use for their farm accounts?

do you use the specific farm packages from agrinet or kingswood, a generic accounts package, excel or just a shoebox?

wiggy123

work full time--keepin livestock is a hobby for me!
accounts....calculator+refill pad...old ways!
unsure which be best for ya?

JohnBoy

well I work in IT and am a big fan of keeping proper, computerised records.

I wrecked my wife's head with my excel wedding budget/spend tracking

We're gonna be starting out part time in the next year and I was wondering what people do.

TAS Books have a free version I'm gonna look into.

wiggy123

ah i have full paper record of all sales/recipts-expenditure! from last 10 years--since i set up me herd...
i know its alot of paperwork--in a box!
easily done--an excel sheet--or an access table done for keepin ur farm records..ur own database! easy to do

PMU

kingswood,E500 approx.It contains an accounts package,grass management program,CMMS records, animal remedies,nutrient management,calf registration,welfare sceme,production analysis software,
everything you need to run a business.I wouldnt be without it!Pat

babybrian

I found a good cash flow planner on ifarm.ie
http://www.ifarm.ie/Services/CalculatorsConverters/tabid/352/Default.aspx

Another few on farmers journal if you click on 'tool and calculators' but you need excel to run these where as the one on ifarm works without the cost of an excel package.

But the mother has been doing the accounts since I can remember and I started to do more this year but she doesnt trust the computer(or maybe me) so the receipts are still kept in the box :rolleyes:

maidhc

I use "sortmybooks", albeit not for a farming enterprise (my dad still likes to do that the paper way, and to be honest it is probably as easy).

Sortmybooks is good though, and only €150 with a days training a years telephone support, as it is subsidised by various County Enterprise boards (Cork City and South Cork for sure). A few accountant friends tell me it is no worse than sage.

I don't see any point in herd management and so forth for drystock.

Kristopherus

A very good excel spreadsheet that is adaptable for any business can be downloaded from www.mytax.ie for free. I have no connection, but I found it does the job for me.

nilhg

I've been using Omni Accounts for 7 or 8 years now, does everything I need, good support if needed, never mind it being a UK product you just need to set up the VAT rates before you start.

JohnBoy

Actually that brings about another question.

is it worth it for a small farmer to register for VAT?

nilhg

JohnBoy wrote: »

Actually that brings about another question.

is it worth it for a small farmer to register for VAT?

Short answer: No

Long answer: only if you are consistently buying a large amount of VATable inputs like diesel, machinery (and/or parts), sprays ect.

tophat

I use Gnucash, http://www.gnucash.org/ which is open source accounting software for small business, so offically it's free to use. Handy for bank account reconciliation, and can be set up to track depreciation. Accountant doesn 't have it so generate a lot of html reports that he imports into excel!!

DagneyTaggart

Use Kingswood on the farm. Very good accounts program with excellent support. From my experience I'd recommend it. That said it's the only one I've used/needed to use.

nhg

Sorry to bring up an old thread.

Just wondering if any new farm accountancy packages have come on stream and if so, how are you finding them.

JohnBoy

We're working from an excel sheet for income and an access database for expenses, really must add the income to access.

it's super basic stuff, but I figured that as we grow we can add to it, this is only our second year using it and I've a few things on my list to add already

freedominacup

We've been using Agrinet since it was a dos system, very happy with it all animal and med records kept on it. They say it's going cloud based in the new year which means all records should be available to the smartphone to view and update A.I. records etc. My wife is an accountant so she handles all of the financial accounting. She'd run off an excel spreadsheet while you'd be putting up a strip fence so no accounting package used here.

alderdeer

JohnBoy wrote: »

Wondering what do people here use for their farm accounts?

do you use the specific farm packages from agrinet or kingswood, a generic accounts package, excel or just a shoebox?

I've been using the agrinet farm package for years now for the register and would be lost without it tbh but this year is the first time to use the accounts section on. I've found it great for budgeting and knowing just exactly how the bank account should look bit I've to find an accountant who has the pprogram or else I'll have to re do everything into the old red book