Close out your spreadsheets. Take the CPA off retainer. M.Y.O.B. makes double-entry accounting easy enough for anyone to do. Changing accounting systems is never easy, but switching to version 5 of this well-established program is worth a transitional headache or two.
M.Y.O.B. supplies integrated accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventor), and optional payroll for small businesses. Version 5 introduces improvements in system setup, data entry and reporting. M.Y.O.B.’s file-folder-style interface is now even more convenient. A well-written start-up booklet and a brief instructional video (a real boon for those who can’t bear to page through written documentation) throw in a bit of basic accounting for good measure.
Getting Started
Creating your chart of accounts and entering your opening balances is the most important — and unfortunately the most difficult — part of setting up an accounting system. Don’t let this scare you away. M.Y.O.B. supplies predefined charts of accounts for 100 businesses from building contractors to graphic artists to veterinarians; one of these charts is likely to match your business’s needs, but you can modify a chart or create one from scratch if need be. Note that M.Y.O.B. permits only four digits for your account codes — inadequate for some businesses.
M.Y.O.B.’s security system lets you control access down to the individual entry screen and report. You can permit viewing of the Payroll Summary Report but not allow access to the Payroll Activity Detail Report, for example, or you can let someone print checks but not create them. While many accountants prefer systems that require correcting entries be made, non accountants generally want the freedom to change entries at a later date. M.Y.O.B. is configurable to either permit or deny changes to saved transactions.
M.Y.O.B. handles day-to-day business transactions easily, while complying fully with generally accepted accounting principles. You enter data via easy-to-use forms that are virtually identical to the customary checks, invoices, and other paper documents your business uses. Accounting jargon and double-entry screens are almost completely absent. You choose account codes from pop-up lists, and an Easy-Add feature lets you create new account codes as you enter transactions.
The program comes with four basic, customizable invoice formats. Like that ideal bookkeeper you always wanted to hire but could never find, M.Y.O.B. guards against accounting errors — checking for duplicate payments and purchase orders, and applying credits against outstanding bills. However, this vigilance slows data entry, especially when large data files are involved.
Payroll
M.Y.O.B.’s is one of the most complete, flexible payroll programs available in the price range. Not only can you assign each employee as many different wage categories and rates as you need (you’re typically limited to three rates per person), but you can also assign each wage a different job code and general ledger account. The system easily handles commissions, tips, overtime, payroll advances, and deductions. M.Y.O.B. automatically calculates all payroll tax deductions and employer payroll taxes, provides reports for quarterly-tax preparation, and generates annual W-2 statements.
Reporting Capabilities
M.Y.O.B. provides a wide variety of management reports in addition to the standard financial statements your banker and accountant want to see. For example, using the Sales Analysis report you can analyze sales by product, by customer, or by salesperson — and you can include prior-year comparisons. The Cash Flow Projection report analyzes your receivables and payables and projects cash balances for any period you specify.
To help you manage your bottom line, the Item Price Analysis report details die current price, cost, gross margin, and markup percentage on your inventory items. On screen, the Zoom feature takes you from high-level summarized reports down to the individual transactions that make up the total, so you can understand the reasons behind the numbers. You can filter reports for time periods and data ranges and dress them up for presentation. Batch reporting allows you to issue a single command to print a set of reports that you customarily review at month-end, for example — a great time-saver.
Though M.Y.O.B.’s custom reporting is not quite as flexible as that of Intuit’s QuickBooks, it’s easy to use and provides all the information that most small-business owners will ever need. An important M.Y.O.B. feature is job reporting — measuring profit and loss on a project-by-project basis rather than for the organization as a whole. In version 5, this includes balance-sheet and income-statement accounts. Job codes used with balance-sheet accounts can simulate fund accounting for nonprofit organizations or provide separate reporting for branch locations within a single organization.
M.Y.O.B. 5 lacks multiuser capability. For now, networked users will have to queue up to perform their accounting tasks. Businesses cross-pollinated with Macs and PCs will be heartened to know that the package operates identically on both platforms, although their respective data files are not yet compatible.
Service and Support
Good technical support is critical for accounting programs, and M.Y.O.B. is up to the challenge. The manual is clear but occasionally lacks detail. For example, it’s skimpy on how to use the payroll system and how to process accrual-basis transactions so they don’t appear on cash-basis accounting reports. And though M.Y.O.B. ships with a set of sample data, it lacks a tutorial — a major oversight.
The on-screen help system is well organized and complete, and context-sensitive help is available on CD-ROM. M.Y.O.B.’s online forums receive prompt attention from technical support.
The Last Word
M.Y.O.B. makes double-entry accounting a viable choice for the small-business owner. It simplifies the bookkeeping and reporting process and offers many management-support and automation features — and the price is right. Accounting doesn’t get much easier than this.
Gillespie, Jan. (May 1995). M.Y.O.B. 5.0. Macworld. (pg. 63).
Teleware, Inc.
Applications
out of 10 (1 vote)
60 / 
2014-04-14 / 
fd798c026a7665dda075610e0ba8627218cd92ff / 
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myob_v5.0.1_images.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Basilisk II
