PRODUCT REVIEW: SOFTWARE COMPARE

By Paul D. Warner

Selecting the best-suited accounting system can be one of the most time-consuming, frustrating tasks any consultant or end-user might contemplate. Software Compare simplifies the selection task, allowing you to define accounting needs in detail, compare those needs against many potential candidates, and determine which specific products seem most appropriate.

Software Compare contains a database of over 1,200 specific features, functions, and reports on the leading microcomputer-based accounting systems. The database has been standardized, and each function or feature has a Y if it is available. The database also includes items such as list price by module, number of users, warranty, and the number of pages of documentation. The data for each package can be printed. This database was developed through vendor interviews. The program analyses the needs, compares them to each product in the database, and then ranks each product according to how closely it meets the needs. The database includes a complete list of vendor names, addresses, and telephone numbers, which also can be printed.

The program contains a preliminary needs definition form which can be printed and used for interviewing. This form covers background information areas such as job responsibilities, company needs, etc. A second form, the itemized needs definition checklist, can be used to rank specific application requirements in three categories--low, medium, and high. The complete form, which contains details of all of the accounting functions, is over 60 pages long. These forms are not linked to the analysis tools within Software Compare. They simply provide a means for gathering data. A final product rating form is also available for use in the final decision-making process.

The process of evaluation ranks specific functions and attributes desired from 0 (not required) to 9 (mandatory) to score the relative degree of interest in each feature. In addition, you can select several parameters that will affect the applications selected by the program including a price ceiling ($99,999,999 maximum), representing the company's software budget, and the minimum acceptable score (scores are generated as percentages). Once this process is completed, the program will perform the ranking and produce a list, in descending order, of the packages.

Software Compare can examine up to 10 different modules (e.g., general ledger and accounts receivable). Each module is subdivided into five or more logical feature subsets. For instance, General Ledger is subdivided into five logical feature subsets--Chart of Accounts, Transaction Processing, Month and Year-End Procedures, Control Reports, and Financial Statements. The analysis program calculates a score for the entire product, each module, and each subsection. These module and subsection scores offer more specific information about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the products. If a mandatory feature is missing from an application, it will not be ranked.

Once the ranking process is completed, specific application packages can be selected and the entire feature set of each printed out side by side. In addition, the overall rankings of each package can be listed side by side for each application and module.

Once Software Compare completes the basic analysis and ranks each product, information produced should be evaluated by comparing the needs against packages selected and reviewing the important but absent features. It may be necessary to refine the needs definition and run the analysis again.

Installation and Operation

The installation was a straightforward DOS procedure, and no problems were encountered. The actual operation was described in the manual with one exception. The application refused to print any of the analysis reports to an HP DeskJet 1200 when it was set for Postscript printing. However, it did print the vendor name and address file. It did not have any problem printing to either a LaserWriter or to a Panasonic KX-P1124. A call was made to PPC technical support, and they quickly went to work on the problem. Unfortunately, they were not familiar with the HP 1200. When the HP was set to to PCL5, the problems disappeared.

Summary

The documentation is comprehensive, and any experienced microcomputer user should be able to use Software Compare in a relatively short time. It will take substantially more time to gather the data than to use the package.

Remember, Software Compare does not make purchasing decisions; it simply produces a comprehensive list of available products and a way to narrow the options quickly and accurately to only those products capable of meeting specific needs.

To order Software Compare, contact‹

PPC Software

Practitioners Publishing Company

PO Box 901007

Forth Worth TX 76010-2007

(800) 323-8724

* Requirements: IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 and compatibles with a hard disk, using DOS 3.1 or higher. It will operate under Windows.

* Price: $249 per year including two updates. *

Editors:
Paul D. Warner, PhD, CPA
Hofstra University

L. Murphy Smith, DBA, CPA
Texas A&M University

OCTOBER 1995 / THE CPA JOURNAL