Will Manager meet my simple accounting needs?

[jamesaepp]

I’m not a very advanced Manager user but I believe all the features you listed are present within Manager. I’ll tackle each of your items. No guarantees, no warranties.

• General journal entries
  • Yes this is a basic feature. I use it and it’s perfectly possible.
    • Make journal entries | Manager
• Import bank statements
  • Yes this is a feature. I think I tried it once and my financial institution didn’t output their CSV data in quite a nice enough format for Manager. I prefer to make manual transactions so the lesson here is YMMV.
    • Import bank statements | Manager
• Import credit card statements
  • In manager, credit cards are treated the same as any other bank account except you expect them to have a negative balance. This is documented lots on the forums and I think in the manual. To this end, it’s the same as the previous section on importing bank receipts.
    • Cash and Bank Account should not allow negative balance
  • I will also link below the instructions for importing a bank reconciliation which is often handy for performing a balance check.
    • Reconcile bank accounts | Manager
• Import credit card merchant transactions
  • Someone else can correct me here but I think you’d once again use the import bank statements feature. Ultimately a statement of receipts (revenues) is no different from a statement of payments (expenses).
  • There’s also the batch create feature.
    • Use Batch Create and Batch Update functions | Manager
• Basic accounting reports
  • Yes they’re available.
    • Create reports | Manager
• Export data to send to accountant
  • So this is another YMMV. It depends on what software your accountant is willing (and/or able) to use. The really great thing about Manager is that it’s free if you are running it as a single user/single computer. Even if you are using the server or cloud version, you can backup the business file out of Manager and give it to someone using the free/desktop version. So if your accountant is willing to install and spend a bit of time learning Manager, they can just install Manager, load your business file, and they’re off to the races.
  • It’s worth consulting with your accountant first to have a plan ready before you spring this change on them. They may also be able to inform you with regards to any regulatory considerations before making the switch.