In this short article we will try and let you in on a few secrets: how to choose small business accounting software like a pro? Or at least learn from other's experience.

When it comes to choosing your small business accounting software for the first time you will probably have a few things on your mind, you may want to go with a more cost effective solution, you may be concerned with how difficult it will be for you to learn how to use the tool or you may doubt the software¢â‚¬â„¢s ability to fit your business.

A research done by Deloitte & Touche shows that you are not alone, many small business owners have the same priorities when it comes to choosing their first accounting software:

1. Price of software
2. Ease of implementation
3. Ease of use
4. Software's ability to fit the business
5. Functionality of software
6. Software works with existing hardware
7. Growth potential of software
8. Level of support provided by the local team
9. Quality of documentation
10. Developers track record of performance

Looking at the list from a small business accounting perspective, it kind of makes sense.

You're concerned mostly about cost, ease of implementation and ease of use, you want it to have all the bells and whistles and you want to make sure it will grow with your business. (You probably read the small business Bible, duct tape marketing or E-myth revisited, so you have a clear vision :-) )

Next comes the part where other¢â‚¬â„¢s experience kicks in, the good folks at Deloitte & Touche have done the same questionnaire again with businesses which are in the process of upgrading their existing accounting software, so they are in the market for the 2^nd(or 3^rd) time.

These guys have a different perspective. They talk from experience; these are the factors that are important to them:

1. Level of support provided by the local team
2. Developers track record of performance
3. Software¢â‚¬â„¢s ability to fit the business
4. Growth potential of software
5. Price of software
6. Quality of documentation
7. Functionality of software
8. Ease of use
9. Ease of implementation
10. Software works with existing hardware

Now that's interesting.... there are few things we can probably learn from this new set of data:

Price is suddenly not so important, local support and developer's performance moved from back to the top of the list and finally ease of use and ease of implementation moved from the top of the list to the end.

I guess that these business owners realized that the day to day operation of their business is worth the initial investment in price and learning curve as well as the importance of having a good local support and development team to help you along the way.

Good luck with your small business accounting software selection process and don't forget to include Nominal Accounting in your short list.