A range of new onlinecloud-based accountssoftware program havebeen launched into themarket place recentlymaking it easy to accessyour accounts from anycomputer or device withinternet access, but how suitableis a general accounts package for thefarming industry. We take a momentto compare features and benefits ofthese systems with specialist farmmanagement software, BusinessManager from Farmplan, to see ifthey can meet the needs of farmersand rural business owners in theagricultural sector today.

How dostandard

accountingpackages compare

to BusinessManager?

Insummary

Are standard accounting packages geared upto meet the needs of farmers?

Farm Accounts Software:

Understanding accountsOne of the stand out issues we identified with

some of the more general accounts programs is the sense that users are expected to have basic

accounting knowledge. This is often not the case as many farmers still manage their own books often with

the support of family members. Business Manager software guides the user to create a meaningful

coding structure and allows them to navigate the system, input figures and produce valuable reports

without having to fully understand accounting terminology or the calculations involved.

• Understanding Accounts• Managing Cashflow• Straightforward Bank Reconciliation• Analysing Costs and Managing VAT• Enterprise Management• Budgeting• Practical Software Support• Easy access to data backups online

Straightforward Bank

Reconciliation

ManagingCashflow

Understanding cashflow is very important in the agricultural industry simply due to the seasonal nature of the work undertaken on farms and irregularity of income. Some of the standard cloud-based software packages do not offer cashflow management and therefore for many farmers these packages would not enable them to adequately manage their income and expenditure.

Sally says,Check that you can reconcile your paper or online bank statements against payments entered into the software. An electronic link that constantly feeds into your data may be useful for large businesses with a full time accountant but may not suit a smaller business with a less reliable internet connection. Sally Ashwell, Farmplan’s Product Co-ordinator

AnalysingCosts andManaging

VAT

Sally says,We know that many of our customers work closely with their accountants, as many firms use Farmplan software too. It can help save time and costs if users are able to manage more of their accounts in house while still working with their accountant to check and verify records.

Two key questions:While all accounts packages will all have a comprehensive range of standard financial reports, do they provide the specialised management information that a farmer requires such as comparing the detailed performance of each enterprise, recording and tracking stocks produced such as harvests and births or keeping running costs of particular pieces of machinery?

Do they allow for contras on the same transaction – i.e. can you detail the Input VAT due to be claimed on a deduction such as market expenses as well as the Output VAT on a sale?

Choose Business Manager to:• Analyse costs in detail• Interrogate income• Filter data

We found that many of the standard accounts packages did not allow for some of the specialist VAT scenarios that farming businesses can come across such as contras and partial exemption, this means that users would have to rely more heavily on their accountants for help with this analysis.

Budgeting

EnterpriseManagement

PracticalSoftwareSupport

Many standard packages do not offer the level of dedicated and personal software support offered by Farmplan. Our team of knowledgeable advisors are available over the phone, via email and we also offer online resources to help our customers make the best use of Farmplan software

One of the most valuable features of Business Manager is the ability to produce detailed budgets and forecast income over the whole farming or financial year as well as compare actual figures against those budgeted at any point in the year and against previous years.

Allowing detailed enterprise costings that can be tracked from start to finish, including any associated stocks and valuations to evaluate different areas of the business, is an essential feature of farm management software and is a feature that is often ignored or simplified in many of the newer products available in the market.

A wheat enterprise, for example, may be planted in the autumn of one year, harvested next summer but not sold till the following spring – perhaps 18 months after it first started. In addition many of our farming businesses in the UK are diversifying and as such need to manage records and finances for each enterprise on farm from cattle and crops to farm shops and holiday lets,

adds Sally

Farming enterprises, particularly arable ones, do not follow a neat annual cycle that match the financial year.

To find out more about Farmplan’s Business Manager software please contact our sales team on:

01594 545000 or email sales@farmplan.co.uk