Choosing a Pastel Package

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Veon

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According to my accountant I have to use Pastel for my business.

Currently it's a one man show. One person and one business.

I have a bunch of customers that are billed monthly with recurring invoices. I provide a service to them every month.

One requirement that I have is that I want to be able to code and hack my own scripts. So I will probably need a version of Pastel where I can access an API or a database or something. Is this even possible?

Will the bottom of the range Pastel packages work for me?
 
Find a new accountant.

Our accountant told us to go Pastel last year, so we did. This year they said they no longer do Pastel so we need to go Quickbooks. I told them to stuff it, we have gone back to using spreadsheets.

Rather look for something that will work for you, not your accountant.
 
Veon said:
According to my accountant I have to use Pastel for my business.

Currently it's a one man show. One person and one business.

I have a bunch of customers that are billed monthly with recurring invoices. I provide a service to them every month.

One requirement that I have is that I want to be able to code and hack my own scripts. So I will probably need a version of Pastel where I can access an API or a database or something. Is this even possible?

Will the bottom of the range Pastel packages work for me?
Click to expand...

You could also use Quickbooks, and register as an INTUIT Developer - gaining access to the developer tools and API's
Not sure if Pastel has that option.

Golden advice was given to you to use what suits you and not the accountant.
 
Look he didn't say I must use it or go jump off a bridge, he just basically said that going Pastel is by far the best option. Citing the fact that there is a lot of support for it and that 99% of companies use it.

I personally don't have a problem with any software, as long as it works. I'm open to trying this. It would be nice if somebody with some experience in this software can help me out.
 
Gnucash is free, and almost equally as feauture rich as quickbooks. I don't really know how quickbooks and pastel compare.

Only downside to Gnucash, is that you can't have it on more than one person's computer, and that each one's edits are updated in real time. I think it will update once the session closes, though. So use one person at a time. But not a problem in your case.

It's open source, so I am sure one has access to change it how you see fit, if you've got the skills (I certainly don't have those parricular skills)
 
cbrunsdonza said:
I told them to stuff it, we have gone back to using spreadsheets.
Click to expand...
For really small companies perhaps, but on the whole spreadsheets are a massively bad idea.

Accounting software has quite a bit of checks & balances in it that aren't immediately obvious to most. The people processing transactions make mistakes. Lots and lots of them. On an accounting system this isn't a major issue. You find the mistakes & fix them. On a spreadsheet the entire thing just goes down in a ball of flames.

Once the company is big enough to be audited (or the bank demands it) then its even more fun. Auditors faced with flawed spreadsheets roll in more senior staff (higher billing rate per hour) and do more work due to higher risk (longer hours). Higher avg billing rate x more hours = one very scary audit fee.

Veon said:
AOne requirement that I have is that I want to be able to code and hack my own scripts. So I will probably need a version of Pastel where I can access an API or a database or something. Is this even possible?
Click to expand...
Why bother then? The entire point of an accounting system is that it restricts you to things that make accounting sense. If you pump it full of your own code & hacked scripts then you might as well use spreadsheets.

On the whole, most well known accounting system provide at least *OK* functionality, so there is little reason to switch from one to the other just because an accountant says so.
 
Pastel express should be sufficient for your needs. PM me and i'll hook you up with any Pastel package and throw in a 15% to 20% discount off RRP. The latest version of Pastel is V12.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express
 
HavocXphere said:
For really small companies perhaps, but on the whole spreadsheets are a massively bad idea.

Accounting software has quite a bit of checks & balances in it that aren't immediately obvious to most. The people processing transactions make mistakes. Lots and lots of them. On an accounting system this isn't a major issue. You find the mistakes & fix them. On a spreadsheet the entire thing just goes down in a ball of flames.

Once the company is big enough to be audited (or the bank demands it) then its even more fun. Auditors faced with flawed spreadsheets roll in more senior staff (higher billing rate per hour) and do more work due to higher risk (longer hours). Higher avg billing rate x more hours = one very scary audit fee.


Why bother then? The entire point of an accounting system is that it restricts you to things that make accounting sense. If you pump it full of your own code & hacked scripts then you might as well use spreadsheets.

On the whole, most well known accounting system provide at least *OK* functionality, so there is little reason to switch from one to the other just because an accountant says so.
Click to expand...

The thing is customer registration takes place on a website. So now I have a website with all the customer details in a database.

So how do I send an invoice to this customer now that he has signed up? Do I have to manually enter him in to Pastel and set up recurring invoices, and then when he doesn't pay I must go and switch off his account. That is basically the problem I have now.

I want to automate this, but I don't want a dumb closed off proprietary software that doesn't have 3rd party integration.
 
Customer account data can be imported individually or in bulk into Pastel in .csv format.

A recurring invoice will need to be created in the beginning. You can then also create the same invoice for a group of customers. An example would be a monthly membership fee where all customers are charged the same fees.

You can export a list of accounts that are in arrears. Could your system not import this account data and switch off these accounts?
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express
 
Veon said:
...Citing the fact that there is a lot of support for it and that 99% of companies use it.
...
Click to expand...

Thats what convinced me to accept the move to Pastel last year, then ironically I started doing some work for Quick Books and got some confidential information on product usage. Pastel is not that dominant in the market as we believe.
 
signates said:
Pastel express should be sufficient for your needs. PM me and i'll hook you up with any Pastel package and throw in a 15% to 20% discount off RRP. The latest version of Pastel is V12.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express
Click to expand...

The crappy thing with Pastel is the expiring of the licence. Really pissed off my wife when she found out that its a recurring purchase and not a once off. For a small business like ours its cheaper to pay the accountant to import data from our spreadsheets than to renew our licence.
 
If you're a first time user of an accounting package I'd recommend Quickbooks. It's quite user friendly and easy to use. It's also easier to play around with and if you make a mistake it's easy to correct.

If you're going to be audited I recommend Pastel. You can't just modify entries as you wish as is the case with Quickbooks, you have to pass adjusting journals, which leaves a nice audit trail. Pastel is more difficult to learn initially.

Have a look at Pastel My Business Online

Also have a look at Quickbooks, I love how easy it is to use.
 
@Veon: Yes this is why companies hire accounts dept staff...to manage that BS.

cbrunsdonza said:
Thats what convinced me to accept the move to Pastel last year, then ironically I started doing some work for Quick Books and got some confidential information on product usage. Pastel is not that dominant in the market as we believe.
Click to expand...
Quite a few of the smaller enterprises pick Accpack. Its sorta OK.

Nothing beats a half-arsed SAP migration for pure fireworks though. *Shivers*
 
The annual fee is for Pastel Cover which will give you access to support and free upgrades while on Cover.

You can buy the package as a standalone package without the annual recurring fee
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920 using Board Express
 
I have had a look at Pastel and I have come to the conclusion that is an absolute joke.

How on earth can a small business afford this?

I need an accounting package that integrates with my website. If I want to do that with Pastel it will cost me over R20,000.00 and lord knows how much more per year.

Why would I pay that much if I can do something similar for a fraction of the price with Quickbooks?

It feels to me as if Pastel is the Microsoft of South Africa when it comes to accounting software. They rape your wallet because of their monopoly.
 
My daughter does Pastel Payroll for a medium sized company and is forever going on courses. She plans to relocate to the UK next year and do payroll there. Problem is that it seems that Pastel is designed for South Africa and the UK uses AccPack.
(I thought Pastel is part of AccPack.)
Will these Pastel courses help her in getting a job in the UK?
Grateful for any info.
 
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