Choice is hard to deal with at the best of times, but when it comes to software programs it’s really hard to know what to do when it is safely sealed inside a box on a shelf, or down loadable from a website. The sensible thing is to read what others say from reputable sources, or else places where you know that someone really has bought and used it before. So, when it comes to bookkeeping, where can you find the best home accounting software reviews?
The problem is that many of the reviews that you read online are written by people who are just in it to make money through affiliate payments and advertising, and many of those people have never actually used the software, and they don’t admit it either!
Option 1: Consult a friend or your accountant.
Many people use home accounts packages, and you probably know someone who does. Ask if you can have a try at their copy and see how you get on with it, it might be what you need. Also if you have an accountant they may use a package that you will want to integrate with. Some of the professional packages will import different formats, and if you are able to output from your home software to the accountants it will save time, and therefore money.
Option 2: Amazon
Amazon is great because the reviewers of a product don’t benefit from putting up a review. That means for the writer their must be some sort of a motivation to do so. If you find a product with about 10 reviews (and you may have to try different vendors) then you will get a good broad opinion. Even if you get one or two reviews written by the vendor or a friend of the vendor you will still get a balance from the other reviewers, and you will get a chance to see what other people have struggled with.
Option 3: trade magazine
We are all used to reviews in magazines, and they still remain as one of the best sources of trustworthy review. Manufacturers send them their products to review, but the readership is sufficient to demand an honest opinion. There are usually quite a few column inches dedicated to good reviews too. And now many review sites have their older copies online to review.
So in summary, the reviews you can trust are those of a real person, from Amazon when there are a large number of reviewers, and good old trade magazines, but sometimes when they publish older reviews that once made it to print on their own website.
