The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : Accounting Program Is Geared to Owners of Very Small Businesses

Can you have a real business accounting program without those two dreaded words, debit and credit ?

You won’t find either one in the index to the users manual for One-Write Plus 4.0, a $70 program aimed at very small businesses. All the debits and credits of a proper double-entry accounting system are built into the program--even if you don’t have to know one from the other to use it.

The program, which is published by NEBS Software Inc. of Nashua, N.H., runs under the DOS operating system on IBM-compatible personal computers.

According to Chuck McGonagle, senior product manager, One-Write Plus provides a more rigorous audit trail than Intuit’s Quick Books, a market leader in small-business accounting software. In addition, he says, it is easier for people with little or no knowledge of accounting procedures to get started with this program than with those from Peachtree and DacEasy that can handle larger businesses.

In its fourth major revision since it was introduced in 1985, One-Write Plus has all the basic accounting functions needed by a small business, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoicing, payroll and general ledger. It produces more than 40 reports and prints checks, invoices, statements, W-2s and 1099s.

Although it can theoretically handle a business with up to 500 employees and a general ledger balance up to $999 million, more than 90% of its users have sales of less than $1 million a year, according to McGonagle.

The real audience for this program is small businesses that currently use manual bookkeeping systems. One popular manual system, known as the peg board or one-write system, provided the program its name and one of its most distinctive features.

In a peg board system, a bookkeeper is able to simultaneously write checks and make check register entries by using special checks with carbon strips on the back and a peg board to position each check accurately on the register.

In One-Write Plus, the check register is displayed on the same screen as the check-writing form, and you can always see your account balance when you write a check. Of course, the advantage of computerized accounting is that all information is entered only once and then automatically distributed everywhere it needs to appear.

*

That distribution is governed by the chart of accounts. Setting up a chart of accounts is the critical first step to any accounting system and one that usually requires a good understanding of accounting practices to accomplish.

One-Write Plus comes with pre-defined charts of accounts for 14 types of businesses and organizations. You can get started merely by choosing the set appropriate for your operations.

A neighbor of mine who has used the previous version of One-Write Plus to keep books for a small floor-covering company gives it high marks. She finds it easy to void erroneous entries, and she praised its payroll functions and bank account reconciliation feature. It is also easy to generate a sales report for each salesperson, which the company finds handy in deciding who should call slow-paying customers to ask for their check.

Version 4.0 is a major advance over previous versions. You can now use a mouse to navigate the menus and functions and you can run it from Windows. But it is still a DOS program. And that can cause difficulties for a business that has adopted Windows applications for the rest of its computing needs, such as word-processing, spreadsheet and database functions.

*

A Windows version of the program is now being written, but “it’s taking a lot longer than we’d like,” McGonagle said. The company is grappling with problems such as retaining the ability to do everything from the keyboard rather than having to use the mouse.

Version 4.0 features a new menu screen, navigated easily by mouse or keyboard, that takes you into the various forms and functions of the program. Once you leave the main menu, the program takes on a different look. The menu structure disappears and is replaced with function buttons, generally at the top of the screen, which provide quick access to functions such as “save” and “help.” They can be invoked either with the mouse or keystrokes.

I think it’s unfortunate that the button placement is often opposite where you would find the same function in a Windows program, but McGonagle said the placement generally matches the previous version of One-Write Plus.

In addition to its accounting functions, One-Write Plus has a feature called SuperTrack that lets you define three kinds of “card” files for organizing information, such as inventory, job costing and client-escrow funds. The cards work in conjunction with the regular program functions, so you can easily transfer information to them at the same time you write a check or record an invoice or receipt.

Check forms, invoices, receipts and all the other forms that need to be printed are available from various sources for all of the popular accounting programs. But One-Write Plus users can order their forms directly from the parent company of the program’s publisher, New England Business Service Inc., a major supplier of business and computer forms.

Computer File welcomes your comments but regrets that the author cannot respond individually. Write to Richard O’Reilly, Computer File, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles CA 90053, or message oreilly@latimes.com on the Internet.