By David B. Moody, CPA

Business Tools, Inc./Addsum Business Software’s (888-923-3786) Advanced Accounting is available in either two flavors: DOS or Windows. The Windows program is clearly a Windows program, and the DOS program is clearly a DOS program, and yet, users familiar with the DOS program will find very little difference in using the Windows version. Business Tools relaxed some of the Windows interface styles in Advanced Accounting for Windows to make the menus and screens behave similarly to the DOS version, and yet, the company retained enough of the graphic Windows controls so that an experienced Windows user will have no problem at all in using this program. The end result is two good products that are highly cross-platform compatible but take advantage of their respective environments. These programs are basically similar, so the following paragraphs, unless otherwise noted, will describe both programs.

The POS module comes bundled with G/L, A/R, A/P, P/R, J/C, inventory control, P/O, sales order and bill of materials. In other words, POS is a component of a complete accounting package. Both the Windows and DOS installation are installed under the automated Windows installation routine. The program opens with a point-and-shoot menu that lists each of the main modules. The menu in the Windows version shows up across the top of the screen as a series of push buttons. Selecting a module with the arrow keys, mouse or a high-lighted hot key will bring up a submenu for that specific module, which is navigated like all of the other menus. Online, context-sensitive help is always available through the F1 key, and you can move backwards through any screen using the Escape key.

The POS menu lists the register as the first option. This option first logs you onto the register and then presents you with an input screen to begin entering sales. Security is password-controlled by user, and each user can be profiled for their various accesses.

The input screen for the register is similar to most POS register screens with a series of columns for the quantity, product, price, tax and extensions. Types of register transactions such as layaways, returns and others can be initialized at the beginning of the transaction using one of the function keys, for which there is a legend at the bottom of the screen. Transactions are easy to enter; just key in the field and hit enter. Lookups for any fields that require them throughout the program are done using the F2 key. Advanced Accounting treats such functions as lookups and help as global functions, which means that no matter where you are in the program, certain keystrokes will do the same thing. This is a consistency that I don’t always find in some programs.

I found that the register won’t total sales properly if the total for a single sale exceeds $99,999.99. While this may not present a problem for some users, larger retail environments may want to consider computational limitations in using this product.

Advanced Accounting has several helpful reports available such as hourly sales reports, audit logs and other sales recaps. Reporting in the POS module takes advantage of the underlying Btrieve database and allows the user to do some fundamental queries of information. The output can be sent to the screen, the printer or to file.

Advanced Accounting’s POS program is a well-designed package for a small retail store. I was impressed with their Windows version and how it took good advantage of the environment while maintaining a consistent line with its ancestor DOS version. This product would have even broader appeal if some of the computational limits that I encountered could be increased.