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CNET editors' rating:
3.5 stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews
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Product summary
The good: New fee-based services (credit card processing, employee direct deposit, and vendor payments); improved help system.
The bad: Lacks sophisticated forecasting and cash-flow projection tools; spotty phone support.
The bottom line: MYOB Plus 2004 is a good accounting program for small-business owners who'd rather focus on running their businesses than keeping track of bookkeeping minutiae.
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 05/28/2004
- Released on: 10/14/2003
In our tests, it took just a few minutes to install version 2004 on a single system, but a full company setup will likely take several hours, particularly for users who activate MYOB Plus's new fee-based services, including credit card processing, employee direct deposit, and electronic vendor payments.
 MYOB Plus 2004 retains much of the look and feel of its predecessor, while adding a revamped help system. |
Version 2004's interface rivals that of QuickBooks Pro 2004, both of which use logical flowchart diagrams to guide you through banking, payroll, invoicing, and other accounting chores. MYOB Plus's uncluttered look is also a nice break from QuickBooks' frequent sales pitches for premium services.
We liked MYOB Plus's revamped help system, particularly the new Tell Me How tool, which lists topics relevant to the task at hand. The new natural-language search tool, available via free download, is also useful for small-business owners unschooled in the finer points of accounting. For instance, we entered process credit cards in the help screen's search box and received dozens of hits on handling customer credit transactions. MYOB Plus 2004's major attractions are its new fee-based online services, including credit card processing, employee direct deposit, and vendor payments. These are welcome additions to a program long praised for ease of use but lacking many of the business accounting services that QuickBooks users have taken for granted. Plus, the prices of these services are comparable to those offered by MYOB's competitors. The Direct Deposit and Vendor Payment combo, for instance, cost $14.95 per month, plus a 39-cent fee per transaction. (Note that you'll also have to fork over a $129 one-time fee in setup and application charges.)
 The new fee-based services, including employee direct deposit, are integrated nicely within each accounting module. |
The new Merchant Account Services feature lets you accept and process credit cards directly from the MYOB software. It's nicely integrated with popular MYOB tools, including Receive Money and Receive Payments. For example, in the Sales Command Center, where you input sales, print invoices, and the like, you can enter a MasterCard transaction, transmit the information online, and get MasterCard's approval or rejection on the spot. By comparison, previous versions of MYOB provided fields for credit card information but not the ability to process transactions.
Overall, we like the way MYOB Plus integrates its online services within the various program modules. The behind-the-scenes routing and approval of various transactions is mostly transparent to the end user, which is appropriate for a small-business accounting program. Direct Deposit, for instance, lets you (via the Payroll module) electronically transfer funds to employees' bank accounts. The Vendor Payment feature works similarly, except for business-to-business transactions such as routing funds to a parts supplier. If you prefer to go the traditional route, you can still print deposit stubs on plain paper.
The program falls short in financial forecasting, an area where QuickBooks Pro excels. For instance, MYOB's simplistic Cash Flow Worksheet, a drab columns-and-numbers analysis tool that predicts receipts and expenses over a 30-day period, lacks the pizzazz and wizardlike simplicity of QuickBooks' Cash Flow Projector, which takes you through tricky cash-flow projections. Like its competitors, MYOB charges plenty for full technical support. The Basic plan offers e-mail but no phone support, a discussion board, and online demos for $89 per year or $7.99 each month. The complete package includes all this plus unlimited phone support via a toll-free number (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET), payroll tax-table updates, and product upgrades for a cost of $299 annually or $20.99 per month. Another option is the pay-per-call approach, which at $4 per minute ($40 minimum) isn't much of a bargain either. On the positive side, MYOB provides 30 days of free installation assistance.
 MYOB Plus 2004 has an information-rich support database, but its phone assistance could be better. |
We had mixed results with MYOB's support. E-mail queries were answered promptly and accurately; however, our phone query about an installation glitch with the natural-language search utility was never resolved. After several calls back and forth, MYOB e-mailed us a possible solution that didn't work. We faxed our response as per instructions and never heard back. Ultimately, we repaired the problem ourselves by running Windows' System Configuration Utility, disabling our start-up programs, and reinstalling the natural-language search engine.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews
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Showing 4 of 4 user reviewsSee all 4 user reviews
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
"This is an excellent product that needs a few improvements to make it great."
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"Program can become corrupted causing serious data problems"
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