Count those beans - Peachtree Software's One-Write Plus 6.0 accounting software - Software Review - Evaluation

Home Office Computing, May, 1997 by Victoria Hall Smith

One-Write Plus 6.0

RATING: ** 1/2

One-Write Plus has that fuzzy feeling that comes from having been around forever. That familiarity probably arises from using the name for the most common manual bookkeeping system, the "one-write" system. One-Write Plus essentially works like the paper or manual system, but the latest version goes beyond simple bookkeeping, adding job cost tracking, basic inventory tracking, and support for plain-paper forms.

Although most accounting packages take forever to set up, OneWrite Plus 6.0 made installation quick and painless with its interactive setup and tutorial. Once up and running, however, we were happy that a printed manual ships with the software because you can't view the online user's guide and use the software at the same time. For some reason, the accounting program goes into suspend mode when you launch the Help file.

The new inventory feature tracks by item type, quantity on hand, item description, and reorder point. Purchases and sales automatically update the quantity on hand and item cards instantaneously complete invoices and purchase screens. Inventory reports can analyze what's selling, what's not, and how quickly. But One-Write Plus still doesn't generate purchase orders; it can't be used with a point-of-sale (Pos) system; and it doesn't consider whether you use the LIPU (last in, first out) or FIFO (first in, first out) process to manage your inventory.

Those are significant limitations for a business with a large inventory but they are meaningless for one with no inventory. The new job-tracking features can provide the vital analysis of what's selling and to whom. For instance, we were able to track jobs or projects by the hour or by group, compare income to expenses, and compare actual to budget for time and profitability. It took some time to learn how to navigate through the various screens, but the resuits were solid.

The new ability to print forms on plain paper, freeing you from the hassle and expense of preprinted forms, doesn't allow much imagination: Customization of forms is limited to a few checkboxes for such things as automatically including return address and tax-ID numbers and showing fractions of cents. Clearly, One-Write Plus 6.0 is an easy, simple solution for a small operation. Fortunately, the basics of tracking and managing income and expenses are there--and that's often all that most small businesses need.

One-Write Plus 6.0

Publisher: oneWrite Plus, a division of Peachtree Software; 800-649-1720, www.onewrite.com

Est. Street Price: $70

Requirements:

Windows 3.1 or higher, 8MB Of RAM, 25MB of hard-disk space