AllBusiness.com Readers Rate Accounts Payable/Receivable Software

We surveyed the readers of AllBusiness.com in 2006 to find out which accounts receivable/accounts payable systems are used and how highly they are rated. This was not a scientific poll, but a reader survey, open to anyone who chose to respond. Here are the results, culled from 232 responses:

1. How Do You Manage Your AP/AR?

More than four out of every 10 readers of AllBusiness.com who answered our survey manage AR/AP in-house with software. About one in every five still uses a manual AR/AP system, more than we expected. Relatively few, 1 in 20, outsource the management of AR/AP.

• In-house, using software: 41 percent
• In-house, using a manual system: 22 percent
• Don't know: 20 percent 
• Outsource: 5 percent

2. Which Computerized AP/AR Program Do You Use?

Not all respondents use a computerized system, but among those who do the majority use one of two popular choices: Intuit's QuickBooks/Quicken small business accounting or Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet. Each choice was tied at 29 percent of readers surveyed. Sage Software, which owns a range of accounting software brands, including Peachtree, MAS, and ACCPAC, was a distant third choice used by 6 percent.

• Intuit QuickBooks, Quicken: 29 percent
• Microsoft Excel: 29 percent
• Don't Know: 14 percent
• Other: 12 percent
• Sage (including Peachtree, MAS, ACCPAC, etc.): 6 percent
• CheckMark MultiLedger: 3 percent
• Microsoft Dynamics (including Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Solomon): 3 percent
• Cougar Mountain Accounting: 1 percent
• NetSuite: 1 percent
• Oracle: 1 percent

3. Are You Satisfied with the Quality?

For the remaining questions, we analyzed only the three most widely used systems. The AR/AP solutions we didn't include were used by comparatively few readers surveyed.

Readers were asked to rate quality on a scale of 1 through 5, where 5 represents the best. Users of Sage Software products were the most satisfied with the quality, rating them at 3.8, while Microsoft Excel was lowest with a still respectable rating of 3.3.

• Sage (including Peachtree, MAS, ACCPAC, etc.): 3.8
• Intuit QuickBooks, Quicken: 3.5
• Microsoft Excel: 3.3

4. Is It Worth the Money?

Readers were asked to rate the price/value ratio of Sage, Intuit, and Excel on a scale of 1 through 5, where 5 represents the best. All three ranked relatively high, in a tight range, between 3.7 and 3.8.

• Microsoft Excel: 3.8
• Intuit QuickBooks, Quicken: 3.7
• Sage (including Peachtree, MAS, ACCPAC, etc.): 3.7

5. How Is the Support?

Readers were asked to rate support for the top three programs on a scale of 1 through 5, where 5 represents the best. Microsoft Excel and Sage Software tied for top honors, while Intuit's support was a little less highly regarded.

• Microsoft Excel: 3.8
• Sage (including Peachtree, MAS, ACCPAC, etc.): 3.8
• Intuit QuickBooks, Quicken: 3.3

6. Would You Buy It Again?

Readers were asked to rate whether they would buy one of the top three programs again, on a scale of 1 through 5. Sage Software earned the top score, followed by Intuit's products and Microsoft's spreadsheet.

• Sage (including Peachtree, MAS, ACCPAC, etc.): 4.2
• Intuit QuickBooks, Quicken: 3.8
• Microsoft Excel: 3.6