Xero is greater than the rest

Well, that title definitely sounds like a marketing introduction but I swear, I have no affiliation with Xero apart from thinking that they have some of the best SME accounting software that I've come across.

Being web-based, getting transaction feeds directly from banks, having multi-currency support, simple expense claims, fixed-asset register and most importantly, an API for developers; Xero is highly integrated and, most importantly (and rarely), is actually fun to use.

For the last week or so I have been hacking away at the Ruby xero_gateway library project started by Tim Connor and have been having quite a lot of fun. It's great to take a break from customer-facing software for a while and developing code that will be used by other developers.

If you want to check out Xero, head on over to their main site or their developer's site.

Now, shameless plug, if you are an SME and looking to get some extra efficiency by integrating your current business processes/software with your accounting package, give me a shout and I'm sure to be able to help you get more (time/information/money) from less.

QuickBooks and Terminal Services

I couldn't find anything on the Quicken (Australia) website about which version of QuickBooks was necessary to be able to use it via Windows Terminal Services so, after waiting 10 minutes on-hold to ask a simple question, here's what I found out.

QuickBooks Premier and above can be installed on Windows Terminal Services.

If ugprading from another QuickBooks version (e.g. Plus), then you get 5 x user licenses (current upgrade price is around AUD$845.00).

If buying new, only 3 of the licenses are enabled and the cost is about AUD$1,449.00

Hope this helps out someone else in the future.