WPC( 2BVgW?3|<man 10pt (ASCII) (Port) (FW) aeWA,,}}Wo> PA"^ L8TD$$0T  8888888888 TTT4d PA,,0#o2  W\3|W"^,40\p(88T,4,4\\\\\\\\\\00Xllxtl`x(ThXxhpl`thddd<4 PA,,0#o2 gqsE"^(88T(@@T(8(,TTTTTTTTTT,,Pptth XifQ2RDl ZV aaeWA,,}E}Wo> PAbb?F5$,%Fo> PfQZc^hVA(,N}d}V [ PAm_BG5 ,s_!G [ PfQnb?D3 ,3ˁD `> XifQh :=3&,3t> XA aaeWA,,}E}Wo> PAbb?F5$,%Fo> PfQZc^hVA(,N}d}V [ PAm_BG5 ,s_!G [ PfQnb?D3 ,3ˁD `> XifQh :=3&,3t> XA8?3&,,3 [ PA2@yj4@@@@@@@@@@@@@ D8iwpwpwwpwwwwFwwpHwwIwwpJwwKwwFwwGww%  ww&  ww&  ww& ww&ww& ww% ww* ww)wwKww?ww?ww@wwwwAwwAww@wwKww 8ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 9ww 8wwKwwpJwwIwwpHwwEwwpwwwpwwpwi <<d    ,,  Fo> PfQ Page 28 IYM Software Review "3,4 4" y%,dddy   8%҇ G [ PfQ_! payroll module not usually seen in a product priced as aggressively as Act 1 bB  Plus. Except for federal information current in the year of production, tax bB  tables are input manually (which we consider an improvement over the prevalent practice of requiring the purchase of annual updates to prevent the obsolescence of the payroll module). Payroll also allows for highly personalized benefits tables, and includes editable templates for several government forms, including W2 and 941. Applications (Cougar Mountain's moniker for the modules) can be told to interface with each other automatically, where appropriate. X It's cheap, it's fast, and it's strong. We haven't reviewed the network capable features of the Act line of accounting programs, but for single station bB  use, we recommend Act 1 Plus highly, as long as you don't need to be taught bB  accounting basics before you use it.  ' Pacioli 2000 ă  "MUSA Business Systemsă X When you put a product on the street at a price one quarter to one hundredth that charged by your competition, you're going to raise a few eyebrows. With Pacioli 2000, Jose Hurtado, a founder of the company that bB  produces, and formerly the driving force behind DACEasy Accounting, is bB  inviting such ocular calisthenics. The question is, will they leave you with a good feeling, or just a headache? X Steering firmly away from today's prevalent trend in accounting software, Pacioli 2000 comes in a small box, with a single book (plus similarlyfocused bB  videotape), one 3.5" and two 5.25" diskettes, and little else. Wait a second . . . there's also a catalog of MUSA's other products, samples of several forms they've designed to be used by Pacioli 2000, and an order form. Is this a hint bB  (like those found in many accounting software packages)? No, it's much more then that. To use Pacioli 2000, you'll need forms lots of forms and M bB ԪUSA figures it'll make up for Pacioli 2000's ridiculously low price by selling bB  you the accessory products on the back end. X "Oh no," you're probably saying, "more overpriced forms from a vendor too far away to make sense." Well, you're wrong. The forms are reasonably priced, of acceptable quality, and with MUSA's operations set up in Texas, nobody's too far away. You take another look. "Fifty bucks, huh? What've I got to lose?" X Fast forward a few weeks. You've ordered Pacioli 2000, and after a typical bB  delay remember how much fun setting up an accounting program is you're ready to go. You crack the seal on the box, take a look at the contents, go to the clearly labeled installation instructions ("type install"), and exhale loudly. You knew nothing was that easy. X Pacioli 2000 is installed by a batch file that requires you to use precise bB  syntax to get acceptable nonstandard results; Those who follow the directions as printed will have the product in directory C:\PACIOLI (which may or may not be OK with you). To install Pacioli 2000 in a directory of your choosing, bB  you must first create that directory and make it the default on the destination drive. At the end of the installation process, you're asked, innocuously, if Pacioli 2000 may modify your system configuration files. Answer yes, and bB  your CONFIG.SYS file will be appended if it doesn't contain a "FILES=20" (or more) statement, BUT NOT BACKED UP FIRST. We applaud the effort to make everything easy, but this kind of action, as we've stated before in these pages, is unacceptable . X After installation, you'll find two megabytes of your hard disk occupied, with Pacioli 2000's program and configuration files in one directory, and a set bB  of empty data files in a subdirectory named "COMP01" (for "Company 1"; Pacioli 2000 allows you to set up as many as 999 companies concurrently, bB  each in their own directory). Don't delete them, because if the "active" company's files are missing when you load Pacioli 2000, you'll crash your bB  system. The message that appears on screen will lead you to believe that you'll simply need to start over (and ultimately that will be true), but first you'll have to reboot. X Once you get by the installation hassles, Pacioli 2000 is, as its own bB  documentation and promotional materials trumpet, "the best accounting value on the market today". Except for a conspicuously missing payroll module, it is probably all the accounting program you'll ever need. If the terms of the previous sentence bother you, (as well they might), you can stop reading this article right now . Come back in November, though, because that's when MUSA plans to release a payroll module that will interface with the current generation product. It will be provided to registered users for only the shipping charges. Still with us? Read on: y/ԌXZPacioli 2000 is a seamlessly integrated accounting package that includes bB  eight modules: General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Billing, Purchasing, Budgeting, and Auditing. We mean seamless, too. Unlike almost every other product on the market, you needn't activate each module individually, nor alert them to each other's existence. It runs in as little as 445 kilobytes of available RAM, but because of it's heritage (Pacioli 2000 uses Novell's networkready Btrieve database as it's engine), bB  you'll be happier with its performance if you can give it closer to the full 640K that the product claims to need. XZDocumentation is thorough, but probably will leave you feeling a little bit uneasy. The portion of the videotape that concerns itself with Pacioli 2000 bB  (decent basic DOS and general accounting theory primers are also included) and the printed documentation cover virtually identical territory, and whether you choose a viewandpractice or a "read only" strategy for learning Pacioli bB  2000, the whole process will only take about three hours. There's nothing too bB  inaccurate, nor is anything ignored, but there isn't much continuity, and the first time you try to find the procedure for executing a particular chore in the book's index, you'll have to grit your teeth a bit. One piece of advice should stand out clearly: Use a mouse. Despite an easily navigated interface, replete with drop down and pop up menus and clear dialogue boxes, using the keyboard for issuing commands is clumsy, at best. The help facility is strongly contextsensitive, and indeed helpful. If you really get stuck, free unlimited technical support is just a phone call away (your nickel). We're skeptical about MUSA's ability to continue providing such service at so inexpensive a product, but officials there insist that they intend to do so. XZBy offering 36 simultaneously open accounting periods (months only), Pacioli 2000 displays a flexibility all too uncommon in products of its genre. bB  Periods must be opened (and closed) consecutively, and setting them up is easy, but when it comes time to go to month 37 (or if you make a mistake), you'll have to feel your way through gingerly. A tip: instructions are in the documentation; just keep hunting. Pacioli 2000 also boasts nine optional bB  levels of secure passwords, determining which transactions each user can affect. y!a L yjddPROFILEy U 1  1 R!A(PPdda( 3t> XA  Product Name  3 [ PA,  :=  Pacioli 2000 $49.95 MUSA Business Systems 17440 North Dallas Parkway Suite 207 Dallas TX 75287 (214)9310024RXZOne of the best features of the product is the ease and method of setting things up. While Pacioli 2000 comes with a builtin chart of accounts that will bB  suffice unmodified for many users, when you want to append or amend, you'll $%%!%$be pleasantly surprised. Not only !%do accounts keep track of such !%items as terms, interest charges, !%pricing codes, tax tables, and credit !%lines, but you can edit them on the !%fly. No more realizing twothirds of !%!%the way through entering a transac!%!%tion that you forgot to input a new !%!%client's information and needing to !%!%back out; just use the "NEW" com!%!%mand, and keep working! !%!%XZWhen it's time to analyze results !%!%of your company's activities, Pacioli bB  !%!%2000 continues to impress for it's bB  !%!%flexibility, but due to Btrieve's na bB ԭ!%ture, is very slow. If you can over!%look that problem (using a 386 !%machine helps, but only marginal!%ly), you'll find more reports than !%you probably will ever need, ar!%ranged logically among three areas. 7'%%Accounts Reports include such staples of the back room as trial balances and accounts activity, Receivables/Payables concerns itself with such fare as aging reports and monthly statements, and Products/Services will give you inventory control, price lists, and vendor information. Want more? Pacioli 2000 includes bB  a report generator that allows you to "roll your own". XZIt comes down to a few basic issues. If you use a dotmatrix printer, (there are no forms for laser printers available), don't mind printing everything you do (everything can be output to screen or file for viewing or data exchange with your other software, but you must print all checks before Pacioli 2000 bB  lets you post them), and use a third party to prepare your payroll, you can't go wrong with Pacioli 2000. Now if only the installation process wasn't the bB  way it is . . .