The 1998 FA Shootout Results

The FA shootout (1998) was our third shootout of financial
accounting packages. The earlier ones having been conducted in 1992 and 1995. The 1998
shootout had nine contenders. The number of contenders would have been higher had we not
decided to exclude pure DOS-based packages. The shootout brought out some surprising
facts.

FA packages now have a
commodity core

In earlier years, it was possible to dismiss packages on grounds
such as the lack of availability of cost centers, or multiple location inventory, or
inability to match bills with payments. It’s no longer possible to do so. Most FA
features are now commodities, and nearly all the packages have a common core. Packages now
differentiate themselves on the basis of even more sophisticated features. Unfortunately,
many of these esoteric features might not have universal applicability. For example, Tally
allows you to create virtual trees of budgets. This is a wonderful feature for
organizations that use budgets as a primary tool for control, but might not be essential
for other organizations. A similar case can be made for the cost-center-trees allowed by
packages such as Tally or E-X. The bottom line is that users should now read all the fine
print before deciding on a package.

Windows integration was an Achilles’ heel for most of the
products reviewed. Only two of nine packages managed to do really well on this score: E-X
and Wings on Windows. E-X has managed the transition to Win 95 beautifully and manages to
leverage the Win 95 interface completely. Wings on Windows is also well integrated but
suffers from a scroll-bar problem. The big disappointment here was Tally. Tally virtually
ignores the Win 95 design guidelines and sticks to its dated Gateway to Tally interface.

Most vendors cite backward compatibility as a stumbling block to
revamping interfaces. Providing continuity to existing users is important, but one should
balance this with the expectations of potential new users.

The average FA package now has features that run into hundreds.
While computer literacy levels amongst users have gone up considerably, we feel that the
average user is going to need some handholding to get the most out of his FA package. This
is particularly true for features such as report writers or document designers. We fully
expect support costs to overtake acquisition costs.

Table I and II contain the overall scores for each package. Table I
lists the functional scores for each package. Functional scores were allocated for each of
the four areas: general ledger, sales/purchase accounting, accounts receivable/payable and
inventory management. Scores range from 1 to 4 for each functional area. A score of 4
indicates that the package has superb features and is more likely to meet all your
requirements in this area. A score of 3 indicates good features for that particular area
but the package might not be able to do everything you want. A score of 2 indicates a high
probability that you’ll not be satisfied with the features provided, while a score of
1 indicates minimal features.

color="#FFFFFF" size="2">Functional scores (Table I)

Birdy 2000

The scores are an indicator of the capabilities of the
package in a particular area. The scores are not an absolute index of the capabilities of
the package. Many packages contain novel implementations that are impossible to factor
into a scoring mechanism. Such features are not reflected in the scores but are covered in
the write up on each package. We recommend that you use the scores to get a feel for the
strengths and weaknesses of the package, read the review for the finer details and then
make up your mind.

Table II gives the overall rating of the package. It lists
the total score for the four functional areas along with two other scores–overall
coverage and Windows integration. The overall coverage score is an indicator of how many
possible computerization areas are addressed by the package. A score of 4 indicates that
the package can computerize a large number of areas in your organization while a score of
1indicates that the package compu-terizes very little aside from conventional book
keeping. Note that this score may be at variance with the score obtained in Table I, a
package may address a lot of areas but not do any of them very well. The Windows
integration score reflects the capability of the designers to leverage the Win 95
environment.

And the winner is...

None. There is no overall winner this year. Packages that top in the
features league have poor Windows integration and vice versa. We do, however, have a set
of qualified winners.

The best features award goes
to: Tally

Tally remains the package if your criterion for buying is hard
hitting features. Chances are that if the feature you desire can be found in a packaged
solution, then it’ll be present in Tally. The only disadvantage of Tally is that it
retains its DOS lineage, making virtually no use of the Win 95 environment.

Digital FA Gold is for you if you want a decent set of features at a
low price. This package offers the best features-price trade off in the market coupled
with a good interface. The features in this package should be more than adequate for many
small-medium enterprises.