Accounting software could have helped stop UK company failure high -analyst reveals

Accounting software could have helped stop a UK high on company failures a leading city analyst has revealed in an interview with Access Accounting.
In the interview, to establish if a 5-year high in UK company failures could have been avoided, he states that installing accounting software would have helped avoid failed businesses.

Philip Mellor, a senior analyst with business information group Dun & Bradstreet, claims business failures could have been aided by greater awareness of fast, easy and inexpensive financial software.

He said, When you look at the reasons for failure: cash flow; bad debt; lack of management experience, a greater awareness of the latest e-commerce and financial management software packages is one way to help these problems. Small businesses tend not to look too far ahead, maybe only taking a month at a time. New software would mean changing the whole structure of small companies. It is all down to a basic ignorance. They dont realise what is available in the marketplace and that there are cost-efficient options. Companies starting from scratch could embrace e-commerce and financial management but for traditional manufacturing companies it is a lot harder to adapt."

Alistair OReilly, Managing Director with Access Accounting Ltd added, As an e-commerce and financial software company, we are only too aware that software like ours could be the difference between a company succeeding or going under. We need to raise awareness in small and medium sized companies, that there are cost effective and user-friendly options out there. We can supply a complete e-commerce and financial management solution for as little as 2,000, which should be within most company budgets."

More than 40,000 companies collapsed last year, the highest number of bankruptcies for five years. A survey has found that a total of 43,365 companies went bust, a 12.2% increase in 1998, when 38,634 companies went out of business.

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Pictures and further information can be obtained from Paul Wellings (Head of Media) or Gill Mellor (Marketing Co-ordinater) on 01206 322575 or e-mail pw@access-accounts.com or from www.access-accounts.com

BACKGROUND NOTES:

Access Accounting Ltd was formed in 1991 to bring the benefits of Windows to accounting software. Its software is in use today by over 9,000 companies worldwide. Software is sold in the UK through a national network of Specialist Centres and internationally through ‘Access partners.

The company has grown by 40 percent per year. It is an ISO 9001 (TickIT) registered firm. There are over 120 staff based in the Colchester head office. Everything is designed, developed and produced in the UK.

An innovator in e-commerce solutions, Access Accounting Ltd requires its dealers to place all their orders over the internet using Access Order Wizard (AOW). This was designed by Access to give its own business the advantage of e-commerce. It has also launched AccessweB – the fastest possible route for a company to have its own web site.

Access Accounts was voted Best Mid-Range Business Software" for 1997/8 by BASDA, the governing body of accounts software developers. It is accredited under the Accredited Product Scheme run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Its Payroll package won the PC Pro Excellence Award and it is IMIS accredited.

All Access software is guaranteed millennium compliant. Access released its EMU compliant software in 1998. It offers dual based currency, triangulation and the ability to report in home currency, the Euro and in multiple foreign currencies. It achieved BASDA EMU accreditation for Multi-Currency and Triangulation in 1999 – one of an elite group in the world to receive this accreditation.

The Old School, Stratford St Mary, Colchester, CO7 6LZ
Telephone 01206 322575 Fax 01206 322956
E-mail pw@access-accounts.com
www.access-accounts.com
www.accessweb.co.uk