Businesses operate under extremely competitive circumstances. From the small business to the transnational corporations, all seek greater profits and cost competitiveness. With wafer-thin profit margins and shrinking market share, businesses can survive and grow only with constant reduction in costs. Growing complexities in accounting mean one has to adopt technology to function efficiently. There are a number of accounting software packages. Quasar is an excellent package.



Why do we need accounting software? Because, the capabilities of the accounting system of an entity should be geared towards providing better flow of operations and reporting mechanisms for control purposes. The basic functions of accounting like bookkeeping are addressed well by Quasar. Besides generating the payment, receipt and transfer entries for cash and bank, there are a number of modules that help in management reporting. The most interesting is its inventory control module. All versions of Quasar offer comprehensive inventory controls. The module allows tracking the location and quantities of all inventory items. Beyond the simple operations, the software allows inventory management for in-house assembled products. Manufacturing companies often assemble kits using raw material components from the inventory. With Quasar, when the components are removed for assembling kits, the inventory of components is adjusted suitably. It also allows grouping of items into various categories and nesting of groups into various levels. Stocks falling below the reorder level can be replenished with automatic vendor purchase orders. Costs and selling prices can be pre-set and discounted in a number of ways. Mark up and sales figures can be easily extracted.

Sales invoicing and purchases management are the main strengths of Quasar. Customer quotes are easily converted to final invoices. Adjustments for promotional schemes and discounts can be formulated depending on period, customer profile or store location. Margins can be analyzed item-wise, customer-wise or salesperson-wise. Similarly, purchase orders can be cross-checked with vendor invoice. There are several payment options including printing a check. Miscellaneous fees such as container deposits, freight charges and franchise fees can be monitored.

Quasar has an intelligent design that allows friendly user interface to facilitate quick and easy data entry. Some accounting programs do not optimize keyboard use. They depend on selection of frequently used options through the mouse. This can be a somewhat time-consuming manner of working. Quasar's menu options are accessible through the mouse but the interface allows for development of keyboard shortcuts. Thus, data entry is speeded up saving a lot of time in the long run.