Scan & Fix 50 registry issues FREECNET Editors' review
The name Express Accounts Free Accounting Software pretty much sums up this freeware from NCH: it's a basic but flexible accounting package suitable for small businesses and organizations, and even some that are not so small. It integrates with other NCH business software, and it's also available, at a cost, in a Pro version that offers extra features. However, Express Accounts Free does what most users need most often, such as create and manage invoices, payments, and receipts; report income and earnings; create balance sheets; track orders and supplies; and manage customer contacts.
During installation, a wizard walked us through the process of setting up Express Accounts Free for our hypothetical business and contacts. Express Accounts Free has a familiar look, with toolbar, main view, and left-hand navigation sidebar. This software uses a series of dialogs and wizards to create invoices, bills, receipts, and other documents as well as manage accounts and settings. The navigation pane's expandable categories lead to menus labeled Todo, Transactions, Customer Invoices, Supplier Orders, and Reports, each with subentries for functions like creating documents, managing accounts, recording transactions, and issuing reports. The main view also features the program's various functions grouped by categories, and an icon-based toolbar offers access to the program's primary tools as well as Web access, Options, and a button labeled Suite that accessed other NCH software that works with Express Accounts. We clicked Create New Invoice, and a pop-up dialog opened with various entry fields, drop-down menus, and tables ready to fill in with our data; brief explanations of many of the fields appeared when we hovered the cursor over them. We tried several other standard forms as well as the reporting tools, and all opened with easy-to-use wizards that made the job a snap.
Express Accounting Free seems accurate, which we expected, and intuitive, which we didn't. This may be the friendliest accounting package we've yet come across. Small business owners, bookkeepers, and entrepreneurs owe it to their bottom lines to try Express Accounting Free before plunking down cash on big-ticket software, deductible or not.
Publisher's Description
From NCH Software:
Free Express Accounts is professional small business accounting software for Windows that allows you to track and report incoming and outgoing cash flow including sales, receipts, payments and purchases for a single or multiple companies. Create journal entries for payments, purchases, receipts and deposits. Standard reports include such as Profit and Loss statements and Balance Sheets with the ability to email or fax directly from the application. Multiple users can access the data files to update entries and more through a web based console.
What's new in this version: Version 4.66 includes general updates and bug fixes.
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All versions:
2.7 starsout of 25 votes
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Current version:
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"Should have searched for more reviews"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.62
Pros
I cannot find any pros.
Cons
It simply does not work reliably, failing to enter transactions in the Journal, does not show payees etc. Their support emailed back a couple of useless responses then dried up.
I am not new to accounting software and this is the worst piece of software I have come acrossSummary
Still looking for a good package for a small business to replace my ageing MS Money now MS no longer support it.
Wish I had never purchase Express Accounts. The trial looked OK so I went ahead and purchased and then found all the holes in it.
There does not seem to be any sensibly priced software for a small non VAT registered UK business that does not use the cloud. Not all of us have fast reliable connections so cannot trust cloud applications. -
"BEWARE !!!"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.52
Pros
Accounting & Invoicing In Single Application, Internet Access From Multiple Locations.
Cons
DISHONEST COMPANY, THEY WILL NOT REFUND YOUR MONEY EVEN WHEN THEY PROMISE TO.
Summary
I'm an Apple dealer and service provider. I was looking for a quick and simple cash based accounting program that also did invoicing and could be accessed from more than one office. I thought this program would fit the bill. I downloaded the supposedly free version but you get no support (including the ability to ask pre-sales questions). I unfortunately made the mistake of purchasing the program, the invoicing app as well as a service contract in the hopes that they would answer questions. Upon receiving the purchase confirmation I was informed that the "support" only allowed a minimal number of technical questions, and that once the program was activated I could not request a refund. Not my idea of a reliable company to deal with, especially where your company's finances are concerned. Furthermore, they NEVER respond to a support request. Therefore, I immediately requested a refund, which I was told would be processed in 10-14 days (even though THEY TOOK MY MONEY IMMEDIATELY)! It has now been nearly 6 weeks and despite multiple eMail demanding my refund and their form responses telling me over and over again it will be processed in 10-14 days I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY MONEY BACK. Find another software app because this company is dishonest to the point of absurdity.
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"BEWARE !!!"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.62
Pros
Accounting & Invoicing In Single Application, Internet Access From Multiple Locations.
Cons
DISHONEST COMPANY, THEY WILL NOT REFUND YOUR MONEY EVEN WHEN THEY PROMISE TO.
Summary
I'm an Apple dealer and service provider. I was looking for a quick and simple cash based accounting program that also did invoicing and could be accessed from more than one office. I though this program would fit the bill. I downloaded the supposedly free version but you get no support (including the ability to ask pre-sales questions). I unfortunately made the mistake of purchasing the program, the invoicing app as well as a service contract in the hopes that they would answer questions. Upon receiving the purchase confirmation I was informed that the "support" only allowed a minimal number of technical questions, and that once the program was activated I could not request a refund. Not my idea of a reliable company to deal with, especially where your company's finances are concerned. Furthermore, they NEVER respond to a support request. Therefore, I immediately requested a refund, which I was told would be processed in 10-14 days (even though THEY TOOK MY MONEY IMMEDIATELY)! It has now been nearly 6 weeks and despite multiple eMail demanding my refund and their form responses telling me over and over again it will be processed in 10-14 days I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY MONEY BACK. Find another software app because this company is dishonest to the point of absurdity.
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"Dishonest Pricing, Poor support response"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.62
Pros
Quite feature rich
Cons
There pricing and upgrade costs are completely hidden.
I cannot recommend this package at all based on this single most annoying feature. It suggests that you upgrade but at no stage does it mention that you need to repurchase the licence, it just stops working. You are then left with the only options of paying more or downgrading to the same version that you originally purchased.Summary
Do not buy this product unless you are prepared to pay more than say Quickbooks or MYOB over a 12 mth period.
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"Shame on CNET Editor's! With Virus filled addons!"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.62
Pros
Maybe free! But it's just a trojan software for people to download (free of viruses). Then for it to "recommend" addon software upon installation that has a worm virus. This POS (and I'm not referring to Point of Sale) tried to infect my machine. Thank God it ran it sandboxed. And still my anti-virus picked it up and forced my pc to reboot to clean the virus. I lost some unsaved documents because of it. Only reason why I even looked at this software was because of Cnet's Editor's high ratings. And for what to get a nasty virus. Stay away! I've used download.com for over 10 years and never registered. Today because of this POS, it tickeed me off so bad I registered to write this review. Download.com has become a joke. Shame, it was good while it lasted.
Cons
Yeah, big con, it's a front end to another "recommended" download while installing to a worm virus. How nice! Isn't it?
Summary
Avoid like the plague.
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"Drops out in Window 8 for no reason..."
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.62
Pros
So called free
Cons
Drops out lose of data so so.. save file get corruped for no reason maybe this more Windows 8 problems.
Not bothering with the so called free version too much hassles.. -
"Not suitable for Cash Accounting"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.52
Pros
I've been very happy with other NCH products and was keen to try this one. Having worked with a number of accounting systems I have to say this is one of the most intuitive and easy to use. Has most features that a small business wants except for one critical one as outlined below which makes it useless for most small businesses in Australia.
Cons
There appears to be no way to choose your accounting method. The software presumes you are using the accruals method but in Australia most small businesses choose to use cash accounting so none of the reports provided, including tax reports, will be correct which is a real shame for such a nice product.
The Help file has no search feature so you will have to read the lot to find what you want.
As pointed out above the website goes out of its way to trick you into downloading the trial version even though the free one is there if you look hard enough. The companies comment above is not quite true (and is downright rude). You actually have to search the site to find the free link on another page because its not on the main product page.Summary
Really well designed product, targeted at small business but because of the lack of cash accounting abilities is unsuited to most small businesses, at least in Australia.
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"Best of the Best"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.52
Pros
it is really FREE. if you downloaded Express Accounts Plus, you can downgrade the software to Free version when its trial period ends. how? go to "control panel/add or remove programs". when you try to remove it, it will give you an option to downgrade it to FREE version.
i appreciate NCH software to allow public to use the best accounting software for FREE although it is a limited version. i will definitely upgrade it to PRO version once i test out all the functions. i'm loving it. SIMPLE BUT POWERFUL. you don't need all the junk Quickbook, Sage & other high end programs have. i am an accountant serving small business owners. i can be very powerful & productive with NCH Express Accounts. the program requires a little bit of accounting background.Cons
NADA! NADA!
Summary
SIMPLE, AWESOME, POWERFUL and more.
Please spread the word. NCH Software should be the most admired software company among consumers. They didn't cut me off when the trial expires. When i tried to remove the program, it gave me an option to downgrade it to FREE version. i will definitely buy their PRO version. NCH Software is #1. Thank You! NCH Software for making Express Accounts available to the consumers for FREE & PRO(its paid version).
Updated on Oct 30, 2012
Updated on Oct 31, 2012YES! SUITABLE for Cash Accounting or Accrual Accounting!
i am reporting my financial statements on cash basis and have no problem with the software. if you decide to report on cash basis, all you need to do is to record transactions on that basis. in other words, create a journal based on that basis. for example, if you received a payment from a customer, make a journal entry as follow. debit cash xxx & credit gross sales xxx. if you would like to use accrual basis, create an entry as follow: debit A/R xxx & credit gross sale xxx. that is all.
Updated on Nov 5, 2012i finally upgraded to their paid version from free version after several days of playing with the software. i am very happy with the purchase. it is a solid & no brainer accounting software on the market with very easy navigation & beautiful interface. no need to buy expensive accounting softwares such as Quickbook, Sage & any other high end softwares which always ask you to buy their upgrades, tax tables & forces you to purchase their bloated software full of unnecessary modules. it takes up so much of your computer's resources. its average file size is about 400M. it takes around 30 minutes to download Quickbook and whopping 1 hour for Sage 50 Complete accounting. rediculous! this very functional accounting software takes less than 1 minute to install and doesn't take up your computer's computing time at all. its file size is a little over 1M for their PREMIUM version and less than 1M for FREE version. one word of caution: running this software requires some accounting background.
Updated on Nov 5, 2012if you are serious about keeping your accounting book in order, i strongly urge you to purchase their paid version. FREE version is only suitable for 1 business(1 book). if you would like to track more than 1 business or combine your personal finances with your business, you need to upgrade to the paid version. you won't be disappointed. i hope you will enjoy it as muchas i do. NCH Express Accounts rocks.
Updated on Nov 12, 2012i wish i could remove my previous reviews. please do not purchase PAID version. IT just doesn't work as claimed. Shame on CNET's review. i paid $79 for it. i regreted my purchase & should have bought Quickbook. below is a list of drawbacks i found so far.
1. Customer Support & users forum is almost nonexistent.
2. not been able to pull the reports using its webaccess. i emailed tech support screenshots of the issue and haven't received a reply back yet.
3. uploading journal entries in CSV failed to upload - i emailed tech support screenshots of the issue and haven't received a reply back yet.
4. not able to create your own default Chart of Accounts - if you want to create a new company similar to the company you just created, you can't import the same Chart of Accounts but use the program's default Chart of Accounts and manually add additional accounts. it is very time consuming.
CONCLUSION: DON'T BUY IT. IT'S RIP OFF! -
"BEST FREE ACCOUNTING PROGRAM I'VE COME ACROSS"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.52
Pros
.FREE (WITH OPTIONAL PREMIUM VERSION)be sure to dl the right one
.RUNS FROM YOUR LOCAL COMPUTER NOT AS AN ONLINE SERVICE
.VERY USER FRIENDLY INTERFACE
.FREE VERSION STILL ROBUST ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE NEEDS A SMALL BUSINESSCons
.TRICKY TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE VERSION SINCE THE DOWNLOAD PAGE PLACES EMPHASIS ONLY ON THE "Download Now Free" BUTTON WHICH TAKES YOU TO THE FREE TRIAL VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE
(in all fairness I would do the web page the same way if this was my software because the point is to make money not encourage freeloaders)Summary
...now I go on to rant as i chastise the careless one star reviewers of this software below:
WHY IS IT YOU PEOPLE NEVER PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU'RE DOING ON THE COMPUTER THEN WRITE NEGATIVE REVIEWS BASED ON FALSE INFORMATION? THERE ARE TWO WAYS YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THIS PROGRAM FROM THE SITE. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD A FREE TRIAL VERSION OF THE SOFTWARE BY CLICKING THE "DOWNLOAD NOW FREE" BUTTON WHICH IS WHAT ALL OF YOU OBVIOUSLY DID WHICH WILL RESULT IN YOU DOWNLOADING THIS FILE http://www.nchsoftware.com/accounting/easetup.exe
OR YOU CAN ACTUALLY TRY READING NEXT TIME AND YOU'LL SEE A HYPERLINK TO THIS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FILE easetupFREE.exe (as opposed to just easetup.exe) IN THE THIRD PARAGRAPH AT THE END (QUOTED BELOW FOR THE VISUALLY CHALLENGED)
"Free Accounting Software. A free version of this bookkeeping software is available for use by small businesses with less than five employees. The free version does not expire, but does not support some features designed for larger organizations. You can (DOWNLOAD THE FREE ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE VERSION HERE)."
which will link you to this file:
http://www.nchsoftware.com/accounting/easetupfree.exe -
"Limited features and trialware only!"
Version: Express Accounts Free 4.52
Pros
Clean interface
Cons
Too watered down and poor features. Expires after only 30 days -then they try to overcharge you thru the nose!
Summary
Calling this "accounting software" is like calling a regular plain 99-center McDonald's burger a "REAL" hamburger. I'm going to definitely uninstall this!
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