MYOB FirstEdge

-- Latest release is from June 12, 2009. Developer is now called AcclivitySoftware. 10% rebate offered to those who participate in an online survey. Direct download: http://get.acclivitysoftware.com/downloads/FirstEdge_v3.dmg.zip

Geez.. I never hated a piece of software as I hated MYOB's FirstEdge. It may do it's math well, but this pice of junk is so badly designed. Looks like it is plucked out of Windows 98 and does deserve it's place on a Mac in 2009. It's windows popping up everywhere, unintuitive, doesn't integrate with Address-book. The Australian version kept on crashing on installation - I downloaded 3 times. US version a bit more stable. Customer service - you have to pay to reply an email. Quickbooks looks great but they don't do, or intend to do an Aussie version, and read that their customer service is on par with MYOB's. So I decided to ditch you suckers all and use GrandTotal for now. It does everything I need though it's not an accounting software, but at least I enjoy using it and it is user friendly. Their developers reply emails and are quick to update their code. Hope they stay that way.

Didn't really go through with the installation of this. The install was slow to boot, required lots of firewall checks, then started up an installer that looks like an OS 9 VISE installer. So I assumed FirstEdge is the less loved product of MYOB's offerings. So trying AccountEdge, the bigger brother instead. Will report back on AccountEdge on its page here on MacUpdate.

Regarding the previous posts, I have not needed customer service or support so can't comment. All the questions I've had were addressed using the Help feature. I consider that a major asset anyway ... I don't have to spend time contacting someone by phone or e-mail. We've used MYOB First Edge for a year now for our bicoastal construction business and could not be more satisfied. For construction, the job costing feature can't be beat. That's usually the most time consuming part of construction accounting. Other features include: awesomely customizable reports, numerous ways to search for transactions, and the ability to import and export data as needed (including importing bank statement info if you have online banking). There are tons of features we don't even use, such as the ability to accept credit cards. But we like knowing that if we expand into retail MYOB First Edge will already have the additional features we'll need. The demo version works just like the full version. I think the time limit was 30 days, but we bought the full version after only about three weeks. The price is great too, especially for such feature-packed software.