Chauffeur Tours

A great piece of software for anyone running a chauffeur, taxi or garage related business is Sage 50 Accounts, why? well it has all the features that you need for running a motor industry related company.  The software is ideal for doing basic to advanced accounting, from simple invoices to full purchase ordering, ideal if you are ordering in large quantities of motor spares or vehicles.

In addition there are many add on products which enhance the software features even further, such as for those buying and selling cars or running a taxi company, right through to those who need something for scheduling drivers to be at specific locations at the right time.

There are 3 products in the range, here is a quick overview of the main differences and features.

First off, and the most basic product in the range is Sage 50 Accounts itself, this includes your nominal structure, chart of accounts, invoicing, VAT and bank reconciliation. It has a very simple user interface but although you can add as many companies to it as you require, there is a maximum user limit of two.

Next comes Sage 50 Accounts Plus, although this again can have unlimited companies but only 2 users, it does introduce the project costing and stock systems.

Finally, there is the big daddy of the range and this is the one which most other software products integrate with, Sage 50 Accounts Pro, this also includes full purchase order processing and sales processing, with a bill of materials too.

So what makes this so good for motoring, taxi and chauffeuring companies? Basically it’s simplicity and popularity. There are software wizards included to help you get it set up and running initially, with further training and manuals available.  But being from Sage, you know it will be around for the long term, it’s also the most popular accounting program in the UK so there are already plenty of people who know how to use it already.

There is plenty of training available too, with courses being run up and down the country in training centres. The alternative is to have a consultant come out to your own site and cover the specific modules and topics which you or your team specifically need, this is often a much better option as it is more time efficient. Consider that you did 3 courses, each 2 days in length, not only would you have to pay for the course, but also 6 days away from the office, travel and possibly accommodation expenses, whereas if somebody comes to your site instead, you are just paying for their day rate. Even if you are using all the features in Accounts Professional, but have been using it fir a while already, you would likely only need someone out on site for a couple of days.

So if you own a larger car related company, or are perhaps just a self employed driver, it’s certainly worth a look.