Natwest Free Agent software

[daisychicken]

Natwest are offering a free subscription to Free Agent software. It looks a good accounting package but I haven't been able to find out enough about it without signing up (and giving access to my banking records). My business is tiny (compared to small!) so currently I use excel and do my own invoicing via that too. Just wonder if it's any good? Has anyone used it? What did you think?

You should be able to get a free 30 day trial direct from their site - they are specific about ‘no credit card required’. So they shouldn’t need access to your bank info. Try the signup process and see what you think.

I tried it out briefly some time ago, no problem with it, but the person I was working with wanted to stick to Excel at the time. So can’t give much insight.

There are other packages of course - Wave apps start with a free tier and look good for a small firm.
www.waveapps.com/accounting/

I love Freeagent, I've used for about four years. My business has grown and it's worked well for us, we use the payroll and VAT features and one of the things I like best is that there is always someone at the end of the phone if you get stuck. If they're busy, the receptionist take your number and call you back. If you email, they come back often within minutes. It's not often I recommend things, but I've been really happy with this system.

Lots of our clients use FAC and we get very good feedback and it makes our life easier (accountants) as the client book-keeping is usually far superior than using error-ridden spreadsheets or hard-to-understand software like Sage & Quickbooks. We usually recommend FAC to new clients because of our experiences. FAC was written for freelancers and doesn't have the technical double entry "jargon" so easier to get going and understand for novices. The only downside of the natwest freebie version is that if you want to change banks, you'd have to start paying the normal subscription if you wanted to carry on using FAC.