Pastel Accounting creates entry-level invoicing package

Softline Pastel has launched an entry-level software package, Pastel Invoicing.

The new product is aimed at enabling small businesses to automate the two most common business activities - production of accurate, timely invoices and control of customer balances, thereby saving the business time and money.

Pastel managing director, Steven Cohen, says that worldwide, more than 30% of small businesses still do their accounting manually or on spreadsheets - unnecessarily extending debtor days because of inaccurate records regarding customer balances, and delays in sending out correct invoices.

"Those delays mean that your revenue comes in more slowly than it should and that can have a serious impact on cash flow, and therefore the sustainability of the business. However, for a large number of small businesses, that risk is smaller than acquiring full-feature accounting software, of which they will use only the portion related to invoicing and customer balance control.

"It seemed logical for us, therefore, to give them just the functionality they need and, in the process, get them used to computerised accounting so they can migrate to more feature-rich accounting solutions when they grow enough to need the extra functionality."

Cohen believes that too many features make life complicated for most small businesses that need to focus on doing business rather than learning to use and maintain complex software. "Many software vendors continually add features to their products in an attempt to fend off competitors who sell their wares purely on features.

"We, on the other hand, are very focused. We know our market, which is generic accounting for small and medium-sized business, and accordingly we apply the 80/20 rule. Eighty percent of our customers want accounting software that helps them manage and control their finances in the simplest, most cost-effective way. So we don't overload our products with features only 20% of our customers would be likely to use. We provide add-ons to give those customers what they need.

"Pastel Invoicing is consistent with that logic - because it provides customers who don't yet have the efficiency benefits of computerised accounting with only the functionality they need at the time. It also gives them an opportunity to get comfortable with generic accounting products."

Pastel Invoicing is user-friendly, with a dashboard that gives users a snapshot of the financial standing of the company in a single page.

In terms of functionality, it creates invoices easily and quickly, creates customers and items to invoice on the fly, manages customer invoices, payments, credit notes, and statements, reports on what customer amounts are outstanding and which items are selling the most, and it e-mails invoices and statements to customers. Intuitive screen designs allow effortless drill-down into transaction detail.