Amicus Accounting - Overview - Time, Billing & Accounting Software

Link: Amicus Accounting - Overview - Time, Billing & Accounting Software. Well, I have completed the conversion from PcLaw to Amicus Accounting. This software is, like Amicus Attorney, elegantly easy to use, attractive, works spendidly with Amicus Attorney, and creates a great alternative to PcLaw. I have never been able to get PcLaw to properly synchronize with Amicus Attorney; not surprising when the two companies are separate entities. And, when Gavel and Gown announced that it was going to create its own financial accounting package, I was cautiously optimistic. Ron Collins, Amicus President, doesn't release software until he believes it will work in the real world. Bug fixes are quick, and response to users is immediate. Since I have been using Amicus Attorney for many years now, the database experienced some hiccups in porting to Amicus Accounting. However, after a couple of tries, and some manual editing, the databases were integrated, and data exchange now occurs in real time. Amicus Accounting can be run as a stand alone product, or in sync with Amicus Attorney Case Management, which is my preferred usage. Thanks to Gavel and Gown for another stellar product.

Comments

[Bruce Chapman]

Our part time accountant has been evaluating Amicus Accounting for us. Currently we run Amicus Attorney, Timeslips and Quickbooks. The following are her comments. I would be interested in the hands on experiences of others.

ACCOUNTANT'S COMMENTS:

"There are several foreseeable problems on the accounting end of Amicus Accounting software. As far as billing is concerned the program could be helpful and easier to use. To be honest I think timeslips is very difficult to get around in and I find it difficult to run reports and such. On the accounting side here are some the problems I have:

Cannot find a payroll function
Financial reports are limited
Cannot view contents of line items on balance sheet or profit and loss when reviewing the report Unable to move from one window to the next without closing the first Insufficient reports for viewing vendor transaction history/customer transaction history

Obviously I am very comfortable using Quickbooks and I find it hard to compare other accounting software. I do not feel confident that Amicus Accounting has all the function necessary to keep good books. I found it hard to move around, correct mistakes and find information on accounts. For as little time as I spend in your office I'm not sure it would be worth learning a brand new accounting software program. What might work best is to be rid of Timeslips and use only Amicus and Quickbooks."

Thanks
Bruce Chapman

[Bruce Chapman]

This is the reply I received from my Amicus Accounting Product Support regarding the comments from our bookkeeper which I posted earlier:

1. On Payroll module- We currently do not have payroll function.

2. On Financial Reports- We have all the basic Financial Reports plus some others in Amicus Accounting.

3. Viewing contents of line items- We have the Drilldown feature in the General Ledger Reports to view the details of each account.

Bruce Chapman

[Ben Stevens]

Amicus Attorney is a great product, and I'm sure that Amicus Accounting is as well. It's just sad that Gavel and Gown turned their backs on Mac users years ago. In light of (a) the relatively few legal case management solutions available for Macs and (b) the fact that Macs are vastly superior to PC's, G&G could certainly capitalize and gain a large market share should they return to their Mac base. Just a (wishful) thought...

[David Yokel]

I have had a terrible time getting Accounting to work as I bought Attorney 2008 and Accounting package together. Company is having difficulty determining problem with exchange of information between the two programs. Has anyone else had this problems as well.

[John]

Amicus Accounting is a great program that I'd recommend to anyone.

[Denise]

I like the accounting software but I find that it is hard to find what I want and to make changes. The check writing function is still a mystery to me and I cannot figure out how to change the format of the check - other than learning the software language it is written in. Does anyone know if Amicus plans on offering a printed manual (indepth) instead of the abbreviated help descriptions that are offered in the integrated help? Thanks

[Stanley]

The newest release of Amicus Accounting (I think it came out a couple weeks ago) has done a lot to improve the reporting. The financials are still not the best but my accountant is ok with a full ledger printout at month end. I had the same problem with checks, but I called the tech support line and they sent me a new template and helped me tweak it to get it to match. Oh - and there apparently is a third party payroll provider, complete payroll. I don't need a payroll system in my office so I haven't attempted to use it. Bottom line for me is the program is good enough once you get used to it, and no more link headaches with P C Law.

[Mandy]

We are having problems on our end with the billing function. When setting bill options we have been experimenting with not setting a start date as it is our understanding that billed time will not be re-billed, however, we are finding that is not always the case. Some of our client's bills are coming up with time on their bill that has already been billed. This is not happening to everyone though. Any suggestions on how to correct this problem?

[Laura]

The accounting 2008 software is terrible and we are trying to get our money back. The integration between amicus attorney and accounting took forever and the billing is unreliable. We often have to manually change the bills to correct them. Terrible!

[Larry]

I practiced for 25 years as a CPA before becoming an attorney. This is by far one of the worst products I've experienced, and I find myself wondering why the legal profession puts up with it. The report formats are awful, the usage of the program undocumented so you just have to learn on the fly. The response of the company is always to press for annual support packages with claims that the software wasn't installed correctly. On the Amicus Attorney side, the company admitted they were having sync problems with Outlook, but several months later no one has ever contacted us to tell it is fixed. I suppose they want us to contact them so we can buy a support package. I'd dump this thing in a heartbeat if it didn't have all our data. Never again will I make such a mistake.