Where have I been

After a MIHM session in Cardiff a couple of months ago, I decided to "productise" my services - i.e. offer off the shelf ready made solutions, rather than exclusivly selling bespoke solutions. At the very worst, selling off the shelf solutions to common problems will help level out the marketing cycle, at the very best it will mean a massive change of business model for the Excel Expert, maybe even a spin off business.

Since starting Excel Expert I have been constantly flooded with requests to recreate Sage or Quicken in Excel but make it easier to use, so thats where I'm starting - Accounts Packages.

Below is a sneak peek at pre-beta of the home accounts version. A small business version will follow a month or two afterwards.

Is there anything you would like to see in a home accounts package that you havent seen anywhere else? Let me know, we are still taking suggestions.

Welcome to the world of software development, Carl! :)

Good luck with everything - I love the idea!

The big one...massive red digits across the top and maybe a count down timer - >> how much VAT do I owe and when do I have to pay it<<

Totally behind you on this one Carl.
The only thing I would say (for the home version) is to get people involved that are nothing to do with accounts/ excel/ numbers in general to see how they get on. In other words, get feedback on ease of use, UX, UI etc from the actual users.
Also, don't forget KISS.

@Michelle - I'm going to be posting regular updates on here of how the software build is going and then how well the selling and marketing is going.

@Roger - That is not far off a feature I have planned for the business version. The first version is a home version, which in turn will go on to be developed in to a book keeping package before moving on to a full accounts package.

@Lee - I have a growing number of non-techies lined up to try and break it for me. The main aim is to keep it as simple as possible, in fact I have chosen to start with accounts first because of the number of complaints I was hearing about Sage and Quicken being too complicated for most people. I will be toning down the technical speak and adding graphics to improve users understanding.

This looks brilliant Carl...definitely a good place to start. 

From some one who knows nothing about such things.

What about a short tutorial on you site for each package you make.

Or is that to much of a big job.

Carl - didn't think of this when you first mentioned the idea, but there does seem to be a growing demand for accounting for home costs, and as far as I can see no decent offering (in the UK at least).

I've seen a lot of people on twitter asking FreeAgent if they do a home version.  Ie not remotely to do with business, just something to keep track of what you spend on various different things.  You'd need some form of bank statement integration (most online banking give a .csv option which should hopefully be easy for you to use).  Get your program to process the file, ask people what each transaction is, then hopefully recognise future transactions from the same suppliers.

FreeAgent itself isn't well catered to this, I've been experimenting with it for this purpose, involves a few workarounds.  It's amazing how much you spend on little things, and when you see the total figures over a year, it can change your purchasing habits.  The kind of thing Martin Lewis and co recommend you do on money saving expert.

Sorry for the waffly post, but I think previously (when I thought you were aiming at the business bookkeeping market) I felt there were already a lot of things doing what you set out to do, hence would be difficult for you to break into that market.  For the home market, I think there's a lot of potential out there.

I love this idea - I look after our home accounts & would love something that made my life easy.  As a VERY non technically adept person if you want someone to try & break it I'll happily be a  volunteer!

Mel and I were mucking around with spreadsheets last night reviewing our finances and what we spend on what. Something like this would have been really helpful - I'm looking forward to the release Carl

you have 4 daughters - I hazard a guess you spend a lot on pink things and washing powder!

This would interest me too.