Users pan vendors of accounting software

It's official - accountancy software vendors are crap. Almost 40 per cent of customers would definitely refuse to use their existing vendor, when purchasing a new systems, a survey of more than 500 UK finance and IT professionals revealed.

Only one in three purchasers of accountancy software said they would use the same vendor again, while 27 per cent are 'uncertain'.

The results were called 'depressing' by the survey's compiler Tate Bramald, a Richmond-based accountancy software reseller. 'There are clearly some ethical issues the industry needs to address to improve its satisfaction level among accountancy software users,' said MD John Tate.

Tate has written a booklet which shows how to avoid the Seven Deadly Sins when selecting and implementing accounting systems. These include unrealistic time-scales; ignoring re-engineering opportunities and ignoring people.

Tate's guide recommends a selection process to enable customers to avoid making these mistakes.