Hi, I am looking in to buying and using your software for my business.
What I am after is putting a small laptop/windows tablet in my vans with a mobile printer for the engineer to generate and print an invoice onsite then return to the office and sync with office PC.
I understand you get three pc installs with the license which would be perfect for us(two vans and an office).
the critical thing is them syncing back to the office. will solar accounting do this? if so I need to know how it doing it so I can get the hardware and software I need together.
also any pitfalls and other information I would need to know.
regards Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Solar Accounts doesn't have a robust 'syncing' mechanism. The closest thing would be to export the invoice and customer details from one computer by clicking menu File > Export To > Comma Separated CSV File. You can then import this data into another computer by clicking menu File > Import From > Comma Separated CSV File.
Note that you will need to keep the invoice numbers from each van separate, otherwise an invoice for one van will overwrite the invoice from another van when synching the data.
Also please note that Solar Accounts only works on Mac and Windows computers - not tablets.
Regards
OK, thanks for your reply.
Please for give me if this sounds a bit silly.
But if 'Van 1' goes to customers A B C and Van 2 goes to customer D E F.
The end of the day I would need to export from Van 1 & Van 2 in to the office computer then export back to them so each Vans PC would have a full copy of customers details?
I understand the vans would need different invoice numbers but how does solar deal with duplicate invoice numbers?
because I would be repeatedly exporting and importing customers details. the Csv files would be near Identical but for the new ones add each day.
what I need to know is how likely is this to go wrong?
Hi Andrew,
Yes, you would need to perform an export/import of CSV files between multiple computers as you describe.
If the CSV file contains an invoice number that already exists in the system, then Solar Accounts will update that invoice instead of creating a new one. Therefore if Van 1 and Van 2 have both used the same invoice number, and the CSV file from Van 1 is imported into the office computer before the CSV file from Van 2, the details of the invoice from Van 1 will be overwritten by the invoice from Van 2.
To be honest, for your particular circumstances I think you will find it easier to use an accounting system specifically designed for synching between multiple computers, or an online accounting system. (We hope to develop an online version of Solar Accounts in future, but I cannot say when this might be available).
Regards,
Hi not wanting to jump in an steal any business.
I have built a system for a client that has vans runs there collections etc on ipads syncs with central round management system i built then exports all invoices to solar accounts for invoice to be sent via post or email as per clients request for invoice method.
I would be happy to offer some assistance as i have now tailored the system to work with solar accounts and now recommend it to clients as there accounting soloution.
Easy, I synch between my laptop and desktop using Dropbox to store the .slr file, it automatically updates so everything is always synched.
Hi Ed,
Please be careful to synchronise both computers after each edit when you use Dropbox with Solar Accounts. If you don't synchronise correctly you can end up with conflicts which can be difficult to resolve:
http://www.solaraccounts.co.uk/forum/topic.php?TopicId=1816&Posts=1
Regards,
