Can anyone using this product please tell me if it really is simple to use > i have been in business on my own for 12 months and looking for an accounting package that is clear and simple to use.

look forward to hearing from anyone who uses this package for their business

Dave - I use Solar to manage two businesses - A Gardening & Landscaping company and a Property Maintenance & Refurbishment company - both limited companies. I am not an accountant but I do have a reasonable understanding of accounting.

I find the product to be excellent and the support from Mark is great too. I have had the odd function / feature that I would like to see work differently and have reported these on the Forum. Although no promises were made, Solar have subsequently included my requests in updates to their software.

I have been in the software industry all my working life and I would say that Solar is extremely well written, has a good 'look and feel', and is very intuitive to use.

So, in short, I give it at least a very positive review. E-mail me if you want more info alan@kiwigreenfingers.com

Hi Dave,

I also have to agree with Alan.
Solar gets thumbs up from me also.
Its simple clean and works well.
The main important thing is your chart of accounts, and starting off with the right balances as of a particular date, especially if you registered for VAT.

I have a fair understanding of accounts, but I made sure to read all the forum and how-tos before I started and its paid off.
Mark is also excellent at responding to queries, and gives invaluable help.

For the price its an excellent product.

The only slight possible downside I could see if you were after a specific function that Solar does not provide. If you could work around it then you are sorted.

All the best.
Joe.

At first glance this product seems ideal for the sole trader. However, in the past 6months it has for no apparent reason, developed an error and will no longer allow access to my accounts. Contact with the so called HELP resulted in "Never seen this before, must be windows faulf" have removed the programme and re installed to no avail, my back up files are on the PC but not viewable.

Hello P Barratt,

I'm sorry we were not able to identify the cause of the error message you received, and that re-installing the software did not help. I agree that my initial response was too dismissive.

Please try the following:
1. Click the Windows 'Start' button (bottom left of screen)
2. Click 'All Programs'
3. Click the 'Solar Accounts' folder item
4. Click the 'Solar Accounts' program item

Does that run Solar Accounts? If not, can you please tell me the exact error message you see?

Also, our website is not currently functioning correctly - once we get it working again your comments and our replies will appear in the online forum.

Regards,

Hi,

Have removed the programme, downloaded again, followed your request sadly same problem, using either the shortcut or start menu produces the following box and message

"javaw.exe - bad image"

followed by

"C:\Peter\AppData\Local\Temp\swtlib-32\swt-win32-3707.dll is either not designed to run on windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support"

Hi Peter,

Ok thanks. Unfortunately we are still unable to identify the cause of the problem. Please try the following:

1. Uninstall Solar Accounts by clicking the Windows 'Start' button then > All Programs > Solar Accounts > Uninstall Solar Accounts, then following the instructions
   2. Restart you computer
   3. Download and re-install Solar Accounts from our website
   4. Temporarily disable any anti-virus software you have installed
   5. Double-click on the 'Solar Accounts' launch icon on your Windows Desktop
   6. Enable your anti-virus software if necessary

Does that help?

Thanks

Afraid not Mark, the inconvenience worsens as the end of the month loom's, no invoices = no income. Have followed your advice but continue to get the same fault.

Hello Peter,

Yes I understand that it is frustrating to be unable to use Solar Accounts. Our analysis suggests that the file 'swt-win32-3707.dll' may have become corrupt and that deleting it will prompt Solar Accounts to re-create it.

Please do the following:
1. Click the Windows 'Start' button (bottom left of screen)
2. In the search text box at the bottom of the start menu, copy and paste this text:
C:\Peter\AppData\Local\Temp\swtlib-32

3. Press Enter - this should open a window showing the contents of that folder
4. Right-click on swt-win32-3707.dll then select 'Delete'. Click OK to confirm the deletion.
5. Run Solar Accounts

Does that work? If not, is the error message exactly the same as before?

Thanks

Hi Mark,

Prior to following your latest advice I restored to a date prior to a Win Defender update and it would appear that post update defender turned its firewall on therefore both win and webroot fire walls were on. The act of turning Win Firewall off has worked and I am now able to operate the programme.

Regards

Hi Pete,

I'm glad to hear you can run Solar Accounts now. I'll note your solution in case other users have the same problem. If you want to run Solar Accounts without stopping Win Firewall try deleting the file as I described in my previous email.

Cheers,

I've just posted this review to our Facebook page. If anyone wants to comment on it there, feel free to do so.

https://www.facebook.com/OrganicCentreWales?ref=hl