Florist News

Doess anyone have any recommendations for complete software packages to include - customer database, sales reports (average sales etc.), cashflow projestions, forecasts, vat..... etc.etc

I don't think you will find such a thing Cameron. I've been looking for about twenty years. Most retail accounting packages will assume that all of your customers have a credit account, pay monthly and the money will automatically go into your bank account. They will all have extensive analysis and reporting facilities but whether they will tell you what you want to know is another issue.

I suspect that what you're looking for is something that you can look back with over the course of a year and say...my average bouquet sold over the counter has gone up from £26.50 to £35.00 and we're still maintaining our profit margin, we must be doing something right! This is the sort of stuff that builds corporations. Unfortunately, you need to keep track of everything you do, record everything, input it all, and most important be very religious about it. Otherwise, the data is distorted and meaningless.

What do you use now to keep track of things?

Strelitza: the software system designed by florists for florists. boasts : A professional order taking and processing system for both gift and funeral address. :Print routed delivery lists that will save you time and money. :Fully integrated sales accounting package. :Fully supported by a proffessional team of experts. :Free updates. ALL FOR ONLY £1 PER DAY. www.florisoft.co.uk
Saw this advert in florist news thought this might be useful.

I saw an article about this, it's supposed to be designed by florists for florists. It sounds quite good I would like to see it working first though. I believe the idea is that you can put all your orders straight onto the program ( no order pads involved) so you don't have to spend time inputing all the data for how many boquets etc you have done a month( It's a bit high tech for my staff though), I'm still trying to get one lady to cope sending orders through our very basic relay computer.

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Sarah Creating Bespoke Wedding Flowers Cheshire

I'm very interested in floristry software packages at the moment. My husband is a very good computer programmer and I think there is a gap in the market for a well made programme. I am researching the idea and I would be interested in other peoples views. Do florists really want software? Let me know.

Sage!!!! costs a bit to start with but it pays off in the end!

A dedicated software package for floristry accounting taking into account wastage etc would be ideal. I don't think there is necessarily a need for another software package that shows you what to enter, where to enter it and who's delivering it! Just a system which includes everything that a florist does. Other packages such as Personal Accountz and Sage are very general and, as has been said previously, assume that you provide goods which are invoiced and paid for monthly. Not ideal in our business!!

Does that help???

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LilyLady

Happiness is Petal Shaped

I use Sage Paypoint epos software, tis fab, you set up all your products in Sage and it records sales for you, all the reporting is run out of Sage and you can do custom reports etc. The Sage side of it will do all the other stuff you want.