good program for small businesses?

[Keth]

I am in the process of taking over a family manufacturing business that greatly needs to improve electronically. The employees currently clock in and out using a punchard, and payroll is done by hand. Orders placed over the phone are written on a carbon copy slip of paper and entered into a computer by hand at the end of the month when accounts receivable and payable are processed. I imagine the orders will still be taken primarily over the phone but in the future I plan to have customers place orders through a website as well.

My ideal program will:
1) allow employees to clock in and out with a few clicks
2) allow employees to place orders and automatically organize statements (customers are billed for the products monthly)
3) allow me to print monthly statements, weekly paychecks and pay bills remotely (4 hrs away) with just a few clicks
4) allow me to import information from the current software we use (Medlin)
5) allow me to expand to take orders online in the future

I already looked at Microsoft Access but it seems too complex for my needs.

Any thoughts Elanthians?

<3
Keth

[Stanley Burrell]

Fire everyone who isn't an illegal Mexican and put Santa Marias everywhere.

[Keth]

You're a douche. This is a serious question. QQ

[Tordane]

Check out Filemaker. I could point you in the direction of some great starting templates for small businesses if if looks like something you would be interested in using.

http://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-pro-advanced/?nav=products-pro-advanced

Here is a starting point template I've recommended to folks in the past who said it really gave them a great jumpstart.
http://www.fmstartingpoint.com/about.php

I personally am the Filemaker Developer here at my company and I've not run into an issue I cannot code through using it. For those without much experience using databases, I think Filemaker makes it very easy for a beginner while still providing plenty for the expert. Also, being cross-platform(Mac/PC), it allows for integration into pretty much any work enviroment.

Feel free to PM questions if you have any.

[AnticorRifling]

The ERP (real time inventory, allocation, financials, sales analysis, etc. complete solution) I support would do that but for a small business it's probably kind of on the high side price point wise. It's geared towards the mid ranged market but we tend to specialize in manufacturing and distribution companies. It also requires an iseries (which is an expensive piece of gear but holy shit you can't break it)

[Nieninque]

You're a douche. This is a serious question. QQ

He is, but no-one cares just the same.

[Sylvan Dreams]

It's been a long time since I've used it, but I'd have to agree with Tordane about Filemaker.

[Amber]

Another vote for Filemaker. You might want to look into Quickbooks too, it provides a bit more in the way of reports, but Filemaker is more user-friendly.

[Stanley Burrell]

He is, but no-one cares just the same.

Hey -- Master in Stupid Work:

Tell me how you have made it clear, in probably every single post you've made, directed at me, where you say you don't care about me, about me, that you don't care about me?

I care about not caring about you too :hug2:

Oh. Also, die. Yeah, definitely die. The, uh, whole opposite-of-being alive thing I'm fairly certain. Yeah.

Alright, one love.

[Kuyuk]

Quickbooks is kind of a pain in the ass.

I got it for my business and stopped using it after two months because it was a lot easier to manage stuff by hand and calculator.

Maybe I'll check out filemaker.