When a company needs new accounting software, where do they go to do their research? The majority of people these days begin their search on the internet. Yet, when you search Google for the word “accounting software reviews”, the first page of search results do not typically offer you a comprehensive list of accounting software reviews. How can this be? Here are some of the most common myths about searching for accounting software reviews, and suggestions on how to really get the information you need.

Myth #1: Reviews must be unbiased, since they are on the internet.

The internet is a land of fierce competition, where millions of people are competing to show up on the first page of Google. There is big money to be spent and earned in online advertising. So when you enter the search term ‘accounting software reviews’, you will likely find some sites that review accounting software packages. Just because they review a variety of software packages does not mean that they picked all the best ones out there they could find! Many of these sites feature only products that pay to be there. Therefore, the list may not be a comprehensive one. Also, if they are paid reviews, you might not get the most honest results, since the reviewers are being paid and want to keep their customers. This is something to keep in mind.

Myth #2: Google knows what you are looking for.

All of us have been guilty, at some point, of thinking that whatever shows up on Google page one must be the best result for what we are looking for. After all, most of us don’t sit and contemplate how Google retrieves its results! However, Google is not a person, and it doesn’t ‘know’ anything at all! It uses a proprietary algorithm to display the most relevant search results. (An algorithm is a computer program.) Of course, Google’s algorithm is very good, and that’s why the majority of people choose it as a search engine. However, a computer program cannot tell what you really seek. You can enter the term ‘accounting software reviews’ and Google will serve you results based on what it knows. But what it doesn’t know is that what you really want are unbiased results provided by people who have actually used the system in real life. You might not get that by simply searching for ‘accounting software reviews’.

So despite the above, you are still hoping to find some good reviews for your prospective accounting software! Do not despair; there are better ways to get what you are looking for. One great way to find a comprehensive list of accounting software programs is to visit www.Capterra.com. Companies can pay to have top placement, but there is still a comprehensive list of accounting software vendors for you to search through, by feature or simply in list format. There are also customer reviews along with many of the software packages, which are not biased since they are submitted by actual customers. Another place to look for customer reviews is www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com They do a yearly review of accounting and payroll systems, as well as many other systems. They provide extremely detailed and useful information about the features and usability of accounting software systems. One final place to find some of the best accounting software reviews is your potential accounting software vendor. Ask if there is a customer who has a business similar to yours, who is using the product and would be willing to speak with you. Yes this is more work, but you will be talking to an actual customer like you, and they can provide feedback on specific questions you have.