I thought I'd give Simply Accounting a go and picked up the free DVD from Staples.

I successfully installed (or so I thought) and was surprised to find that Simply Accounting requires a reboot. Always a bad sign. Why not just write software in Java that doesn't require the windows registry (or whatever) and make it portable? [I'm using XP as OS]

Anyway, sure enough when I tried to use the sample company I was prompted for a user name and password that I did not have and was not provided. A search through the customer support site for the sample "user name" was also unsuccessful.

Never mind I thought, I'll try the "new company" option, at least the user name prompt shouldn't be an issue. But guess what "This user name does not exist". What user name?

I'm guessing its something to do with accessing MySQL. Maybe my venomous virus checker (Kaspersky)  or Windows firewall messed things up. Either way it wasn't a good start.

So I'm uninstalling the software and will continue using Quickbooks. I so much wanted Simply Accounting to be the answer. If you ever finish the software drop me an email. 

Maybe Simply Accounting could use a little "simpler" architecture so it's not so vulnerable to technical issues ;-)  

Hello BR14,

Both your Windows Firewall and Kaspersky would need to be configured to allow Simply Accounting to install correctly.  If you are being prompted for a username and password opening the sample something about the install did not work successfully.

We have knowledge base articles on Kaspesky and Windows Firewall.  We also support the installation of the software so if you would like to give it another try call our Customer Support Department at 1-888-522-2722.