It will be appreciated that whilst being exceedingly easy to use, SmartBiz is nevertheless a full accounting system designed for a multiplicity of users and business types and as such must have a large amount of power and flexibility built into the system.

Thus we have built a large amount of the needed power and flexibility into the system (see section on "Customising SmartBiz").

However, a lot of this power and flexibility is outside the knowledge of the average user, particularly first time users.

For instance, even at a basic level, we find most first time users do not fully understand the difference between Open Item and Brought Forward Debtors and Creditors and must have this explained to them by the installers before even this small item can be configured. Many of the "Power" options are best suited for the experienced user.

It would be nice to think that an accounting system could be self-installed by users like spreadsheets and word processors, but the reality is vastly different in full accounting systems like the full version of SmartBiz (as opposed to the small "entry level" packages now available, such as SmartBiz "Lite" etc which can be self-installed simply because they have little power and flexibility built in).

Whilst the required technical computer knowledge is easily overcome by batch files and programs, the required accounting and set-up knowledge is not so easily overcome.

It is our experience over the last thirteen years that new users, whether or not they have previously had a computer system, can never have an adequate enough level of knowledge of SmartBiz to be able to satisfactorily run such a powerful new accounting system without proper training.

Attempts to do so without being properly trained invariably results in user frustration, costly mistakes, having to re-key data two or three times and not infrequently having to employ specialists to fix things up afterwards at a cost that far exceeds the cost proper training would have been in the first place.

Hence the full version of SmartBiz, like most reputable fully fledged accounting systems, is NOT designed to be installed by a user, only by a capable, trained installer, in conjunction with a structured training program.

Therefore, because we believe that people supporting many products can never gain the in-depth knowledge that an organisation specialising in one product has, our policy is that all users in the Auckland area will be supported and trained only by ourselves.

For those users out of Auckland, we still recommend that initial training is done by ourselves. However, you may rest assured that your local support consultant must have demonstrated to us a high level of accounting competence and knowledge of how SmartBiz handles it before they are permitted to perform this function.

In fact, currently all the support consultants we use have each been working with our products for at least ten years, a level of experience probably unprecedented in the computer industry.

In any event, via your "modem" you can connect to us and we can then run your computer via normal telephone lines from Auckland just as if we were sitting beside you in your office.

By this means, even if your local installer/ support consultant cannot help with particular points, you are still able to get the same help and assistance as if you were situated in the same city as ourselves (no jokes about the Bombay Hills please!).