There are four broad tasks you will need to address when beginning to use Simple Accounting. These should be completed before entering transactions into a live (production) environment:
- Setting up your computing environment to be compatible with, and optimized for, Simple Accounting. This should be done before you actually install SAFE. This procedure is discussed in several topics within the Appendix, specifically the System Requirements and the Networking topics.
You should probably share these topics with your network specialist and discuss your computing requirements before proceeding to install SAFE in a production environment.
- Installing the Simple Accounting software from CD. This is usually a fairly straightforward task and requires only a minute or two. The main things to keep in mind will be entering the proper Serial # to complete the Setup program and then deciding where you want SAFE installed on your network.
- Setting up various preferences for operating the software. These are done in the FILES|Setup starting with the Global Options screen.
Many more advanced preferences are presented in the Security Extensions program under Custom Settings. These are not necessary in order to get started.
- Beginning to enter your Main Data Files. As we explain later on, although you may begin entering transactions right away, it is usually much better to enter certain main data files ahead of time to speed your initial transaction entry. This procedure is discussed under the Setting Up SAFE EE topic.
It has been shown time and again that the more preparation you spend in getting your main data file set up properly, the easier you will find it to get the day to day transaction entry process ‘under your fingers’.
If you are importing data from an existing accounting system, you should read carefully the sections on Data Conversion.
