What's the difference between the On-Line and CD-Based Editions?

While the purpose of either edition of The Accounting Software Library is assisting users define their requirements and identify best suited products, the difference lies in the detail.

The most fundamental difference between the two versions is the cost. The On-Line Edition is free. The CD-Based Edition costs from $395 to $1,295 depending on the specific version you purchase. The CD-Based Edition gives users the ability to create a very detailed needs definition, while the On-Line Edition is more of a power search tool.

The CD-Based Edition contains up to 3,500 questions from which you can build a detailed needs definition. The On-Line Edition contains only about 15% of the questions found in the CD-Based Edition.

The CD-Based Edition (which we will continue to sell and update) has been designed so that users can create a very detailed needs definition. This is absolutely required if you are going to be able to provide vendors or resellers an accurate requirements definition list.

If you do not specify exactly what you require, you then leave it up to the vendor or reseller to ask you the right questions. If they fail to ask the questions, you run the risk of purchasing a business management system that does not in fact meet your requirements. I doubt that is something you want to face after you have already spent significant sums of money on the project itself, not to mention the cost of software and implementation.

The CD-Based Edition also contains a complete set of software selection manuals that will literally take you by the hand and lead you through the entire software selection project from the realization that you need to do something to the point where the selected product has been fully implemented. Is the CD-Based Edition worth the price? We have been doing this for 18 years and our subscribers are universal in their delight that such a product exists.