With its rather stark logo and screens, Klix definitely lacks the visual polish of a QuickBooks. And the promotional and instructional videos feature a robotic, computer-generated voice that is not exactly what one would expect in a high-end system.
The main screen is intuitive and displays the requisite flow-style diagrams that outline accounting processes and serve menu options. This screen is logically divided into two main sections: 1) “Money In,” and 2) “Money Out,” and it comes with options for handling payroll, performing banking, and changing settings. Pull-down options across the top of the screen are organized under company, customer, vendor, banking, employee and reports.
Online videos (again, with that annoying robotic voice) offer assistance and instruction to newbies. Also, there are on-screen forms that represent their paper counterparts, for example, invoices, which allow you to easily input data — par for the course these days.
Online Versus Desktop
It's probably not fair to compare Klix against the likes of the QuickBooks and Peachtree desktop programs. Of course, a close look at Intuit's QuickBooks Online, the software powerhouse's own Web-based accounting system, reveals that it pales against the capabilities of its namesake desktop versions by offering a drastically reduced feature set.
At $34.95 per month, QuickBooks Online is more expensive than Klix Online, but it supports up to three users at this price (Klix would cost about $90 per month for three users). On the other hand, QuickBooks Online does lack inventory-tracking features, is unable to create purchase orders, and charges extra for payroll.
Pricing
Klix Online is priced at $29 per user per month. This includes support, and the company does not bind you to contracts. The Web store application costs $49 per month, and the point-of-sale costs $19 per concurrent terminal per month. You can try the full version of Klix for free during a 60-day trial period.
Wayne Kawamoto has written more than 800 articles, columns and reviews about computers, new technologies, the Internet and small businesses. Wayne has also published three books about upgrading PCs, building office networks and troubleshooting notebook computers.
