Must have Software in a CA Office

Must have software for a Chartered Accountant / Company Secretary office. This list will provide ready reference for which all softwares you have to get installed in case of new PC purchase or PC is formatted. I have also tried to bust some Myths about the software and answered to common doubts / questions about each particular software.

This post will be updated periodically to have all the latest versions linked from here.

Must have

Microsoft Office 2013

MS Office suite contains the most popular softwares like - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, One Note and few other appllications like - Skype for Office, Publisher, etc.
It is must have for office, even if you think that you can manage with Open Source / Free alternatives like Apache Open Office, Libre Office, Google Docs, Trust me your productivity will drastically reduce if you are using these free alternatives. More over, the macros created (i.e. Income tax, VAT forms) for MS Excel will not work on free alternatives.

Have met few Chartered Accountants who are reluctant to shift to latest MS Office, stating reason as VAT forms do not work. This is no true. I will recommend (for increasing productivity)  using the updated MS Office 2013 and all the forms work. I have tested them myself and also in our office we have been using 2013 since Jan 2013.

MS office is available in 32 bits (aka X86) and 64 bit (aka X64). I will suggest for normal office usage, stick to 32 bit version. Opt for 64 bit version only if you have to work on extra large Excel file (i.e. more than 2,00,000 rows in a single sheet)

Microsoft has recently launched MS Office 2016. If you like to be early adopter of technology, install 2016. I have been using it for a week now and found it to be SUPERB. I have however not tested all the Income Tax and VAT forms on it. Once I have tried filling up the forms, will update the status here.

Official Link for MS Office Products  

Adobe Reader

(aka Adobe Acrobat Reader DC)
Even though most of the latest browsers can open PDF file, I will still recommend using Adobe reader. Mainly because MCA Forms can be filled up properly only using Adobe Reader.

Word of caution when downloading Adobe Reader:
1. Download only from Adobe website and not from any other website. Other website, many a times ship with Malware or Bloatware.
2. When downloading from Adobe website, make sure you have UNTicked McAfee Security Scan. You already have a antivirus installed, you don't need this.

Adobe Acrobat is a different software than Adobe Acrobat Reader. While Acrobat Reader is free, Acrobat is paid software. Generally Reader will suffice for normal office use. Acrobat will be helpful if you are looking for features like - Converting PDF Files to Word / Excel / Power Point, Running OCR to copy text from Scanned Images, Merge multiple PDF Files, and so on.

Download Link for Adobe Reader 

Win 10

Yes, I am talking about Operating System. The next version of Windows after Win 8.
There are many many advantages to upgrade to Win 10.
1. Free antivirus (No need to buy antivirus, Win 10 comes with Windows Defender).
2. PDF Printer per-loaded (No need for Adcrobat or Other PDF Printing software)
3. Faster booting
4. Tally ERP 9 (5.1.X version) runs smoothly
5. Better Network Management (No more Network Disconnection issues).

Have a doubt as to, will I need to format my PC and reinstall all the software again?
Simple answer : If you upgrade, all the software are kept as it is. No need to reinstall anything.
Icing on the cake is, this upgrade is free, so hurry up and upgrade today..

Win 10, like it's predecessors comes in 32 bit as well as 64 bit.
If your PC has 2GB RAM, install 32 bit, If RAM is more than 2GB, go for 64 bit.

Tally ERP 9

For small and medium size CA firms, accounting is synonyms with Tally. It has been in "Must Have" since early 2000. Tally's latest software is Tally ERP 9, was released in 2009, since then new updates for Tally are called as "Release". The latest release (as on 1st Dec 2015) is 5.1.3
Latest version of Tally comes in 32bit as well as 64bit versions. I could not find any visible difference in performance when using 64bit. Hence I would recommend installing 32 bit version.
Interested to know history? Click here

If you still using using Tally 9 or earlier versions, it is high time now to upgrade to Tally ERP 9. This article will help you in doing so - http://www.tallysolutions.com/website/html/tallyerp9/tally9-earlierusers.php

Official Link of Tally

Office Management Software

Office Management software is gaining importance in recent times. This is predominately due to increase in compliance and willingness among CA / CS / ICWA / Tax practitioners to increase office efficiency and output. Moreover, the clients now expect timely execution of the assignments form Professionals.
This is a category of software which helps in managing office. Features of the software in this category include following :

1. Task management
2. Task Billing management
3. Compliance management (Along with due dates)
4. Client & Client Group management
5. Reminders
6. Physical file & Client Records management
7. Time Sheet / Work Done (Of staff / articles)
8. Office Contacts management
9. Attendance recording
10. Efficiency tracking 

and some optional features may include

1. Digital files management
2. Email management
3. Single place to store all digital files