Having used MYOB for over 2 years, I find that its one of the few applications I deal with, that I struggle to understand (on a few levels).

I started off buying MYOB Business Basics. I’m a small business, and I got it for a good price, and some of the cheaper/free alternatives seemed very difficult to use.

I found the MYOB user interface could be better.

For some reason, it reminds me of windows for workgroups 3.11 (the predecessor to windows 95).

It just feels like an antiquated user interface.

But I don’t mind, I’ve used WFW in the past, so its not a showstopper… It just take a while to get my mind around things.

Of course, part of the problem is that I don’t have any accounting training, so I get by as best as I can.

After about 18 months, I decide to expand by taking on a contractor (or two).

By this stage, I’ve handed MYOB over to my lovely wife, Mandy.

She takes a look around, and decides that the best way to handle contractors (from an accounting point of view), is to get a more advanced package.

We download a few trials. In one case, we convert the MYOBBB data file to a MYOB Accounting V16 data file.

We eventually decide that MYOB Accounting V16 is best, as we already understand how to use it (so to speak).

Now this is where it gets confusing. We go and buy MYOBAV16 from officeworks, convert the data file over, go to register our company file, and we are told something like: “sorry you cannot register the file”).

After that follows many calls to MYOB, where we get all sorts of confusing statements like:

• You should have “upgraded” MYOBBB
• it will cost you $XX to upgrade your company file.
• We’ll give you the code for the initial registration of the company file, but you will need to apply to have it upgraded to MYOBAV16.
• its registered now, so you won’t have any future problems.

Mandy is worried that in 3 months time, it will ask for company validation, and we won’t be able to validate it (despite assurances that it will).

Sure enough, after 3 months we cannot validate the company file… the 1 month “free” support from MYOB is well and truly over… so it becomes even more difficult to get help.

With a lot of persistence, we eventually find a friendly support person, who explains that if we de-register the new MYOBAV16 serial, and request that the original MYOBBB serial number gets transferred over to the new package, then we can validate the company.

But the whole process is made more complicated by the fact that we also had some “test” companies.

It all got sorted in the end, but I’m left confused by all this validation and registration stuff.

Other posts at http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/635506.html seem a lot more critical of the software and the company.

Personally, I’ll seriously look at changing (if there is much choice in the marketplace)… if/when I decide to “upgrade”.