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Custom Accounting Software

Features, Benefits, ROI Factors, Costs

ScienceSoft applies 16 years of experience in corporate financial software development and practical knowledge of 30+ industries to help businesses build effective accounting solutions tailored to their unique needs.

Custom Accounting Software - ScienceSoft
Custom Accounting Software - ScienceSoft

Custom Accounting Software: The Essence

Custom accounting software is a solution that provides unique functionality tailored to each company’s specific needs across general ledger, payables and receivables management, asset and inventory accounting, financial data reconciliation, payroll and tax management, and financial reporting.

To ensure real-time financial data sync, custom accounting solutions may integrate with CRM, HRMS, an inventory management system, asset management software, a financial planning and analysis solution, and other business-critical systems.

The cost to develop a custom accounting system for a midsize company can range between $200,000–$400,000, depending on the solution complexity. Annual ROI for custom accounting software may reach up to 290%.

Key Features of Custom Accounting Software

Custom accounting software has unique functionality to serve specific accounting needs. We have summarized fundamental accounting software features based on ScienceSoft’s experience with custom accounting software projects.

Journal entry management

  • Rule-based creation, update, and approval of journal entries in the general ledger and subledgers on external and intercompany financial transactions, including multi-currency transactions.
  • Customizable journal entry templates.
  • User-defined schedules for recurring and reversing journal entries.
  • Automated attachment of source documents (invoices, receipts, cheques, payroll reports, leases, etc.) to each journal entry.
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  • Configurable rules for GL coding and transaction classification by category (asset, liability, equity, etc.).
  • Multi-dimensional chart of accounts (COA) with user-defined dimensions, such as business units, regions, product lines, etc.
  • Creating custom formulas to calculate debit and credit amounts, GL balances (by period, account, COA dimension, etc.).
  • Customizable GL architecture to support complex multi-entity accounting.
  • Rule-based consolidation of GL account balances across multiple business entities (company branches, subsidiaries, etc.).
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Invoicing

  • User-defined rules for invoice generation and submission to customers.
  • Customizable invoice templates.
  • Configurable workflow for multi-department invoice approval.
  • Real-time invoice tracking by status (sent, received, paid, overdue, etc.).
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Payroll management

  • Creating custom formulas to calculate employee salaries, overtime, bonuses, commissions, deductions, etc.
  • Recording and tracking the calculated payroll amounts in the payroll ledger and the general ledger.
  • Customizable schedules on employee payments.
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  • Creating custom formulas to automatically calculate received, due and overdue amounts, DSO, total revenue by period, etc.
  • Automated payment collection via user-defined payment methods, including bank transfers, wire transfers, ACH, credit cards, cheques.
  • Creating custom prioritization rules for A/R collection.
  • Configurable rules for allocation of received payments to relevant customer invoices.
  • Customizable customer notifications on due payments.
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Accounts payable (A/P)

  • Creating custom formulas to calculate the amounts paid, partially paid, owed, total liabilities by period, etc.
  • Automated invoice validation against the corresponding purchase orders.
  • Creating custom prioritization rules for invoice routing for approval and payment.
  • Scheduled/ad-hoc payments via a user-defined payment method.
  • Rule-based notifications to accountants on due payments.
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Inventory accounting

  • Recording and tracking inventory values of inventory items in multiple locations and regions
  • Recording and tracking inventory values across various stages of production (raw materials, in-progress goods, finished goods) or/and utilization.
  • Recording and tracking costs of goods sold for a specified accounting period.
  • Configurable rules to create inventory records based on purchase orders.
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Fixed asset accounting

Calculating, recording, and tracking:

  • Original costs, capitalized costs, and current value of fixed assets, including assets in multiple locations and regions.
  • Fixed asset value depreciation based on various calculation methods (straight line method, double declining balance method, units of production method, sum-of-the-years’ digits method, etc.), or custom depreciation schedules.
  • An asset’s tax basis.
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Tax management

  • Creating custom formulas for automated calculation of VAT, sales, use, withholding, income, and other taxes based on the user-defined parameters and region-specific tax rates.
  • Recording and tracking data on the calculated tax amounts in the tax ledger and the general ledger.
  • Rule-based tax filing under region-specific regulations.
  • Customizable schedules on tax payments.
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Reconciliation

  • Rule-based reconciliation of financial data in bank statements with GL, A/P, and A/R records.
  • Automated removal of duplicate transaction records.
  • User-defined rules to send the outstanding transactions for manual reconciliation.
  • Configurable elimination rules for automated intercompany reconciliation.
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Analytics and reporting

  • Configurable dashboards on GL, A/R, and A/P performance, cash inflows and outflows by the type of activity, current asset value, etc.
  • Short-term A/R and A/P forecasting.
  • Automated financial reporting (monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.) by region, entity, user-defined COA dimension, etc.
  • Customizable templates for various financial reports, including balance sheet, profit and loss statement, statement of changes in equity, customer statement, tax summary, revenue recognition report, and more.
  • Configurable reporting periods for various GL books and business entities.
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Security and compliance

  • Multi-factor authentication.
  • Configurable data-level permissions.
  • Role-based access control.
  • Payment data encryption.
  • Invoice timestamping.
  • Electronic signature workflow.
  • Comprehensive audit trail.
  • Customer data retention and deletion policies.
  • Compliance with GAAP (specifically ASC 606 and IFRS 15), SOC1 and SOC2, SOX, GDPR (for the EU), ZATCA regulations (for Saudi Arabia), industry- and country-specific regulations.
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Go-to Integrations for Custom Accounting Software

ScienceSoft designs a cohesive business environment where the accounting solution is integrated with financial transaction sources and corporate finance planning systems. The main benefit of the integration is time-effective and accurate financial data entry.

Go-to integrations for custom accounting software - ScienceSoft

  • Custom accounting software + CRM: to automatically populate invoices with accurate customer data, payment terms, price and quantity of ordered goods.
  • Custom accounting software + inventory management software: to enable accurate recording of inventory values on inventory purchasing and utilization.
  • Custom accounting software + asset management software: to enable accurate calculation of the fixed asset depreciation.
  • Custom accounting software + a procurement system: to enable the automated purchase order recording in the A/P ledger.
  • Custom accounting software + HR management software: to enable accurate payroll calculation.
  • Custom accounting software + a cash management system: to automatically create entries on financial transactions across operating, investment, financing activities in the general ledger and subledgers.
  • Custom accounting software + financial planning and analysis software: to support accurate financial performance analysis, financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting.
  • Custom accounting software + bank accounts: to enable faster reconciliation.
  • Custom accounting software + BI solution: to enable accounting analytics and reporting.

Accounting Software Development Services by ScienceSoft

An accounting software development company with 34 years of experience in creating custom solutions, ScienceSoft helps businesses in 30+ industries build effective accounting systems tailored to their unique accounting needs.

Accounting software consulting

  • Analysis of your accounting needs.
  • Assessment of the existing accounting processes and tools.
  • Suggesting optimal features, architecture, and tech stack for the accounting solution.
  • Preparing an integration plan (with CRM, HRMS, asset management system, cash management software, etc.).
  • Development cost & time estimates, expected ROI calculation.
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Accounting software development

  • Accounting solution conceptualization.
  • Architecture design.
  • Accounting software development.
  • Integrating the custom accounting solution with the required systems.
  • Quality assurance.
  • User training.
  • Continuous support and evolution of accounting software (if required).
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What Our Customers Say

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Success Factors for Custom Accounting Software

In ScienceSoft’s accounting software development projects, we always look to cover the following important factors that help bring additional value across our customers’ accounting processes:

AI-driven accounting analytics

To get recommendations on the optimal payment queues and payment methods, depreciation calculation methods, and more.

Cloud deployment

To reduce accounting software maintenance costs, enable faster updates, and provide easily accessible workspace for global collaboration on accounting processes.

Easy-to-use APIs and connectors

To streamline accounting software integration with your essential back-office systems and relevant third-party tools.

ScienceSoft’s Senior Business Analyst and Financial and Banking IT Consultant

Strong security is a must for corporate accounting apps. We power accounting solutions with robust data security mechanisms to control access to sensitive financial data, promptly spot malicious user activities, and easily recognize non-compliant and fraudulent transactions.

Custom Accounting Software Development: Success Stories by ScienceSoft

Custom Billing Software for a Leading European Marketplace

Custom Billing Software for a Leading European Marketplace

  • Functionality for invoicing, debt collection, accounting, financial reporting, and more.
  • Integration of billing software into the Customer’s online marketplace.
  • Flexibility to evolve the billing platform with new features.
  • Automated system scaling from using 2 to > 50 servers to handle the load.

Customer’s benefit: Faster payment processing, streamlined debt collection.

Viber Billing Portal Development

Viber Billing Portal Development

  • Self-service functionality for the messenger’s users to track the account balance and manage payments.
  • Automated payment processing.
  • Support for various payment options, including Visa, MasterCard, PayPal.
  • Real-time fraud detection.

Customer’s benefit: A convenient and scalable billing portal that helps the Customer receive due payments faster.

How to Develop Accounting Software

Accounting software development requires an accurate action plan to establish smooth project flow and prevent risks. Below, ScienceSoft describes the key steps of our custom accounting software development process to provide you with a general idea on how your project may look.

1.

Business analysis and requirements engineering

Business analysis and requirements engineering
  • Conducting interviews with the stakeholders and accounting subject matter experts to understand their challenges and needs.
  • Auditing the currently used accounting software and IT infrastructure.
  • Determining relevant regulatory compliance requirements (IFRS, GAAP, ZATCA, etc.).
  • Composing a detailed list of functional and non-functional requirements for the accounting software.
ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft

2.

Accounting software design

Accounting software design
  • Creating an optimal feature set for the accounting software, including advanced functionality such as AI-supported payment planning, intelligent fraud detection, or blockchain-based bookkeeping.
  • Designing the logic for accounting calculations, journal entries, reconciliation, and more.
  • Designing a scalable and secure architecture for the accounting system.
  • Prototyping convenient UX and UI, customizing it for various accounting roles (A/R specialists, payroll specialists, etc.).
  • Planning accounting software integrations with the required corporate systems (CRM, inventory software, etc.) and external data sources (e.g., bank systems, payment gateways).
  • Selecting a best-fitting development tech stack (programming languages, platforms, frameworks, third-party APIs, and more).
ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft

3.

Project planning

Project planning
  • Defining the deliverables, scope, and KPIs for the accounting software development project.
  • Composing the optimal development team and creating a detailed work breakdown structure.
  • Estimating the project timelines, costs, and ROI/NPV.
  • Analyzing potential risks and introducing a risk mitigation plan.
ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft

4.

Development, integration, and QA

Development, integration, and QA
  • Coding the back end of a custom accounting system, including APIs.
  • Creating role-specific user interfaces.
  • Setting up accounting data storage.
  • Establishing the required integrations.
  • Quality assurance of the accounting solution (functional, security, performance testing, and more), performed in parallel with coding.

Optional:

ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft

5.

Financial data migration

Financial data migration
  • Migrating financial data from the currently used accounting tool or spreadsheets to the new solution.
  • Identifying missed, duplicated, or inaccurate financial data and fixing the issues.
ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft

6.

Deployment and after-launch support

Deployment and after-launch support
  • Configuring accounting software infrastructure and solution deployment to production.
  • Establishing robust infrastructure security, financial data backup and recovery procedures.
  • Providing all necessary accounting software documentation, including user tutorials and maintenance guides.
  • Training the accounting teams in a remote, in-person, or hybrid format.
  • Monitoring accounting software performance and promptly fixing any arising issues.
  • Running regular security and compliance audits.
  • Accounting system upgrading with new features when needed.
ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft

Custom Accounting Software Costs and Financial Outcomes

The cost of custom accounting software varies greatly depending on:

  • The number and complexity of a solution’s functional modules.
  • The type of automation (RPA or AI-powered features).
  • The volume of data that needs to be migrated from spreadsheets and/or existing accounting software.
  • The type of accounting software deployment (cloud, on-premises, hybrid).
  • The number and complexity of integrations (with CRM, HRMS, asset management software, an inventory management system, a BI solution, etc.).

How much does it cost to build accounting software?

Pricing Information

Based on ScienceSoft’s experience, the cost to build a custom accounting app of average complexity ranges between $200,000 and $300,000, while accounting software development for a large enterprise may cost more than $400,000.

Want to know the cost of your accounting solution?

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Learn the Cost of Your Accounting Software

All you need is to answer a few questions about your business requirements. This will help our team calculate the cost of your unique accounting solution much quicker.

*What is your industry?

*What type of company do you represent?

*What is the expected number of users?

Are you going to sell your software to:

*How many individuals will use your software, approximately?

*How many organizations are you planning to target, approximately?

*How many end users (individuals from all organizations) will use your software, approximately?

How many organizations are you planning to target, approximately?

*How many end users (individuals from all organizations and outside organizations) will use your software, approximately?

*Which software version do you need?

*Which platforms should your accounting software support?

*What functional modules should your accounting software provide?

*What accounting processes should your software automate?

*Should your software provide complex analytics and reporting?

*Do you have any preferences for the deployment model?

*Would you require any integrations?

?

With other corporate solutions, external data sources (e.g., bank accounts, financial data marketplaces), or third-party systems (payment processing, user authentication, messaging).

*Are there any compliance requirements for your planned solution? Choose all that apply.

*What is the current stage of your project?

Do you need to migrate data from legacy software?

*Do you have tech stack preferences?

?

Particular programming languages, software platforms, cloud services, etc.

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Please let us know where we should send your estimate. Our experts may need to ask a few extra questions to calculate a precise quote for your case.

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ScienceSoft's experts will study your case and get back to you with the details within 24 hours.

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How long does it take to develop accounting software?

The development of custom accounting software may take 6–12+ months, depending on the solution’s functional scope and complexity. ScienceSoft can deliver an MVP of your accounting app in 3+ months and consistently grow it to the fully-featured solution with major releases every 2–3 weeks.

Key benefits of custom accounting software

The annual ROI for custom accounting software may reach up to 290%.

  • Up to 100%

    of business-specific accounting needs covered due to tailor-made functionality

  • 80%+

    improvement in accountants’ productivity due to automation of accounting processes

  • 90%

    improvement in bookkeeping accuracy due to eliminated manual errors

  • 90%

    improvement in visibility across accounting transactions

  • Up to 2x

    faster financial close due to rule-based reconciliation

  • Up to 2x

    reduction in DSO due to automated A/R collections

  • Faster

    approval of financial documents and payments due to configurable multi-department approval workflow

  • Simplified

    tax compliance due to automated tax calculation and filing

When Custom Accounting Software Is Your Best Choice

Custom enterprise accounting software is aimed to introduce unique functional and non-functional capabilities to help companies from various industries maximize the efficiency of their accounting processes.

ScienceSoft recommends opting for custom development in the following cases:

You need an accounting solution providing specific features, for example:

  • Applying user-defined events to trigger financial transaction processing.
  • Creating customized priority rules for A/P payment and A/R collection queues.
  • Custom payroll, tax, employee reimbursement calculations.
  • Verification of financial reports based on custom rules.
  • Intelligent GL balance forecasting by account.
  • Hedge accounting.
  • Accounting for crypto assets.

You need a business accounting solution providing compliance with local regulations in the regions your company operates.

You need highly secure accounting software providing advanced tools to protect your sensitive financial and business data.

You need to integrate accounting software with your custom legacy systems (CRM, HRMS, asset management system, cash management system, etc.) smoothly and cost-efficiently.

Get a Fully Tailored Accounting Solution

ScienceSoft’s team is ready to design and build accounting software that adheres to your organization’s unique accounting processes.

About ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft is an international IT consulting and software development company headquartered in McKinney, Texas. Since 2007, we help businesses build effective custom accounting software. Being an ISO 9001- and ISO 27001-certified company, we apply a mature quality management system and guarantee that cooperation with us does not pose any risks to our customers’ data security.