July 27, 2015
Having developed a productivity & project management application that is finished beta-testing and that I am preparing to take large, I've been doing some ad-hoc market research, keeping my eyes peeled for best accounting and project management tools. This morning I awoke feeling curious about the accounting software space, which has been dominated for so long by Intuit, and I was intrigued to discover this glowing article in PC Magazine giving FreeAgent a higher rating. I had to check it out.
What I discovered reminded me of a trend I've been noticing over the past several years not just in accounting software design, but in business application design in general (project management, web design, CRM, etc.) that reminds me of this 2011 satirical article from The Onion: "Nation Down to Last Hundred Grown-Ups."
In short, I discovered an application that can only be described as dumbed down, childish, and cartoonish, pandering to the Narcissism Epidemic that has been afflicting society over my entire life time. It is to a useful accounting system as the above picture is to useful tools. I was reminded once again that there's a big difference between "popular" and "good."
Accounting is all about answering questions. To answer questions well, we need robust reports that can be modified to answer pretty much any question anyone, no matter how childish they may be, might ask. Indeed, since the most childlike among us tend to be the ones who ask the most questions, we need all the more to be prepared to provide truthful answers.
FreeAgent reports have no such modification functionality. When it comes to reporting, the pickins are indeed very slim and, in my professional and considered opinion, they're not worth the data entry effort, regardless how amusing or whimsical the user interface may be.
But I don't mean to pick on FreeAgent; they're merely one example of a larger trend to try to make business childish. Accounting system design is no place for child's play.
Is this just a matter of taste? No it's not. It's a matter of fact, and of Truth.
Children like to play pretend. They like to live in a fantasy world. They're inherently narcissistic. They live in the moment. They don't have a very solid grasp on the cause-effect relationships between past, present, and future. Part of good parenting involves gently, lovingly leading them out of their narcissism into maturity and objectivity, helping them connect the causal dots between past, present, and future.
In financial terms, this means focusing not just on recent profitability and cash flow. It means focusing on how total assets, liabilities, and equity change over time, and on what causes their change. It means understanding that cash flow bears an indirect relationship with profit and equity, and that sometimes if a lot of debt or venture capital are involved, cash flow can be misleading and can actually hide problems.
The FreeAgent balance sheet can not be modified to compare two points in time and see how it's changing. It has no budget tracking. An accounting system without a budget is like a compass without a map.
All of this matters because if this tendency to pander to childish narcissism remains unchecked and continues to inveigle its way into the way adults think about and do business, it can afflict entire cultures and countries, setting them up for failure.
In conclusion, in the case of FreeAgent, skip it. Stick with QuickBooks because it provides the reports necessary to answer even the most childish of questions, as well as any grown-up questions that may arise. Besides, you don't have to rent QuickBooks; if you host it on your own computer, you can own it. Its total cost is lower.
But more generally, whenever you encounter an application that seems designed to appeal to your "Inner Child", don't just walk away . . . RUN. Instead of expecting everyone else to "dumb it down" for you, consider "smarting yourself up." Instead of seeking ways to continue arresting development, seek opportunities for personal growth.
Respectfully submitted,
Kristofer N. Freeberg, Economist
Making End$ Meet
Having developed a productivity & project management application that is finished beta-testing and that I am preparing to take large, I've been doing some ad-hoc market research, keeping my eyes peeled for best accounting and project management tools. This morning I awoke feeling curious about the accounting software space, which has been dominated for so long by Intuit, and I was intrigued to discover this glowing article in PC Magazine giving FreeAgent a higher rating. I had to check it out.
What I discovered reminded me of a trend I've been noticing over the past several years not just in accounting software design, but in business application design in general (project management, web design, CRM, etc.) that reminds me of this 2011 satirical article from The Onion: "Nation Down to Last Hundred Grown-Ups."
In short, I discovered an application that can only be described as dumbed down, childish, and cartoonish, pandering to the Narcissism Epidemic that has been afflicting society over my entire life time. It is to a useful accounting system as the above picture is to useful tools. I was reminded once again that there's a big difference between "popular" and "good."
Accounting is all about answering questions. To answer questions well, we need robust reports that can be modified to answer pretty much any question anyone, no matter how childish they may be, might ask. Indeed, since the most childlike among us tend to be the ones who ask the most questions, we need all the more to be prepared to provide truthful answers.
FreeAgent reports have no such modification functionality. When it comes to reporting, the pickins are indeed very slim and, in my professional and considered opinion, they're not worth the data entry effort, regardless how amusing or whimsical the user interface may be.
But I don't mean to pick on FreeAgent; they're merely one example of a larger trend to try to make business childish. Accounting system design is no place for child's play.
Is this just a matter of taste? No it's not. It's a matter of fact, and of Truth.
Children like to play pretend. They like to live in a fantasy world. They're inherently narcissistic. They live in the moment. They don't have a very solid grasp on the cause-effect relationships between past, present, and future. Part of good parenting involves gently, lovingly leading them out of their narcissism into maturity and objectivity, helping them connect the causal dots between past, present, and future.
In financial terms, this means focusing not just on recent profitability and cash flow. It means focusing on how total assets, liabilities, and equity change over time, and on what causes their change. It means understanding that cash flow bears an indirect relationship with profit and equity, and that sometimes if a lot of debt or venture capital are involved, cash flow can be misleading and can actually hide problems.
The FreeAgent balance sheet can not be modified to compare two points in time and see how it's changing. It has no budget tracking. An accounting system without a budget is like a compass without a map.
All of this matters because if this tendency to pander to childish narcissism remains unchecked and continues to inveigle its way into the way adults think about and do business, it can afflict entire cultures and countries, setting them up for failure.
In conclusion, in the case of FreeAgent, skip it. Stick with QuickBooks because it provides the reports necessary to answer even the most childish of questions, as well as any grown-up questions that may arise. Besides, you don't have to rent QuickBooks; if you host it on your own computer, you can own it. Its total cost is lower.
But more generally, whenever you encounter an application that seems designed to appeal to your "Inner Child", don't just walk away . . . RUN. Instead of expecting everyone else to "dumb it down" for you, consider "smarting yourself up." Instead of seeking ways to continue arresting development, seek opportunities for personal growth.
Respectfully submitted,
Kristofer N. Freeberg, Economist
Making End$ Meet