Best Farm Accounting Software for Livestock Farm management 

Farm management isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. On a farm, the daily chores vary greatly depending on the type of farm and the season. If you work on a livestock farm, your early morning rituals will include sanitizing the milk system, pushing up a feed for cows, bringing cows into the waiting area, milking cows, washing the milking parlour and equipment, feeding milk to calves, and then later in the day feeding grain to calves, scraping the barn, bringing straws into stalls and corrals as needed, checking the fences and creek crossings and fixing/cleaning/constructing things as needed. 

Then, there are some seasonal jobs too, for example melting the ice or defrosting frozen water pipes at all the animals’ watering holes. Moreover, especially before the calving seasons begin, farmers like to prepare a checklist:

1. Clean the barn and replace the bedding.
2. Before calving season, cattle are out grazing on pasture. 
3. Pulling chains and pullers should be sanitized.
4. Check your milk replacer supply and place an order if necessary.
5. Install a hot wire fence around cows with newborn calves.
6. For new calves, order fresh ear tags.
7. Cows and virgin (first-calf) heifers should be separated.
8. Take stock of immunizations and place an order before the calving date.
9. Check the inventory of all medicines and antibiotics, and place orders as needed.
10. Set up pens for the cattle to stay in if there is a problem.

Keeping track of what’s going on at the dairy farm necessitates some paperwork. Having a comprehensive collection of farm records is essential for good farm management. Good records do not guarantee that the farm will be successful, but they do make it more likely. Farm records are similar to report cards given to pupils in school. Farmers can use a farm report card to see how well they’re operating their operation in comparison to other producers in their ‘class.’

They can also see their operation’s strengths and flaws. When borrowing money, requesting government assistance, or filling out tax forms, having precise facts and numbers is essential. Equity (or the fraction of total assets held) can be updated using accurate farm data to help with future farm investment programs.

Farm records can aid in the evaluation of a mixed farm’s dairy industry, and farm counsel will be more successful if the adviser is aware of what is going on the farm. Budgets forecast what will happen in the future, while records and statements show what has happened or is happening on the farm. Data, information, and knowledge are all provided through records to the farm manager. 

Here are some livestock records that are important to keep:

1. Calving dates
2. Dairy milk yields
3. Dairy herd milk yield
4. Regular milk composition data
5. Mastitis treatment
6. Routine monitoring of feed offered
7. Live weight and body condition of adult cows 
8. Live weight and body condition of young stock
9. Dates and results of pregnancy diagnosis
10. Animal sickness, veterinary visits, and drug treatment
11. Routine vaccination and drenching
12. Stock purchases and sales of culls
13. Stock deaths and probable causes
14. Age when culled
15. Milk and concentrate intakes of young calves
16. Yields of forage crops
17. Other dairy enterprise sale

Farm management isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. The last thing farmers want to worry about after a long day on the field is keeping track of their finances. Farmers, like any other business, must keep accurate and orderly accounting records to keep track of the farm’s financial management and productivity. Most farmers would prefer to power wash a hog barn than balance a checkbook since accounting is unlikely to be the most fascinating item on a farmer’s to-do list, but they have little choice.

Farmers don’t have enough time to spend hours of precious daylight on the phone with their accountant or trying to comprehend sophisticated spreadsheets because of the farm’s daily busy rituals. This implies that, just like any other business, farmers require smart and efficient farm accounting software to help them manage their finances. The key to successful farm accounting software is its ease of use and efficient bookkeeping administration. However, with so many software and ERP systems available, selecting the finest farm accounting software in industrialized agriculture is a difficult undertaking. 

Benefits of Farm Accounting Software

• Easy Tracking of Bills:

Farm accounting software lets you know when your bills are due by highlighting them or sending you notifications. It gives you a clear view of accounts payable and cash flow and even payment of bills also becomes easier for you through farm accounting software.

• Automation of Every Financial Task:

When accounting software gives you a clear picture of your accounts, it automatically leads you towards the automation of your financial tasks. Through this software, you can easily pay your bills because it also has all your banking information saved in it so the payment of your liabilities is just a few clicks away. There won’t be any hassle of going to your bank branch or atm to make any transaction. Everything will be digitized in a very effective way.

• Workflow Management:

Farmers can establish sequential tasks to delegate to suitable workers/members or the business using the integrated ERP solution for agriculture. To improve the efficiency of business operations, automate task delegation and monitoring.

3 Best Farm Accounting Software

FastTrack Dynamics Finance and Operations

FastTrack Dynamics Finance and Operations from folio3 is at the top of the list when it comes to the finest accounting software for farmers. The intelligent software solution includes a variety of advanced and out-of-the-box features, such as interactive charts, timely notifications, and other functionalities, to ensure thorough business performance evaluation and process optimization. Built on Dynamics AX, 365, and Business Central, the FastTrack Dynamics Finance and Operations solution is the most comprehensive management and farm accounting system available. 

Pros:

• The interface is simple to use and interactive
• Unique company requirements necessitate a customized solution.
• For increased accuracy and efficiency, use pre-configured instances.
• Advanced warehouse capabilities can be configured.

Cons:

• You may need some initial training to get acclimated to all of the features and functions.

Pricing:

Pricing is subject to change based on the client’s requirements.

Quickbook Desktop Pro:

Farm accounting software like QuickBooks for farmers has remained a popular choice for farmers all over the world. With its economical and robust accounting solutions, QuickBooks Desktop Pro takes it to the next level. The Desktop Pro version of QuickBooks for Farmers delivers a lot of customization to farming operations, as well as a vast network of expert guidance, as you might expect from QuickBooks for Farmers. QuickBooks Desktop Pro is unquestionably one of the best small farm accounting software programs available, allowing farmers to manage all aspects of their farm accounting.

Pros:

• A vast network of advisors and expert guidance is available at an affordable price.
• Exceptionally adaptable
• Accountants’ chart customized

Cons:

• There is no mobile app available.
• Additional fees apply to the payroll feature.
• The interface that is difficult to use

Pricing:

QuickBooks for farmers comes in a variety of packages, ranging from a one-time  

charge of $299.95 for QuickBooks Desktop Pro to a yearly fee of $499.5 for 

QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus.

EasyFarm:

For farmers searching for a simple accounting solution, EasyFarm is another excellent option. Farmers may simply handle personal and agricultural funds on the site without having to mix the two. This is especially useful for small farmers who tend to keep both funds in the same account. EasyFarm is a great small farm accounting program with a simple UI and a focus on farming language rather than accounting terms.

Pros:

• Input screen that is both interactive and simple to use
• Crops and livestock benefit greatly.
• Accounts charted to your specifications
• A training document was included with the package.

Cons:

• The use of farming jargon may be difficult for bookkeepers to comprehend.
• Additional fees for invoice issuance and tracking
• There is no way to keep track of outstanding debts.
• Inter-account transactions are not supported.

Pricing:

• EasyFarm 8.3 Lite: $509 one-time fee
• EasyFarm 8.3 Plus: $595 one-time fee
• EasyFarm 8.3 Pro Corps: $800 one-time fee
• EasyFarm 8.3 Pro Livestock: $800 one-time fee
• EasyFarm 8.3 Premier: $1,100 one-time fee

How to Choose Farm Accounting Software?

While picking up the right accounting software for your livestock farm, you should look for the finest farm accounting software that is capable of handling farm-specific accounting duties such as cost center creation to track profit and loss by farm unit. It should also keep track of inventory items like feed and grain, as well as fixed asset activities and personal income and expenses. 

QuickBooks is the natural choice for most farmers when it comes to managing their farm’s finance and accounting needs. The issue with QuickBooks for farmers is that it is a stand-alone solution that does not account for other areas of farm management.

Agriculture software, such as Folio3’s FastTrack ERP, provides an integrated approach to farm management, including accounting requirements. It’s a consolidated platform for managing all aspects of farm operations. In addition, agriculture software packages are significantly more suited to scalability.

Farms can scale ERP solutions as their business grows, which is tough to do with QuickBooks for farmers. And especially when it comes to animal care folio3 offers Livestock record Keeping Software that makes it easy for farmers, ranchers, and commercial cattle producers to exchange real-time cattle records inside their networks with our livestock record-keeping software, fully eliminating paper-based operations.

From birth until processing or relocation, the software organizes all information about each animal, with direct information flow across the seed stock, cow-calf, feedlot, and packing sectors. 

Conclusion

We’ve covered the three top farm accounting software options above, but if a farmer wants the best of everything, we propose Folio3 services for custom livestock management software to help them run their farms more efficiently. Folio 3 is suitable for modest to big-scale farms, as can be seen.

 

FAQs:

Q:What is a farm accounting system?

The farm accounting system is software that allows you to assess the efficacy of your efforts, as well as determine which projects are the most profitable for your company, and correctly track and forecast spending.

Q:How do you keep track of livestock?

Usually, to keep track of livestock, farmers use a register to record the number of animals on the farm, as well as their identification number, date of birth, sire number, dam number, calf, and its sex, date of calving, date of purchase, and date of sale/auction/death, are all recorded in this register.