Software

[Cityboy]

Is there any software out there thats no real exspensive that can keep track of a cattle operation and costs ????

 

[Angus Cowman]

Is there any software out there thats no real exspensive that can keep track of a cattle operation and costs ????

yes there are several
I use the MDI cow/calf manager from Magnum Digital, there is cattle max, and several others

 

[randiliana]

I use Ranch Manager from Lionedge.com

 

[I luv herfrds]

I also use Ranch Manager. I just love it.

 

[randiliana]

I also use Ranch Manager. I just love it.

Me too, I have used a couple different ones in the past, and Ranch Manager is by far the easiest to use. Plus the support they give is great too. And updates every now and then.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I also use Ranch Manager. I just love it.

Me too, I have used a couple different ones in the past, and Ranch Manager is by far the easiest to use. Plus the support they give is great too. And updates every now and then.

How does the Ranch Manager compare to CattleMax?? price & usefullness?

 

[randiliana]

I also use Ranch Manager. I just love it.

Me too, I have used a couple different ones in the past, and Ranch Manager is by far the easiest to use. Plus the support they give is great too. And updates every now and then.

How does the Ranch Manager compare to CattleMax?? price & usefullness?

I've never used CattleMaxx. Price wise I believe that Ranch Manager was $125 when I bought it. It covers all the basics and a lot more. You can download animal info from a few of the breed associations. You can get a demo to see what you think.

 

[Angus Cowman]

The wife looked at several a few yrs ago and she liked the MDI one the best and the cost wasn't bad another thing they offered that she really liked is if you bought it in say 2005 and every yr the make upgrades and you don't buy them then in 2010 you decide to upgrade then all you have to buy is the 2010 upgrade and you get all the previous ones with out having to pay for them

Also it is made in the US the company is from Warrensburg, Mo.

I think she said it cost like $250-$300

 

[Angus Cowman]

she said you can go to magnum digital.com and download a free trial also

She said that several she looked at, that their server stored your info and you had to connect to the internet and we didn't like that at all

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

So what is the contact info on the Ranch Manager?
Might check out both.

 

[randiliana]

So what is the contact info on the Ranch Manager?
Might check out both.

http://www.lionedge.com

 

[I luv herfrds]

I did the trail version of Cattle Maxx. I was told that I could do anything on it. Actually I couldn't get it to do a thing.
Found Ranch Manager and did their trail version. I could do anything I needed to on it.

I couldn't enter a single animal on the Cattle Maxx, but was able to enter my complete herd on Ranch Manager.
RM cost me $99.00
The tech support is great. Now if you have a different breed then the ones listed you can add it into the program.

 

[SRBeef]

Is there any software out there thats no real exspensive that can keep track of a cattle operation and costs ????

I use Cattlemax. It does take a bit of learning but that is off set by an amazing number of reports and data it compiles for you, almost automatically. I know nothing about the other programs.

However what caught my eye and led me to post a response is your wanting a program to "keep track of cattle operation and costs"

It seems to me that these are really two separate software problems and programs, cattle and costs.

While Cattlemax and probably other cattle data management programs have place to put costs/expenses in, they are NOT accounting programs.

It seems to me that you really need two programs, a cattle/herd data mangement program and an accounting program like Quickbooks. Quickbooks does have a set of accounts for a farming operation but you can't really keep track of your cattle weaning wts, pedigree etc on Quickbooks. Nor can you calculate P&L or do purchase orders or invoices or checkbook management from Cattlemax.

I don't think one program can do a good job at both cattle data management and profit/loss accounting and maintaining a balance sheet.

With cattle prices the way they have been maybe you don't want a P&L or Balance sheet!

jmho. Good Luck.

 

[cowsrus]

I bought one called EZ-Ranch, (i think it was around $100. with my Farm Bureau discount )about 8 or 9 months ago. I like the program, but its shut me out 3 times and i've had to contact them for support. The last time i had to make a backup CD and mail to them and they figured out the problem then emailed me the fix for it, but i was down over a month. Right now i'm looking for another program, I might try the Ranch Manager and see if i like it better. The support is whats really important on these programs.

 

[cowsrus]

I forgot to mention, I use Quick Books Simple Start to keep track expenses and I love it. It tracks expenditures according to how you enter them right to the line item for your schedule F. It will even copy over to Turbo Tax i think.

 

[dun]

I have been more then satisfied with the excellent supoort from the Cattlemax folks. I'm still running version 2 plus the updates that I orginally bout 8 or so years ago. Even with the older stuff when I've had questions they've gotten the answer/solution to me within a day usually less.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Just went and looked at my Ranch Manager again. There is an icon in the toolbar for income and exspenses. They have a profit and loss chart in this part.

 

[dcara]

I just use the spreadsheets that are provided in OpenOffice which is a free download. I also run all of the family and ranch finances on the same program.

 

[idylglade1]

Ranch manager is what I use. I can track everything that I need with it. It cost me $99.00 about three years ago. Support is great even at all hours.

 

[tom4018]

We are using Cattleworks. We did a demo on Cattlemax, Ranch Manager and some others. Cattleworks was the simplest I found to me Cattlemax and Ranch Manger were more confusing. We use spreadsheets too as none of the programs did some things we wanted. You cam download a Cattleworks demo, www.cattleworks.com

Try all of them to see what you like.