As we inch towards a release data for the new accounting software, it’s time to figure what it will include, and what it will cost.
Support is an easy decision. Instead of paper manuals, the new app will have web pages, built-in help info, and YouTube videos. No phone calls: tech support by email only. That’s the norm these days.
Pricing will depend on size. The code can build a range of apps with different features: from a simple, cheap checkbook app all the way up to the full Goldenseal equivalent. Most of our income probably will come from the small stuff, sold in app stores. Pricing for those is just a marketing decision.
It’s more complicated for run-your-whole business software like the current Goldenseal. On the Mac, there’s only one competitor: Quickbooks Desktop, at $349 a year, or its web version with monthly pricing. For Windows there are plenty of choices. Nearly all have a monthly or annual fee.
The software business has changed. Nobody wants to sell apps outright any more. A steady revenue stream is so much better: it’s called Software as a Service. Relying on new software sales bit TurtleSoft on the ass during the Great Recession and after, so we understand the reasons.
The problem is, there’s no polite and simple method to make people pay regularly. One approach is to run everything from a server. For that, users need a constant Internet connection. It also has the risk of outages, data breaches or lost data.
If users run the app locally, it needs a dongle, or some other way to shut down the software. That shuts down their business. TurtleSoft would prefer to stay on good terms with users, and not do that. Besides, there are plenty of better features for our programmers to work on, rather than a kill switch.
We’re still chewing on this very basic decision. It would be nice to find some middle ground, but I don’t think one exists.
Some current Goldenseal users have already paid for the update. We also promised a free update to recent buyers. They get the new app, period. So the only other question is, what will it cost for other long-time Goldenseal users?
This rewrite took ages to finish. It’s long overdue. On the other hand, the new design is better than Goldenseal. On the third hand, it’s different. That may annoy die-hard users who like the old interface. We still hear from users who never left our original Excel-based estimating software, retired in 2000.
We sold Goldenseal (and previous apps) as a one-time purchase, and we may continue to do so. However, software does depreciate, just like any other equipment. It seems reasonable to figure that into the price equation.
For upgrades, it probably makes sense is to give a partial credit for the original Goldenseal purchase cost. Then subtract something per year. Then add back what was paid for updates over the years.
Comments are welcome. The release date is still months away.
Dennis Kolva
Programming Director
TurtleSoft.com
