Where generic accounting software is genuinely fine
To be fair to generic accounting software: for straightforward bookkeeping — recording expenses, issuing simple invoices, basic bank reconciliation — it does the job. Small agencies with very low booking volume and no complex product mix can get by on it for a while.
Where the gap opens up
The gap appears once bookings involve supplier costs in foreign currencies, commission income that needs to be tracked separately from fees, or VAT treatment that varies by service type. Generic software can be configured to approximate this with custom fields and manual discipline, but it's working against the tool's design, not with it.
A direct comparison
On the specifics that matter to a travel agency — commission tracking, supplier cost linkage, multi-currency handling, and booking-native VAT treatment — a travel-specific ERP handles these natively; generic accounting software requires manual workarounds for all of them.
Where Muhasib fits
Muhasib is built specifically for the travel agency's version of these problems — commission, supplier cost, multi-currency, and travel VAT are core concepts, not custom configuration layered onto a generic accounting package.