SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                    FORM 10-K

[X]Annual report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities  Exchange Act
   of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1997

                                       or

[ ]Transition report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities  Exchange
   Act of 1934

                         Commission file number: 0-26994

                              ADVENT SOFTWARE, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                                    Delaware
                            (State of incorporation)

                                   94-2901952
                      (IRS Employer Identification Number)

               301 Brannan Street, San Francisco, California 94107
              (Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

                                 (415) 543-7696
              (Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

        Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Acts: None

           Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

                          Common Stock, $0.01 par value
                                (Title of Class)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required
to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during
the  preceding 12 months (or for such  shorter  period that the  registrant  was
required  to file  such  reports),  and  (2) has  been  subject  to such  filing
requirements for the past 90 days.
                                 Yes [X] No [ ]

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent  filers  pursuant to Item 405
of Regulation  S-K is not contained  herein,  and will not be contained,  to the
best  of  the  registrant's   knowledge,  in  definitive  proxy  or  information
statements  incorporated  by  reference  in Part  III of this  Form  10-K or any
amendment to this Form 10-K. [X]

The number of shares of the  registrant's  Common Stock  outstanding as of March
25, 1998 was 7,901,000.  The aggregate market value of the  registrant's  Common
Stock held by non-affiliates, based upon the closing price on March 27, 1998, as
reported on the Nasdaq National Market System, was approximately $176.0 million.
Shares of Common  Stock held by each officer and director and by each person who
owns 5% or more of the outstanding  Common Stock have been excluded in that such
persons may be deemed to be affiliates.  This  determination of affiliate status
is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

                       DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Parts of the following documents are incorporated by reference into Parts II and
III of this Form 10-K: (1) 1997 Annual Report to  Stockholders of the Registrant
(Part  II of  this  Form  10-K);  and (2)  Definitive  Proxy  Statement  for the
registrant's  Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held April 30, 1998 (Part III
of this Form 10-K).






                                     PART I

Item 1. BUSINESS

Overview

    Advent  Software,  Inc.  (Advent) is a leading  provider of stand-alone  and
client/server  software  products,  data  interfaces  and related  services that
automate  and  integrate  certain   mission-critical   functions  of  investment
management  organizations.  Advent's  suite of  complementary  products  for the
front,  middle  and  back  office  includes  Axys(TM),  Advent  Partner(TM)  and
Geneva(R),  Advent's  portfolio  accounting and management  systems;  Moxy(R), a
trading and order management  system;  Qube(R),  a client  management system and
Rex(TM),  an automated  transaction and position  reconciliation  system.  These
products address the need to facilitate the management of increasingly large and
complex   information   and  data  flows  both  within   investment   management
organizations  and  between  such  organizations  and  third  parties,  such  as
brokerage firms,  clients,  custodians,  banks,  pricing services and other data
providers.  Advent's  products are designed to reduce client costs,  improve the
accuracy of client information, and generally enable clients to devote more time
to improving the service they provide to their customers rather than focusing on
operational   details.   Advent's   strategy  is  to  develop  long-term  client
relationships and to maintain a high level of lifetime client satisfaction which
Advent  believes will result in additional  recurring  revenues from new product
licenses, renewals of existing maintenance contracts and the introduction of new
data products.

    Advent's clients include many of the world's leading  investment  management
organizations.  These  organizations  vary  significantly in size,  assets under
management  and the  complexity of their  investment  environments.  At present,
Advent has licensed its products to over 4,500  institutions in 22 countries for
use by more than 25,000 concurrent users.

    Advent was  incorporated  in 1983 in California  and  reincorporated  in the
State of Delaware in November 1995.

Industry Background

    The investment  management  business includes a range of organizations  that
manage investment  portfolios,  including investment advisors,  brokerage firms,
banks and hedge funds.  In addition,  corporations,  public funds,  foundations,
universities  and  non-profit  organizations  manage  investment  portfolios and
perform  similar  portfolio  management  functions.   Recently,  the  investment
management  industry has  experienced  significant  growth which, in combination
with other  factors,  has led to  increasing  demand for software  products that
automate,   simplify  and  integrate  functions  within  investment   management
organizations.  This increasing  demand is driven by several industry  dynamics.
Financial assets under management have increased  substantially  during the last
decade.  As the value of total financial  assets under management has increased,
there has been a  substantial  increase in the number of  investment  management
organizations and a steady introduction of increasingly  sophisticated financial
instruments.  As a  result,  investment  managers  are faced  with  increasingly
complicated  portfolio  accounting  and  management   requirements.   Investment
management   organizations  are  subject  to  extensive  and  evolving  industry
standards and government  regulations.  These dynamics have increased the volume
and  complexity  of  information  and data flows  within  investment  management
organizations  and  between  such  organizations  and  third  parties,  such  as
brokerage firms,  clients,  custodians,  banks,  pricing services and other data
providers.  Consequently,   investment  management  organizations  require  more
sophisticated and integrated  software products for their front, middle and back
offices.  In order to operate  efficiently  within this environment,  investment
management  organizations must automate and integrate their mission-critical and
labor-intensive functions,  including (i) investment decision support and client
relationship  management,  (ii) order management and trading and (iii) portfolio
accounting,   performance   measurement,   report   generation  and  compliance.
Investment  management  organizations  historically  have  relied on  internally
developed systems,  timesharing services or simple spreadsheet-based  systems to
manage information flows. Due to inherent  limitations in each of these types of
systems,  investment  management  

                                      -2-



organizations are demanding highly functional,
easy-to-use,  scalable,  cost-effective and flexible software  applications that
automate and integrate their mission-critical business functions.

Software Products

    Advent offers a suite of stand-alone  and  client/server  software  products
that  automate and  integrate  work and data flows across the front,  middle and
back  offices  within the  investment  management  organization,  as well as the
information  flows between the investment  management  organization and external
parties.  Advent's  products are intended to reduce  client  costs,  improve the
accuracy  of client  information  and  generally  enable  clients to improve the
service  they provide to their  customers  rather than  focusing on  operational
details. Each software product is focused on certain mission-critical  functions
of the front,  middle or back offices of  investment  management  organizations.
Individual  products  are  tailored  to meet the  needs of a  particular  market
segment,  as determined by size,  assets under  management and complexity of the
investment  environment.  In  addition,  Advent  believes  its products are well
suited for the investment  management  functions of corporations,  public funds,
foundations, universities and non-profit organizations.




                              [Chart Appears Here]




Portfolio Accounting and Management

    Advent offers three  portfolio  accounting  and  management  systems,  Axys,
Advent  Partner  and  Geneva,  each  targeted  at a  different  segment  of  the
investment management industry.

                                      -3-



    Axys,  Advent's  core product,  introduced  in 1993, is a highly  functional
portfolio   accounting  and  management   system  targeted  towards   investment
management  organizations of all sizes. Axys provides  investment  professionals
with  broad  portfolio  accounting   functionality,   timely  decision  support,
sophisticated  performance  measurement  and flexible  reporting.  Specifically,
clients  can  record,  account  for  and  report  on  a  variety  of  investment
instruments, including equities, fixed income, mutual funds and cash. Axys users
gain access on demand to  portfolio  holdings,  asset  allocation,  realized and
unrealized  gains and losses,  actual and  projected  income and other  valuable
data. Portfolio performance can be measured for individual portfolios or related
groups, and for any specified time period.  Investment  professionals can choose
from over 200 pre-defined reports with flexible "as-of" reporting,  which can be
customized as to formats and fonts. Clients can easily generate fully customized
reports with the assistance of the Axys Report Writer.  Clients can also produce
presentation-quality  graphics via an  integrated  link with  Microsoft  Excel's
charting  capability.   In  addition,   Axys  offers  integrated   multicurrency
capabilities  which,  among other things,  allows  reports to be restated in any
currency,  withholding  tax to be  automatically  calculated,  and components of
return  attributable  to market prices versus  currency rate  fluctuations to be
identified.

    Axys also provides  integration with a variety of investment tools and data,
including (i) trade order management via Moxy, (ii) pricing,  corporate actions,
analytics and fundamental  data via interfaces to data vendors,  (iii) automatic
data entry and  reconciliation of trades with interfaces to The Depository Trust
Corporation  ( DTC ),  and to  certain  brokerage  firms  and  custodians,  (iv)
automatic transaction and position  reconciliation through the Internet via Rex,
Advent's  custodial  reconciliation  service  and  software,  and  (v)  Internet
reporting via the Axys WebView service, Advent's Internet reporting service.

    Advent  Partner,  introduced  in  December  1996,  is  a  tax  layering  and
partnership  allocation  solution which  integrates  with Axys.  This product is
specifically  designed for hedge  funds,  venture  funds and limited  investment
partnerships  who face the complex and  time-consuming  task of consistently and
accurately  accounting for and reporting on partnership tax allocation and other
activities. The Windows-based system tracks partner-specific information, layers
realized and unrealized gains,  allocates  performance  incentive fees, provides
on-demand  partner and partnership  reporting on a book or tax allocation  basis
and streamlines the production of partnership tax returns.

    Geneva,  introduced to target  organizations  in 1995 and made  commercially
available in October 1997, is a high-end portfolio management system designed to
meet  the  needs of  large,  global  investment  management  organizations  with
complex,  international  accounting  requirements.  Geneva  offers  feature-rich
global   accounting,   extensive   reporting  and  sophisticated   multicurrency
capabilities.  In addition,  Geneva's highly flexible design allows users to add
newly created financial  instruments and tailor  accounting  treatments to their
specific needs.

Trading and Order Management

    Moxy,  introduced in 1995,  automates and  streamlines the trading and order
management process. Moxy can be integrated with any portfolio accounting system,
facilitates accurate trade order management and preparation,  tracks trade order
status,  automates the allocation of block trades across multiple portfolios and
electronically  interfaces  with Axys to provide an  integrated  solution.  Moxy
supports fixed income, mutual funds, and equity trading and offers multicurrency
capabilities.  Moxy enables  investment  managers to accurately adjust portfolio
holdings,  rebalance  portfolios against models,  interactively assess "what-if"
scenarios  and  automatically  create orders to be executed.  For traders,  Moxy
tracks  cash  and  positions  during  the  trading  day,  enables  the  accurate
preparation of block trades and internal  electronic trade tickets,  facilitates
compliance with investment  restrictions and trading  requirements and minimizes
trading errors. 

                                      -4-



Moxy also allows traders and others to view the status of orders via  
customizable  screens and maintain an  electronic  audit trail of the trade
process.   Moxy  automates  the  allocation  process  of  partial  and  complete
executions and allows the user to send  allocation  results by fax directly from
the  computer  to  brokers  and banks.  Moxy  allows  clients  using  OASYS,  an
electronic   allocation   system,   to   communicate   allocations   to  brokers
electronically.  In the future, Moxy will have additional  electronic links that
instantly   communicate   trade  and  allocation   information  to  brokers  and
custodians.  Moxy  electronically  posts  allocated  trades into Axys on demand,
eliminating time-consuming and error-prone manual entry.

Client Management

    Qube,  introduced  in 1995,  is  designed to help  securities  professionals
develop  and improve  client  relationships  by  automating  scheduling,  client
communications   and  client  data.   For  example,   Qube  enables   investment
professionals to interactively  screen client  investment  profiles and notes of
conversations  to  identify   appropriate   candidates  for  various  investment
opportunities.  In  addition,  Qube  can be used  to  enhance  direct  marketing
campaigns by matching clients with market opportunities. Qube captures extensive
investment  profile  information,  has  on-line  query  capability,   networking
features and mail merge capabilities and facilitates  information sharing across
professionals  in an office.  Moreover,  Qube is designed to be integrated  with
Axys,  allowing users to provide  accurate and timely  portfolio  information to
clients.

Maintenance Support and Data Interfaces

    Advent  earns  recurring  revenues  by  offering  a  choice  of  maintenance
contracts  and by  providing  proprietary  interfaces  to  external  sources  of
critical data. These interfaces allow clients to (i) download pricing, corporate
actions and other data from third party  vendors  such as  Interactive  Data,  a
wholly owned indirect  subsidiary of Pearson plc  (Interactive  Data),  and (ii)
interface with DTC, certain brokerage firms and custodians for trading activity.
Advent  continually  analyzes the ongoing external data needs of its clients and
expects to offer new data products in the future.  Many of Advent's  clients use
Advent's proprietary interface to electronically retrieve pricing and other data
from  Interactive  Data.  Interactive  Data pays  Advent a  commission  based on
Interactive Data's revenues from providing such data to Advent's clients.

    Due to the  mission-critical  nature  of  Advent's  products,  many  clients
purchase annual  maintenance  contracts which entitle them to technical  support
and product upgrades as they become available.  Advent continually  upgrades and
enhances its products to respond to changing market needs,  evolving  regulatory
requirements and new technologies.

Internet Initiative

    Advent believes that the Internet can be a low-cost  communications platform
to integrate external information into Advent products, thereby providing Advent
clients  with  straight  through  processing  of business  information.  To take
advantage of the Internet, Advent has launched an Internet Initiative whereby it
is developing services, both announced and unannounced,  to bring Internet-based
products and services to clients. The first of these services, Rex, was launched
during the second quarter of 1997. Rex is an electronic  reconciliation  service
which allows  Advent  clients to automate the tedious and time  consuming  tasks
associated with reconciling positions and transactions across custodians.  Using
the  Internet,   Rex  consolidates   communication   and  information  from  all
participating  custodians,   enabling  Advent  clients  to  quickly  and  easily
reconcile transactions and holdings with a click of the mouse.

    From time to time, as Advent begins development of new products and services
under its Internet  Initiative,  it plans to continue to enter into  development
agreements with information  providers,  clients, or other companies in order to
accelerate the delivery of new products and services.

                                      -5-



Professional Services

    Professional  services consists of consulting,  systems integration,  custom
programming,  and  training.  To  ensure a  successful  product  implementation,
consultants assist clients with the initial installation of a system,  assist in
the conversion of the client's  historical data and provide ongoing training and
education.  Consulting  services  may be required  for as little as two days for
small  systems or up to many weeks for large  implementations.  Advent  believes
that its  consulting  services  facilitate  a client's  early  success  with its
products,  strengthen  the  relationship  with the client and generate  valuable
feedback for Advent.

    Advent's systems integration services develop new interfaces,  either at the
request of existing clients or external  organizations  such as brokerage firms,
custodians,  DTC, pricing services,  and other data providers.  These interfaces
are designed to provide easier and faster data entry,  automatic  reconciliation
or  confirmations.  These interfaces are licensed as an option which clients can
obtain  when  configuring  the Axys system or later as their  information  needs
change.  In  addition,  Advent  also uses its  systems  integration  services to
develop  interfaces which Advent expects will satisfy  anticipated  needs of its
clients.

    Advent  provides its clients with custom  programming  services  that enable
clients to tailor  end-user  reports to their own  specifications.  Advent  also
provides training sessions to its clients at various sites across the country.

Clients

    Advent's clients vary  significantly in size and assets under management and
include investment advisors,  brokerage firms, banks, hedge funds, corporations,
public funds, universities and non-profit organizations.  At present, Advent has
licensed its products to over 4,500 institutions in 22 countries for use by more
than 25,000 concurrent users.

Sales and Marketing

    Sales

    Advent sells its products and services  through a direct sales  organization
comprised of field sales and  telesales  representatives.  Advent's  field sales
force is organized by geographic region and is primarily responsible for selling
Axys and Moxy to mid-sized and large investment management organizations. Advent
has sales  offices in San  Francisco,  New York and Boston.  Advent's  telesales
organization is primarily  focused on selling Advent's products to existing Axys
clients and small and mid-sized investment  management  organizations.  Advent's
telesales representatives are located in San Francisco.  Advent's sales force is
supported by extensive ongoing product and sales training.

    Marketing

    The marketing department is responsible for assessing market opportunities,
product  planning and management and specific sales support.  In addition to its
traditional marketing functions, the marketing organization is actively involved
in a process called "Market  Validation(SM)," using a system of interaction with
and input from potential and existing clients,  product  development,  sales and
client  services  and  support  departments  to define the scope,  features  and
functionality  of new  products  and  product  upgrades.  In  addition,  product
managers  are  responsible  for all phases of a product  life cycle from product
development through product introduction and beyond. The marketing department is
also responsible for corporate  marketing,  including  generating  client leads,
targeted  direct  mail  campaigns,   seminars,   advertising,  trade  shows  and
conferences and public relations efforts. The marketing department also provides
the sales force with appropriate written and electronic  materials to use during
the sales process.

Product Development

    In recent years, Advent has substantially  increased its product development
expenditures  in order to  accelerate  the  rate of new  product  introductions,
incorporate new technologies  and sustain the quality of its products.  

                                      -6-



In 1997, 1996, and 1995,  Advent's product  development  expenditures were  
approximately $9.4  million,  $6.7  million  and $4.2  million,  respectively.  
In addition to engineering,  quality assurance and documentation,  Advent's 
product development activities include the identification and validation of 
product specifications.

    Advent's  new  products  and product  upgrades  require  varying  degrees of
development time,  depending upon the complexity of the accounting  requirements
and securities  regulations  which they are intended to address,  as well as the
number and type of features  incorporated.  Advent has primarily relied upon the
internal development of its products.  Advent has in the past acquired,  and may
again in the future  acquire,  additional  technologies  or products  from third
parties or consultants.  Advent intends to continue to support industry standard
operating environments, client/server architectures and network protocols.

    There can be no assurance  that Advent will be  successful  in  developing,
introducing  and marketing new products or product  enhancements on a timely and
cost  effective  basis,  if at  all,  or  that  its  new  products  and  product
enhancements will adequately meet the requirements of the marketplace or achieve
market  acceptance.  Delays in the  commencement of commercial  shipments of new
products or enhancements may result in client  dissatisfaction and delay or loss
of product revenues. If Advent is unable, for technological or other reasons, to
develop and introduce  new products or  enhancements  of existing  products in a
timely manner in response to changing market conditions or client  requirements,
or if new  products or new versions of existing  products do not achieve  market
acceptance,  Advent's business,  operating results and financial condition would
be materially adversely affected.  In addition,  Advent's ability to develop new
products  and  product  enhancements  is  dependent  upon the  products of other
software vendors,  including certain system software vendors,  such as Microsoft
Corporation,  database vendors and development  tool vendors.  In the event that
the products of such vendors have design  defects or flaws,  or if such products
are unexpectedly  delayed in their  introduction,  Advent's business,  operating
results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. Software
products as complex as those offered by Advent, particularly Advent's new Geneva
product,  may contain  undetected  defects or errors when first introduced or as
new versions are released.  Although Advent has not experienced material adverse
effects  resulting  from any software  errors,  there can be no assurance  that,
despite  testing by Advent and its clients,  defects or errors will not be found
in new products after commencement of commercial shipments, resulting in loss of
or delay in market  acceptance,  which could have a material adverse effect upon
Advent's business, operating results and financial condition.

Competition

    The market for investment  management  software is segmented by the relative
size of the organizations that manage investment  portfolios.  In addition,  the
market in each segment is intensely  competitive and highly fragmented,  subject
to rapid change and highly sensitive to new product  introductions and marketing
efforts by industry  participants.  Advent's  competitors  include  providers of
software  and  related  services as well as  providers  of  timeshare  services.
Competitors vary in size, scope of services offered and platforms supported.  In
addition,  Advent competes indirectly with existing and potential clients,  many
of whom develop their own software for their  particular needs and therefore may
be reluctant to license software products offered by independent vendors such as
Advent. With respect to the market for its portfolio accounting products, Advent
currently competes primarily with Shaw Data, a division of SunGard Data Systems,
Inc.,  Thomson  Financial,  a division  of The Thomson  Corporation,  and with a
number  of  other  smaller   companies.   Advent  believes  that  the  principal
competitive  factors  affecting  its  market  include  product  performance  and
functionality,  ease of use,  scalability,  ability to integrate  external  data
sources,  product and company reputation,  client service and support and price.
There can be no  assurance  that  Advent  will be able to  compete  successfully
against current and future  competitors or that  competitive  pressures will not
result in price  reductions,  reduced  operating  margins and the loss of market
share,  any one of which could materially  adversely  affect Advent's  business,
operating results and financial condition.

                                      -7-



Intellectual Property and Other Proprietary Rights

    Advent's  success  is  dependent  in  part on its  ability  to  protect  its
proprietary  technology.  Advent  relies  on  a  combination  of  copyright  and
trademark  laws,  trade secrets,  software  security  measures,  confidentiality
agreements  and license  agreements  to  establish  and protect its  proprietary
rights  and  its  software.  Despite  these  efforts,  it  may be  possible  for
unauthorized  third parties to copy certain portions of Advent's  products or to
reverse engineer or otherwise obtain and use proprietary  information of Advent.
Advent  does not have any  patents,  and  existing  copyright  laws  afford only
limited protection.  In addition,  Advent cannot be certain that others will not
develop substantially equivalent or superseding proprietary technology,  or that
equivalent  products will not be marketed in competition with Advent's products,
thereby  substantially  reducing  the  value  of  Advent's  proprietary  rights.
Furthermore,  there  can be no  assurance  that any  confidentiality  agreements
between Advent and its employees or any license agreements with its clients will
provide meaningful  protection of Advent's proprietary  information in the event
of any  unauthorized  use or  disclosure  of such  proprietary  information.  In
addition,  the laws of certain  countries  do not protect  Advent's  proprietary
rights to the same  extent  as do the laws of the  United  States.  Accordingly,
there can be no  assurance  that Advent will be able to protect its  proprietary
software against  unauthorized third party copying or use, which could adversely
affect Advent's business, operating results and financial condition.

Employees

    As of December 31, 1997, Advent had 325 full-time employees, including 34 in
sales, 67 in professional services, 19 in marketing,  83 in product development,
68 in client services and support and 54 in finance, administration,  operations
and  general   management.   Advent  believes  that  it  maintains   competitive
compensation,  benefits,  equity  participation and work environment policies to
assist in attracting and retaining qualified personnel. Advent's success depends
to a significant  extent upon a limited  number of members of senior  management
and other key employees,  including Stephanie DiMarco,  Advent's Chairman of the
Board and Chief Executive Officer. The loss of the service of one or more senior
managers or other employees  could have a material  adverse effect upon Advent's
business,  operating results and financial condition. None of Advent's employees
is represented by a labor union.  Advent has not  experienced any work stoppages
and considers its relations with its employees to be good.

Item 2. PROPERTIES

    Advent leases office space in facilities in San Francisco,  New York and New
Jersey. Advent has three separate leases in San Francisco,  a 33,000 square foot
lease that expires in 1998 with a 1 or 5 year extension  option,  another 23,700
square foot lease in the same building that expires in 2000, and a 16,000 square
foot  lease in an  adjacent  building  that  expires in 2004.  This is  Advent's
principal  executive  office  and  is  where  product  development,   marketing,
technical  support and  production  are located.  Advent  leases three  separate
office  spaces in New York; a 12,100  square foot lease and another 5,300 square
foot lease  expire in 2003 and a 9,800  square  foot lease  expires in 1999.  In
addition,  Advent has a 1000  square  foot lease in New Jersey  that  expires in
2000. Advent believes that its facilities are adequate for its current needs and
that suitable additional or alternative space will be available in the future on
commercially reasonable terms as needed.


Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

    None.

Item 4. SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF STOCKHOLDERS

    None.

                                      -8-



EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

    The  following  sets  forth  certain  information  regarding  the  executive
officers of Advent as of March 27, 1998:

           Name         Age                    Position          
Stephanie G. DiMarco    40    Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Peter M. Caswell        41    President and Chief Operating Officer
Lily S. Chang           49    Executive Vice President and Chief Technology 
                              Officer
Irv H. Lichtenwald      42    Senior Vice President, CFO and Secretary

- ----------

     Ms. DiMarco founded Advent in June 1983 and, since such date, has served as
Chief Executive Officer.  She became Chairman of the Board in September 1995. In
addition,  she served as President  until April of 1997,  when Peter Caswell was
promoted to President and Chief Operating  Officer.  Ms. DiMarco holds a B.S. in
Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

     Mr.  Caswell  joined Advent in December 1993 as Vice  President,  Sales and
Professional  Services.  In 1996 Mr. Caswell took on responsibility for Advent's
marketing efforts and was promoted to Senior Vice President.  In April 1997, Mr.
Caswell became President and Chief Operating Officer.  From May 1986 to December
1993, Mr. Caswell held various  management  positions,  including Vice President
and General Manager,  Western Region,  with Dun & Bradstreet  Software Services,
Inc.  and its  predecessor,  Management  Science  America,  Inc.,  a supplier of
computer  software  for finance,  marketing,  manufacturing  and human  resource
functions. Mr. Caswell holds a diploma in Management Studies (M.B.A. equivalent)
and a Higher National Diploma in Agriculture (B.S.  equivalent) from Seale Hayne
College in England.

     Ms. Chang joined Advent in May 1993 as Vice President, Technology. In April
of 1997, Ms. Chang was promoted to Executive Vice President,  Technology and was
also named Chief Technology Officer.  From July 1989 to May 1993, Ms. Chang held
various  positions,  including  Vice  President,  Strategic  Accounts  and  Vice
President of Oracle Financial Applications,  with Oracle Corporation, a software
licensing and consulting  business.  Ms. Chang holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from
Taiwan University.

     Mr.  Lichtenwald  joined Advent in March 1995 as Chief  Financial  Officer.
From  February 1984 to March 1995,  Mr.  Lichtenwald  served as Chief  Financial
Officer  of  Trinzic  Corporation,   a  computer  software  developer,  and  its
predecessor Aion Corporation.  From February 1982 to February 1984, he served as
controller of Visicorp, a computer software developer.  Mr. Lichtenwald holds an
M.B.A.  from the  University of Chicago and a B.B.A.  from Saginaw  Valley State
College. Mr. Lichtenwald is a Certified Public Accountant.

                                     PART II

    With the exception of the information  incorporated by reference to the 1997
Annual Report to Stockholders in Part II of this Form 10-K, Advent's 1997 Annual
Report to Stockholders is not deemed to be filed as part of this Form 10-K.

Item 5.  MARKET FOR COMPANY'S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

    Advent had approximately 120 stockholders of record at March 27, 1998. Other
information  required by this Item is  incorporated by reference to the sections
entitled "Selected  Financial Data - Price Range of Common Stock" and "Corporate
Information - Stock Information" in Advent's 1997 Annual Report to Stockholders.


Item 6.  SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

    Other information  required by this Item is incorporated by reference to the
sections  entitled  "Selected  Financial  Data -  Selected  Annual  Data"  and 
"-Selected Quarterly Data" in Advent's 1997 Annual Report to Stockholders.

                                      -9-



Item 7. MANAGEMENT'S  DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
        OF OPERATIONS

    The  information  required by this Item is  incorporated by reference to the
section entitled  "Management's  Discussion and Analysis of Financial  Condition
and Results of Operations" in Advent's 1997 Annual Report to Stockholders.

    In addition, Advent operates in a rapidly changing environment that involves
a number of risks,  some of which are beyond  Advent's  control.  The  following
discussion highlights some of these risks.

    Period  to  Period  Fluctuations.  As  Advent's  licenses  into  multi-user
networked  environments  have increased both in individual size and number,  the
timing and size of individual  license  transactions  are becoming  increasingly
important factors in Advent's quarterly operating results.  The sales cycles for
transactions of this size are often lengthy and  unpredictable.  There can be no
assurance  that Advent will be successful in closing large license  transactions
such as  these  on a  timely  basis  or at all.  Accordingly,  if in the  future
revenues from large site licenses  constitute a material portion of Advent's net
revenues,  the timing of such licenses  could cause  additional  variability  in
Advent's quarterly  operating results.  Advent's software products typically are
shipped shortly after receipt of a signed license  agreement and initial payment
and,  consequently,  software  product  backlog at the  beginning of any quarter
typically  represents only a small portion of that quarter's  expected revenues.
Advent's expense levels are based in significant  part on Advent's  expectations
of future revenues and therefore are relatively  fixed in the short term. Due to
the fixed  nature of these  expenses  combined  with the  relatively  high gross
margin   historically   achieved  by  Advent  on  products  and   services,   an
unanticipated  decline in net  revenues in any  particular  quarter is likely to
disproportionately adversely affect operating results.

    Advent  generally has realized lower revenues from license fees in the first
quarter of the year than in the immediately  preceding quarter.  Advent believes
that this has been due primarily to the  concentration by some clients of larger
capital  purchases in the fourth  quarter of the  calendar  year and their lower
purchasing activity during the subsequent first quarter,  compounded by Advent's
annual  incentive  compensation  plans which result in increased  year-end sales
activity.  Furthermore, Advent has often recognized a substantial portion of its
license revenues in the last month of a quarter.

    Due to all of the foregoing  factors,  Advent believes that period to period
comparisons  of its operating  results are not  necessarily  meaningful and that
such comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance.

    Advent's stock price has fluctuated  significantly  since the initial public
offering in November  1995.  Like many  companies in the technology and emerging
growth sector, Advent's stock price may be subject to wide fluctuations.  If net
revenues  or earnings in any  quarter  fail to meet the  investment  community's
expectations,  there could be an immediate  impact on Advent's  stock price.  In
addition,  the stock price may be affected by broader market trends unrelated to
Advent's performance

    Product  Concentration.  During  1995,  1996  and  1997,  Advent  derived  a
substantial  majority of its net revenues from the licensing of Axys and related
products and services.  In addition,  many of Advent's other  products,  such as
Moxy,  Qube and various data  interfaces,  were designed to operate with Axys to
provide an integrated solution.  As a result, Advent believes that a majority of
its net revenues, at least through 1998, will be dependent upon continued market
acceptance of Axys,  enhancements  or upgrades to Axys and related  products and
services.

                                      -10-



    Geneva.  In 1995,  Advent  introduced  Geneva to target  organizations  with
complex  international  accounting  and  reporting  requirements,  and, in 1997,
announced  its full  commercial  availability.  To date,  revenues  derived from
licenses of Geneva have not been  material.  Advent is  directing a  significant
amount of its product  development  expenditures to the on-going  development of
Geneva  and  plans to  devote a  significant  amount  of its  future  sales  and
marketing  resources  to Geneva.  Advent has limited  experience  in  developing
products for this market.  Because of such limited client experience,  there can
be no assurance that Geneva will not require substantial  software  enhancements
or modifications to satisfy performance requirements of clients or to fix design
defects or previously undetected errors. Further, there can be no assurance that
Advent will be successful in marketing Geneva.  Advent's failure to successfully
market Geneva could adversely affect Advent's business and operating results.

    Internet Initiative. To take advantage of the Internet,  Advent has launched
an Internet  Initiative  whereby it is developing  services,  both announced and
unannounced, to bring Internet based products and services to clients. The first
of these  services,  Rex, was  launched  during the second  quarter of 1997.  As
Advent  begins  development  of new  products  and  services  under its Internet
Initiative,  it has and will continue to enter into development  agreements with
information  providers,  clients,  or other companies in order to accelerate the
delivery of new products  and  services.  There can be no assurance  that Advent
will be successful in marketing Rex or in developing  other  Internet  services.
Advent's failure to do so could adversely affect Advent's business and operating
results.

    New Products and Product Enhancements. Advent's future success will continue
to depend upon its ability to develop new products that address the future needs
of its  target  markets  and to  respond  to  emerging  industry  standards  and
practices. Delays in the commencement of commercial shipments of new products or
enhancements may result in client  dissatisfaction  and delay or loss of product
revenues.  In  addition,  Advent's  ability to develop new  products and product
enhancements is dependent upon the products of other software vendors, including
certain system software vendors, such as Microsoft Corporation, database vendors
and  development  tool  vendors.  In the event that the products of such vendors
have design defects or flaws,  or if such products are  unexpectedly  delayed in
their introduction, Advent's business, operating results and financial condition
could be materially adversely affected.

    Financial Markets.  The target clients for Advent's products include a range
of  organizations  that  manage  investment  portfolios,   including  investment
advisors,  brokerage firms,  banks and hedge funds. In addition,  Advent targets
corporations, public funds, universities and non-profit organizations which also
manage  investment  portfolios  and have many of the same needs.  The success of
many of Advent's clients is intrinsically  linked to the health of the financial
markets.   Advent   believes   that   demand   for   its   products   could   be
disproportionately  affected  by  fluctuations,   disruptions,   instability  or
downturns in the financial markets which may cause clients and potential clients
to exit the  industry or delay,  cancel or reduce any planned  expenditures  for
investment management systems and software products

    Relationship  with  Interactive  Data. Many of Advent's clients use Advent's
proprietary  interface to  electronically  retrieve  pricing and other data from
Interactive Data. Interactive Data pays Advent a commission based on Interactive
Data's revenues from providing such data to Advent's clients.  Advent's software
products have been  customized to be compatible with  Interactive  Data's system
and such software  would need to be redesigned if  Interactive  Data's  services
were unavailable for any reason.  In the event that Advent's  relationship  with
Interactive Data were terminated or Interactive Data's services were unavailable
to Advent's clients for any reason, replacing these services could be costly and
time consuming.

    Competition.  The market for investment  management software is segmented by
the relative size of the  organizations  that manage investment  portfolios.  In
addition,  the  market in each  segment  is  intensely  competitive  and  highly
fragmented,  subject  to  rapid  change  and  highly  sensitive  to new  product
introductions   and  marketing  efforts  by  industry   participants.   Advent's
competitors  include  providers  of  software  and  related  services as well as
providers of timeshare  services.  

                                      -11-



Competitors  vary in size,  scope of services offered and platforms  supported. 
In addition,  Advent competes indirectly with existing and  potential  clients, 
many of whom  develop  their own software for their  particular  needs and  
therefore  may be  reluctant  to license  software products  offered  by  
independent  vendors  such as  Advent.  Many of  Advent's competitors have 
longer operating  histories and greater  financial,  technical, sales and 
marketing resources than Advent. There can be no assurance that Advent will be 
able to compete  successfully  against current and future competitors or that  
competitive  pressures  will  not  result  in  price  reductions,  reduced
operating  margins and loss of market share,  any one of which could  materially
adversely affect Advent's business, operating results and financial condition.

Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

     (1) Financial Statements.

         The  following  financial  statements of Advent and the Report of
       Independent  Accountants  are  incorporated by reference to page 39
       through 53 of Advent's 1997 Annual Report to Stockholders:

          Consolidated Balance Sheets - December 31, 1997 and 1996

          Consolidated Statements of Operations - Years Ended December 31, 1997,
          1996, and 1995

          Consolidated Statements of Stockholders' Equity- Years Ended 
          December 31, 1997,  1996, and 1995
               
          Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows- Years Ended December 31, 1997, 
          1996, and 1995
                   
          Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

          Report of Independent Accountants


     (2) Financial Statement Schedules.

         The following  financial  statement  schedules of Advent for the
       years ended December 31, 1997,  1996, and 1995 are filed as part of
       this Form  10-K and  should be read in  conjunction  with  Advent's
       Financial Statements.

           Report of Independent Accountants                            S-1

           Schedule II --- Valuation and Qualifying Accounts            S-2

         Schedules  not listed above have been  omitted  because they are
       not  applicable  or  are  not  required  or  because  the  required
       information  is  included  in the  Financial  Statements  or  Notes
       thereto.

Item  9.  CHANGES  IN AND  DISAGREEMENTS  WITH  ACCOUNTANTS  ON  ACCOUNTING  AND
          FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

         None.

                                      -12-





                                    PART III

    Certain  information  required by Part III is omitted from this Form 10-K in
that  the  Registrant  will  file  a  definitive  proxy  statement  pursuant  to
Regulation  14A of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of 1934,  as  amended,  (Proxy
Statement)  not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year  covered by
this Form 10-K and certain  information  included therein is incorporated herein
by  reference.  Only those  sections of the Proxy  Statement  that  specifically
address  the items set forth  herein  are  incorporated  by  reference  and such
incorporation does not include,  specifically, the Performance Graph included in
such Proxy Statement.


Item 10. DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

    The  information  concerning  Advent's  directors  required  by this Item is
incorporated by reference to Advent's Proxy Statement.

    The information concerning Advent's executive officers required by this Item
is incorporated  by reference  herein to the section of the Form 10-K in Part I,
Item 4, entitled "Executive Officers of Advent."

    The  information  regarding  compliance with Section 16(a) of the Securities
Exchange  Act of 1934 is to be set forth in Advent's  Proxy  Statement  and such
information is hereby incorporated by reference.


Item 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

    Information  required by this Item is  incorporated by reference to Advent's
Proxy Statement.

Item 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

    Information  required by this Item is  incorporated by reference to Advent's
Proxy Statement.

Item 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

    Information  required by this Item is  incorporated by reference to Advent's
Proxy Statement.

Item 14. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K

     (a) The following documents are filed as a part of this Annual Report
         on Form 10-K:

          1.  Consolidated  Financial  Statements  required  to be filed by Item
              8 of Form 10-K. See the list of Financial Statements contained in 
              Item 8 of this Report.

          2.  Financial  Statement  Schedules  required  to be filed by Item 8 
              of Form 10-K. See the list of Financial  Statement Schedules 
              contained in Item 8 of this Report.

                                      -13-





3.  Exhibits.

    The Exhibits listed on the accompanying Index to Exhibits
    immediately  following the  financial  statement  schedules  are 
    filed as part of, or  incorporated  by reference into, this 
    Form 10-K.



Exhibit
Number                           Description of Document
                                                                             
 2.1+    Agreement and Plan of Merger between Registrant and Advent Software,
         Inc., a California corporation, effective November 10, 1995.
 3.1+    Certificate of Incorporation of Registrant.
 3.2+    Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Registrant.
 3.3     Amended and Restated Bylaws of Registrant.
 4.1+    Specimen Common Stock Certificate of Registrant.
10.1+    Form of Indemnification Agreement for Executive Officers and Directors.
10.2+    1992 Stock Plan, as amended, and form of stock option agreement.
10.3+    1993 Profit Sharing & Employee Savings Plan, as amended.
10.4+    1995 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and form of subscription agreement.
10.5+    1995 Director Option Plan and form of stock option agreement.
10.6+    Common Stock Option Agreement between Advent and Maurice J. Duca dated
         September  15, 1989 as amended by the  Amendment and Correction to 
         Common Stock Option  Agreement dated July 1993.
10.7+    Full Service  Office Lease dated April 14, 1992, as amended,  between  
         Brannan Street  Properties and Advent for facilities located at 
         301 Brannan in San Francisco, California.
10.8+    Standard  Form of Lease  dated  November 6, 1992 between Broadway 
         Management Company as agent for 500  Fifth  Avenue  Associates  and  
         Advent for facilities  located  at 500  Fifth  Avenue,  New York, 
         New York.
10.9+    Severance  Agreement between Advent and Peter M. Caswell dated 
         December 10, 1993.
10.10+*  Agreement  between Advent and  Interactive  Data Corporation dated
         January 1, 1995.
10.13**  Lease  dated  January 28,  1992  between  Orient Overseas Associates 
         and Data Exchange,  Inc. for facilities located at 88 Pine Street, 
         a/k/a Wall Street Plaza, New York, New York.
13.1     Selected Portions of Advent Software, Inc.'s 1997 Annual Report to
         Stockholders.
21.1     Subsidiaries of Advent.
23.1     Consent of Coopers & Lybrand LLP, Independent Accountants.
24.1     Power of Attorney (included on page 15 of this Form 10-K).
27.1     Financial Data Schedule.                          

- ----------
+     Incorporated  by reference to the exhibit  filed with Advent's  
      registration  statement  filed on Form SB-2 (commission   file  number  
      33-97912-LA), declared effective on November 15, 1995
*     Confidential treatment requested as to certain portions of this exhibit.
**    Incorporated by reference to Advent's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the
      year ended December 31, 1995.


     (b) Reports on Form 8-K
            None

                                      -14-





                                   SIGNATURES

    Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of
1934,  the  registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on this 25th day of March, 1998.

                                             ADVENT SOFTWARE, INC.

                                                        STEPHANIE G. DIMARCO
                                             By: /s/  ________________________
                                                        Stephanie G. DiMarco
                                                      Chairman of the Board and
                                                       Chief Executive Officer

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

    KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears
below  constitutes  and appoints  Stephanie  G. DiMarco and Irv H.  Lichtenwald,
jointly  and  severally,   his   attorneys-in-fact,   each  with  the  power  of
substitution,  for him or her in any and all capacities,  to sign any amendments
to this  Form  10-K,  and to file the  same,  with  exhibits  thereto  and other
documents in connection therewith,  with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
hereby ratifying and confirming all that each of said attorneys-in-fact,  or his
or her substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

    Pursuant to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange Act of 1934 this
report has been signed by the following  persons on behalf of the registrant and
in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

     Signature                         Title                           Date
- --------------------------   ------------------------------------ --------------

/s/  STEPHANIE G. DIMARCO    Chairman of the Board and            March 27, 1998
- -------------------------    Chief Executive Officer              --------------
Stephanie G. DiMarco         (Principal Executive Officer)
                             

/s/  IRV H. LICHTENWALD      Senior Vice President, Chief         March 27, 1998
- -----------------------      Financial Officer and Secretary      --------------
Irv H. Lichtenwald           (Principal Financial and 
                             Accounting Officer)                      
                                                    

/s/  FRANK H. ROBINSON       Director                             March 27, 1998
- ----------------------                                            --------------
Frank H. Robinson

/s/  WENDELL G. VAN AUKEN    Director                             March 27, 1998
- -------------------------                                         --------------
Wendell G. Van Auken

/s/  WILLIAM F.ZUENDT        Director                             March 27, 1998
- -------------------                                               --------------
William F. Zuendt

/s/  MONTE ZWEBEN            Director                             March 27, 1998
- -----------------                                                 --------------
Monte Zweben

                                      -15-








                                       
                        REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS


To the Board of Directors of
   Advent Software, Inc.:

    Our report on the consolidated financial statements of Advent Software, Inc.
has been  incorporated  by reference in this report on Form 10-K from page 53 of
the 1997 Annual Report to  Shareholders of Advent  Software,  Inc. In connection
with our audit of such consolidated  financial  statements,  we have audited the
related financial statement schedule listed in the index on page 12 of this Form
10-K.

    In our opinion,  the financial  statement  schedule  referred to above, when
considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a
whole,  presents fairly, in all material aspects, the information required to be
included therein.


COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.


San Francisco, California
January 20, 1998

                                      S-1





                                       

                                                                     Schedule II

                              ADVENT SOFTWARE, INC

                        VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS
              for the years ended December 31, 1995, 1996, and 1997



      Column A             Column B    Column C  Column D  Column E   Column F
   --------------         ----------   --------  --------  --------   --------
                                            Additions
                          Balance at   Charged   Charged              Balance at
                          Beginning       to     to Other               End of
    Description           of Period    Expense   Accounts  Deduction    Period
    -----------           ----------   -------   --------  ---------  ----------
                                                           
Allowance for doubtful
      accounts
1995....................   $ 67,000    $240,000     --     $ 49,000    $258,000
1996....................   $258,000    $115,000     --     $138,000    $235,000
1997....................   $235,000    $248,000     --     $218,000    $265,000



                                      S-2